For me, the Christmas/New Yr break is a really explicit time of the 12 months. It supplies me with a peculiar and strange mixture of birds and it brings again reminiscences of instances previous when the image was totally different in some methods. Residing on the southernmost area of Europe, really additional south than components of North Africa, signifies 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 listing my prime ten favorite species right now of the 12 months, people who I most frequently affiliate with this era and which give me fond reminiscences of a long time of looking for them. Due to the geographical location, two of the three classes into which I’ve grouped my prime 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 stage 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 listing on this class, and general in my prime ten, is the Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). The Spanish title “Avefria” says all of it – the chicken of the chilly. Seeing large 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” chicken is the Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris). Throughout chilly snaps, particularly when the mountains are lined in snow, these beautiful 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 project 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 into scarce, the Chiffchaffs turn into short-term hummingbirds, hovering to extract the nectar from the flowering aloes which originated from South Africa. It’s a novel behaviour which I hung out 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 supplies breeding grounds for mosquitoes and different bugs. This 12 months, 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 12 months.
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 enormous flocks of those birds from Africa right now of the 12 months is likely one of 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, typically in giant 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 possibly can see them at shut quarters.
My final species is, just like the Lapwing, one which has declined considerably, at the very least 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 might see flocks of over 2 hundred Little Gulls offshore. Now there are none.
I ponder what number of readers have their very own favorite seasonal chicken species. It might be enjoyable to match notes! Wishing you all the very best in the course of the season’s festivities and for the brand new 12 months.
