January 1, 2008
December 2007 Bird News. Balearic Shearwaters outnumber all the others and a good month for Birds of Prey.
A Happy Birding New Year to all Surfbird Readers and fellow Bloggers.
71 species of bird seen in the Alcossebre area this December. Two new species were added to the List – Hen Harrier and Fieldfare. The List now stands at 203 Species.
Marsh Harrier, Merlin, Wood Pigeon and Barn Swallow were all seen in December for the first time.
Photo by Sam Shippey.
The full list of birds seen with comments follow:-
Up to two Great Crested Grebes seen on the sea, were normal December numbers.
Although Balearic Shearwaters were seen almost daily, the count on the 9th December broke all the records, with a total of 1230 birds flying past – must be the total population of the Balearic islands!
Up to 7 Northern Gannets seen were good numbers for December.
While only single Shags were seen, a total of 315 Cormorants flew past over the month.
A single Grey Heron spent most of the month fishing in the Capy Corp lagoon.
Up to 7 Cattle Egrets frequented the Farmland areas, well down on previous Decembers.
One or two Little Egrets fishing along the coastline were normal number for here.
A single Red-breasted Merganser was seen on the sea, on the 13th.
A juvenile male Marsh Harrier headed south on the 31st, my first December record.
A female Hen Harrier – my first ever record here – frequented the farmland areas from the 1st to the 7th.
A single male Sparrowhawk was seen chasing Chaffinches on the 16th December.
Two Common Buzzards continue to winter in the area. One bird in the rural farmlands and the other in the dry river beds.
Two Booted Eagles soared above my house on the 2nd December. Making me wonder if it was the same two I saw in November?
Up to 3 Common Kestrels were wintering in the Farmland areas.
A fine male Merlin was chasing a flock of Serins over the coastal scrubland on the 29th December.
A maximum of 29 Common Moorhens were counted at the Torre de Capy Corp pond and the Sewage Works pond.
Up to 46 Stone Curlews frequented the ploughed fields from the 1st to the 13th December. When I pointed them out to a local farmer, he asked “Can you eat them?” Most definatly not, I replied.
A flock of 12 Golden Plover flew south on the 7th.
Up to 9 Northern Lapwings were counted in the Farmland areas, more than usual for December.
Counts of the five species of Gull seen varied on a daily basis depending on the weather conditions and the whereabouts of the fishing boats.
Maximum counts were 88 Mediterranean Gulls, 62 Black-headed Gulls, 96 Audouin´s Gulls and over 500 each of Yellow Legged and Lesser Black back Gulls.
Sandwich Terns were seen daily, maximum 54 birds.
A single Wood Pigeon was the first I had seen here in December, probably because they are shot wholesale!
Ironically the Hunters don´t shoot Collared Doves which up to 56 were counted.
One or two Little Owls were still quite vocal, early mornings and dusk.
A Kingfisher was seen twice at the Capycorp Lagoon.
Hoopoes were seen daily with up to 6 counted.
While the resident Crested Lark numbers- maximum 12 birds – were normal for December, Skylark numbers were the highest I´ve seen in six years, with 130 plus.
Crag Martins were seen daily, being more common around the town buildings than in the farmland areas.
Up to 27 birds counted were well down on previous years.
A Barn Swallow seen on the 1st December, meant that for the first time in six years I have seen it in every month!
Meadow Pipits at 44 maximum were more than double the normal for December.
While single Grey Wagtails were seen at the Sewage Works daily, they were well out numbered by White Wagtails with a peak of 25 birds.
A single Dunnock frequented the coastal scrubland, only my second December record.
Robins peaked at 23 birds slightly down on previous Decembers.
A maximum of 15 Black Redstarts were normal numbers for December.
There were now three Blue Rock Thrushes holding a separate winter territory, two males and one female.
Stonechats at 18 maximum were the highest count in six Decembers here, as were 4 Blackbirds.
A Fieldfare at the Sewage Works on the 12th December was my first record here, and then another turned up in the rural farmland on the 31st.
A maximum of 43 Song Thrushes was easily the highest December count in six years – 10 was the previous highest.
Like wise up to 4 Cetti´s Warblers were the highest December count.
Photo by Sam Shippey.
Up to 6 Fan-tailed Warblers and 2 Dartford Warblers were normal numbers.
Sardinian Warblers (21 birds),Blackcaps (19 birds) and Chiffchaff (41) numbers have steadily increased over the six years.
Three separate Southern Great Grey Shrikes were holding a winter territory. One in the dry river beds and the other two in the rural farmland.
A peak of 19 Common Magpies was normal December numbers.
The resident Spotless Starlings were still well outnubered by the wintering Common Starlings.
Both species giving chase to any bird of prey in the area.
House and Tree Sparrow numbers were both up to normal numbers, with a few hundred in separate flocks.
Chaffinch and Greenfinch numbers were down for December with 136 and 25 of each.
Goldfinch, Linnet and Siskin numbers on the other hand were well up, with 120, 58 and 148 of each.
Serins at a maximum of 74 counted were normal December numbers.
Of the four Bunting species seen, Cirl Bunting numbers were low with just a single bird seen.
Three male Rock Buntings were above normal numbers, as were 17 Reed Buntings and 16 Corn Buntings.
Alcossebre Weather in December 2007.
Weather conditions in the Alcossebre area from the 1st to the 14th December carried on from the settled weather pattern of November, with fine sunny days and cool nights.
This all changed from the 15th until the 23rd December when a series of Low Depression weather stayed with us. This produced dull, overcast and rainy conditions, and gave us record December rainfall.
We also had during this spell of unsettled weather an unusual situation, on the 20th December the temperature stayed at 13c (56F) through the night and day!
Normally the temperture rises and falls by at least 10c.
Thankfully, the weather then went back to the fine and sunny conditions of the first half of the month, and stayed that way until the end of the month.
The average day temperature was 17C(63F) with the warmest day on the 24th at 24C(76F).
The average night temperture was 7C(45F) with the coldest night on the 15th at 1C(35F).
Total rainfall for the month was 7.9 inches or 207mm – a lot of rain. The most rain fell on the 21st with 3.3 inches or 84mm.
This was the highest December rainfall in the six years I´ve been here!
Wind strenghs were mainly light or gentle, plus we had five days without a wind – rare here.
There were only three days with strong Northerly winds.
Wind directions varied, as they do here on a daily basis. The morning winds were mainly from the North or North West, and the afternoon winds were mainly from the East.
The winds usually died out late afternoon.