Tuesday 16 April 2013

Migration Summary

It's hard to generalise from a mere 13 days of observations and as ever when observing migration on a headland or island much of what happens is dependent on the weather. This was our earliest visit to Cape Tenaro so we also can't draw direct comparisons to counts and sightings in other years. A few general thoughts:

  • It was very windy! This produced a a couple of excellent rarities but the lack of northerly or north-westerly winds and no significant rain meant there were no big 'falls'. The luck of the draw....
  • The biggest mixed fall was probably on the day we arrived (28th March) and as we didn't start birding until after 14.00hrs coverage was incomplete. It did show however that March birding at the Cape has the potential to be excellent.
  • There were small arrivals, and no substantial ones, on most days during our stay. Interestingly these were generally limited to only a few species, with other species (that were already on migration) not appearing at the same time. We've seen this happen before but not as often.
  • The winds and small numbers of migrants on the move meant that early morning observations at the lighthouse of birds coming in off the sea were disappointing. This can be very rewarding.
  • A number of migrant species appeared early, indeed we had not really expected to see Bee-eater, Wood Warbler or Garden Warbler. They may well have been helped by the strong south to south-east winds.
  • There was a steady passage of raptors, mostly Kestrels and Marsh Harriers throughout our stay. Later in the spring there is generally a better diversity over a two week period.
  • Birding this early in the season clearly has lots of potential and after the long north European winter was a delight. We will be back!

Thursday 11 April 2013

Raptor Migration at Cape Tenaro

Small numbers of raptors make their first land fall at Cape Tenaro in the spring after crossing the Mediterraean from North Africa. The table below summarises the number of apparent migrant raptors seen this spring over a period of 13 days. In addition to these species there were also sightings of Short-toed Eagle, Buzzard and Peregrine however these were all considered to be locally breeding birds. 

Raptor Migration at Cape Tenaro 

28 March to 9 April 2013  

Species
Number Seen
Montagu’s / Pallid Harrier
2
Marsh Harrier
8
Osprey
1
Lesser Kestrel
2
Kestrel
38
Kestrel Sp.
6
Falcon Sp.
1
 
 
Total
58

In previous years a number of other migrant raptor species have also been seen: Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Pallid Harrier, Montagu's Harrier, Sparrowhawk, Red-footed Falcon and Eleonora's Falcon. Numbers are generally small however occasionally larger movements do occur such as 13 Montagu's Harriers and 25 Marsh Harriers on 30th April 2006.

Sightings betwen the Cape Tenaro headland and Gerolimenas, at Gerolimenas and on the plateau area north-west of there suggest that other raptors make their first land fall between Cape Tenaro and Cape Pounda.

Based on our own observations over the last 10+ years it would not be unreasonable to suppose that for the whole of the Mani peninsula spring raptor migration involves some 500 to 1000 birds each year. This however is a 'guesstimate' and it would be great to have the time to do a more systematic survey. Anyone want to volunteer? 

No more live posts until next year :(

Yesterday was our last day bird watching at Cape Tenaro for this year. Over the next week I will post a few more photos and some general comments on our observations this spring, including a summary of his year's raptor passage. Thanks to all those who have been having a look - according to the stats provide by Google people from at least 11 different countries !

More soon - I've now added the Osprey pics from yesterday

 

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Mini Raptor passage and a few Warblers ...

At last the wind has dropped enough to make finding small birds possible, not that there was that much to see. Counts for the more obvious species were 20 Whitethroats, 19 Willow Warbler, 6 Redstart, 2 Black Redstart, 5 Pied Flycatcher and single Hoopoe and Wryneck.

The main interest of the day was again at or near the lighthouse with an Osprey coming in off the sea at 08.50, a Marsh Harrier at 10.00 and there were also 4 new Kestrels.

Osprey comes in off the sea
Osprey mobbed by a Gull

Weather - WNW 5 to start but almost calm in the most sheltered areas, dropping a little later. Mostly clear and the best visibility for a week with Antikythira just visible.

 

Monday 8 April 2013

The Wind takes its toll and some raptors struggle through

 

With westerly gales over night still going strong this morning the bushes and olive groves were impossible for birding so we opted to fight our way out to the lighthouse which in the circumstances was remarkably productive. In the shelter of the ridge close to the lighthouse there were single Blackcap, Redstart and Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warblers, 2 Northern Wheatear and a group of 10 very tired looking Swallows as well as 2 Red-rumped Swallows. We can't be sure when these birds arrived but they didn't appear to be present yesterday morning. Amazingly a Little Egret came in off the sea while we were there, where had that set off from?

Hirundines at the lighthouse


A search of the bushes and gardens was almost fruitless. However more surprisingly 6 Kestrels and a single Marsh Harrier were seen heading north off the headland and were all presumed to have somehow found their way in during the day.

Away from the headland the exhausted hirundines we saw yesterday had suffered for roosting on the road with 2 dead House Martins and 2 dead Swallows following collisions with cars.

Victims of the windy weather


The plateau above Gerolimenas also proved productive for raptors with 2 Lesser Kestrel and 7 Kestrel (only 2 of the latter seen yesterday); while a single Montagu's Harrier and 2 Montagu's / Pallid Harriers were seen crossing Gerolimenas bay and heading on to the plateau late on.

Weather - westerly gale with showers overnight increasing WNW 9 by mid-morning, relenting a little force 8 during the afternoon. Overcast to start, clearing by midday and some broken cloud by early evening.

 

Sunday 7 April 2013

Gales, Saharan murk and a few new migrants

Well after overnight SSE gales and the continuing poor visibility our expectations for today were pretty low, indeed it seemed unlikely that there would be any new birds as Cape Tenaro would be hard to find ! This largely proved to be the case and most migrants produced their lowest counts since we arrived. Despite the conditions however some birds had made it in overnight, on a walk out to the lighthouse there were 4 Red-throated Pipits, 8 Short-toed Larks, an all too brief view of a female Montagu's / Pallid Harrier (being given grief by one of the local Peregrines), a tired and clearly newly arrived Hoopoe and a new Nightjar.

Red-throated Pipit on 'pipit plateau'

Inland birds were indeed hard to find even in the more sheltered areas however there were 6 Redstart and 8 Whinchat both up on yesterday so possibly newly arrived. For the second time in 4 days there was a noticeable increase in Northern Wheatear during the course of the day with only 3 seen before lunch and a further 17 seen during the afternoon mostly on roads that had been driven in the morning. Does this reflect a normal pattern of Northern Wheatear arrivals in this part of the Med?

A large and presumably freshly arrived 'ball' of 150+ Spanish Sparrows zoomed through 'windy gap' at Paliros, heading south in a panic so we suspect they had just had a close encounter with a raptor.

Away from the headland there was further evidence of new arrivals with a substantial gathering of Swallows in a sheltered valley between Kiparissos and Alika including one bird that was so exhausted it was picked up off the road but flew off again in a few minutes. At Gerolimenas there was also a steady stream of northbound Swallows flying across the bay and others feeding low around the village. Meanwhile on the plateau above there were 2 Marsh Harrier, a male Montagu's Harrier and distant views of another Montagu's / Pallid Harrier.

Weather - SSE gale overnight, abating SSW force 5 by 09.00, from mid-afternoon the wind strengthened WNW 6-7. Visibility poor in morning, improving after 14.30 but then overcast by 18.00 and rain from 20.00.

The tired Hoopoe on 'pipit plateau'

 

Saturday 6 April 2013

Birds of the Night

Well today was much quieter with far fewer migrants about, indeed the only species to show an apparent increase was Great Reed Warbler with 5 birds seen or heard up from two yesterday. The lack of migrants was however compensated for by 3 new species for the year. First off was a Scops Owl calling first thing from the valley leading down to Secret Beach (Vathi Bay). Next up was a Nightjar flushed from the path leading out to the lighthouse at 'Swallow Hollow', clearly fairly tired as it only flew about 50m before landing again. Then the biggest surprise of the day was a Black-winged Stilt that spent at least 40 minutes flying around Porto Sternes without landing. Visible migration at the lighthouse limited to 4 Swallows in-off.

Oh nearly forgot to mention that the Blue-cheeked Beauty was not seen today so has presumably left.

Weather - NNE force 5 pretty much all day and overcast. Due to strong SE winds further south there was a lot of Saharan murk for most of the day and early and late visibility poor.

Nightjar at SwallowHollow
Black-winged Stilt at Porto Sternes

 

Friday 5 April 2013

A small mixed fall

Some news on the commoner migrants today.

Weather - Wind, almost calm after sunrise but soon NE 5-6 to late afternoon then becoming SSE 6. Mostly clear with occasional broken cloud in morning.

A wider variety of species were on the move today and although none were in exceptional numbers there was at least a good variety on show. Totals for the day for grounded species showing an increase were 10 Hoopoe, 15 Wryneck, 6 Woodchat Shrike, 9 Wood Warbler, 30 Whitethroat, 17 Subalpine Warbler, 45 Nightingale, 2 Collared Flycatcher, 4 Pied Flycatcher and 6 Redstart. The first Spotted Flycatcher and Cuckoo of the year were also noted.

Among the daytime migrants while Swallows were down Red-rumped Swallows were up with 18 logged and the first 'ball' of 70 north bound Spanish Sparrows went over Paliros at about 12.30.

There was also a mini raptor passage with 1 Marsh Harrier and 7 Kestrels north, an unidentified white-rumped harrier glimpsed briefly on the mountain and another harrier heading east c.1km off-shore from the lighthouse in to the headwind - and making slow progress.

 

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater here for a second day

Well to our surprise the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater was here for a second day. It had relocated to where the road ends at Kokinoghia. Initially it was on wires leading to the isolated house east of the Point car park but a couple of hours later it had moved to the upper part of the village and joined 4 European Bee-eaters. Our last sighting was about 11.00 and we didn't get a chance to look again at the end of the day to see if it was still there.

More on today's other birds later.

Two sorts of Bee-eaters at Kokinoghia 5 April 2013

 

 

Thursday 4 April 2013

Of Wheatears and Bee-eaters

A quick summary of today's passage:

Weather - Wind WNW 6-7 in morning, decreasing 6 later. Mostly overcast early on but clearing by midday and then clear.

The wind once again made finding birds hard however it was not quite as difficult as yesterday and it was obvious by late morning that there had been a small arrival overnight. In the afternoon more Wheatears suddenly appeared along the roads to the Point and Mianes seemingly indicating birds arriving during the day, this was confirmed as we drove north from the headland at the end of the day with small groups of Wheatears present on the road (c35 in total).

Totals for the day for those species showing a marked increase were: 7 Hoopoe, 18 Willow Warbler, 27 Whitethroat, 15 Subalpine Warbler, 13 Whinchat, 37 Northern Wheatear, 17 Black-eared Wheatear ans. single White Wagtail.

In addition to the Blue-cheeked Bee-eater mentioned in the previous post there were also 7+ Bee-eaters in 3 parties.

At dusk there were further indications that things are improving when 46 Little Egrets and 18 Grey Herons flew north at Gerolimenas.

Fingers crossed for a good day tomorrow !

 

A Wheatear Fall and a Bee-eater Bonus

Well hopes for today were relatively low with the WNW wind still blowing force 6 to 7; up until lunchtime it had continued to feel like hard work although we had picked up a bigger variety of species than yesterday. After lunch we decided to walk up to Mianes as the flattish fields there are often good for Wheatears, as we walked up the road we spotted a Bee-eater on the wires ahead and to both our surprise and delight it turned out to be a BlueCheeked !!!

After a while watching this and getting some passable pics we carried on up to the plateau where we saw a good number of Wheatears, but more of that later as beer and food are the next priority !

The Bee-eater was still present as we left Mianes and was sat on the first powerlines as you approach the village.

 

 

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Oh how the wind blows .... and blows ......

Well despite some signs of early promise when 3 Marsh Harriers went north in half an hour (c.08.00hrs) and the Bee-eaters mentioned in the last post the rest of the day proved hard work. The wind was WNW pretty much all day Force 6 increasing 7 with gusts of 8 and so finding anywhere sheltered on the headland where a migrant bird might show itself proved a challenge. As a result nearly all species were down in numbers; perhaps surprisingly though the species total was similar to yesterday though we did only manage a single individual of 13 species.

There were however a few signs of movement, a Tawny Pipit came in-off at the lighthouse, the 5 Bee-eaters were clearly new, there were single Pied and Collared Flycatchers, the total of 161 Swallows was easily the best yet and 6 Redstarts was two up on yesterday and probably represented a genuine increase. While Wrynecks were down to 7 all of these were in or close to the southern most village (Kokinoghia) on the headland where we only had 1 or 2 yesterday so were probably also new in. Despite this it felt like really hard work and the forecast suggests it will only be a little bit easier tomorrow.

Wryneck near Kokinoghia

 

The first grounded Bee-eater of the year

We heard 2 groups go over 2 days ago however today we actually got to see some. There were 4 this morning hawking with Swallows in the shelter of the lighthouse ridge while this afternoon this bird was feeding over the gardens at Porto Kaghio.

Bee-eater at Porto Kaghio

 

Tuesday 2 April 2013

Wrynecks and Nightingales

Well no sooner had I said the Wryneck passage was nothing special this year then we get a decent arrival. Today's total amounted to 18 birds seen, mostly in the gardens and olive groves of the northern half of the headland. Several of them out sunbathing on prominent perches and so performing very well. Our previous best counts were of 10 birds in a day on 24th April 2005 and 8th April 2008.

Along with the Wrynecks there was a small fall of other species, none especially abundant, totals for the day for species showing a noticeable increase included: 27 Nightingale, 9 Quail, 6 Woodchat Shrike, 14 Whitethroat and 17 Subalpine Warbler.

Other notable highlights today were 2 female Peregrines having a noisy stand-off over the lighthouse and a Black Redstart with only one leg at Paliros that seemed to be doing remarkably well in the windy weather. Late in the day there were two Spanish Sparrows near Marmari the first we've seen this year.

Monday 1 April 2013

Departures and arrivals ........

The fairly strong force 6 to 7 north-westerly winds did not offer that much promise and as expected there were no significant arrivals however, perhaps surprisingly, some new birds did make it in while others had departed. At the lighthouse several flava wagtails were seen coming in and small groups of Swallows also moved north.

Species showing a noticeable increase were: 11 Willow Warbler, 4 Ruppell's Warbler, 14 Northern Wheatear, 12 Black-eared Wheatear, 12 Whinchat and 23 Tawny Pipit. There was also a build up of hirundines feeding on the sheltered east side of the mountain in the afternoon and totals for the day were 115 Swallows and 8 Red-rumped Swallows. Other signs of in coming migrants included single Lesser Kestrel and Marsh Harrier both of which went north.

The surprise bird of the day was the first, and seemingly early, Wood Warbler of the year at 'Windy Gap' (Paliros).

Counts for species that had clearly declined over night were: 1 Sedge Warbler, 12 Subalpine Warbler, 5 Blackcap and 13 Nightingale.

It is interesting that Antikythira has been reporting higher than usual numbers of both Wryneck and Hoopoe over the last week. Numbers of Wryneck at Cape Tenaro are lower this year compared to previous years, while the Hoopoe numbers are good but similar to other years. There are also some marked differences in species diversity with no Lesser Whitethroat or Semi-collared Flycatcher seen here yet this year and only one Balkan Warbler. Such differences may reflect ringing over observations as a way of assessing migrant abundance or diversity or perhaps there are real differences even given the relative closeness of the two sites (90km).

Sunday 31 March 2013

A small passage of pipits and wagtails

It was generally another slow day with numbers of the commoner migrants similar or a little fewer then yesterday. The only exception to this was a small arrival of pipits and wagtails, most of these being seen on a walk out to the lighthouse and back; totals for the day were 36 'flava' Wagtails, 2 White Wagtails (at Koureli), 14 Tawny Pipits, 2 Tree Pipits and the first Red-throated Pipit of the year. 

The only migrants to have increased in numbers were Hoopoe (11) and Woodchat Shrike (4). Counts for a selection of the other grounded migrants were: 11 Quail, 2 Wryneck, 4 Willow Warbler, 14 Blackcap, 5 Whitethroat, 2 Ruppell's Warblers, 21 Subalpine Warblers, 4 Sedge Warblers, 2 Great Reed Warblers, 18 Nightingale, 1 Collared Flycatcher, 2 Black Redstart, 4 Redstart and 4 Whinchat.

Hopefully better tomorrow ! Now where have I heard that before ................

Saturday 30 March 2013

A small arrival ........

The first part of the morning was poor with relatively few birds visible, indeed a walk out to the lighthouse and back found only 4 grounded migrants. Howeve the bushes on the northern part of the headland, particularly around Paliros and at Porto Kaghio were more rewarding. Final totals for selected species were: 5 Hoopoe, 1 Wryneck, 2 Woodchats, 1 Balkan Warbler, 10 Willow Warbler, 14 Blackcap, 10 Whitethroat, 17 Subalpine Warbers, 7 Sedge Warblers, 18 Nightingale and 4 Whinchat.

There were also 8 Quail, including 5 flushed from one small area at Koureli and a male Rock Thrush on the 'Narrows'. Unfortunately there was no sign of yesterday's Trumpeter Finch.

Firsts for the spring included 2 Ruppell's Warblers at Paliros and a Great Reed Warbler at Porto Kaghio. There was also a Cetti's Warbler at the latter site, our first record for the headland, although it does occur immediately north of the area at Achilo.

North of the recording area there were 2 Isabelline Wheatears on the plateau above Gerolimenas late afternoon ( a scarce migrant in this part of Greece).

Friday 29 March 2013

A bird from further south ............

Well while we can't be sure whether it was the easterly winds that blew up overnight or the southerly gale last weekend that blew it in the bird of the day was a male Trumpeter Finch. First briefly seen close to the fishing boats below the Point car park, it then moved to the car park itself where we eventually had good, if brief, views. The bird was very flighty and vanished every time we started to get a camera out ! After 3 visits to the car park over a one hour period, we thought it might have settled down but despite another hour searching, with cameras ready, it was not seen again.

Elsewhere on the headland, despite more time in the field today, there were far few birds than yesterday. The only exception being 27 Tawny Pipits, most of these being seen on a walk out to the lighthouse. There appeared to be a few birds coming in late with several Subalpine Warblers, Willow Warblers and Redstarts appearing, and moving north, while we were looking for the  finch.

Counts for selected migrants were: 14 Subalpine Warblers, 5 Woodchats, 1 Savi's Warbler, 14 Nightingale, 4 Quail, 7 Willow Warbler, 5 Redstart, 2 Wryneck, 13 Hoopoe (possibly mostly yesterday's birds)and 6 Northern Wheatear.


Thursday 28 March 2013

Our first afternoon .........

We arrived on the headland at about 2.00pm today after a morning at the Evrota delta (very few migrants seen there however good views of both male and female hen harrier).

At Cape Tenaro it was clear from the outset that there had been a small fall and without much effort we clocked up 16 Hoopoe, 35 Northern Wheatear, 10 Woodchats, 13 Subalpine Warblers, 16 Hoopoe,  3 Wryneck, 8 Nightingale, 8 Redstart, 5 Black Redstart, 3 Whinchat, 2 Song Thrush and two male Collared Flycatchers. There were a few other migrants including an early Pied Flycatcher and a stunning male Rock Thrush. 

East to south-east winds overnight so hopefully something interesting tomorrow.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Antikythira

Greece's only bird observatory on the island of Antikythira opened for the spring migration two days ago. It's located about 90km to the south-east of Cape Tenaro and visible from there on a clear day.

They produce an update on their observations and ringing activities most days and it will be interesting to compare their sightings to our own.

Follow the link to find out more:

http://blogs.ornithologiki.gr/osa/

Friday 22 March 2013

Before we arrive ......

If you're reading this post you are here too early !! The blog will get its first proper updates on or about 29th March 2013. In the meantime here are a few photos to whet your appetite.










Redstart at Koureli