Final week I wrote in regards to the scorching and dry situations that now have an effect on a lot of the Iberian Peninsula. My very own answer in the case of birding right now of the yr is to focus on the coast. At Gibraltar, the place I dwell, I spend many hours at its southernmost tip, Europa Level. If the winds are blowing from the west, the afternoons will be spectacular. Because the land heats up, a recent south-westerly sea breeze units in. Many birds heading in the direction of the Atlantic, whether or not migrating or performing feeding actions, are pushed inshore. Sea-watching has at all times been thrilling for me as a result of there may be at all times the possibility of one thing sudden turning up. It’s a bonus however merely standing on prime of a cliff feeling the cool sea breeze in your face is adequate reward.
I lined the principle species in my twenty third June article “When the ocean turns into a desert”. Actually, the migration of Audouin’s Gulls (Ichthyaetus audouinii) out of the Mediterranean is now gathering tempo and it’s a nice time to watch these birds of their array of plumages, in accordance with age. Europa Level, Gibraltar, must be the most effective place to watch and {photograph} these gulls at shut quarters.
One other gull that has change into common and whose numbers have elevated lately, is the Mediterranean Gull (Ichthyaetus melanocephalus). These additionally present up, typically in household teams, from the east and steadily method the purpose earlier than turning south-west in the direction of the Atlantic.
Much less frequent, but additionally displaying is the Slender-billed Gull (Chroicocephalus genei). If I actually need to see these elegant gulls, then I can at all times drive as much as the Atlantic coast and the estuary of the Guadalquivir River the place they breed.
Not all birds displaying up now are gulls. Two waders go by way of in cheap numbers. These are Oystercatchers (Haematopus ostralegus) and Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus), birds coming from the Excessive Arctic within the latter case or from extra southerly latitudes within the case of the previous. Each are heading for wealthy wintering grounds off the West African coast.
Final week I wrote in regards to the Black Kites (Milvus migrans) that at the moment are heading south. With recent south-westerlies good numbers of those kites are drifted out to sea, east of the Rock. They then make an exhausting flight again in a north-westerly path to search out land. Many evenings I’m watching seabirds and flocks of kites arrive from the south-east and fly north again in the direction of the hinterland. These fortunate ones have lived to struggle one other day, maybe when situations enhance. I’m positive that many others are usually not so fortunate and drown away from sight of land.
I at all times exit within the hope of seeing one other very particular fowl that exhibits up right now. That is Eleonora’s Falcon (Falco eleonorae). These are scarce however they do present up persistently in July and early August. They’re birds that enterprise inland looking for concentrations of bugs which they feed on previous to transferring to their island colonies to breed. Others are non-breeding people wandering looking for meals. The birds that I see, virtually invariably, are available in from the south, very in all probability the Moroccan coast simply 21 kilometres away.
Sea-watching from the coast is nice enjoyable proper now and it retains me cool. Subsequent week I’ll take a step additional. Lately pelagic journeys have change into more and more fashionable they usually provide a unique window, certainly one of seabirds which have at all times been on the market right now however that we’ve by no means been capable of see from the coast.
