October 13, 2009
New Birds in nearly every day!
I recorded 72 species of bird in Alcossebre in September 2009.
No new species were added to the list, but some were first September records -
i.e. Little Grebe, Lapwing, Meadow Pipit ,Tree Pipit, and Robin.
There was a steady stream of new autumn arrivals :-
A Booted Eagle on the 2nd; A Black Kite on the 3rd.
Two Northern Wheatears on the 4th; A female Whinchat on the 5th.
A male each of Common Whitethroat and Common Redstart on the 6th.
The first Sand Martins on the 8th; A Great White Egret on the 10th.
A female Spectacled Warbler on the 16th (was also the first of the year).
A male Blackcap on the 17th; Two Honey Buzzards and a Cetti´s Warbler on the 21st.
An Eleonora´s Falcon stooping at a Northern Lapwing on the 22nd were both autumn firsts. As was a female Marsh Harrier.
One Meadow Pipit and two Tree Pipits, and a Common Buzzard on the 24th.
A female Stonechat and a female Blue Rock Thrush on the 27th.
The first Song Thrush on the 28th.and last but not least, a Robin on the 30th.
The monthly totals of each species are always interesting to compare, although there are many factors to take into account, the weather conditions being one of them.
So here are the monthly totals for each species with comments :-
A single Little Grebe at the sewage pond from the 21st to the 30th, was my first September record here.
Apart from up to seven local birds, there was only a total of 19 Cormorants seen heading south.
Contrast that with a total of 41 Grey Herons seen flying south - largest flock 20 birds.
Up to 56 Cattle Egrets could be seen locally throughout the month.
Only 12 Little Egrets were seen, heading south on the 6th September.
The first Great White Egret flew south on the 10th, followed by three more on the 19th September.
Apart from two adult Honey Buzzards flying south on the 21st, there was an obliging juvenile on some pine trees on the 26th -see photo.
It was a poor month for Harrier sightings, with just one female Marsh Harrier seen flying east on the 22nd (no doubt Ebro Delta Bound).
Likewise, there was only one Black Kite sighting on the 3rd.
Single Short-toed Eagles continued to frequent their favourite overhead Pylons.
There were three sightings of Northern Sparrowhawk this month, a female on the 8th and a male on the 19th, and 30th.
A single Common Buzzard on the 24th was the sum total for the month.
Likewise only one Booted Eagle was seen flying south on the 2nd.
One to two local Common Kestrels were seen through-out the month, with four migrant birds flying south on the 25th.
The first Eleonora´s Falcon was seen on the 22nd, stooping at a Northern Lapwing over the sea, and three birds together catching flying ants on the 28th, was a sight to see.
A steady steam of Black-headed Gulls flew south through out the month, counted a total of 126 birds.
Audouin´s Gulls were much scarcer than normal, total for the month -196 birds.
In contrast a total of 261 Sandwich Terns were noted flying south.
A maximum day count of 14 Wood Pigeons was a high count for September.
Collared Doves were much commoner with 66 birds being the highest day count.
Contrast that total with just 11 Turtle Doves counted for the whole month, very poor numbers for here.
Little Owls were still very much in evidence with up to four birds being seen daily.
Both Common Swift and Pallid Swifts were scarce this month. A mixed flock of 50 birds was seen on the 8th September.
A single Kingfisher was seen fishing in some rock pools on the 10th.
A total of 144 European Bee eaters passed through this month, the biggest flock was 33 birds on the 13th.
As usual Hoopoes were seen daily, with a maximum daily count of 8 birds.
Crested Larks were also seen daily, with a maximum of 13 birds.
The first Sand Martins passed through on the 8th September.,never seen in big numbers here the most seen was two birds at a time.
Barn Swallows on the other hand pass through here in their thousands!
Most days hundreds could be seen passing through on a broad front.
At the end of the month the thundery weather conditions totally disorientated the Swallows and there were seen flying due east instead of south!.
A total of three Red-rumped Swallows were seen, a single bird on the 2nd, and two birds on the 9th. Usual numbers for September.
279 House Martins were counted passing through, with 66 on the 6th being the highest day count.
Two Tree Pipits seen on the 24th September, were my first autumn record here. Co-incidentally that was the same day as I saw the first autumn Meadow Pipit.
A total of 43 Blue-headed Wagtails passed through, with the biggest day count 32 birds on the 28th.
The resident White Wagtails never exceeded three birds, staying mainly around the sewage pond.
It's always good to see the first Robin arrive - one popped up at the sewage pond on the 30th.
The first Common Redstart turned up on the 6th September. The total for the month was 8 birds, two being the maximum day count.
The first Whinchat turned up a day earlier, on the 5th. Total for month 14 birds, with the maximum day count four birds.
Northern Wheatears started showing from the 4th September. Total for month being 16 birds, and maximum daily count three birds.
The first Blue Rock Thrush turned up on the 27th, the same day as the first Stonechat, both were females.
Blackbirds were very scarce during the month with only four single birds being seen.
The first Song Thrush was seen on the 28th, popping up in my garden during a thunderstorm!
The loud explosive call of the first Cetti´s Warbler was heard at the sewage pond on the 21st, and thereafter to the end of the month.
A maximum day count of five Fan-tailed Warblers was below average numbers for September.
A total count of 31 Reed Warblers were counted at the sewage pond, with the biggest day total three birds on the 10th and 17th September.
In contrast only two Melodious Warblers were seen.
A female Spectacled Warbler seen at the sewage pond on the 16th September, was the first since 2003!
The similar Subalpine Warbler was much more common, with a total of 28 birds seen, maximum day count was five birds on the 13th.
The resident Sardinian Warbler continues to outnumber the other warblers, with a maximum day total of 18 birds.
In start contrast there were only two passage Common Whitethroats seen.
A male Blackcap on the 17th September was my earliest autumn record. Thereafter a total of 20 birds were noted.
A small Willow Warbler passage continued throughout the month, with a total of 58 birds. Maximum day count - 7 birds on the 19th September.
Spotted Flycatcher numbers continue above the seven year average. Total for the month 27 birds; day maximum five birds.
Pied Flycatchers exceeded this total with 46 birds, but they are commoner here on passage. Maximum day count - 10 birds on the 6th.
A maximum day count of 10 Great Tits is well above the seven year high.
Up to four Golden Orioles were seen up to the 13th September. (Latest date seen here 20th September 2007).
Only single Southern Great Grey Shrikes were seen well below the seven year average.
Likewise Woodchat Shrike numbers were well down on average, with just a juvenile bird seen twice.
Common Magpie numbers continue to rise with a maximum day count of 21 birds.
There were now flocks of hundreds of Common and Spotless Starlings,
Tree and House Sparrows raiding the bountiful crops in the rural farmlands.
Finch numbers were rising also, with the following day maximum counts -
Greenfinch 19 birds; Goldfinch 81 birds; Serin 22 birds.
The only exception was Linnet, with only two birds seen.
Unusually no Buntings were seen this month.
Alcossebre Weather in September, 2009.
After the record breaking dry and hot weather of the past three months, September gave us one of the wettest on record.
The first week in September started off with fine, sunny and hot weather on 4 days, but the rest of the week was unsettled with overcast conditions and rain.
The second week in September was a mixture of sunshine, cloudy spells and a few days with rain. The first Thunderstorm of the month on the 13th gave us some heavy rain.
The third week in September gave us yet more Thunderstorms and rain plus for the first time in the month moderate to strong northerly winds, which meant a drop in the temperature.
The fourth week in September gave us some fine and sunny weather sandwiched in between yet more Thunderstorms. We even had two Thunderstorms in the one day on the 28th September!
The last two days of September were horrendous with almost continual Thunderstorms and torrential rain.
The average daytime temperature was 29C (84F)
The highest temperature was on the 4th and 12th at 34C (93F).
The coolest day was on the 28th at 22C (72F).
The average night temperature was 20C (68F).
The coldest night were on the 18th at 14C (57F).
The warmest nights were on the 2nd, 5th and 7th at 25C (77F).
Total rainfall for the month was a staggering 21.1 inches (540mm)!!
The heaviest rain fell on the 28th, 29th and 30th with a combined total of 11.6 inches (300mm).
There were a further 9 days with rain.
Wind strengths were mainly light and gentle for the first two weeks and gentle to moderate in the last two weeks.
Wind directions were mainly North-westerly in the early morning, turning to the east or south east from mid morning. Dying out most evenings.
Compared to 2008 it was considerably wetter only 3.2 inches of rain fell in September 2008. It was however 2C warmer in the daytime.