[tchagra]

Hi Ringers etc etc

Well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a week my UK ringer had on Gib.and all the birds for himself ,lucky devil.I hope the next 2 guys that have now joined him have a good one too as they now know by now what they just missed!!!

Dont eat a big meal before you read this,it might give you indigestion!!!

We had of course all the usual retraps,5 BLACKBIRDS,6 BLACKCAPS,and 18 SARDINIAN WARBLERS!!!

The ringing totals were as follows:

1 GREAT TIT
11 BLACKBIRDS
15 WILLOW WARBLERS
15 SARDINIAN WARBLERS
23 GARDEN WARBLERS
2 COMMON REDSTARTS
14 PIED FLYCATCHERS
9 ORPHEAN WARBLERS
2 REED WARBLERS
1 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER
1 NORTHERN WHEATEAR
2 SUBALPINE WARBLER
5 WREN
2 BEE EATERS
1 ROCK THRUSH
3 BLUE TITS
3 COMMON WHITETHROATS
2 HOUSE SPARROWS
1 CHIFFCHAFF
5 IBERIAN CHIFFCHAFFS
14 BLACKCAPS
1 WRYNECK
1 GREENFINCH
1 GRASSHOPPER WARBLER
1 NIGHTINGALE

Pick yourselves up off the floor now!!

Well ,that should be the last of the Iberian Chiffchaffs as the first Collybita collybita has hit the nets,and this coicides what I have been getting this week,but more of that later.

THE GROOPER ended up in the usual upper section of rides,in 1 of the ususl 2 nets that we always seem to trap them!!!

The 2 Stunning Bee Eaters were 1 adult and a juv.,did not see them personally,but having ringed a few last Autumn know exactly what they are like in the Hand,cannot find the right superlatives for them.

I remember when I had my first ringing session at Eilat in Israel and the first bird in the hand was a Little Green Bee Eater,equally stunning.

Mustnt ramble on,sorry!!!

The Orphean Warbler is a stonking great Sylvia and was there 1 day when a couple were trapped so got a couple of pix to show you.

But,the most amzing bird was a juv. ROCK THRUSH,not a BLUE ROCK THRUSH,but a ROCK THRUSH!!!!

The ringer has taken some slides of the bird and has promised to send them on when he gets them developed ,cant wait to see the pix.

I shall have to look in the archives to see if this species has been ringed on the rock before,I have enough troble tracking them down in the Spring when they pass through here on their way to breeding grounds in the mnts.,but a bird in the net is something else!!!

I still cannot believe it,think I will go and have another glass of Spanish Rioja!!!

BTW Take a look at this cracking adult male Orphean warbler,and note the old SS3,typical odd moult for this species down here.

Your Stunned Spanish Correspondent

[John Marshall]

Hi Tchagra,
Interesting Gib report, your chap on Gib certainly turned up some good stuff. Keep the ringing news coming in, I am one of the first to read your ringing news. Makes my few ringed starlings and house sparrows this last 10 days very insignificant!!!

[tchagra]

Hi John

Dont feel that House Sparrows and Starlings are insignificant,just as important as what we are ringing down here.,and even more important to UK,in light of what has happened to their pops.in the last few years.

Remember it was not that long ago that we were discouraged to ring House Sparrows!!!!

Keep up the good work,and take as much info on the birds while you have them in the hand,it MAY be useful in years to come.,but if you dont record it then we will never know if there are changes in moult patterns etc etc.

Hasta lleugo

Ricardo (Tchagra)

[Edward]

Sounds great. I would love to see Bee-eaters that close up. Don't suppose you ever get my favourite of all, and one that even eclipses Bee-eater in terms of beauty IMHO, that is Roller, in the nets?

E

[tchagra]

Hi Edward

Never ringed Roller on Gib.,and I have never done so in Spain.

Spring migrants usually go straight to thier breeding grounds in Extremedura or much further E in Almeria,and I have only had a few personal sightings in my area at that time.

In the Autumn they migrate through an area called Bolonia
N.of Gib.and they are few and far between too!!!

Never mind.Dream On!!!!

Your Spanish Correspondent