Gibraltar Point Bird Observatory Blog: Late August 2017

August 31st. Heavy rain in afternoon.
On Jackson's Marsh were 8 Spoonbill, 2 Grey Heron and a Little Stint; and on Tennyson's Sands 3 Spotted Redshank and a Greenshank. Around, including birds trapped, were 750 Sandwich Tern, 11 Arctic Tern, a Greenshank and a Wheatear. Flying south were a Great Skua, 4 Whimbrel, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 25 Swallow, 30 Sand Martin, 20 House Martin and a Yellow Wagtail; and east 12 Black-tailed Godwit.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Keith Collett, provided 20 new birds: 2 Willow Warbler, a Goldcrest, 2 Robin, 3 Whitethroat, a Wheatear, a Lesser Whitethroat, 3 Blackcap, 5 Linnet and 2 Blue Tit; and 7 retraps: a Robin, 4 Whitethroat, a Wren and a Blue Tit.

Greenland Wheatear, ringed 31st August 2017.
Photo - George Gregory

August 30th. On Jackson's Marsh were 14 Spoonbill, 84 Little Egret , a Grey Heron and a Kingfisher; and on Tennyson's Sands a Little Gull. On the beach or offshore were an adult Roseate Tern, 400 Sandwich Tern, 30 Common Tern, 3 Arctic Tern, a Red-throated Diver and 10 Arctic Skua. Birds around included a Wheatear, 600 Swallow and 650 House Martin. Going north was a Black Tern.

Little Gull (left) with Black-headed Gulls, 30th August 2017.
Photo - Steven Humphreys

August 29th. On Jackson's Marsh were 12 Spoonbill, a Water Rail, a Green Sandpiper and 11 Snipe. Around, including birds trapped, were a Spotted Redshank, a Green Sandpiper, a Garden Warbler and 2 Goldcrest. Heading southwest were 6 Meadow Pipit, 500 Swallow, 100 House Martin and 100 Sand Martin.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 21 new birds: a Goldcrest, 3 Willow Warbler, a Sedge Warbler, 4 Robin, a Blackcap, 2 Linnet, a Goldfinch, 2 Reed Bunting, a Garden Warbler, a Lesser Whitethroat and 4 Dunnock; and 3 retraps: 2 Wren and a Dunnock.

August 28th. On Jackson's Marsh were 16 Spoonbill and a Little Stint. Birds around included a Marsh Harrier, a Mediterranean Gull, a Grasshopper Warbler, a Whinchat, a Wheatear, 4 House Sparrow and a Siskin. Flying south were 5 Common Buzzard, 2 Whimbrel, 23 Curlew, a Hobby, a Grey Wagtail, 60 Swallow, 15 House Martin and 3 Sand Martin.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes resulted in 6 new birds: 2 Wren, 2 Willow Warbler, a Reed Warbler and a Whitethroat; and 7 retraps: a Whitethroat, a Wren, a Robin, 3 Dunnock and a Blackcap.

Spoonbill, 28th August 2017.
Photo - Paul Neale

Black-tailed Godwits, 28th August 2017.
Photo - Paul Neale

Whimbrel , 28th August 2017.
Photo - Paul Neale

August 27th. On Jackson's Marsh were 12 Spoonbill, 75 Little Egret, a juvenile Little Stint, 2 Common Sandpiper and 25 Dunlin. Around were a Marsh Harrier, a Merlin, 70000 Knot, a Greenshank, a Wheatear, a Yellow Wagtail and 4 Swallow. Going south were 8 Tree Sparrow.
The twelfth and final session of CES was done this morning. The 14 new birds were 4 Wren, a Willow Warbler, a Robin, 3 Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat and 3 Dunnock. The 3 retraps were a Wren, a Blackcap and a Dunnock.
Insects included a Willow Emerald Damselfly.

Willow Emerald Damselfly, 27th August 2017.
Photo - Sam Wilson

Sanderling, 27th August 2017.
Photo - Rob Watson

Speckled Wood, 27th August 2017.
Photo - Rob Watson

Muntjac, 27th August 2017.
Photo - Paul Neale

Cormorant, 27th August 2017.
Photo - Paul Neale

Spoonbills, 27th August 2017.
Photo - Paul Neale

August 26th. On Jackson's Marsh were 19 Spoonbill, a juvenile Little Stint, a Greenshank and a Common Sandpiper; and on Tennyson's Sands a Water Rail, 3 Common Sandpiper and a Kingfisher. Birds around included a Marsh Harrier, 70000 Knot, a Pied Flycatcher, 2 Wheatear and 2 Whinchat. Heading south were 7 Swallow and 70 Tree Sparrow; and north 2 Black Tern.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Chris Hansell, provided 26 new birds: 4 Willow Warbler, a Goldcrest, a Wren, a Sedge Warbler, a Linnet, 2 Blackcap, 2 Reed Warbler, 6 Whitethroat, a Robin, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, a Reed Bunting and 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker; and 12 retraps: 4 Dunnock, 3 Robin, a Wren, 3 Whitethroat and a Great Tit.

Pied Flycatcher, 26th August 2017.
Photo - Kevin Wilson

Noisy juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, ringed 26th August 2017.
Photo - George Gregory

August 25th. On Jackson's Marsh were 18 Spoonbill, a Common Sandpiper, 4 Snipe, a Ruff and 49 Little Egret; and on Tennyson's Sands a Snipe, 2 Spotted Redshank, a Green Sandpiper and 150 Black-tailed Godwit. Around were a Marsh Harrier, a Greenshank, a Yellow-legged Gull, 15 Yellow Wagtail, a Wheatear and a Tree Sparrow. Flying south were 3 Swift, 740 Swallow, 8 Sand Martin, 38 House Martin, a Tree Pipit, 2 Grey Wagtail and 3 Tree Sparrow; and west 4 Grey Heron.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 30 new birds: 12 Willow Warbler, a Wren, 3 Robin, 5 Linnet, a Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Whitethroat, a Sedge Warbler and a Song Thrush; and 6 retraps: 2 Whitethroat, 3 Dunnock and a Robin.

Grey Plover, 25th August 2017

Sparrowhawk, 25th August 2017

Snipe, 25th August 2017

August 24th. On Jackson's Marsh were 18 Spoonbill, 64 Little Egret, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Snipe and a Kingfisher; and on Tennyson's Sands 6 Common Sandpiper and a Ruff. Birds around included a Marsh Harrier, 9 Little Egret, 50000 Knot, 2 Spotted Redshank, 3 Snipe, a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 3 Goldcrest and a Garden Warbler. Going south were 52 Sand Martin, 84 House Martin, 428 Swallow.a Tree Pipit, 10 Yellow Wagtail and 3 Tree Sparrow.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes, with Keith Collett, yielded 53 new birds: 37 Willow Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler, 6 Robin, 2 Whitethroat, a Linnet, 3 Blue Tit, a Reed Warbler and a Kingfisher; and 5 retraps: 2 Dunnock, 2 Great Tit and a Whitethroat.

Small Copper, 24th August 2017.
Photo - Owen Beaumont

Kingfisher, ringed 24th August 2017.
Photo - George Gregory

August 23rd. Around were 16 Spoonbill, a Merlin, a Peregrine, 4 Whimbrel, a Common Sandpiper, a Green Sandpiper, a Greenshank, 5 Snipe, a Crossbill and a Bullfinch. Heading south were a Swift and 60 Swallow.
A brief morning ringing session in East Dunes provided 4 new birds: singles of Wren, Robin, Whitethroat and Swallow; and a retrap Dunnock.

August 22nd. A White-rumped Sandpiper was discovered at Greenshanks Creek early morning. Later it flew off south. Birds around included 20 Spoonbill (a reserve record), 2 Mediterranean Gull, 2 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 2 Snipe and a Green Woodpecker. Flying south were a Velvet Scoter, 4 Swift, 5 Sand Martin, 15 House Martin and 120 Swallow.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes was disappointing. The 3 new birds were a Wren, a Linnet and a Swallow; and the 6 retraps were a Great Tit, a Dunnock, 2 Blackcap, a Wren and a Willow Warbler.

White-rumped Sandpiper, 22nd August 2017.
Photo - James Siddle

August 21st. Around were 10 Spoonbill, a Common Buzzard, a Water Rail, a Greenshank, 2 Spotted Redshank, a Green Sandpiper, 3 Snipe, a Mediterranean Gull, a Treecreeper, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Whinchat. Going south were 2 Whimbrel, 6 Sand Martin, 3 House Martin and 55 Swallow.
A morning ringing session in East Dunes produced 12 new birds: 3 Willow Warbler, 3 Robin, 2 Sedge Warbler, a Reed Warbler, 2 Whitethroat and a Linnet; and 7 retraps: 2 Wren, 2 Dunnock, a Linnet, a Willow Warbler and a Blackcap.