Cape Tenaro in 2019 - Summary

·      Our season this year lasted from 1^st to the 15^th April 2019 (though coverage was restricted at the beginning and end of this period).

·     A Merlin on the 5^th and 6^th April was the only addition to the headland bird list

·     The two most notable oddities were a White Stork on 9^th and 10^th April (only our second spring record) and a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater on 14^th 

·     There were good numbers of migrant Hoopoe throughout our stay – the peak count of 25 on 6^th was a record for the headland.

·     Blackcap and Willow Warbler both passed through in good numbers.

·     There were noteworthy numbers of Nightingales throughout our stay – the highest count of 89 on 11^th April was also a new record count for the headland.

·     There was an early arrival of Collared Flycatchers with 44 being seen on 3^rd April.

·     The ‘vismig’ highlight was a count of 470 Spanish Sparrows on 9^th April – mostly moving rapidly north in large flocks.

·     Violet Limmadore was an addition to the headland orchid list.   

Raptor Migration in 2019 - a summary

There was a remarkarbly poor showing of migrant raptors this year, with just 6 species recorded. The only redeeeming feature was a Merlin - a new species for the headland.

Note: Short-toed Eagle, Common Buzzard and Peregrine have been excluded from this table as all records were thought to relate to locally resident birds

Species	Number Seen
Marsh Harrier	22
Montagu’s Harrier	9
Pallid Harrier	1
Sparrowhawk	6
Kestrel	13
Merlin	1
Total	52

 

Bird Ringing Summary for 2019

2019   Ringing Report for Cape Tenaro

2019 saw the third spring visit to Cape Tenaro for the bird ringing team. 

As in the previous two years we chose as our ringing site a valley side and bottom just south-west of Paliros where abandoned olive groves provided shelter and a corridor of movement for migrant birds after their arrival on the Cape.   On the penultimate day we experimented with a single 6m net positioned over a permanent drinking pool in a steep sided gulley below the village of Koureli

On the day of arrival (2^nd April) 6 nets were erected by late afternoon and the first 2 birds caught and ringed. By 07.30 on 3^rd April, 8 nets were in operation and the session finished with 40 new birds being ringed.  From the 4^th April onwards the full complement of 9 nets totalling 93m was in operation.

Turtle Dove	1
Hoopoe	2
Wryneck	8
Swallow	1
Tree Pipit	1
Robin	10
Nightingale	55
Redstart	3
Stonechat	1
Blackbird	1
Savi’s Warbler	4
Great Reed warbler	7
Sedge Warbler	9
Reed warbler	1
Subalpine Warbler	69
Sardinian Warbler	3
Whitethroat	32
Garden Warbler	4
Blackcap	42
Wood Warbler	20
Chiffchaff	12
Willow Warbler	11
Spotted Flycatcher	1
Pied Flycatcher	53
Collared Flycatcher	24
Semi-collared Flycatcher	1
Golden Oriole	4
Woodchat Shrike	5
Spanish Sparrow	4
Corn Bunting	3
Species                30	392

11 full sessions of ringing were completed with two days being lost to bad weather.  The average was about 35 birds per full session which compares very favourably with the previous years’ averages of 26 and 25 ringed per day.

It was interesting to see the different species composition of an earlier visit compared to the previous two years and also some marked daily differences, for example 3 Pied and 11 Collared Flycatcher caught on the 3^rd April, followed by none caught the following day.

We reviewed the siting of our study area and concluded that it is the optimum site that can be operated by one ringer, whilst still having the potential to expand if we were to have a larger team involved with the ringing programme in future years.

The big advantage is that it is away from any habitation and is neither troubled by people nor domestic animals.  Its position in relation to migrants making landfall on Cape Tenaro and then moving generally north into the landscape also seems to be beneficial.

The targeting of the drinking pool near to Koureli could also prove to be an attractive option for the normally inactive afternoon/evening periods.

Body mass for some migrant species caught & ringed at Cape Tenaro 2^nd- 15^thApril 2019

Species	Species	No. measured	Weight range (g)	Mean weight (g)
Nightingale	LUSMEG	53	16.8 – 24.8	20.7
Sedge Warbler	ACRSCH	9	9.7 – 14.6	11.0
Great Reed Warbler	ACRARU	7	26.8 – 33.8	30.1
Subalpine Warbler	SYLCAN	66	9.1 – 13.4	10.9
Whitethroat	SYLCOM	31	12.4 – 20.0	14.6
Garden Warbler	SYLBOR	4	14.1 – 19.5	17.0
Blackcap	SYLATR	41	15.7 – 23.3	19.0
Wood Warbler	PHYSIB	20	7.2 – 9.6	8.4
Collared Flycatcher	FICALB	21	10.0 – 15.1	11.6
Pied Flycatcher	FICHYP	46	9.7 – 13.9	11.8

Last Day Summary

Words to follow

Blue-cheeked Bee-eater

Sunday 14th April

Today was the last day of full coverage, details to follow. The undoubted highlight was a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater. First seen flying towards the lighthouse along the ridge above Pipit Plateau it then returned north and headed towards Kokinoghia where it was relocated sat on wires.

Whitethroats and Wood Warblers

Summary - Saturday 13th April

This will follow late tomorrow (Sunday) 

Grounded Migrants: Words to follow

Visible Passage: Words to follow

Raptors: Words to follow

Bird Ringing: Words to follow

Overall Total: 42 birds ringed from 96m of nets.

Weather: Wind

Wood Warbler at Kokinoghia

Ortolan Buntings at Paliros Church

The view along Vathi Bay to Cape Livadhi

I

 Turkish Gecko

A Painted Lady Day

Summary - Friday 12th April
Run out of time for the blog, so will try and do later. Generally quiet for birds but a massive influx of Painted Ladies was very impressive.

Grounded Migrants: Words to follow

Visible Passage: Words to follow

Raptors: Words to follow

Bird Ringing: Details to follow

Overall Total: 14 birds ringed from 96m of nets.

Weather: to follow

A Painted Lady - part of today’s huge influx

The Isabelline Wheatear on ‘Pipit Plateau '

An alba wagtail at Kokinoghia

A Bee-eater flying high over Paliros