Bird of prey migration. (1 Viewer)

Birdman7 · Mar 8, 2013

Passage.

eddy the eagle said:
I went to Punta Carnero,Algeciras,this afternoon during a break in the weather,but with strong westerly winds.Birds seen: black stork,100´s black kite,60 odd short toed eagles,8 egyptian vultures,1 peregrine falcon and 1 sparrowhawk.Birds were being blown over Gibraltar at times in winds of force 5-6,but except when it was obviously raining in Morrocco,when no birds crossed,most of the birds made landfall near Punta Carnero,swallows and house martins were crossing all afternoon with no problem,but no ospreys were seen.

Yep, definitely passing over my house those BK, as usual with these winds, they are hardly breaking sweat or flapping just gliding fast past with the accompanying winds

Tiger_mz · Mar 9, 2013

Well here is one osprey that has begun his migration. He is Coley and left his wintering grounds on Tuesday 5th March.

The person doing the tracking viz Bob Kennedy is a new one in the field of osprey tracking although he used to be a collegue of the well known Rob Bierregaard.

He presents his blogs in an interesting way.

MJB · Mar 9, 2013

Jon Turner said:
I'll be in Jimena for two weeks from Tuesday - hope the weather improves. If I can find some internet access, I'll post any sightings on here.

Jon,
Hostal El Anon has WiFi/WLAN in the bar and balcony areas; purchase a snack or refreshment, get the log-on info, then ask Susanna or Gabriel for permission to use the rooftop balcony for migration watch, if the weather is dry!

Some Griffon passage data past Jimena from the afternoon of 6 March, when the rain stopped for four hours: in excess of 500 Griffons headed north, most I think from weather-bound roost stops after crossing the Strait. Black kites, only a handful,; one Cinereous Vulture; one Red Kite; no Short-toed Eagles, no Egyptian Vultures and definitely no Rüppell's Vulture identified!
MJB

Jon Turner · Mar 9, 2013

MJB said:
Jon,
Hostal El Anon has WiFi/WLAN in the bar and balcony areas; purchase a snack or refreshment, get the log-on info, then ask Susanna or Gabriel for permission to use the rooftop balcony for migration watch, if the weather is dry!

Some Griffon passage data past Jimena from the afternoon of 6 March, when the rain stopped for four hours: in excess of 500 Griffons headed north, most I think from weather-bound roost stops after crossing the Strait. Black kites, only a handful,; one Cinereous Vulture; one Red Kite; no Short-toed Eagles, no Egyptian Vultures and definitely no Rüppell's Vulture identified!
MJB

Thanks MJ, I know Susannah quite well, and we love drinking coffee on the terrace there. Saw Cinereous V from there once! I might try El Ventorrillero where Luis has wifi too.
There's a big local population of Griffons. I have frequently come across 1/2/300 at a bit of carrion.
I've seen 19 (or 20?) different birds of prey from my house in the village - I was a bit cross when I met a British birder once who had just seen 2 Golden Eagles above the castle - still need them!

MJB · Mar 9, 2013

Jon Turner said:
Thanks MJ, I know Susannah quite well, and we love drinking coffee on the terrace there. Saw Cinereous V from there once! I might try El Ventorrillero where Luis has wifi too.
There's a big local population of Griffons. I have frequently come across 1/2/300 at a bit of carrion.
I've seen 19 (or 20?) different birds of prey from my house in the village - I was a bit cross when I met a British birder once who had just seen 2 Golden Eagles above the castle - still need them!

Luis is a mean chef, too!
MJB

Jon Turner · Mar 9, 2013

MJB said:
Luis is a mean chef, too!
MJB

Er no, it's his Madre who does all the cooking and she is indeed a mean chef!!!

MJB · Mar 10, 2013

Jon Turner said:
Er no, it's his Madre who does all the cooking and she is indeed a mean chef!!!

I agree, but Luis isn't quick to deflect compliments as to his culinary abilities!
MJB

Birdman7 · Mar 11, 2013

Black Kite

A Black Kite having just arrived at GibraƖtar across the straits this morning.

This individual shows certain characteristics of Red Kite such as the pale primary patch and reddish brown plumage and grey head but this particular individual's tail is smaller, less forked and the rest of the plumage overall duller than the Red Kite which also has more conspicuous 'fingers'. Just shows the amount of variation and potential for confusion between these two species, particularly with less experienced observers.

John Cantelo · Mar 11, 2013

Jon Turner said:
Thanks MJ, I know Susannah quite well, and we love drinking coffee on the terrace there. Saw Cinereous V from there once! I might try El Ventorrillero where Luis has wifi too.
There's a big local population of Griffons. I have frequently come across 1/2/300 at a bit of carrion.
I've seen 19 (or 20?) different birds of prey from my house in the village - I was a bit cross when I met a British birder once who had just seen 2 Golden Eagles above the castle - still need them!

I know how you feel, Jon. An imm. Bonelli's Eagle finally bumped my terrace BoP total up to 20 last September, but five years ago I had a Hen Harrier about 50m along the road - a species I still wait to see from our place. I'd have got to 20 2 or more years back had I sprinted back to the house! Still waiting for SIE and B-w Kite both of which I've been seen in the area.

Birdman7 · Mar 11, 2013

Raptors, the dangers of migration

Here's a series of photos taken today depicting the trauma migrant Short-toed Eagles annually endure after successfully crossing the straits and reaching the skies above GibraƖtar. When all seems well after reaching the other side of the straits, they encounter our numerous colony of highly territorial Yellow-legged Gulls.

It is quite frequent to observe these gulls, sometimes in groups of up to 50 or more, mobbing these tired Short-toed Eagles. If all this wasn't enough, our local Peregrine Falcons sometimes join the Yellow-legged Gulls into forcing the Eagles into submission. and on occasions inflicting some serious harm, causing them to fall to the ground. Some unlucky ones, fall into the sea and meet a tragic death, particularly during May, when the less experienced and tired immature & non-breeding Short-toed Eagles arrive from Africa across the straits and the gulls are rearing their chicks. The lucky ones that make a forced landfall, are sometimes collected by the The raptor rehab unit of the Gib Ornithological & Nat His Society and more often than not successfully released into the wild a few days later.

These events occur annually, particularly during the pre-nuptial migration when the Gulls & Peregrine Falcons are most territorial, but much less so during the post-nuptial migration when most of our local Yellow-legged leave the breeding colony and disperse out towards the Atlantic.

Also seen during the session were approx 500 Black kites, 50 Short-toed eagles, 2 Booted Eagles, 1 Marsh harrier, 1 Sparrowhawk, 1 Common Kestrel, 1 Osprey and plenty of hirundines (Swallow, Red-rumped & House martins)

eddy the eagle · Mar 12, 2013

The short toed eagles are struggling in the strong winds and when they arrive on the Spanish sides of the Straits you can see their beaks wide open as they struggle for air.I have observed in the past STE with full crops arriving on the northern shore and I think they are attacked by gulls wishing to get them to disgorge their food.Some of them look like they have swallowed a tenis ball,so must have had good hunting on the African side......Eddy

Birdman7 · Mar 12, 2013

Gulls vs raptors

eddy the eagle said:
The short toed eagles are struggling in the strong winds and when they arrive on the Spanish sides of the Straits you can see their beaks wide open as they struggle for air.I have observed in the past STE with full crops arriving on the northern shore and I think they are attacked by gulls wishing to get them to disgorge their food.Some of them look like they have swallowed a tenis ball,so must have had good hunting on the African side......Eddy

I agree with your comments Eddy about the STE beaks wide open, they generally arrive very tired as they are heavy birds and not particularly good crossers!

The Yellow-legged Gull colony here is extremely territorial, try an approach a nest here and a group will attack you fiercely within seconds and even been hit on my head by a few in the past! Birders here in Gib know that whenever the gull colony panics and fly out into the skies, is one of 2 things, a human intruding into their territory or a bird of prey. In the case of a bird of prey which is more often the case, 9 times out of 10, its either a Short-toed Eagle or a Griffon Vulture but its always exciting cause you know whats coming, its a large raptor!. In fact, you'l hear the gulls starting to squawk before you even see them, so you know theres one coming, which is a good tell-tale sign for the bird photographer hehe!

These gulls generally attack anything bigger than themselves as I have seen during the years mobbing most raptors, and even storks. But they seem to have a particular dislike to those two, as do the local Peregrines and even Raven! The are generally oblivious to the presence of raptors such as, the Black kite for example, they dont normally bother with them. They will though attack a Booted Eagle more than a Kite even though they are fairly similarly sized but Booted Eagles, being strong fliers, can evade their assaults with ease, much less so, the Short-toed Eagles, which are more cumbersome fliers. I have picked up myself several Short-toed's from the ground with nasty injuries, almost always with bad head/eye injuries which is what the gulls target.

I can safely say though, that these attacks are almost always a case of territorial defence and not one of food predation.

eddy the eagle · Mar 12, 2013

birdman,I agree with you about territorial protection at the nest sites on Gibraltar,I have been attacked myself but at Punta Carnero there are no nest sites and the STE´s that i have seen attacked by the gulls have full or parcially full crops hence my assumation.....Eddy. PS.... to assume makes an ASS/of U/and ME. annon.

Birdman7 · Mar 13, 2013

eddy the eagle said:
birdman,I agree with you about territorial protection at the nest sites on Gibraltar,I have been attacked myself but at Punta Carnero there are no nest sites and the STE´s that i have seen attacked by the gulls have full or parcially full crops hence my assumation.....Eddy. PS.... to assume makes an ASS/of U/and ME. annon.

Eddie I think we are both right and u have a valid point with regards the nesting sites of YLG in that area. I have seen YLG successfully harassing Grey Herons to disgorge their food in a similar manner to Skuas.

Jon Turner · Mar 14, 2013

Ok, ensconced in El Ventorillero and arrrived in rain on Tuesday afternoon, so not much happened on day one. Wednesday we walked the valley and I started to see Short-toed Eagles going over scored about 23 by the time we got back for coffee at the Cuenca.
Had to go shopping and went to Los Angeles (no not that one!) where I noticed 'a few' BOPS going over. So I said I'll stay out here and do a count. Well by the time I was called to help inside I had seen 360+ Black Kites and another 50+ STE's. The stream of Kites switched from over Jimena to west of Los Angeles and I kept counting. With all these and some I subsequently saw from our house, and out in the country west of Los Angeles, I conservatively reckon on at least a thousand Black Kites and 200+ Short-toed Eagles. NO other Eagles or Kites was a surprise.
Today (Thursday) from my bed I saw a few BOPS and grabbed the bins and saw 112 Black Kites going north over the small line of hills west of Jimena. We again did the valley and I saw about 12 STE's and just as we were leaving the river I connected with the main stream east of the town, but they were very distant - probably 200 Black Kites and some other, larger unidentifiable raptors (probablt STE's) amongst them. We decided on a picnic up the hill way up to the west of Jimena, but by the time we got there they'd all gone.
Other birds seen so far have included: Spanish Sparrow, Hawfinch and Hoopoe. A few Whitethroats singing were a bit early I thought, and an Alpine Swift over the village during the rain on Tuesday was a surprise.

More anon

Birdman7 · Mar 14, 2013

Raptors

Nice numbers Jon.

I had loads of Short-toed Eagles yesterday approx 200+ and about 300 Black Kites, 8 Booted Eagles, 6 Marsh Harriers, 4 Egyptian Vulture, 1 Osprey, 2 Sparrowhawks, 200 White Storks, 70 Black Stork and a stream of Hirundines including House Martins, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallows & Crag Martins & a few Hoopoes.

Birdman7 · Mar 16, 2013

Yesterday

Very few birds migrating yesterday considering it was a fresh easterly and clear sunny skies, although the highlight was a migrant Black-winged Kite feeding over the hills after just arriving across the straits. 15 Booted Eagle, 5 Black Kite, 2 Short-toed Eagle (See below), 1 Egyptian vulture, 2 Griffon. Several Hoopoes.

Jon Turner · Mar 17, 2013

Precious little over here the past few days, no more Kites at all, and only today (when it warmed up a bit this afternoon) did I see a few (9) Short-toed Eagles over the house along with 4 Booted (all pale) a drive out into the Campo towards Sambana yesterday produced about 25 Lesser Kestrels, and a real surprise was a smart male Woodchat Shrike! Another Hoopoe today.
I thought the wind, such as it was, was looking a bit westerly this evening so maybe more tomorrow, although the forecast is more showers for the next couple of days.

JustinG · Mar 18, 2013

The first Osprey is back at Rutland Water. The bird is 03(97) - the most successful breeding Osprey at Rutland Water, and he is back two days earlier than any other bird previously before.

http://www.ospreys.org.uk/0397-returns-earlier-than-ever-to-snow-and-fog/

Birdman7 · Mar 18, 2013

Passage.

Not a lot of passage going over Gib 2day, sunny but northwesterlies blowing, a small constant trickle mostly Black Kites Short-toed's and Booted Eagles. Must be better over by Getares. Any1 there today to confirm?

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