For me, the Christmas/New 12 months break is a really specific time of the yr. It offers me with a peculiar and weird mixture of birds and it brings again recollections of instances previous when the image was completely different in some methods. Residing on the southernmost area of Europe, truly additional south than elements of North Africa, implies that it’s right here that we discover the early proof of the onset of “spring”. The truth is, from this weekend onwards the times will begin to get longer and we quickly get a response from birds.
I made a decision to record my high ten favorite species at the moment of the yr, people who I most frequently affiliate with this era and which give me fond recollections of a long time of looking for them. Due to the geographical location, two of the three classes into which I’ve grouped my high ten, characterize differing weather conditions and responses to those. One represents the response of birds to chilly winter snaps, right here or additional north, whereas the opposite, paradoxically, represents the “spring” arrival of birds from the south. Each can coincide, such is the climatic gradient supplied by the vary of altitude, from sea degree to over 3,000 metres, on this a part of the world. My third group is seabirds.
Let’s begin with these displaying a response to chilly winter situations. Prime of my record on this class, and total in my high ten, is the Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). The Spanish identify “Avefria” says all of it – the chook of the chilly. Seeing big flocks of Lapwings flying previous alongside the coast, crossing into Morocco, is a reminiscence that I shall always remember. One winter an estimated quarter-of-a-million Lapwings descended on Cadiz Province alone! This doesn’t occur anymore. The winters are milder and the European inhabitants of Lapwing has declined enormously. I nonetheless see flocks right here and there however nothing in comparison with what it as soon as was.
My second “chilly” chook is the Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris). Throughout chilly snaps, particularly when the mountains are coated in snow, these pretty birds descend proper right down to the coast. In search of Alpine Accentors on the Rock of Gibraltar, the place I reside, was a Christmas break task since my faculty days.
The third candidate is the Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita). This small warbler arrives in October however, what makes it particular for me is its behavior of attending stands of launched aloes. Right here, as temperatures drop and bugs turn out to be scarce, the Chiffchaffs turn out to be non permanent hummingbirds, hovering to extract the nectar from the flowering aloes which originated from South Africa. It’s a novel behaviour which I frolicked recording and describing as a pupil again within the seventies.
The flip facet of the coin is supplied by three birds that are already arriving from tropical Africa and whose numbers will increase within the weeks to come back. The Swallow (Hirundo rustica) arrives now and settles in its breeding websites on the lowlands. Daytime temperatures listed here are excessive sufficient to generate insect exercise, particularly within the marshlands the place water offers breeding grounds for mosquitoes and different bugs. This yr, a moist one finally, guarantees to be good for them.
Second is the Nice Noticed Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) which exploits the emergence of caterpillars, utilizing the world as stop-over earlier than persevering with north. An early arrival ensures they’re able to parasitise magpies and different corvids, which begin breeding actions early within the yr.
The third is the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia). Many White Storks don’t go away us in any respect these days however the arrival of huge flocks of those birds from Africa at the moment of the yr is among the particular moments within the ornithological calendar.
My third group is the seabirds. Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) and Sandwich Terns (Thalasseus sandvicensis) patrol the shoreline looking for fish, usually in massive numbers after gales. Spending time on the cliffs of Gibraltar watching these birds, which come remarkably shut, is one other seasonal ornithological pastime.
Some years we get influxes of Razorbills (Alco torda). These birds are very confiding and can enterprise into the sheltered harbour areas the place you may see them at shut quarters.
My final species is, just like the Lapwing, one which has declined considerably, not less than as a wintering seabird off our coasts. I’m referring to Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus). Every winter I might go to Europa Level throughout easterly gales and I may see flocks of over 200 Little Gulls offshore. Now there are none.
I’m wondering what number of readers have their very own favorite seasonal chook species. It will be enjoyable to check notes! Wishing you all the very best through the season’s festivities and for the brand new yr.
