Friday, 1 April 2022

Little Bunting Surprise - where did he come from?

Summary - Friday 1st April

The first full day of ringing, which started slowly, generated a huge surprise in the form of an adult male Little Bunting caught mid morning; a great way for the ringing team to kick off! 

Little Bunting is a real rarity in Greece, with only a handful of records as far we can tell, so a spring record is even more extraordinary, a real treat.

Numbers of migrants were otherwise poor with Subalpine Warbler (31) being the most abundant. A count of 6 Wryneck is probably a genuine increase as none were seen the day before, as was a count of 14 Hoopoe (8 on 31st) and 10 Black-eared Wheatear. Numbers of other migrants remained low so hard to gauge the extent of new arrivals and departures.

A bonus late morning was a singing Golden Oriole in the olive grove above the ringing site, this is our earliest date by 6 days (though the dataset is still limited).

Grounded Migrants: a Cuckoo, 5 Tawny Pipit, 21 Short-toed Lark, 12 Nightingale, 8 Northern Wheatear, 4 Redstart.12 Whitethroat.

The first Whinchat of the year was seen near Paliros.

Visible Passage: very limited ……

Raptors: a single Sparrowhawk, a Marsh Harrier and 2 Kestrel

Bird Ringing: 54 new birds: 22 Subalpine Warbler, 14 Blackcap, 3 Wryneck, 3 Ruppell's Warbler, 2 Robin, 2 Nightingale, 1 Little Bunting, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Whitethroat, 2 Redstart, 1 Willow Warbler

Weather: A SE gale overnight, F8-9, dropping by first light then S and SW5-6 by mid morning. Hazy with extended periods of sunshine. Visibility moderate.


Little Bunting - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022

Little Bunting - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022

Little Bunting - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022 

Wryneck at Mianes - Cape Tenaro 1st April 2022

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