May 28, 2009
Desert Wheatear puts Alcossebre on the Map!
94 species were seen in the Alcossebre area in April.
The star bird of the year, never mind the month was a female Desert Wheatear which arrived on the 11th April.
If accepted it will be the first record for the Valencian Region.
Aside from the star bird it was also a good month for passage birds and overnight arrivals, with most days providing something of interest.
I managed a bird count/census on 26 days out of 30.
April started off with a good passage of birds on the 2nd April.
9 Black-crowned Night Herons and 14 Greater Flamingos flew east over the sea, then a Green Sandpiper (first of Spring), two Alpine Swifts, one Common Swift and one Sand Martin were next through.
Last fly past was a female Marsh Harrier.
Overnight arrivals were a female Subalpine Warbler, 11 Willow Warblers, a male Northern Wheatear, one Woodchat Shrike and 12 Corn Buntings.
Migrants continued to pass through on the 3rd April.
Four separate female Marsh Harriers and 215 Audouin´s Gulls.
Overnight arrivals included– two singing Nightingales and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler. (Both firsts for spring). A male Black-eared Wheatear, two male Subalpine Warblers, a male Common Redstart.
A male Sparrowhawk and a Red-legged Partridge were the first seen this month.
No passage noted on the 4th April, but some overnight arrivals. A Chiffchaff, another Nightingale and Subalpine Warbler and a Blue-headed Wagtail. The last Robin and Song Thrush of winter seen.
Passage resumed on the 5th April. First up 26 Greater Flamingos flying east at 8.50am, then the first Caspian Terns (3) of the spring.
Overnight arrivals were three Subalpine Warblers, 6 Blue-headed Wagtails, and a male Black-headed Wheatear.
On the 6th April passage birds were one Grey Heron in company with 9 Purple Herons – not an unusual sight here. Then three Bee eaters and two Sand Martins.
Overnight arrivals were a pale phase Short-toed Eagle (stayed for 5 days), this was the first this spring. A bright plumaged Whinchat was also a first for spring.
No bird counts on the 7th and 8th April due to heavy rain.
Birds passing through on the 9th April included 220 Cormorants and one Arctic Skua, another first this spring.
Overnight arrivals were a male Common Whitethroat (a first for spring), four Bee eaters and a Purple Heron at the Sewage pond.
A quiet day for birds on the 10th April, with the main highlight for me, finally getting a shot of a Purple Heron from the Pallet hide at the Sewage pond.
The 11th April gave me the best bird of the year so far – a female Desert Wheatear, which if accepted would be the first record for the Valencian region. I was able to compare the bird with both Northern Wheatear and Black-eared Wheatear, see photos.
Apart from that excitement, there was an Osprey, one Black Kite and three more female Marsh Harriers passing through.
Overnight arrivals were three Northern Wheatears, a female Black-eared Wheatear, 3 Woodchat Shrikes, 14 Willow Warblers, a male Common Whitethroat, and Common Redstart.a female.
Three Turtle Doves were a first for spring as was a Reed Warbler at the Sewage Pond.
After the excitement of the previous day, the 12th April was very quiet in comparison. The only passage birds were 30 Cormorants and three more female Marsh Harriers flying east.
Only two overnight arrivals – a Little Egret and a Purple Heron at the Sewage Pond.
The tempo of passage quickened up on the 13th April.
First up, 46 Greater Flamingos east at 8.30am, then two minutes later two Great White Egrets (the first this spring), then a Black-winged Stilt, another first for spring. A Marsh Harrier followed, then hundreds of Pallid and Common Swifts and Barn Swallows.
Overnight arrivals included the first Pied Flycatcher of spring and two Common Redstarts.
Two Grey Herons were the first passage birds on the 14th April, followed by 13 Greater Flamingos and one Black Kite.
Overnight birds were a female Common Whitethroat, a reeling Grasshopper Warbler and two Turtle Doves.
The highlight of the 15th April was the first Red-rumped Swallow of the year heading north east. Overnight arrivals were a female Pied Flycatcher, a Common Redstart, one Pallid Swift and 8 Corn Buntings.
No passage birds on the 16th April, but a calling Quail was a first for this spring. Other overnight arrivals were two Bee eaters, 6 Woodchat Shrikes, two Black-eared Wheatears, one each of Northern Wheatear and Blue-headed Wagtail.
17 Whiskered Terns flying South on the 17th April was the main highlight, another spring first.
Another quiet day on the 18th April, with the only addition a female Pied Flycatcher.
A Balearic Shearwater flying South on the 19th April was the first of the month. Six Grey Herons flew east followed by a Black-headed Gull. A male Common Whitethroat was the only new bird in.
Another quiet day on the 20th April. 40 Cormorants were the only birds on passage. A female Black-eared Wheatear and male Pied Flycatcher were new arrivals.
There was a little more passage on the 21st April. Three more female Marsh Harriers, 5 Turtle Doves, 50 Cormorants, two Black-headed Gulls, 6 Common Swifts, 16 Sand Martins and 10 Blue-headed Wagtails all flew east.The only new bird in was another Purple Heron at the Sewage pond.
Two Warblers gave me first spring records on the 23rd April – a singing Melodious Warbler in the Capycorp farmland, and a skulking Great Reed Warbler at the Sewage Pond.
The only passage birds were one more Marsh Harrier and 6 Cormorants flying east over the sea.
The local Torre estate pond had a bit more interest than the usual resident Moorhens on the 24th April. Two Black-winged Stilts and a Little Egret.
Two Gull-billed Terns flying east were the first this spring.
14 Northern Wheatears and 3 Whinchat’s were overnight arrivals.
There were more passage birds than overnight birds on the 25th April – three Shelduck flew east another first for spring, and 12 Bee eaters flew inland north east.
After an early morning thunderstorm on the 26th April birds were either grounded or held back. So I couldn’t wait to get outdoors.
I wasn’t disappointed. First birds seen were a male Pied Flycatcher and the first Spotted Flycatcher of spring. Then four Red-rumped Swallows flew east, followed by a Purple Heron and female Marsh Harrier. Then another female Harrier, this time with a white rump – the first Montagu’s Harrier this spring.
Last passage birds 40 Common Swifts heading north east.
Two Melodious Warblers and 5 Turtle Doves were new in.
However the surprise of the morning was seeing a pair of Cirl Buntings, the female with nesting materiel in her bill.
The surprise for me was that I haven’t seen or heard a Cirl Bunting since the 15th March!
9 Turtle Doves started off the passage birds on the 27th April, followed shortly by the first Golden Oriole of Spring, then a Marsh Harrier flying east over the sea. Two Black-headed Gulls and a lone Bee eater were next to fly east. The last passage birds of the morning were all headed north-east – two Pallid Swifts, four Grey Herons and 26 Bee eaters.
Overnight arrivals included the first Squacco Heron of spring, roosting above the Torre de Capycorp pond – see photo. Two male Pied Flycatchers, three Woodchat Shrikes, and five more Turtle Doves.
The most notable movement of birds on the 28th April was thousands of Common and Pallid Swifts heading north-east into the wind, and surprisingly coming straight in from the sea, as if they had crossed directly over the Mediterranean!
A calling Common Redshank flying east was another first this spring.
A mini influx of waders on the 29th April was an unusual event.
First up was a calling Common Sandpiper flying east, then another five Common Sandpipers with the first Greenshank of spring at Capycorp Lagoon. Shortly after that sighting a Whimbrel flew east, yet another first this spring.
Audouin´s Gulls were on the move, I counted a total of 454 birds, in flocks of 6 to 50.
Another spring first was a Red-necked Nightjar calling near the house at dusk.
The 30th April was fairly quiet bird wise.
The only passage birds were a Grey Heron and a Short-toed Eagle flying east.
Overnight arrivals were a Northern Wheatear and three new Nightingales.
Alcossebre Weather in April, 2009.
The first week in April was very unsettled with rain most days.
At best the week could be summed up as sunshine and showers.
The heaviest rain was on the 7th with 1.5 inches (38mm).
Winds were mainly light and gentle. A strong Northerly wind started up at 7pm on the 7th.
The second week in April was again unsettled with five days of either rain or overcast conditions.
There were two fine and sunny days, on the 9th and 14th.
The third week in April fell into a pattern of sunny/cloudy spells with moderate to strong winds, keeping temperatures down.
No rain all week.
The fourth week in April at last gave us mainly sunny conditions.
There was a hi-cup on the 26th when a Thunderstorm started at 6am, which I guess would have woke up most folk! However, there was only light rain and that cleared up after a couple of hours.
We had the hottest day of the month on the 28th at 29C (84F).
The last two days of April were mainly fine and sunny, until another Thunderstorm at 3pm on the 30th, giving some more light rain.
The average daytime temperature was 22C (72F)
The highest temperature was on the 28th at 29C (84F).
The coldest days were on the 7th and 11th at 14C (57F).
The average night temperature was 10C (50F).
The coldest nights were on the 3rd and 9th at 7C (44F).
The warmest night was on the 22nd at 16C (60F).
Total rainfall for the month was 4.9 inches (125 mm) over 10 days.
The heaviest rain fell on the 7th and 11th with 1.5 inches (38mm).
Wind strengths were with mainly light to gentle most mornings, increasing to moderate in the afternoons.
On three days we had strong northerly winds.
Wind directions were either north to north-west in the mornings and either south-east to south-west in the afternoons. Only three days with easterly winds, unusual here.
Compared to 2008 it was much wetter, only 0.8 inches of rain in 2008. It was 1C colder in day and night temperatures compared to last year.