Spring 2014

Posts this year are expected to start on 26 April 2014.

 

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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!

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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

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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'

 

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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

 

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