April 1, 2008
March 2008 Bird News - slow going for migrants, but still some cracking birds!
I saw 81 species of bird in the Alcossebre area in March 2008.
I added one new species to the Alcossebre list – a fine male Common Pochard duck. This brings the total list of birds seen in the Alcossebre area to 205 species.
Apart from the fine start to the month with the Common Pochard on the 1st March and the last wintering Rock Bunting, the next five or six days were very quiet bird wise due to strong Northerly winds.
When the winds finally dropped on the 8th March the first Alpine Swift and Common Cranes (2) of Spring flew East.
37 Grey Herons and a total of 303 Great Cormorants also flew East.
On the 9th the first Marsh Harrier of Spring flew N/E, a female.
Another big flock of Cormorants flew East, 302 in total.
The last wintering Dunnock was seen.
The 10th March saw a small movement of 14 Barn Swallows and one House Martin heading North. The last wintering Crag Martins were seen, five birds heading S/W.
In the farmlands the first singing Cirl Bunting was heard.
The only passage birds on the 11th were yet more Cormorants, a total of 420 flying East.
Inland the last wintering Reed Bunting was seen.
On the 12th March two Northern Gannets and one Great Crested Grebe were offshore, and another 400 Cormorants flew past. 22 Sandwich Terns, 13 Audouin´s Gulls rested at Capycorp Lagoon.
Inland the first singing Corn Bunting was heard, and the last wintering Grey Wagtail was seen at the Sewage Pond.
The 13th wasn’t unlucky, quite the opposite, there was a bit of Spring passage to enjoy.
As well as the usual big flocks of Cormorant (367 in total) passing by offshore there was also 12 Balearic Shearwaters and a Black Kite.
Inland two female Marsh Harriers flew N/E followed by two White Storks flying East, the first of Spring.
A total of 22 White Wagtails were counted in the newly ploughed fields.
The last wintering Common Buzzard was seen on his favorite electric pylon, and the last wintering Stonechats.
The first Common Shelducks (2) flew east on the 14th March followed by 112 Black-headed Gulls, both species probably headed for the Ebro delta.
Inland a flock of 12 Corn Buntings had arrived to outnumber the local birds.
The last wintering male Blue Rock Thrush was seen at Andy and Sylvia’s Place.
Keeping the best to the last, three Short-toed Eagles soared North above my house, my first march record here!
A morning of thick mist halted migration on the 15th, with the only bird of note being a fine Kingfisher at the sewage pond.
A male Blue-headed Wagtail on a ploughed field was the first this Spring, on the 16th March. Offshore a small Easterly passage of gulls included 97 Black-headed Gulls, 44 Audouin´s Gulls, 25 Yellow-legged Gulls and 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
The 17th March saw the first Willow Warblers arrive overnight, with two at the Sewage pond. A female Merlin was the first for the month chasing birds over the farmlands.
Offshore Cormorants continued their huge Spring passage with another 300 birds flying East. 42 Black-headed Gulls also flew East followed by a Black Kite; the latter species seems to be partial to migrating over the sea.
A small passage of birds on the 18th included three Black Kites, two Common Kestrels, 27 Barn Swallows and two House Martins.
The Willow Warblers had increased to six birds at the Sewage Pond.
The 20th March started off well with a fine male Montagu´s Harrier flying over my house at 7am, followed by another at 7.30am both headed North. Later two Pallid Swifts flew over the house. Both species first of Spring.
A disappointing bird count walk on the 21st ended with a flourish when an adult Night Heron and a pair of Mallard were seen at the Sewage Pond! Both were the first seen this Spring.
Ironically Mallard are rarer here than the Night Heron!
The last wintering Chiffchaff warbler was seen.
The 22nd March saw a small passage of birds with a male Montagu´s Harrier, a Common Buzzard, a Common Shelduck and 14 Grey Herons flying East, and two Pallid Swifts, 11 House Martins and 74 Barn Swallows flying N/E.
Offshore were one Balearic Shearwater, three Northern Gannets and another 50 Cormorants.
My garden provided a fine male Common Redstart at 7.15 am on the 23rd, first this Spring. I found another, this time a female in another garden down the road from me.
Then apart from two female Marsh Harriers headed N/E
Things were quite quiet.
Strong Northerly winds for the next couple of days again put migration on hold.
The last wintering Skylarks were seen on the 25th.
When the wind dropped on the on the 26th March, a Black-eared Wheatear appeared on a ploughed field in rural Capycorp, another first of Spring.
This is the first year I’ve seen this Wheatear before the Common Wheatear?
There was also the first Spring arrival of Subalpine Warblers
With a male in some Pomegranate Trees and a female in some Almond Trees.
Five Grey Herons flew leisurely past heading East.
Overnight arrivals included 13 Willow Warblers, 23 Blackcap Warblers and 64 Linnets.
The Black-eared Wheatear was still in the same ploughed field on the 27th and there was another small overnight arrival of 13 Willow Warblers, 19 Blackcap Warblers and 80+ Linnets.
The last wintering Dartford Warbler was seen in the coastal scrub.
The Black-eared Wheatear obliged and let me take his photograph!
Another male Common Redstart popped up briefly on the morning of the 28th March in my garden. Offshore the first Greater Flamingos (18) of the month flew East.
A male Merlin was chasing the last of the wintering finches in the farmland.
The first Purple Heron of Spring flopped out lazily from some Eucalyptus Trees in the Torre de Capycorp estate. It probably roosted there overnight.
A long awaited Woodchat Shrike appeared on some Tomato canes in the farmland – usually appears in late February – that was an adult female later a saw an adult male on some overhead wires near the Sewage Works.
The last wintering Chaffinch was seen.
The last day of March added a further two species to the Spring arrival list. Six Common Swifts headed N/E and a Squacco Heron flew up from the side of Capycorp lagoon.
This was my first March record for Squacco Heron.
Inland another male Common Redstart popped up in a garden and a fine Purple Heron flew up from the Sewage pond.
A total of three male Woodchat Shrikes were seen today.
The total number of Cormorants that flew past this month was 4,117!
Where in earth do they all nest?
Alcossebre Weather for March, 2008.
A mixed month for weather, although half of the month was typically fine and sunny (15 days) on most of these days it was accompanied by strong Northerly winds making it feel cooler.
We had seven days where it was overcast with two thunderstorms on the 9th and 26th.
Overall it was a dry month with only 6 days producing rain, two of these only showing a trace of rain.
The average daytime temperature was 21C( 70F) this was 2C higher than 2007. The hottest day was on the 13th at 26C (80F).
The average night temperature was 9C (49F) with the coldest nights on the 6th and 8th at 5C(41F).
We had six days with rain, most falling on the 9th and 22nd.
However, the total rainfall was only 1.2inches (30mm) well below the usual rainfall for March.
Winds played a large part in the weather for March, we had our traditional three day winds on the 4th to the 7th and on the 23rd to the 26th, blowing strong from the North with Gale force gusts at times.
Overall the wind strength was light or gentle on 16 days and moderate to strong on 11 days.
We only had four days without wind.
Wind directions were typically Northerly (11 days) most mornings and Southerly (8 days) or Easterly (4 days) most afternoons.