Martin's Birding Blog

Malta year List 2011

2011-12-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

With 2011 come to an end and we start looking forward to start a new year with lots of birding, here is my year list for this year! A year which will be remembered apart from amazing birding experiences in Spain and Norway, for some good birding and ringing in Malta, Spoonbills in February, large Garganey flocks and other ducks in March, the great Honey Buzzard passage in April, the 200 strong flock of White Storks in May, raptor migration in September especially the Lesser-spotted Eagles and Booted Eagle plus loads of passerines in October and November! 8 lifers in all in marked in blue and Malta ticks (4) marked in green.

1. Common Quail

2. Common Shelduck

3. Eurasian Wigeon

4. Eurasian Teal

5. Mallard

6. Pintail

7. Garganey

8. Shoveler

9. Ferruginous Duck

10. Pochard

11. Cory's Shearwater

12. Yelkouan Shearwater

13. Little Grebe

14. Great Crested Grebe

15. Black-necked Grebe

16. Black Stork

17. White Stork

18. Glossy Ibis

19. Eurasian Spoonbill

20. Little Bittern

21. Night Heron

22. Squacco Heron

23. Little Egret

24. Great White Egret

25. Cattle Egret

26. Grey Heron

27. Purple Heron

28. Northern Gannet

29. Great Cormorant

30. Lesser Kestrel

31. Common Kestrel

32. Red-footed Falcon

33. Merlin

34. Hobby

35. Eleonora's Falcon

36. Peregrine Falcon

37. Lesser Spotted Eagle

38. Short-toed Eagle

39. Booted Eagle

40. Common Buzzard

41. Honey-buzzard

42. Black Kite

43. Red Kite

44. Marsh Harrier

45. Pallid Harrier

46. Montagu's Harrier

47. Eurasian Sparrowhawk

48. Osprey

49. Water Rail

50. Little Crake

51. Spotted Crake

52. Moorhen

53. Common Coot

54. Common Crane

55. Oystercatcher

56. Black-winged Stilt

57. Avocet

58. Stone Curlew

59. Little Ringed Plover

60. Ringed Plover

61. Kentish

62. Dotterel

63. European Golden Plover

64. Little Stint

65. Temminck's Stint

66. Curlew Sandpiper

67. Dunlin

68. Ruff

69. Common Snipe

70. Great Snipe

71. Bar-tailed Godwit

72. Curlew

73. Common Redshank

74. Greenshank

75. Green Sandpiper

76. Wood Sandpiper

77. Marsh Sandpiper

78. Turnstone

79. Common Sandpiper

80. Mediterranean Gull

81. Black-headed Gull

82. Slender-billed Gull

83. Audouin's Gull

84. Lesser Black-backed Gull

85. Yellow-legged Gull

86. Caspian Tern

87. Sandwich Tern

88. Whiskered tern

89. Black Tern

90. Pomarine Skua

91. Collared Dove

92. Turtle Dove

93. Common Cuckoo

94. Short-eared Owl

95. European Nightjar

96. Alpine Swift

97. Common Swift

98. Pallid Swift

99. Common Kingfisher

100.EuropeanBee-eater

101. Roller

102. Hoopoe

103.Wryneck

104. Woodchat Shrike

105. Golden Oriole

106. Sand Martin

107. Barn Swallow

108. House Martin

109. Red-rumpedSwallow

110. Short-toed Lark

111. Sky Lark

112.Zitting Cisticola

113.Cetti's Warbler

114.MoustachedWarbler

115. Sedge Warbler

116. Reed Warbler

117. Great ReedWarbler

118. Icterine Warbler

119. Blackcap

120. Garden Warbler

121. CommonWhitethroat

122. SpectacledWarbler

123. Subalpine Warbler

124. Sardinian Warbler

125.Western Orphean Warbler

126. Wood Warbler

127. Common Chiffchaff

128. Willow Warbler

129. Yellow-browedWarbler

130.Goldcrest

131.Firecrest

132. Common Starling

133. Blackbird

134.Song Thrush

135.Redwing

136. Robin

137. CommonNightingale

138. Bluethroat

139.Black Redstart

140. Common Redstart

141.Moussier’sRedstart

142.Whinchat

143.Common Stonechat

144. Isabelline Wheatear

145. Northern Wheatear

146. Black-earedWheatear

147. Blue Rock Thrush

148. Rock Thrush

149.SpottedFlycatcher

150. CollaredFlycatcher

151. Pied Flycatcher

152. Red-breastedFlycatcher

153. Spanish Sparrow

154. Tree Sparrow

155. Dunnock

156. Tawny Pipit

157. Tree Pipit

158. Meadow Pipit

159.Red-throatedPipit

160.Water Pipit

161. Yellow Wagtail

162. Grey Wagtail

163.White Wagtail

164.Common Chaffinch

165. Greenfinch

166.Linnet

167.Reed Bunting

168.Corn Bunting

Happy new year with even more birding experiences to all!

Spain :)

2011-12-09T11:21:00.001-08:00

Currently I am at Gallocanta, Spain, with fellow Maltese birders. We're spending a week here in wonderful country, writing about the experience on our new blog: http://youngbirdersmalta.blogspot.com/ Enjoy!

End of November

2011-12-02T08:12:00.001-08:00

20th November: Ringed my 27th species, Meadow Pipit, at a good site for them. Enough open ground but still some growing trees to provide some cover for the nets. Did four Meadow Pipits, two Chiffchaffs and a Spanish Sparrow in all. 11 Meadow Pipits were ringed in all, some by a licensed ringer and another trainee.
23rd Nov: Yet another species to add to the list! A Chaffinch this time at Simar, an adult female. Had eluded me so far with two ringed by other trainees on Comino and up to 9 ringed at Simar in one session but always when I was at uni. Ringed 24 birds in all, of course as always under supervision of a licensed ringer who is also my trainer with most being Chiffchaffs, with a few Robins and Blackcaps. Retrapped 2 Moustached warblers from earlier in the season, a record of 8 have been ringed at Simar this autumn, two of them at least seem to have decided to stay for a while. A curious retrap or rather retraps, were a pair of Sardinian warblers caught together, they had been first ringed this September when they had also been caught together...

One of eight Moustached Warblers ringed this autumn at Simar

Another session at Simar on the 25th. Quite varied with a Dunnock, two Reed Buntings (did 7 in all so far), a Song Thrush and a Sardinian Warbler apart from a few Chiffchaffs and Robins. Retrapped a Wryneck from earlier in the autumn, two Cetti's Warblers and a 1st year male Sardinian Warbler male first caught as a juvenile in July 2005! Its all black flight feathers contrasting to the 1st year which had half the secondaries tinged brown.
A good session on the 27th, up to 29 species with a Tree Sparrow. A Yellow-browed Warbler, the 4th record this autumn was caught too, so we had something to answer with to the birders seawatching and seeing a small passage of Shelduck and even better 5 Red-brested mergansers and a flock of 10 Wigeon.
Ringed my second Black Redstart, a 1st year male, three Blackcaps plus 9 chiffchaff and 2 Robin.

Yellow-browed Warbler, an annual vagrant in Malta, Photo by Adin Vella

Two Tree Sparrows, the bird on the right ringed today and the one on the left ringed in the early summer as a female with brooding patch, photo Adin Vella

The first bird ringed on the 30th at Simar, was a Black Redstart raising hopes for a good session but only 4 Chiffchaffs and 2 Spanish Sparrows were ringed. A retrap Kingfisher from the 14th September of this year, was the first I hand handled and a good compensation. We also retrapped the third Robin ringed this autumn, on the 3rd October.In the evening another short session at another site, with three Meadow Pipits, one for each trainee plus a few Chiffchaffs.

Adult female Black Redstart ringed at Simar, note only slightly dark vane of 6th tail feather indicator of an adult bird.

Tomorrow and Sunday more ringing awaits!

November, a good month for ringing!

2011-11-19T04:20:00.001-08:00

4th November, an other early start, but eager for another session of ringing at Simar. First catch included two Reed Buntings together with the usual Chiffchaffs and Robins, plus a Stonechat . Later I found a Moustached warbler in the net, a bird I was happy to add to the species I've ringed. Another Reed bunting too, this was going great! My first Wryneck, and a late Willow warbler made it 3 new species for the day! Ended off with yet another Moustached Warbler and a Song thrush. A total of 73 birds ringed for the day.
After ringing we went for a seawatch which had it not been for a last minute find of a Short-eared owl would have been futile!
Chiffchaffs dominated on the 9th November, at Simar once again with 48 ringed in all. Two White Wagtails and two Reed buntings which I got to ring one of each was definitely the more exciting species. Even more when I had never seen a White wagtail in the hand.
A day of impatient waiting for the next session on 11th November, one to highlighted by yet another species I had never ringed...Firecrest...3 of them! Only my second Grey wagtail and a Reed bunting made the morning even the more worthwhile. The Moustached Warbler ringed on the 4th November was retrapped. This was probably a record year for Moustached warlers at Simar, to date 6 have been ringed in total. 41 Chiffchaffs, 8 Robin, 3 Blackcap and a Sardinian warbler complete the picture for the day.
Not long to wait for the next session...the next day 12th November at Ghadira. Record of Dunnocks with a total of 37 of which I was extremely happy to ring 18, being a species not frequenting often on the list of Simar. The rest was mainly Chiffchaffs, a few Robins and a Stonechat.
15th November, an evening session this time at Simar, coming cycling full speed from university. Not that it wasn't worthed! Got to ring a nice 1st year male Blackbird and a Song thrush in the first 10 minutes. Retraps of a Robin ringed last year and a Chiffchaff ringed last year February gears you on to continue ringing seeing the point of it all!
Yesterday 18th November at Simar was rather quiet, probably too much wind. 8 Chiffchaffs, 3 Robins, a Dunnock, a Blackcap and a Spanish Sparrow was all. A large flock of around 80 Mediterranean gulls ans few Black-headed gulls flying over the reserve being blown in by the wind are worth mentioning.
In the evening went to the Airport in hope of seeing Lapwings and Golden plovers, but got something better! Just before leaving spotted a raptor shortly soaring in the distance before it took a glide in the opposite direction from us. Called some birders in Buskett, who got better views and confirmed it as a Red kite! A rare bird of prey on our shores, and my first. Unfortunately it was seen to be shot at and although it escaped that encounter with little police presence in the countryside it is unlikely it would survive very long.
Today, 19th Nov, at Ghadira over 70 birds were ringed, with a good variety too, 2 Wrynecks, a White Wagtail, 2 Reed buntings apart from Robins, Chiffchaffs, Dunnocks and Blackcaps. A fellow trainee did most of the ringing while I got to ring my first Water Rail, which was great!

The adult female Water rail ringed at Simar

One of the Wryneck ringed at Ghadira this morning.

A first year female Reed bunting

Yet more bird ringing!

2011-11-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday (27th) morning, up early to pack for yet another weekend at the ringing station on Comino. Finished from university at 15:00, a mad cycle home, quick shower, more than heavy rucksack full of food on back and off to catch the bus. 4:45 the ferry would leave, I arrived on the jetty just in time! I had made it and had three days of birding and ringing on paradise island!

Friday, mostly Robins (62) ringed but some other species to add a bit of variety. Got to ring my first Blue Rock Thrush, a beautiful 1st year male, and Black Redstart. A few Stonechats, Song thrush, a Spectacled warbler and a Skylark were also ringed. Of the latter there was a quite a passage but flocks kept their height, over 400 were counted. Not in the hand but still nice to see was the first Golden Plover of the season, a Peregrine falcon, a late Honey Buzzard and we flushed a Nightjar.

Malta's national bird; Blue Rock Thrush

Saturday - great day, with continuous passage of Robins, 166 ringed in all! Furthermore 18 Stonechats, 12 Song thrush, a Blackbird, 7 Chiffchaff, a Firecrest and a Chaffinch were ringed. I got to ring my first Dunnock and the only one of the day. A Reed bunting and a Red-throated Pipit were year ticks bringing it up to 168! Finally a Stone curlew at dusk.

Firecrest - one of the smallest birds in Europe only weighing 5.5g!

Sunday - Rather strong South easterly wind but still birds about. Unfortunately we had to put down the nets during the day as the ringer coming up couldn't make it, so the scheme had to continue later int he week. Second Blackbird of the weekend, a first year male, was one of the highlights for me at least, getting to ring it myself. Otherwise it was mostly Robins, 90, with only 2 Stonechat and one Song thrush. 13 Chiffchaff plus a late Willow warbler, a Meadow Pipit, another 3 Dunnocks, Chaffinch and a Firecrest. A Kestrel and Corn Bunting flew by as we left the station, walked to the ferry thinking it was 5 months till the spring ringing scheme and what

a long time that seemed!

Blackbird ringed on the 30th October

After two days of boring lectures, some more time for ringing, at Simar this time. Not that many birds but ringed my first Reed Bunting which was great as well as a Cetti's Warbler. A few Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Robins of course. A Blackcap form the 21st October was recaught, and had put on 8g of weight feeding on olives and other berries! A female Shoveler was seen, three Little Grebes fishing below the hide, a Snipe and a few Water Rail.

Autumn migration: Ringing mostly!

2011-10-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

Passerines were to be the highlight this autumn both as Raptor migration ended early this year and in terms of numbers it was a poor passage and as I was often at Simar and spent a weekend on Comino were ringing is the main activity.

7th October: A Red-breasted Flycatcher down in Buskett valley made everyone happy, not only being scarce but quite a nice species.

12th October: Unfortunately too long gaps in birding thanks to having started university but at least two mornings off for birding! Went to Qawra, Etna visible and a full moon producing a small passage of ducks. 21 Pintail followed by another 5, 5 Shoveler and 2 Common Teal. 4 Linnets migrated overhead.

14th October: Quite a lot of activity at Simar: 3 Snipe, a Dunlin, fishing Kingfishers, Little grebe, Water Rail and a Common Teal. The best was a Yellow-browed warbler tough! Present for the last week nearly. Had not seen this almost annual autumn vagrant for a while now so it was about time I caught up on one. Other passerines where a Grey Wagtail, first Stonechats, a Subalpine Warbler, Gardern Warbler, first Chiffchaffs and a Great Reed Warbler amongst others. My first time ringing myself, thanks to a few Spanish Sparrows being cought, got also to ring a Robin and garden Warbler...needless to say I was extremely happy!

19th October: Simar again. A nice gathering of wildfowl present, best being a female Pochard, a species I had failed to see since 2007. Moreover an adult Pintail and 7 Common teals. Did not get to ring anything myself, but seeing a 1st year Bluethroat in the hand was great all the same! First time there were a good number of Chiffchaffs too.

1st year male Bluethroath! Great bird!

20th October: Up to Buskett after uni, an uninjured Scops Owl was to be released after being found on the side of a busy road. Amazing bird and good to see it fly off well. A Merlin was on the hunt for the numerous passerines in the valley. The last peak of Swallows with 400 gathering before dusk, as well as 150 House Martins. 8 Sky larks settled shortly in front of us, first Dunnock, 10 Chaffinches and a Linnet.

21st October: Day off! Started early at Simar. Lured a Grey Wagtail into the nets with mp3, my first in the hand and got to ring it myself. Furthermore ringed a Reed Warbler which we concluded was a of the subspecies fuscus. Quite a few Blackcaps in the olive orchard which I was happy to ring a few of!

In the evening we set of being nearly the whole gang of young birders, for a weekend on Comino. arrived a bit late for any real birding and the ringers present were closing the nets for the night. Had a delicious grilled suasages and burgers tough before we tried to sleep full of excitement for the two days to come!

22nd October: No luck with any Scops owls or nightjar at twighlight, but quite a few birds after that. Mostly Robins, but a few Song Thrushes, Starlings, Skylarks, Blackcaps and Stonechats gave a good mixture. Showers meant that we ahd to close the nets a few times but still got up to 87 birds ringed in total.

23rd October: Another futile early start, but once the sun was shining its first rays of light over the island something interesting was found in the net. Extracting it i tought it was a female Redstart, and was content at that. But when taking measurements it became apparent it was too small for a Common Redstart. There was only one possibility left! Moussier's redstart! 12th record of the species and the first ringed! Shortly afterwards yet another was cought from the same net! Must have come in together with the southerly winds! Needless to say the atmosphere around the station was happy one!

The lack of cloud cover resulted in the nets becoming too visible as the sun rose higher on the sky and the number of birds cought decresed to nearly none per round. We flushed a Nightjar but it managed to evade the nets. Still it was an amazing weekend, got to ring 40 birds myself which I couldn't grumble about and in great company! Even better this evening I'm off for another weekend on the island!

1st year female and male Blackcap!

One of 4 Skylarks ringed.

One of two Moussier's Redstarts, 1st year female, and a fiirst record in the hand for Malta!

End of Summer Holidays

2011-10-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

Failed once again to keep updated due to spending most of the time in the field and when not working on the trip report on our holiday to Finnmark, Norway early this summer which will be posted soon. Had some exciting days however to conclude the summer holidays and I'll include only those.

A good seawatching morning was 24th September producing as highlights a Great White Egret, 2 Great Crested Grebes and 2 Slender-billed gull, the latter two species being yearers. As a bonus was 76 Grey heron in small flocks, a Purple heron and a small influx of birds of prey...42 Honey Buzzards and 33 Marsh harrier. We went up as quickly as possible to Buskett, we expected a peak. For this year it was. Nothing spectacular though with many migrating high up and on a broadfront. 220 Marsh harrier and c100 Honey buzzard in all. 3 Ospreys, a Pallid harrier, 2 Sparrowhawks and a juvenile Peregrine falcon made the day. On the 25th September the dark phase Eleonora's falcon that had been hunting in Buskett valley for a week was shot from inside the bird sanctuary, when on it favourite perch! As a mere compensation 2 Hoopoes were seen coming in from the sea, and four Ospreys sighted in the afternoon.

26th September: A lifer in the morning...a Black Tern seen mobbed by gulls. Only the second sighting this year, but even when coming in good numbers it had eluded me so far. Another interesting sighting was a Nightjar coming in from the sea in broad daylight after trying to land on a yacht!

28th September: After a rather boring day we got a report of 3 White Storks perched near a football ground in Mgarr. First disbelief, then panic that we would be too late as it was soon dark!We arrived to quite a scene! Storks were perched on the floodlights above a chaos of shouting children, hunters and birders right in the middle of the village all awed by such an unusual sight for Malta! What's more they were ringed, in the fading light we managed to read Budapest! Hungarian White Storks! Confirmed in the morning when they left peacefully! In Malta such a story couldn't have a happy ending, they were shot down in the south of Malta later in the day...

29th September: On the bus stop waiting to get up to Buskett after work, when I got a call from a fellow birder. Lesser Spotted eagle! When I finally arrived it had already migrated, but soon another was spotted coming in from the same direction!! It became even more unbelievable when two more came in later in the afternoon! They gave stunning views soaring low over Buskett! It got even better with a juvenile Short-toed eagle flying over! A Steppe Buzzard not quite as exciting but still a good addition to a lengthening yearlist. At dusk one of the LSE flew down to roost in an adjacent valley to meet its fate...a volley of shots...

Lesser Spotted Eagle juvenile, photo by N Galea

A Sparrowhawk also gracing the sky with the eagles, by N Galea

The North easterly wind continued producing more eagles the next day! Four Short-toed eagles this time! I was at work and couldn't leave all afternoon...quite a lot of cursing to say the least. More cursing from the birders that saw one of the eagles being shot down! The fate of the others is not known. 3rd October: Morning at Simar, helping out with cutting some reeds to prevent the overgrowing of all the shorelines as well as observing the ringing. A Common Snipe was a first in the hand for me, and a Collored flycathcer was a good record for autumn. Other birds were a Wryneck, a Kingfisher of the 5 or so present, Willow, Reed, Garden and Wood Warblers.

Lack of sleep cought up on me when I got home, slept an hour and feeling like continuing to sleep I had to convince myself that I shouldn't miss Buskett. Nearly there when I got a call about something I in the hast of sprinting up the hill I did not quite catch. But 4 Lesser Spotted Eagles soaring above us with a Black kite was well worth it! Saw them leave northwards, where another birder saw them get shot at. Soon after only three returned...one immeadiately roosted with an injury to its left wing, another with missing secondaries...You start wishing such majestic birds do not come to Malta! After enjoying them alive you have to witness them being killed or injured by poachers. Suddenly a call of Booted eagle light phase! Sure was! Soaring above us was the lifer I and others of the younger generation had longed to see it been quite a few years since it was sighted from autumn migration!

Collared Flycatcher ringed at Simar, quite rare in autumn

The flock of Lesser Spotted Eagles before they were shot at by poachers, Photo by N Galea

Photos of the Booted Eagle at dusk by N Galea

Another update!

2011-09-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

I'm dead tired trying to write this with nearly all spare time out in the field, even a couple of days out from dawn till dusk!

11th September: Variable wind and few birds! Only one Honey Buzzard, one Grey heron and a Ringtail harrier which we left unidentified plus an Audouin's gull from the coast.

12th September: Nothing special this seawatch either...3 Purple herons, a Little Egret, a Marsh harrier and two Sandwich terns. 3 Honey Buzzards just before we left lifted hopes of some raptor migration...we continued directly to Buskett. We had to be content with 28 Honey Buzzards and 9 Marsh harriers tough. A Nightjar at dusk was a good end to the long day.

Bee-eaters are a daily entertainment at Buskett, photo taken by R Galea.

13th September: Work nearly all day, only saw a Grey heron and 14 Bee-eater in the evening.

14th September: Some variety at Buskett, a great Pallid harrier male, 22 Marsh harrier, 25 Honey Buzzard, 3 Eleonora's falcon all dark phase 2nd years, and 3 Hobbies. What's more a Turtle Dove and 200 Bee-eater.

15th Spetember: Finally not such a bad day! Started off with seawatching as usual from 07:00 till 12:30. Well for the long hours of birding maybe not so productive but the the more I'm out the more restless I get and the more I want to be out and about with bins and telescope! A flock of 24 Grey heron circled a lot about undecided whether to migrate or not, while a single Purple heron and 14 Marsh harrier did probably migrate. Over 200 Cory's shearwater offshore as well as two Common Sandpipers flying past.

The flock of 24 Grey heron in V-formation

Continued up to Buskett, one of the better afternoons so far at least where variety is concerned. Arrived just to late to see a Black Stork but nothing we could do with that! Apart from 33 Honey Buzzard, over 50 Marsh harrier, we saw 2 Ospreys, a Black kite, 10 Lesser kestrels, 3 Hobbies and 2 Light phase Eleonora's falcon! Not was not all, the first Sparrowhawk of the autumn was spotted and gave good views. At dusk 14 Night heron and a Purple heron flew up from the trees. Peak of Bee-eaters and the highest number recorded in autumn...400+ birds! 3 Turtle Doves flashed past and a flock 13 Alpine Swift circled above. A Pied flycatcher was seen in the valley being rather scarce at this time of year.

16th September: Continued up to Buskett right after work and glad I did...walking up to the watchpoint I got a call from my sister about two Black Storks they were seeing. A sprint and found the birds just in time circling in the distance before they migrated. Not a bad day for birds of prey either, around 40 Honey Buzzards, more than 50 Marsh harrier, 4 Hobby and 4 Lesser Kestrel. However it was herons that got to a peak. A flock of 32 Grey heron was only a mere starter to an amazing flock of over 200 Grey herons in the distance. Largest flock I have ever seen with around 100 birds concentrated at the point of the V-formation! Another 51 Grey herons plus one Purple followed. A beautiful adult Red-rumped Swallow scarce in autumn was a good bonus as was the first Snipe I've seen this autumn.

17th September: Seawatch in the morning started off with a flock of 26 Little Egret followed by another 30 later. An early Marsh harrier at 07:22! Another 5 were seen. Two Audouin's gulls and two Garganeys were also spotted. My third record of Pomarine skua made the morning complete!

Up to Buskett in the afternoon was also successful. Nearly 200 BOPs in all, mostly Marsh harriers (130+) but quite a few Honey Buzzards too (60+). 3 Ospreys made us all happy as did a Black kite low in the valley. Finally 4 Hobbies and a juvenile Pallid harrier were sighted too!

Pallid harrier juvenile, photo by R Galea

As too often is the case we witnessed illegal hunting, a male Marsh harrier was shot down, and two Honey buzzards were shot at from within Buskett one being injured seen with a dangling leg. Hunting within Buskett is illegal to say nothing about the birds targeted...

18th September: Another good long day of birding! 17 Night herons were seen from the coast flying out of their roost. 13 more were seen later. Caspian tern was still not on my yearlist so I was happy to see it especially as a flock of 15! It is unusual to see this species in such a number for us, even more when the flock was followed by another flock of 7 also flying up the coast. Probably a record total for Malta! Other birds included 16 Ferruginous ducks, small flocks of Grey heron adding up to 34 in all as well as a Purple heron with them, 19 Marsh harrier, a Dunlin and 2 Sandwich tern. Unconfirmed record of Great white egret at Salina, so we sped off to have a look! Sure there it was standing in the middle of the flooded salt pans, its size and yellow bill standing out! Second yearer of the day! To make it even better an Osprey flew low over in from the sea!

Record shot of the Great white egret at Salina

Up to Buskett in a hurry after that, as already quite a few Honey Buzzards were being seen migrating over. We were just in time to see the last of the birds that actually migrated, the rest remained circling around all afternoon. Sometimes they picked up a line as if to migrate but only came back shortly afterwards. We saw around 60 of 140 Honey Buzzards seen that afternoon. 60 Marsh harriers were noted, but the highlight was yet another 3 Ospreys of the 5 recorded that afternoon! Also good was another great Pallid harrier male and a Black kite! Two flocks of Lesser kestrels (18) and 5 Hobbies. Finally 3 Tawny pipits can be worth mentioning.

One of the 5 Ospreys recorded that afternoon from Buskett, with a male Marsh harrier.

The Black kite and a juvenile Honey Buzzard. Both the above photos taken by R Galea

19th September: Strong Northerly winds aren't favourable but some birds must have been caught up and passed over Malta. An Osprey made the afternoon at Buskett worthwhile, as did a hunting Eleonora's falcon dark phase. Maybe not an adult but still it was definitely in its 3cy. Photo by R Galea.

51 Honey Buzzards, 16 Marsh harrier, 3 Hobbies and two Common Kestrels weren't bad numbers for this kind of weather. Closing on a bad note is not pleasant but its reality. Two of the Honey Buzzards had missing primaries and one a damaged carpal joint flying with difficulty...hunting is such a sport...

Injured Honey Buzzard, Photo by R Galea

Turnstones

2011-09-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

The flock of Turnstones first seen on the 28th August with the highest total of 8 birds feeding on the rocky shoreline was an unusual sight for Malta, one many birdwathcers made sure to enjoy. Less than hundred metres from a busy promenade locals and tourists alike noticed and could appreciate them, the birds being very tame and approachable. Such sights not only of this species but of other birds would be more common if illegal hunting came to a stop! Only today three injured birds, Hoopoe, Bee-eater and Common Kestrel were brought in to Birdlife Malta all three had to be euthanised.

Here's a video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnR4GiKG-u8 taken by a fellow birdwatcher, just in contrast to the dead lifeless birds, shouldn't one find more satisfaction in putting something like this together than shooting down birds?

Ups and downs

2011-09-10T03:43:00.000-07:00

Should try to post more frequently but spending most of my free time in the field it gets a bit difficult, no point sitting inside when birds are migrating overhead!

3rd September: One of the better days so far...with Little egrets making a passage in the morning and the first peak of Marsh harriers in the afternoon. Apart from the 60 Little Egret (three flocks of 26, 21 and 13), 7 Grey heron, 4 Marsh harriers and an Audouin's Gull were seen from the coast. A Black-eared wheatear was also interesting.

Up at Buskett a total of 100 Marsh harriers were seen many roosting in the wooded valley just below us at dusk. It had been a while since they chose Buskett as a roost so seeing the birds coming down one by one into the pine trees was special. This not to mention the presence of two Black kites. Other birds of prey were a Montagu's harrier with a dangling leg, a Hobby, two Lesser Kestrel and a Common Kestrel. The first flock of 10 Alpine Swifts made an appearance speeding across the sky!

26 Little egrets, taken by A. Vella

4th September: A less successful seawatch...with only 7 Little Egret and a Black-headed gull. 5 Turnstones still present making the morning a bit less boring!

Buskett in the afternoon was no better. Well 2 Eleonora's falcons weren't to grumble about one staying till dusk hunting over the trees. Otherwise 2 Common Kestrel and a Hobby was all.

Common Kestrel as it flew over, taken by A. Vella

5th September: Again rather quiet raptor wise with only a Common Kestrel and 5 Marsh harrier coming in late in the evening. Turtle doves made up for the lack of birds of prey though. Small flocks were seen flying down into the trees and at one point a flock of 14 flew up from the opposite side of the valley. An estimation of 30 birds was good for a very poor year for Turtle doves! What's more a flock of 9 Grey herons flew by.

6th September: 5 hours of seawatching produced only 3 Grey herons and 3 Marsh harriers and no need to mention very frustrated birdwatchers.
Went up to Buskett late, really thinking that I could have stayed at home but glad I did. Shortly after arriving the conspicuous call of Dottorels were heard and three passed overhead, one adult and two juveniles. A Golden oriole male was also not to grumble about! Birds of prey I got in time to see were 9 Marsh harrier (out of a total of 13), 2 Honey Buzzard (10 seen in all), and 2 unidentified Kestrels. Two Black kites and two Eleonora's falcon had been seen earlier.

7th September: Seawathcing in strong north west winds would had been disappointing had it not been for less than 10 minutes with two flocks of birds passing through making the day. First a flock of 14 Avocets flying low over the waves and I had barely taken the scope off them as they disappeared in the distance when I spotted a flock of 51 Garganey! It was the first sizeable flock of the species I have seen I in autumn. Cory's shearwater were passing close to shore, two Marsh harriers benefitted the tail wind, two Sandwhich terns and an Audouin's gull completed the list.

8th September: Calmer north west winds was better conditions making even a a better morning seawatch. 8 Purple herons were the first to migrate over, followed by more herons: 1, 24, 8 (33 in all) Grey heron and 13 Little Egret. Marsh harriers started early appearing first as specks over the horizon in singles and small groups. A total of 37 was recorded. A Quail whizzed past as did four Garganeys all drakes. Turnstones still there but only three now. The best however was yet another Avocet flock! This was slightly larger, 17!

Record shot of the 17 Avocets, the largest flock I have seen yet! Taken by T. Micallef

9th September: Off to Buskett in the afternoon it was...the first two flocks of Honey Buzzards (10, 12), incoming in their typical glide against the wind. Moreover two Black kites, 7 Marsh harrier and 3 Hobby were sighted. An Eleonora's falcon showed well too. 20 Night herons alighted from the trees calling as they went as well as a Grey Heron. Finally more than 200 Bee-eaters, an Alpine swift, a few Common Swifts, Swallows and the first House martins were emptying the skies from insects.

10th Septmber: The cruel truth of birdwatching and maybe even more with seawatching...one day you go home happy and excited the next you go home thinking what was the point of getting out of bed! Variable winds and very little movement. 6 and 7 Little egrets and four Grey herons was all really with only two Turnstones now.

Buskett was better tough. Arrived only to hear that we had lost two Ospreys, for which it has been a really poor migration so far! 9 Honey Buzzards and 8 Marsh harriers were circling around, no migration evident. Hobbies peaked with at least 18 birds hunting around and about. Then the bird I and others had been hoping for was spotted, another Osprey, flashing white in the sunlight then taking a glide, wings bent in a shallow M. The 6th so far and my first this autumn. It was followed by yet another great bird, a Pallid harrier male!

A week of calm and variable wind is not looking bright but we'll see and look forward to anything migration throws at us!

Some more birding

2011-09-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

29th August: Nothing much to see from a short seawatch, the usual Cory's shearwaters, an Audouin's gull, a juvenile yet again, and 3 Sandwhich tern.

30th August: More entertaining birding with a trickle of raptors from Buskett. Best of which was a Black kite and two adult Honey Buzzards. Eight Marsh harriers, a Montagu's harrier and a Grey heron also passed by. The first flock of Bee-eaters filled the air with their characteristic calls.

31st August: Not a bad day either, being still in the beginning at least...A hunting Eleonora's falcon light phase made the day. 12 Marsh harrier were sighted as were a Hobby and a Honey Buzzard adult. Two Turtle Doves whizzed down into the valley, been a very poor year so far for this beautiful but declining species. A Woodchat shrike perched shortly was the only interesting passerine apart from a total of 145 migrating and roosting Yellow wagtails.

1st September: The great month for watching everyone here looks forward to started off with three Purple herons over Salina. Even better were 8 Turnstones feeding along the coast. Probably it was the same flock seen on Sunday with two additions. A small flock of 5 Grey heron and a Purple heron made up the list of birds of note.
An Avocet was reported from Ghadira and we were off on the first September twitch. Seen it quite a few times before but not a bird to be missed! Other waders were two Dunlins, two Ringed Plover, and a few Little Stint and Little Ringed plovers.
Buskett in the afternoon produced 7 Marsh harrier, a Common Kestrel was all raptorwise. Furthermore a flock of 52 Bee-eater, the first Hoopoe this autumn and 135 Yellow wagtail.
2nd September: Best day so far since starting monitoring from Buskett this passage! Light to moderate south west and some cloud cover are good conditions for seeing raptors here. Marsh harriers started passing in singles and small flocks amounting to 38 birds. More exciting were Montagu's harriers migrating against the wind, 15 in all. The last eight roosted round about the countryside. How many will continue their migration south tomorow is another question with probably a very sad answer!
Two Kestrels and a Hobby were spotted too. Night herons made their prescence felt as they left their roost, 34 from Buskett flying across the sky V formation and another flock of 9. Finally it was nice to see 9 Turtle doves in all as the wind started picking up as the day started to come to an end.

Slow start but its started!

2011-08-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

Finally we can get to some serious birding again on our shores as migration rolls to a slow start after a summer of heat waves and general lack of birds. Was in Varanger, Norway in june july which was an amazing experience I hope to write about when i get the time! For now we'll stay in Malta...so here goes:

13th August: First seawatch not bad at that: Great Cormorant, an adult Grey heron and a juvenile Audouin's gull.

At Salina salt pans there where a few waders including 7 Dunlin still in summer plumage, 6 Little stint, 2 Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Ringed plover as well as a Kingfisher.

15th August Yet another Audouin's gull juvenile was all, and at Salina there were a few waders again 5 Dunlin, 11 Little stint and 3 Common sandpiper plus a Yellow wagtail.

17th August: Quite an impressive flock of 65 Wood Sandpiper at Ghadira NR. Another Kingfisher too.

20th August: Seawatch...nothing.

23rd August: An Audouin's gull once more, a few more Cory's shearwaters than usual and two Sandwhich tern.

24th August: A Night heron and 2 Golden orioles at Buskett. A flock of 9 Night heron were seen at dusk after I left.

27th August: Now it got better...with two Oystercatchers making my day. A Little egret also flew by, a Dunlin and an Audouin's gull.

Buskett in the afternoon produced the first Hobby recorded this autumn hunting over the trees, two Marsh harriers, a Turtle Dove and a Wheatear.

28th August: First bird of interest was an Eleonora's falcon, a good starter for this morning's seawatch. Next up was even better 6 Turnstones flying along the coast and settled on the spray washed rocks. Had been a while since I'd seen the species in Malta. Also 6 Little Egret, 500+ Cory' shearwater thanks to the strong north west wind, 4 Common Sandpiper, 9 Little Stint a Lesser Black-backed gull fuscus, a Med and a Black-headed gull. 2 Grey herons were flying over Salina as I headed home.

The evening produced 3 Marsh harriers from Buskett, one of which was shot at illegally, five consecutive shots but continued to fly on. Also of note were a flock of 8 Pallid swifts.

Both the photos one of the Eleonora's falcon and the other of 3 of 6 Turnstones were taken by R Galea.

Migration is still in the begining, we have many long hours of birding and hopefully many surprises to look forward to!

A first breeding record for Malta

2011-06-09T03:24:00.000-07:00

Just hatched, taken by Ray Galea on the 30th May

(click on imge to enlarge)

One of the chicks yesterday that is around 10 days old

4 young Black-winged Stilts are currently running about in Ghadira nature reserve under the extremely protective eye of their parents. Not quite two weeks old yet they are growing fast, moving on their long legs fun to watch even better knowing that this is the first time the species have bred on the islands. Especially the male is chasing every thing that moves in their vicinity even the Little-ringed plovers that also breed in the reserve.

Everyone waited expectantly when the nest with four eggs was located and the pair took turns to incubate. On 29th May the first two hatched and their growth has been rapid since then! Only shows that creating new space for birds, the shelter and the right habitat the birds will move in! In the last years we have witnessed first breeding records of Little Grebe and Coot in Simar, as well as Little Bittern some time before that.

Now we can only hope that the four young stilts continue growing and that the breeding of this beautiful bird at Ghadira will become of regular occurrence!

Last of Spring

2011-05-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

One of two Squacco Herons present at Simar Nature reserve, frequently seen hunting on the edge of the water. Also two Little Bitterns (male and female) present only seen twice flying over the water into cover. Coots bred again this year at this site, with 6 chicks initially, I only saw three as the others had perished. They bred for the first time in Malta in 2008. Even better was the first breeding attempt of Black-winged Stilts at Ghadira Nature reserve, with a nest of four eggs on one of the small islands of the wetland.
Apart from Temminck's stint (below) and a few Little Stints, Ringed Plovers, Curlew Sandpipers, Greenshanks, Ruff and Little Ringed Plovers with chicks, a male Kentish plover spent last weekend at the reserve. Last time I had seen the species was one of the first times I visited the place back in 2005. Therefore I was obviously happy with the sighting!

Rollers! Three of them together in the limits of Mosta and another great species this May! What is more found a female Rock thrush at our local patch, third one this spring, Quite a few more Turlte Doves and Bee-eaters too, as well as two Cuckoos and two Red-footed falcons today.

The best and one of the main birding highlights this Spring were White Storks! We got a call about an enormous flock, and yes for Malta it was enormous!, circling over central Malta. Being in a valley we had little chance of seeing them, so we sprinted all the way to the end of the valley, anxiety making the longest run I've ever done to see a bird seem even longer! But on higher ground we spotted them, a cloud of soaring White Storks, something few of us ever immagined we would see in Malta. The largest so far was the flock seen last September of 28 birds. This was 204!!! We watched them the whole evening and when they flew towards the south of Malta where they roosted, passed quite close.

Of course in a country like Malta it was only to expected that a number of the birds would fall victims to poaching. We witnessed one majestic bird fall out fo the sky to a permanent roost in Malta while the flock flew over tal-Virtu area. A few others were seen shot that same evening and with first daylight the next morning. A clear evidence of the illegal shooting were the birds thatt remained to the following afternoon with gunshot wounds and dangling legs...

ALL PHOTOS OF WHITE STORKS ARE TAKEN BY RAY GALEA.

Comino and more

2011-04-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

To start with were we left off last week...a late Shelduck at Ghadira and a Temminck's stint as well as a Red-footed falcon female, 2 Montagu's harriers, a few Turtle doves, Collared and Pied flycatchers on the 21st. To ruin the morning birding one of the Montagu's harriers, a male, was shot down up on the ridge above Foresta 2000! Police did not respond to the report, that much to the government's promise to strictly enforce the law!

At Simar on Good Friday morning some variation with 3 Night heron, an adult Purple heron, 10 Wood Sandpiper, some 15 Turtle Dove and 8 Golden oriole plus my first Reed Warblers this year.

Little did I know that later I was going to see a bird that has eluded me so far, nervous moments waiting for the bus and on site searching for it amongst a flock of 36 Little Egrets resting on the rocks at Ghajn Tuffieha. Finally it stretched its neck from beneath its wing, and the yellow tinged head, and short orange bill became evident...Cattle egret! Fantastic bird!

Record shots, click on the image to enlarge, in the above the Cattle egret is in lower right part of the flock...

Yet another victim to illegal hunting...a Common Cuckoo shot right in the chest found dead on the roadside leading to Bidnija. This has to stop!

Back to birding, nothing much more till Comino where we stayed at the ringing station from Monday evening till Thursday morning. Great couple of days with yet another lifer and quite a good deal of other good birds like these stunning Bee-eaters!

Three Bee-eaters ringed in all...on Tuesday over a hundred were seen both migrating and feeding in the valleys with less numbers on the other days. After being fitted with a light-weight ring, and measurements taken such as weight and wing lenght the birds are released.

Only around 8 Turtle Doves seen but here's the first I've seen in the hand! Pity that it's declining and fast!

A few Golden Orioles about too...second year male above.

Another second year male, this time a Common Kestrel tough! Maybe the best bird ringed, had never seen a bird of prey on such close quarters except injured birds...

One of four Icterine warblers ringed, other passrines included quite a few Collared, Pied and Spotted flycatchers, a few Whinchats, Whitethroats, Willow warblers, a late Chiffchaff, Wood Warblers and Woodchat Shrikes.

Moreover, witnessed one of the best spectacles nature has to offer, more than 600 Honey buzzards migrating over on Wednesday. The change from south east to north east winds and low cloud cover meant that the birds few low over the islands in large flocks. Largest seen was over 150. An unforgettable experience!

The next day, the ones that had roosted on the islands, were seen gathering in small flocks and as the day started heating up, rise on the thermals and leave for Sicily and who knows where after that.

Other birds of prey seen were seven Black kites, over 10 Montagu's harriers including a few hunting low over the garigue, a Peregrine falcon stooping down on Pigeons, a Hobby and the first Sparrowhawk I've ever seen in spring.

Two Hoopoes, probably the last ones I'll see this spring were nice too. 6 Alpine Swifts and 4 Red-rumped swallow are worth mentioning apart from loads of Common Swift, House martin and Swallows passing over.

As most birds are still migrating to hurrying to their breeding grounds further north, a pair of Spectacled warblers were busy feeding four nestlings coming to and fro with food constantly.

And finally for the lifer...Stone Curlew! A scarce visitor to our shores and the 185th bird on my list of birds seen in Malta. Located first by another birdwatcher we went in search for it, walking spread out over the garigue. It flew up from between us only to settle quickly again running further away from us. Still we managed to locate it as it hid hunched up between some bushes. Amazing owl like eyes and characteristic behaviour made it really fun to watch!

More Spring Migrants

2011-04-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

So here goes birding these last three days...

18 Northern wheatears, two Black-eared and four Whinchat were the highlight on Monday at Xaghra l-Hamra. Nothing much else tough.

Comino yesterday was better. Started off with a juvenile Cormorant on a small rocky islet. A few Whinchats and a Black-eared wheatear on walking to the ringing station found on the island. More passerines included Redstart, Nightingale, Garden, Subalpine, Wood, Willow warbler, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Pied Flycatcher and two Linnets.

Pair of Black-eared wheatear caught together.

3 Woodchat shrikes seen including this one.

Around 6 Hoopoes about, one we were lucky to catch..the first I've seen in the hand.

A world of sad contrasts...this Hoopoe was found injured and very weak unable to fly due to gunshot wounds in the wing...the island is a bird sanctuary and no hunting is allowed so presumably the bird was shot at as it was leaving the coast of Malta or Gozo and continued struggling till it reached land...

A few birds of prey showed up during the afternoon, best being a Peregrine Falcon but also a hunting Pallid harrier, four Marsh harriers, a Montagu's Harrier, a Black kite and two Lesser Kestrels.

Other birds of interest were two Cuckoos, one unfortunately evading the nets by a nick, a stunning Golden oriole male, over 60 Bee-eaters, a Wryneck and 5 Turtle Doves.

More Turtle Doves today seen from Ghadira being welcomed by volleys of shots each time. Seeing them barely having reach land and shot down by hunters on the cliff was sick and frustrating. On a positive note two Marsh sandpipers spending a short while in the reserve were a nice addition to my yearlist especially being a species I hadn't seen in two years.

A Shelduck and 3 White wagtails were a bit late and unusual at this time of year. Most of the waders present till the weekend have left altough 6 Black-wined stilts were still there, as well as Little Stints and Wood Sandpiper.

An adult Purple Heron only made a brief stop at the reserve before it continued northwards and a flock of around 12 Night herons were seen shortly before they passed behind the ridge.

On the garigue area behind the reserve, we were in for two good birds. A male hunting Red-footed falcon the first this spring and only the second male of this great bird I've seen.

Then the second Rock thrush this spring also a superb male...here's a record shot...

Quite a few Whinchats about too an estimate of at least 25, as well as yet another Black-eared Wheatear, three Whitethroats and two Woodchat shrikes. Finally some good birds this evening too, best of which being 20 Marsh harriers, a Cuckoo, a single Turtle Dove, a Golden Oriole, some hirundines including a Red-rumped Swallow, two Great Reed warblers and a Sedge.

Another update

2011-04-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Spotted Crake - Ghadira

Little Egrets Little Crake

Wood sandpiper

Common Snipe below the hide at Ghadira today...

Yesterday week that is last Saturday, started off with an unsuccesful seawatch but a walk around the Red tower and Foresta 2000 produced around 15 Northern Wheatears, a Whinchat and the third Black-eared wheatear so far this spring. Even a larger compensation was three Cuckoos, one being the quite scarce rufous form. A Turtle Dove flew overhead and we flushed a Hoopoe. Finally 5 Tawny pipits were feeding on the garigue.

At Ghadira some wader acvitiy of note...with 27 Ruff which were nice as well as 5 Black-winged stilt, a pair seen copulating but how much this indicates breeding is dubious, plus Little Stint (4), Snipe (1), Common sandpiper(1), Wood sandpiper (5) and first Curlew sandpiper of the year still not moulted in its more splendid summer plumage. Also yearticks were a Greenshank and a Common redstart.

Was nearly home when got a call about something at Simar reserve, but thanks to noisy maltese buses couldn't catch what it was. A few nervous seconds afterwards received a message instead...a Glossy ibis. No need to panic but still not a bird to be missed so it was off the bus and back the way I had come. Not visible when I arrived but flew up at one point circled once around before it settled down again behind some reeds...well at least I had seen it! A Squacco heron and Spotted Crake was good too.

In the evening visited one of the local valleys, yet another Cuckoo (4 in a day) on the way. Highlight tough was Great Snipe! Flushed from grass tussocks on the edge of a dam, white tail corners evident as it flew up, low croaking call, and white pattern on wings. Great bird and first time I saw it in Malta even better being self found :). A female Little Crake and Red-rumped swallow added to the list of good birds.

Spent the next day at Simar, where the Glossy ibis had stayed and gave good views but I had forgot the memory card in the laptop at home so no photos! Very stupid and frustrating! Five Little Grebes showed up, 2 chicks and one juvenile, as well as yet another Spotted Crake, 3 Ruff, 3 Little Egret, a Snipe and two Wood sandpiper. Flushed two Hoopoes off the path and a Night heron settled infront of the hide...Was shown my first Cetti's warbler nest with nice red eggs!

A male Montagu's harrier in the evening, 10 Marsh harrier, 12 Bee-eater and saw the Great Snipe again. Yet another Spotted Crake and a Woodcaht shrike and Hoopoe made it another fairly good day!

Monday was the last day we saw the Great Snipe, hope it migrated and did not succumb to illegal hunting! Nothing much else about until Friday. A shift from the calm stable weather saw a small influx of birds of prey. Best being Montagu's harriers... saw up to 18 but others counted 35!

Quite a few Lesser Kestrels and Marsh harriers too, with the first Honey buzzard being great, an adult male! Moreover first Golden oriole and Pied Flycathcer. Flock of 13 Bee-eater and three more Red-rumped swallow.

Lifer just as I was waiting to enter Ghadira nature reserve saturday morning, Gull-billed tern flew over and circled around in the bay before it came back and landed inside. Collared flycathcer male brought my yearlist up to 122. While 4 Grey herons and 7 more flying over, 6 Little egret, 13 Marsh harriers, a few Lesser Kestrels and a Spotted crake were also good. Waders were a Dunlin, 9 Black-winged stilt, a Curlew Sandpiper, a Green sandpiper, 2 Ruff, breeding Little-ringed Plovers, and 5 Wood sandpipers of note. Woodchat shrike, 2 Wheatear , 4 Short-toed lark and 3 Tawny Pipits on the garigue area behind the reserve.

In the evening, Hobby, a Wood Sandpiper, 25 Bee-eater, 2 Woodcaht shrike and 6 Golden orioles were good. Three calling Great reed warblers, a Redstart, Whitethroat, 0ver 300 Swallows, a few Sand and House Martins and two Red-rumped swallows.

Today back to clear weather and a lack of birds unfortunately but wind will shift again during the week so hopefully will be good, fingers crossed!

More birding...end of March beginning of April

2011-04-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

Male Black-eared wheatear

Record shot of a great lifer, Rock Thrush!

A trickle of migration this last week, managed to reach the goal of 100 yearticks by end of march exactly and currently at 108...

On Monday (29/03) saw the first Black-eared wheatear (a black throated melanoleuca male), Wood Warbler and Whitethroat as well as a 3 Little Egrets, handfull of Marsh harriers, 4 Lesser Kestrels, a Hoopoe and a Wryneck.

Tuesday went to Majjistral National park, a large area of garigue and good wathcpoint for migration, where we spotted 2 Black Storks! My first sighting of these great birds in spring. Also 13 Little egret resting on the rocks, a Black Kite, 3 Marsh harrier, a feeding flock of 15 Short-toed lark and to top it up a Pallid harrier male.

31st March saw us seawatching with Curlews being the highlight. Two flocks of 14 and 10 the larger flock giving good views. A flock of 8 Wood sandpipers passed by as did a single Shelduck. A small passage of Sandwhich terns, 10 in all much completed the list.

First Bee-eaters heard on the 2nd of April and on the 3rd was at Simar. A drake Ferruginous duck was nice as was a a Night heron 2 juvenile Little grebes and their parents, a Snipe and a pair of coots. Not much else tough. Passerines only represented by a few Swallows, a Subalpine warbler, a few Blackcaps, a Great reed and a Sedge warbler. Two Pallid harriers, a male and a female made me complete the day with a smile.

Ferruginous Duck

Little Grebe adult with two juveniles

Saw the first Purple heron the next day coming up the one of the valleys close to home before dusk. A Hobby was another yeartick too as were two Whinchats and two Bee-eaters. Other birds were two Grey herons, two Marsh harriers one with an injured wing, a Kestrel, a Wood sandpiper flew overhead calling while a Wryneck flew into the reeds on our approach as well as 4 Wheatears feeding in a field and a singing Willow and Sedge warbler.

Purple heron at dusk

Very windy yeaterday and Buskett did not produce much except a late Song thrush and the first Cuckoo this year. Checking out a nearby garigue area produced the unexpected. A stunning male Rock Thrush! The lifer was followed by yet another year tick, a Woodchat shrike as well as two Northern Wheatears.

Today was back at Xaghara l-Hamra, had too high expectations with the north east wind which did not quite pay off. Well first Turtle Dove and another Cuckoo so cannot grumble. 11 Wheatears in all as well as a beautiful Black-eared male. Quite a few Tawny Pipits, a Whitethroat and singing Corn Buntings. Better than all that was a Weasel running along a rubble wall stopping to look at us and sprinting across the road. Only third time I had seen this scarce and only carnivorous mammal in Malta and definetly the best time.

A good passage

2011-03-27T06:32:00.000-07:00

Birding close to home during the week produced a handful of Green Sandpipers at two different valleys , a Snipe, a few Marsh harriers, a Black kite and good views of a Hoopoe. The real good birding was this weekend though. Was still walking up the slope from where we seawatch in spring when another birder called out alerting me of a 200-250 flock of migrating Garganeys. More followed with small flocks gathering throughout the morning to around about a total of 700, but not passing through, flying around and setting on the water instead. Then we witnessed one of the larger flocks seen in Malta by those present some who've been seawatching for more than thirty years! At least 2000 strong ...all Garganeys as far as we could see, flew high above the sea and was gone in less than five minutes. Quite impressive! Two small flocks of Ferruginous ducks (12 and 5) and 15 Pintails but that was much it and migrations stopped for the morning. Went to Ghadira where I added Dunlin and Willow warbler to the yearlist. Other birds were a Little Grebe, a Ferruginous duck, 12 Little-ringed plover, 3 Common Sanpipers, a Snipe and a Water Pipit of interest. Little-ringed plovers were in full courtship behaviour and one was even seen incubating. The water pipit is the same that overwintered now nearly in full summer plumage. This morning was also good with around 1000 Garganeys. None migrated tough but still fine to see the large rafts on the calm sea, pity visibilty was not the best. Two flocks of Black-winged stilts passing through (12, 10) much completed the picture apart from a few passerines; a Tawny pipit, a few Tree pipits, 2 Subalpine warblers, a Blackcap and a Chiffchaff.

Only part of the 2000+ flock of Garganeys seen yesterday, showing c720 birds. The whoile flock was impossilbe to include in one photo and very difficult to estimate as it was seen quite shortly. Photo by R GALEA

Ups and downs the last week

2011-03-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Record shot of Isabelline wheatear

4 of the 5 Curlews

Spotted Crake

To start with the downs...dipped for the second time Desert wheatear. Two hours walking around in the area was unsuccessful and I left only with a handful of yearers...Wryneck, Short-toed lark, Linnet and Tawny pipit as well as loads of Yellow wagtails, Swifts, 2 Northern Wheatears, a pair of Kestrels and a Hoopoe. Nothing compared to 12th record Desert Wheatear and a beautiful male at that!

And now for the ups...We found the second Isabelline wheatear in a week so that was great! Even better was a Spotted Crake in one of the valleys close to my home. Flew up from edge of the watercourse only to settle on the opposite bank showing for a short while before it scuttled through the grass. Only the second I'd seen. A few Lesser Kestrels were about hunting as well as four Marsh harriers. Flushed a Moorhen, Snipe and Green sandpiper

A Ferruginous duck at Ghadira was nice to see, while at Simar nothing much about. Popped into Salina (disused salt pans) too with feeding Little-ringed Plovers (4), Common sandpipers (3) and a Common Redshank. 5 Marsh harriers flying over the surrounding hills.

Seawathing wise not much, 2 Black Kites on Friday was all of note and a flock of 25 Garganey on Saturday. What was good though and lifer compensating for the Desert whaeatear were 5 Curlews circling over the channel. tought they were gulls at first and some long seconds trying to identify wether they were whimbrels or curlews but as they got closer the long beak was evident so Curlews they were.

Highlights this weekend

2011-03-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Friday started off with a walk at a garigue area good for wheaters, hoopoes and other spring migrants which have started arriving. Four Northern Wheaters, a yeartick, including two beautiful males were replenishing thier reserves before continuing their journey. Black redstarts and Stonechats also migrating through, higher numbers than the wintering birds were seen. A Flock of 11 Slylarks flew up infront of us only to settle further off, and a Kestrel was hunting over the ridge. Breeding birds like Blue Rock Thrushes, Corn Buntings and Spectacled Warblers were in full song. The best was however a lifer and a great bird, an Isabelline wheatear! Clearly different from the Northern wheatear female, with no contrat between back and wings, broader black tail band and dark allula. A grey heron headed up the coast while we waited for the bus.

Saturday was not that productive with only a flock of 8 Grey herons of note from a seawatch, but saw the first Hoopoe and two Green Sanpipers at Simar NR.

Sunday was better altought the cloud cover and showers made us hope for good numbers of herons which were not to be. But cannot grumble when you get good views of a Short-eared owl entering from the sea just on arrival. Also the first Alpine Swifts, Tree pipits and a Lesser Black-backed gull of the year. At Ghadira Nature reserve a small gathering of waders, all year ticks bringing my list up to 78. A Common Redshank, two Ruff, a Woodsandpiper, 3 Little-ringed Plover, and two Little Stint. A female Shoveler was feeding on the shoreline, as well as a Common Teal. Two Coots, two Little Grebe and a Kingfisher remain from the wintering birds. A male Marsh harrier flew low over the ridge before I left.

Spring in the air

2011-03-07T03:00:00.000-08:00

A blustery Saturday morning saw us huddled on the cliff edge at Cirkewwa scanning the channel. The minutes seemed to tick very slowly by with nothing much about...a few Cory's Shearwaters gliding the waves, four Mediterranean gulls, a Sandwhich tern but that was much about it. Got a short view just in time before it was lost from sight of the highlight, a Pomarine skua far out in the channel. Finally with the wind getting even stronger we gave up and went home.

Sunday was more succesful no seawatching but off to Simar Nature reserve. Not much at first apart from the usual birds and singing Moustached Warbler but during the afternoon we got some good birds. Managed to localise two Firecrest in the olive grove with help of playback. A yearer for me and a lifer for my sister...been quite a bogey bird for her so she was happy! From the hide we got a fleeting glimpse of the Bluethroat as it flew from the bank to cover but it soon hopped back giving good views..too far for photos tough. Two Swifts had joined the small flock of House Martins and two Swallows. At this time of year I always looking forward to the first Marsh harrier and there it was hunting over the reserve panicking the birds, two Snipes taking to flight.

Back home in the evening went half an hour up on the roof from where I have rather good view over Mdina, Mtarfa, Dwejra and Burmarrad area. A few Yellow-legged gulls passing over land to their roosting site on the west coast. Then the highlight of the day, a small flock of large birds in the distance heading North...9 Common Cranes!

Woke up to a glorious Monday morning, holidays thanks to Carnival :), and decided to take a walk in a nearby valley. The dams were full, having had good rainfall this winter. And the valley was full of life too, White wagtails in summer plumage, loads of Chiffchaffs many singing, Meadow Pipits, Stonechats, Black redstarts, Blackcaps and the first two Yellow wagtails all feeding close to the watercourse. Flushed a Moorhen from the side of a dam and a Common Snipe too. Even better was a Moustached warbler feeding for quite some time on a reedy bank, but got a bit too excited when shortly afterwards I got in doubt about what turned out to be only a Sedge warbler. Looked pale and at first impression the crown stripe looked much more obvious than in realy was. Playing mp3 afterwards with a much more experienced birder it was clear it was a Sedge and not Aquatic...that what comes from overexcitement!

Today was bit in contrast to the title with only 4 degrees when I woke up and a strong North east wind blowing but spring migration was at least evident. Apart from quite a few hirundines and Common Swifts, a total of 17 Lesser Kestrels passed us at Cirkewwa in singles and small groups throughout the morning. What's more a total of 6 flocks of Grey Herons migrating against the wind, the largest being of 28 birds. The first Garganeys of the year, 2 flying through the channel setting hopes for further flocks but it wasn't to be. 3 Marsh harriers and a Linnet ended the list of migrating birds with a Blue Rock Thrush singing from the cliff edge.

Last Weekend of February

2011-02-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning saw us scanning the sea from Cirkewwa, from which one can get good views of birds passing through the channel between Malta and Comino on their passage northwards...that is when there is something to be seen. A single cormorant and 3 House Martins was all before the skies opened and we had to run for shelter. After the rain, 5 Sandwhich terns and 2 Mediterranean gulls were added to the short list.

Continued to Simar Nature reserve, were the feeling of spring set in with some 20 House Martins, a few Swallows and the first Sand Martin of the year, flitting over the water. We were happy to see the two Little grebe chicks which were first noted this week swimming with their parents and continously being fed fish. Hope more will appear soon from the other two pairs.

Other birds included two teals, two water rails, coots and finally I cought up again with the overwintering male Bluethroat. Seen twice for a very short while feeding on a muddy bank before taking to the tamarisk trees...mp3 did not bring it out of cover.

The next day sleep was cut short by a message about 19 Spoonbills at Ghadira Nature reserve. In ten minutes we were out and lucky to get the bus immeadiately. Not too lucky with the species previously missing them with only five minutes, but this time they were still there when I arrived. Enjoyed the birds for about an hour as they were preening and resting on one of the islands. The Black-necked grebes present were also nice to see having moulted to nearly complete summer plumage. Then it was back home to continue sleeping...

And finally...

2011-02-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

Not to much birding lately unfortuntely, not much about either but with February coming to end and spring in the air there's some more bird activity. Missed a a total of 70 Spoonbills two days ago, record for Malta...11 shot though...http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110220/local/rare-protected-spoonbills-shot...no need to comment any further.

On a positive note had a good morning birding at Buskett. Blackcaps everywhere and quite active not seeming as shy as usual. Around 7 Song Thrushes, as well as Dunnocks and Chaffinches. The first House Martin flitted by just after we got the highlight. We heard it first not sure if it was a Starling or what we hoped it was, but as it flew up and perched in a cypress tree, it was evident it was no Starling but our first Redwing in Malta and being able to enjoy it for a while too!

not too easy to take photos off though...

Female Wigean at Ghadira a month ago

Part of a group of 12 Black-necked Grebes overwintering at Ghadira

First birding of 2011

2011-01-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

Qammieh point

Water Pipit at Ghaidra NR

Little Grebe starting to moult to breeding plumage

Started off the year bird wise at Buskett only on the 2nd with the usual winter birds. The highlight was a Quail flushed from a garigue area above the valley. It is usually a migrant in Malta but a few spend the colder months here too if not shot by hunters. Flushed two birds from the same area the previous winter too. At the Dingli Cliffs two Spectacled warblers and a few Blue Rock Thrushes.

Monday after looking around for crests in the local public garden producing a single Goldcrest I was off to Qawra were three and a half hours of scanning produced 2 Shelducks, 3 Sandwhich terns, one Med gull, a few Black-headed gulls and the usual Yellow-legged.

The birds at Ghadira seem to have left with no ducks and waders, 12 black-necked grebes, 3 Little Grebes and Coots still there though. Water pipit which we first saw in November wintering in the reserve starting to moult with the first pink feathers on its chest.

Added Kestrel ( tailless) and Skylark to the yearlist from the garigue area behind the reserve. On a walk below the cliffs of Qammieh and on the garigue plateau back again checked every Stonechat and Black redstart for potential Desert wheatear and Moussier's Redstart with no luck. Nice area for a walk tough and a total of 6 Spectacled Warblers was good.

Year List 2010

2010-12-31T08:35:00.000-08:00

And now that there is only a few hours left of 2010 here's the year list coming up to a total of 157, with 10 lifers (blue)and 3 Malta ticks (yellow).

1. Common Quail
2. Common Shelduck
3. Eurasian Wigeon
4. Gadwall
5. Eurasian Teal
6. Mallard
7. Pintail
8. Garganey
9. Shoveler
10. Ferruginous Duck
11. Cory's Shearwater
12. Yelkouan Shearwater
13. Little Grebe
14. Great Crested Grebe
15. Black-necked Grebe
16. Greater Flamingo
17. Black Stork
18. White Stork
19. Glossy Ibis
20. Eurasian Spoonbill
21. Little Bittern
22. Night Heron
23. Squacco Heron
24. Little Egret
25. Great White Egret
26. Grey Heron
27. Purple Heron
28. Northern Gannet
29. Great Cormorant
30. Lesser Kestrel
31. Common Kestrel
32. Red-footed Falcon
33. Merlin
34. Hobby
35. Eleonora's Falcon
36. Peregrine Falcon
37. Honey-buzzard
38. Black Kite
39. Marsh Harrier
40. Pallid Harrier
41. Montagu's Harrier
42. Eurasian Sparrowhawk
43. Osprey
44. Water Rail
45. Little Crake
46. Moorhen
47. Common Coot
48. Purple Swamphen
49. Common Crane
50. Chukar
51. Pheasant
52. Black-winged Stilt
53. Avocet
54. Little Ringed Plover
55. Ringed Plover
56. Dotterel
57. European Golden Plover
58. Northern Lapwing
59. Little Stint
60. Temminck's Stint
61. Curlew Sandpiper
62. Dunlin
63. Ruff
64. Common Snipe
65. Bar-tailed Godwit
66. Spotted Redshank
67. Common Redshank
68. Greenshank
69. Green Sandpiper
70. Wood Sandpiper
71. Common Sandpiper
72. Mediterranean Gull
73. Black-headed Gull
74. Slender-billed Gull
75. Audouin's Gull
76. Lesser Black-backed Gull
77. Yellow-legged Gull
78. Caspian Tern
79. Sandwich Tern
80. Pomarine Skua
81. Collared Dove
82. Turtle Dove
83. Common Cuckoo
84. Short-eared Owl
85. European Nightjar
86. Alpine Swift
87. Common Swift
88. Pallid Swift
89. Common Kingfisher
90. European Bee-eater
91. Hoopoe
92. Wryneck
93. Woodchat Shrike
94. Golden Oriole
95. Sand Martin
96. Barn Swallow
97. House Martin
98. Red-rumped Swallow
99. Bar-tailed Desert Lark
100. Short-toed Lark
101. Sky Lark
102. Zitting Cisticola
103. Cetti's Warbler
104. Savi's Warbler
105. Moustached Warbler
106. Sedge Warbler
107. Reed Warbler
108. Great Reed Warbler
109. Icterine Warbler
110. Blackcap
111. Garden Warbler
112. Common Whitethroat
113. Spectacled Warbler
114. Subalpine Warbler
115. Sardinian Warbler
116. Eastern Bonelli's Warbler
117. Wood Warbler
118. Common Chiffchaff
119. Willow Warbler
120. Goldcrest
121. Firecrest
122. Common Starling
123. Blackbird
124. Song Thrush
125. Robin
126. Common Nightingale
127. Bluethroat
128. Black Redstart
129. Common Redstart
130. Moussier’s Redstart
131. Whinchat
132. Common Stonechat
133. Northern Wheatear
134. Black-eared Wheatear
135. Blue Rock Thrush
136. Spotted Flycatcher
137. Semi-collared Flycatcher
138. Collared Flycatcher
139. Pied Flycatcher
140. Spanish Sparrow
141. Tree Sparrow
142. Dunnock
143. Tawny Pipit
144. Tree Pipit
145. Meadow Pipit
146. Red-throated Pipit
147. Water Pipit
148. Yellow Wagtail
149. Grey Wagtail
150. White Wagtail
151. Common Chaffinch
152. European Serin
153. Greenfinch
154. Linnet
155. Common Crossbill
156. Reed Bunting
157. Corn Bunting

A year that will be remebered for the great days on Comino on the 7th and of April and 2nd May, mega Bar-tailed lark, first record Purple Swamphen, finding birds like Snow bunting, Great snipe and Long-tailed duck in Norway, biggest number of birds of prey I have seen on 21st September as well as a flock of 21 Spoonbills, seeing the biggest flock of 28 White and a Black Stork recorded from Malta, and several other birding adventures.

The last days of 2010

2010-12-31T01:46:00.001-08:00

The Common Crane flushed from Cuminija area behind Ghadira, taken by Nick Galea

One of the Snipes at Simar feeding below the hide

Scenery at Ta' Zuta close to Buskett

Christmas holidays at last and more time for birding! The 23rd of December started off at Gahdira nature reserve. Two female Teals feeding on one of the islands, eleven Black-necked and three Little grebes, the highest number of grebes I can remeber here, six coots, a Dunlin and two Common sandpipers were to be seen. A flock of 9 Shelduck were spotted flying over the bay and great to see. We went to check if they had settled on the water but all we saw were two Cormorants flying above us.

We continued to the garigue area behind the reserve. A few stonechats, black redstarts, meadow pipits, blue-rock thrushes as well as a Linnet and two Skylarks. It got more exciting when a sharp call alerted us to two Lapwings flying along the small valley. Even better and quite a surprise was a Common Crane that alighted on the opposite side of the valley 200 meters away. Circled around for a while before continuing down the coast it gave good views. Unfortunalty it was apparent that it had missing primaries altough it was flying well.

Christmas eve was windy and a walk through a valley dominated by farmland and a watercourse with abundant reeds and fresh water, was t say the least unproductive. At least I got my only Firecrest of the year in a public garden close to home.

The next two days seemed perfect for Cranes with low cloud cover and westerly winds but watching from Qawra and Dwejra was futile and indeed from anywhere on the island at that.

Monday we were off to Gozo, concentrating on Ta' Cenc, sea cliffs and one of the richest garigue areas of the island. Black redstarts were dominant. A few Spectacled warblers which are restricted to such areas. Two Linnets were good as were three hunting Common Kestrels. The definite highlight was a Golden Plover flushed from an unsurfaced road full of water puddles. I had missed a major passage two weeks earlier so at least cought up with this species this year too.

A penduline tit had been seen at Simar on Boxing day but weren't lucky with visiting the reserve on Tuesday. Little Grebes are in full breeding plumage and becoming territorial...soon chicks will be emerging from the reeds :). Other birds were three Water rail, two Common Snipe, a female teal, loads of Chiffchaffs and two Reed Buntings.

Next was an early morning at Buskett. As usual Robins were calling from everywhere as well as as less numbers of Blackcaps, Dunnocks and Chaffinches. Two Wrynecks heard but not seen as too often. A male Blackbird was flushed from a nearly dried up resevoir. Other birds inlcuded 12 Song Thrush making the best of ripening ivy berries and two Greenfinches a yearer for me and a Malta tick for my sister.

Walking to Laferla cross afterwards apart from the beautiful countryside gave nothing much but a flock of four Linnets were good though. Two large thrushes flying over gave too short views and from the back to confirm as Fieldfares rahter than the less likely Mistle thrush.

Twitched a Moussier's Redstart, female and 11th record for Malta in the evening. Altough less impressive as a male spending the winter of 2008 -2009 at Xaghra il-Hamra it was still nice to see this vagrant again on the island. Record shot by Ray Galea can be seen at http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery11

Last two days of the year spent inside unfortunatly trying to recover from a cold so no more last minute yearers. Still many great birding experiences this year and hopefully 2011 will be even better.

Happy New Year everyone!

A couple of hours at Simar NR

2010-12-08T06:26:00.000-08:00

One of five Snipes at Simar

Mist hanging over the Pwales valley behind Simar

Yesterday browsing through the sightings of the day, thinking about were to go today it being public holiday in Malta, the desicion was made easy for me, 1 Penduline tit male ringed at Simar NR. The last sightings of these great birds were from 2007/2008 when a few birds wintered at the reserve. It wasn't only me that was hoping for this one to stay too and me and my sister met up with a small group early this morning at Simar.

Simar early in the morning is beautiful, dew dripping from the trees, birds breaking mirror still water with ripples, the chilly air inside the hide and the general feeling that time has no effect on the place...
Looking out over the small wetland expactantly we saw the usual Coots, Moorhens, some 4 Little Grebes and a female Teal. A total of 5 Common Snipes were feeding elussively on the banks while there was larger number of Chiffchaffs flitting about. A Wryneck called from somewhere, but straining ears couldn't pick up any penduline tit calls which I remeber to give them away first two years ago. A small bird flew down on the opposite bank, but my brain told me to late that it was probably a Bluethroat as it disspaeared behind a tamarisk...frustrating! Two, three have been present the last month or so but eluded me so far. Something flew into a tre closer to the hide however turning out to be a male Bluethroat! A much brighter coloured male turned up feeding on close to the water's edge on the other side giving great views when it flew into a tamarisk singing shortly. Stunning birds!

A Moustached warbler called and was soon seen flying low over the water into a clump of reeds were it was seen feeding for a while. Yet another good bird but still no Penduline and so it was to be. Our patience only payed off with a hunting Kestrel on the Mizieb ridge and a Reed Bunting flying by. A Chaffinch called us goodbye as we finally packed our bags and left still quite happy with the outcome of the morning.

Some pics from the last weeks:

A Black-necked Grebe in Xemxija Bay fishing without a care for me on the promenade

3 of a flock of 6 Skylarks feeding in a field behind Ghadira NR

Record shot of a late male Yellow wagtail on the 27/11/10 also feeding behind Ghadira NR

A Great Crested Grebe at Ghadira NR with two Spanish Sparrows flying past

A lifer and a couple of other good birds

2010-11-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

The resting Spotted Redshank

WATER PIPIT, two of these scarce birds were seen!

Pintail and two Ferruginous ducks

Two of 5 immature Coots at the reserve

A Black-necked Grebe up from one of its dives right in front of the hide.

Up before sunrise yesterday morning to catch the first bus to Ghadira Nature reserve. Still a bit sleepy eyed we watched a handful of wild ducks, a male Gadwall, 2 Ferruginous ducks, a Pintail and 2 female Mallards feeding out on the water, which is quite high due to heavy rain tha last weeks. Grebes have arrived now with 3 Black-necked and 2 Little Grebes present. Too add to the variety were 5 Coots which haven't been present in more than singles for a few years. Quite a few Song thrushes and even better a male Blackbird flying into the pine grove, the first one for me this autumn. From the smaller hide at the other side of the reserve a strange pipit was spotted and when it came out in full view...Water Pipit! A lifer for me and altough a bit dull quite a nice bird. We wathched it feeding for some time when it was joined by yet another one! Spent the rest of the time trying to find a Yellow-browed warbler which had been seen earlier in the morning with no luck. However was rewarded with the longer stay by a winter plumage Spotted Redshank, a bird I hadn't seen for a while so can't complain!

Birding this weekend

2010-09-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Flock of 17 Grey Heron on SaturdayJuvenile Audouin's gull

Honey Buzzards...

Record shot of the highlight - Peregrine falcon

Saturday morning saw us still sleepy eyed scanning the sea with the sea spray blowing over us. At first only Yellow-legged gulls were about until a few Marsh harriers started coming in over the sea. Two Shovlers brigtened us up, being rather worthed to have got out of bed for. A Quail low over the sea heading inland was something I had never seen. So then with 17 Grey Heron and a Sandwhich tern just before we left I was quite happy.

Another seawatch Sunday morning gave 3 juvenile Audouin's gulls passing rather close to shore for gulls to be as well as my first two Black-headed gulls this autumn. Then 9 Grey Herons (2,7) and that was that, no more was to be seen.

In the afternoon the wind had weakened so we tried our luck with some raptor watching. Not much migration, 35 Marsh Harriers and 25 Honey Buzzards in all, which cannot be expected now either with the peak being over. 8 Hobbies, 2 Kestrels and a good flock of 70 Bee-eaters were flying about. A Black Kite was a good find as usual but the most interesting was to be had from the Falcon family... a male Peregrine Falcon flew by and gave good views as it perched in a large tree. What's more the first Merlin flew or better speeded by soon before dusk.

One of those days!

2010-09-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

12 Grey Herons from Qawra, the reddish colour on some of them is due to the early morning light.

Just a very small part of the many flocks circling around over Malta this afternoon.

Honey Buzzard silhouette

Whatever amount of hours and days you spend birding there are still those days that stand out in your memory for some time. That start good and end good, with a lifer or two and leaving you with a great feeling of content forgetting all the other birdless frustrating hours. Today was just such a day and to make it better it was the end of the summer holidays!

We started off with a Hoopoe flushed on arriving at the seawatching point at Qawra. We said that this made it worth even if we would se nothing else. But soon afterwards a flock of 12 Grey heron flew right over us,soon followed by a flock of 5 Little Egret. Not long after that again a flock of 9 Grey Heron and 13 Little Egret up the coast. Four more flocks of the latter were seen, 8, 18, 11 and 20, making up a very good total. The bird or birds of the morning were 4 Avocets which flew by Qawra point, not only being beautiful birds, but also rather scarce. By 9 am birds of prey started to make a move hinting on the passage that was to come later. A total of 12 Marsh harriers, 4 Honey Buzzards, an Osprey, 4 Common, 2 Lesser and 4 unidentified Kestrels. That was it, we left Qawra with hope to come up to Buskett as quickly as possible.

It was only two hours later though thanks to unreliable maltese buses! We came panting up the hill crossing fingers that we hadn't lost any large flocks or anything rare. Luckily the other birders had just arrived and the first flock of 6 honey buzzards was still ciricling around. The next flock was larger and with them 2 Ospreys. The flocks of Honey Buzzards and Marsh harriers didn't stop coming the largest of around 50 birds like bomber planes coming in formation over the maltese islands. They seemed to be in a hurry to escape the bad weather that is forecasted and although the first flocks migrated by the evening 300 or so raptors were circling around in huge funnels were ever you set your bins and still they were coming, a spectacle I had never witnessed in such "epic"proportions! While they stayed over Malta held by the now complete cloud cover, Kestrels(30), Lesser Kestrels (7) and Hobbies (20) were also migrating. To make it even better a male Pallid harrier was sighted, another two Ospreys - one with a ring seen blinking, a Black kite, 2 Grey and 2 Purple Herons. The best of all was a flock of 22 Spoonbills, a lifer for me and the largest flock seen by many present. We had been getting reports of them from the south of Malta but hadn't managed to see them, then a report from closer to us, from Dingli...a lot of frantic scanning and finally someone, who deserves a big thanks spotted them flashing white over Verdala Palace.

Totals of Marsh hariers and Honey Buzzards by the end of the evening were 350+ and 450+ respectively. Good numbers of Yellow wagtails (500+) and Swallows (600+) were noted as well as the first Grey Wagtail.

Another good day up at Buskett

2010-09-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Honey Buzzard

Painted Lady

At Qawra two hours of seawatching produced only two Marsh harriers, but at Buskett it was another matter. Maybe not as many as yesterday but just as fun. Arrived just in time to see a dark morph Marsh harrier. Small flocks were first found as mere specks in the sky gliding towards us stopping to soar overhead for a definite identification and continuing their migration agianst the wind. The way a good day should be. A Black Kite was seen in amongst the funneling Honey Buzzards and Marsh harriers as well as a male Montagu's harrier. 4 Hobbies were circling around attempting to catch Swallows and sending Bee-eaters into tight calling flocks. As dusk was approaching the raptors that had decided to choose our island as the stopover for the night started to drop lower in the sky stooping into the trees.

Peak :D

2010-09-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

One of the Honey Buzzards that roosted at Buskett, Photo by Ray Galea

18 Night Heron, Photo by Ray Galea

Light southwest winds looked promising so was up at Buskett early at 11 am and it wasn't for nothing. From the first scanning of the sky 7 Marsh harriers were found, first as small dots in the clouds and then coming over against the wind. They continued coming in small flocks and totals were rising. The conditions we had been waiting for had come and the birds didn't hang around. After some soaring most continued their long journey south. The largest flock was of 48 Honey Buzzards later on in the evening. Usually good days are highlighted with an eagle or a stork but it was not to be. 3 Ospreys wasn't bad though and neither 2 Black Kites which showed well. Two Eleonora's Falcons were hunting together with 5 Hobbies, one light and one dark phase. Total numbers of Honey Buzzards was 194 and Marsh harriers 142. A flock of 18 Night heron alighted from the trees, these also continued thier migration, another 2 called after dusk circling searching for companions. Bee-eaters were again present in good numbers (170) as were Barn Swallows. Two Wheatears constantly chaced each other over the garigue. Checking the weather forecast for tomorow promises good too, maybe we'll get an eagle, who knows?

Truly Unforgetable!

2010-09-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Moderate to strong Northwest winds...why go up to Buskett I thought. I was going to Qawra instead but changed my mind in the last minute. Now I'm extremely happy I made that decision!
I wasn't expecting anything really but a few Marsh harriers started appearing quite quickly. They continued coming in small flocks in against the wind some continuing some circling low preparing to roost. Between around 2 pm to 4 pm over 50 Marsh harriers were seen, together with 6 Honey Buzzard, a Black Kite, Montagu's harrier and an Osprey. Already content having had no expectations at all. But that was because I wasn't aware what was flapping closer to Malta. Suddenly I saw them a small cloud of large circling birds. At first glance I called out, "look herons", it quickly changed to "WHITE STORKS" though! We were stunned! All 29 of them! We didn't enjoy them for long before phone calls were made in rapid succession and record shots taken. They were followed till they became specs in the horizon and were gone as quickly as they had come. Altough the adrenaline is still flowing and I'm overjoyed that I was one of 3 that witnessed probably the largest flock of storks recorded in Malta, have mixed feelings because of those regular birders which lost the flock just because they couldn't today....
When the commotion was over we noticed from the photos that they were infact 28 White and 1 Black Stork amongst them! We hadn't even noticed with the excitemnet!
Just to make the day even better in the late evening two large flocks of Grey and Purple herons migrated in large V formations ( 92, c50 Grey herons, 3, c20 Purple Herons). The most I have ever seen in a day. A few more Marsh harriers and Honey buzzards as well as 4 Hobbies, 3 Alpine Swifts and 120 Bee-eaters. A Crossbill was another great bonus to a day I wan't forget quickly!

A few of the Marsh harriers

Male Marsh harrier

28 White and a Black Stork! (click for a larger image)

Photo taken by Ray Galea

Well can't grumble...

2010-09-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Flock of 15 Little Egrets over Qawra this morning

3 Purple Herons

Smallest of three small "funnels" seen this afternoon at Buskett, 7 Honey Buzzards and 2 Marsh harriers

An hour and a half seawatching in the late morning gave two yearers and some other good birds. The first being a Slender-billed gull and an Audoin's Gull. Also two flocks of Little Egrets, 16 and 10, then 3 Purple Herons which circled for some time above us. Scopoli's Shearwaters were as usuall seen on the horizon. To start on the note of raptors one Marsh harrier was seen.

Several more were seen in the afternoon in singles, small flocks and together with Honey Buzzards, which were the definite highlight. Although two flocks of a total of 60 birds set high hopes early on that came to nothing, they were great to watch circling around in the azure sky. Today numbers of raptors were the highest recorded yet this September (72 Honey Buzzards and 46 Marsh harrier), noting that it has been a very poor migration so far.

One has to mention an Osprey which seems always to brighten up the day as well as 3 Hobbies. Finally around 60 Bee-eaters flying about around us were fun as were a Golden Oriole and 6 Turtle Doves.

An unexpectedly good day!

2010-09-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

Strong north west wind isn't the weather you would hope for neither for seawatching and even less for raptor watching, but it didn't turn out that bad.
Spent the morning at Qawra scanning the sea and was rewarded with relatively good views of 2 Caspian terns, it had been a year seen last. What's more 5 Sandwhich terns were hanging around the fish farms together with plentiful Yellow-legged gulls and further out Scopoli's shearwaters.
Marsh harriers appeared over the horizon in singles, seven in all. 2 Little Stints and some small flocks of Swallows were to be last birds of the day, hadn't I got a call when I got home about 23 Honey Buzzards.
Therefore it was up to Buskett, where we only got too late to see 4 Dottorels, would be lifers and not the first time I had missed them. The strong wind didn't give us the most pleasant conditions up on the exposed hill top but it was worth it. It didn't turn out to be the passage of raptors we had hoped for, a total of 11 Marsh harriers and the our first Black kite of the autumn. However suddenly there were a flock waders flying quiclky past - short but good views of 10 Dottorels! So we got our lifer all the same, great birds! To complete the day, just when we were geting quite cold and thinking about home a flock of 50 Grey herons together with 3 Little egrets flew by in formation in the distance.

It's back!

2010-09-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Juvenile Honey Buzzard

What with a practically birdless maltese summer and 5 weeks in Norway (trip report coming soon), it;s a long time since last post but here we are again!

Raptor migration has started and up we went to Buskett, the best location to watch them. Not the best conditions though, Scicily being covered with clouds. An Osprey made up for a lot of fruitless scanning. As usaull it didn't stay long and continued till it became a dot on the horizon.

Later in the afternoon 4 Hobbies circled around and the first yearer of this autumn...a light morph Eleonora's falcon. As to often it had evident injuries caused by illegal hunting, a dangling leg and missing primaries.

Two female Montagu's harriers gave rather good views, as well as one Honey buzzard, a Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel. Around 60 Bee-eaters, 40+ swallow and two Nightingales pretty complete the picture for today.

Windy morning - Ghadira and Cumnija

2010-05-08T05:12:00.000-07:00

Eastern Bonelli's warbler two weeks ago at Ghadira Nature reserve, ringed and then seen in the field with another one. (lifer)

Temminck's Stint at Ghadira today.

Little egrets, part of flock of 14...

Record shot of female Montagu's harrier on the garigue area behind Ghadira called ic-Cumnija

Not many passerines about this morning, the few present seeking shelter from the srong north east wind and difficult to find. A female Montagu's harrier giving good views resting on the garigue before flying off was more than a good compensation. Plus two Marsh harriers, some 7 Turlte doves and two Woodchat shrikes were the good birds to see. In Ghadira a few waders were about the best being 8 Curlew Sandpipers, some 5 Temminck's stint and a Ringed Plover. Six more Little ringed plover chicks now hatched, appart from the the oldest four around two weeks now. 14 Little egrets also present, but were quite restless flying much about.

Yet another great weekend on Comino

2010-05-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Golden Oriole subadult male, as all the other birds caught as part of the ringing project on Comino

Collared Flycathcer

Two superb Bee-eaters and the first time apreciated in the hand (and not because of being injured) by most present

Comino is always a great place for birding and in fall conditions, quite simply: Amazing! Whinchats and Whitethroats practically everywhere, and Spotted Flycathcers flitting about in less but still good numbers. Then there was the variety, you don't get to see 50 species in a day that often in Malta. Herons represented by Grey (2), Purple (8) and Night (7), Birds of prey by Black Kite (1), Honey Buzzard (8), Marsh harrier (4), Kestrel (3), Red-footed falcon (1) and Peregrine (1), then there was Quail, Turtle Dove, Nightjar, Bee-eaters passing over all through the day, Tawny Pipits, Wheatears, Redstarts, Nightingales, warblers best being Icterines, Great Reed and albistriata Subalpine warblers, Collared and Pied Flycathcers, Golden oriole and more. Of course in addition to all the excitment created by the birds, looking up at a sky full of stars, waking up before dawn to open up the nets, the peace of a fairly undistrubed island adds to the experience.

Weekend on Comino

2010-04-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

Black-eared Wheatear ringed at dawn

Part of a flock of 15 Little Egrets

One of several Cory's shearwaters flying close to the ferry on leaving Comino

Male Cuckoo

Spent a great weekend on Comino Ringing Observatory. Nothing special and a bit quite with some 90 birds caught and ringed in all as part of the annual ringing scheme on the island involving a month in Spring and a few weeks in autumn. But still spending a few days on such a quite island, with barely any people and buidings is an experience!

A male Cuckoo caught early Sunday morning was the definite highlight for me. Also good were beautiful a male Black-eared wheatear, two Woodchat srikes and a Collared Flycatcher all caught. Failed to catch any Scops Owls which I had really hoped for but at least a Nightjar flew quickly by one of the mornings. The most abundant passerines caught were Whinchats, Willow Warblers, Subalpine Warblers, Whitethroats and Pied Flycatchers as well as a Wheatear, two Sedge Warblers and two Garden Warblers.

The first Purple Herons of the year, 4 in all, were sighted. Most herons have still to be seen in good numbers this spring. A total of 31 Little egrets resting on the rocks along the shore as well as a Night Heron heard at night.

Birds of Prey were represented by a few Marsh harriers, a Black Kite, some Kestrels hunting without the fear of being hunted and a Hobby. Finally three Golden oriole males were also great as were a Quail and two Hoopoes.

Ghadira and Cumnija area

2010-04-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

Male Black-winged Stilt at Ghadira Nature reserve

Female Black-winged stilt and Wood sandpiper

Woodchat Shrike

Male Black-eared Wheatear

Seawatching at Cirkewwa was quickly interupted by a call about a Glossy ibis at Ghadira. So we quickly hurried off. We hadn't seen much anyway, 6 Sandwhich terns and 2 Marsh harriers were the birds of note.

At Ghadira there was no sign of the Glossy ibis, just my luck that it had left! But still some other good birds the best being the first two Golden Orioles flying over! A Hobby was also good as were a pair of Black-winged Stilts, quite a flock of Little Stints, a Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Ruffs and 4 Wood sandpipers. The female Garganey is still present too. Migratory warblers were well represented with a couple of Great Reed and Sedge Warblers singing, Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Subalpine present and Wood warblers being quite abundant. A late White wagtail payed a visit its black chest distinctive between all the Yellow wagtails.

A walk behind the reserve produced a good number of birds too. Not less than three Woodcaht shrikes were fun as they flew down from their perches the catch some unfortunate insect. Three Wheatears and 2 Black-eared wheatears were a good addition to the list as was a Hoopoe, a Wryneck and three Spectacled warblers. A male marsh harrier and then a female flew over. Even better we spotted our first Black kite this year below Mellieha, and another great bird of prey was a female Pallid harrier soaring overhead. Another two Marsh harriers while waiting for the bus ended a satisfying morning.

Windy afternoon at Dwejra

2010-04-08T11:29:00.001-07:00

Digiscoped pic of two female Lesser Kestrels, part of a flock of nine.

The only male Lesser Kestrel present.

A hoopoe that flew too soon...

The first two of the five Marsh harriers, were soaring above as I was climbing the hill up to Dwejra. Four House martins were to be the only hirundines of the afternoon. What's more my first Hobby this year struggled in the strong NE wind followed by another two latter on in the evening.
Not much else to see when arriving at the hill top, but a hunting Common Kestrel so decided to take a walk to Bingemma valley. Nightingales were calling, a few Tree Pipits and 4 Yellow wagtails passing overhead at first. It was only when I got to the more sheltered valley that a Hoopoe flew up to perch on a stone wall giving great views. Of course it had to fly off when I went nearer for photos but got a grainy shot of it in flight. A Northern Wheatear female, more Nightingales, Wood warblers and a Redstart were also seen. Two more Hoopoes on walking back flying up from the track. Usually they'd be long gone due to noisy picnicers but today I was alone thanks to the gloomy weather.
Then I spotted 4 Lesser Kestrels resting on some electricity lines. Occasionly flying off to hunt and also joined by 5 more. Suddenly they were all in the air. First thinking someone had passed by but it was a feathered creature that had scared them. A female Pallid harrier! And while wathcing it, another appreared. They were quiclky gone tough, one coming back just before I left only sillhouette visible against the setting sun.

A "Very Nice" Day!

2010-04-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

Flock of 29 Little egrets, taken by Olivier Seys.

Tought I'd better use the superior photos of Nicholas Galea and Oliver Seys this time :).
Note the dangling leg on one of the glossy ibis on the top left part of the flock.

My sister, another young birder and me popped into Ghadira at the crack of dawn before meeting up with three other young birders, one of them a Belgian guy and whose favourite phrase I've used in the title :).

Three Grey herons flying down into the reserve, the first signs of migration movement of the day, a Little egret plus the usual waders with a larger number of Little Stints. My first Common whitethroat of the year, and even better a Savi's warbler caught by a ringer just before we left...my sixth lifer in a week!

On boarding the ferry for a small island, Comino, between Gozo and Malta free of hunting and bird and birding paradise, some 8 Marsh harriers and yet another highlight 6 Great white egrets flying throught the channel.

On nearing our destination we spotted 29 Little egrets resting on the rocky shore flying up as we approached only to settle again in a cloud of white wings. Later in the day another 4 and 37 Little egrets were seen.

As we started walking another few Marsh harriers and a Grey heron. Passerines weren't the most evident, and well its still quite early. Got a few good birds though, a beautiful Black-eared wheatear, some 8 Northern wheatears, 4 Whinchats, a male Common Redstart, several Nightingales (good passage this spring), and two Hoopoes, female Semi-collared and male Collared flycatcher as well as some 6 Wrynecks.

Moreover a flock of 9 Common cranes flying over north of Malta and a good sighting for this time of year altoguh nothing compared to the 65 seen on Saturday. Shortly after 17 Grey herons in V-formation against the clouded sky.
Spent quite some time dosing off in the shade everyone a bit tired, and a walk afterwards did not produce much, but a late Skylark was good. The star species of the day was still to come! On walking to the ferry some one spotted a flock of large birds flying overhead. 19 Suberp Glossy Ibises! A lifer that i had aimed and hoped to get this spring and I did! What's more another flock of 21 from the ferry. Possibly had been one flock but seperated due to being shot at, one of the
birds having a dangling leg.

3 Cory's shearwater shearing the waves ended the Comino adventure with just over 40 species, for now...we'll be back and soon!

To add to the memorable day there was an Avocet paying a visit and being a scarce and magnificent bird wasn't to be missed.

Garigue walk

2010-04-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

Views of Majjistral N P on coming from Anchor bay

Had planed a morning spent seawatching from Ghajn tuffieha, but the bus never came and being fed up of waiting took a bus to Ghadira and walked it from there through some great garigue habitat at Cumnija and Majjistral national park.

Ghadira nature reserve had a flock of five Little egrets resting on one of the islands, a Green , two Wood and two Common sandpipers, as well as a few feldegg Yellow wagtails of note. Common Swifts and House Martins were flying about too. Managed to spot at least one Pallid swift and a great Red-rumped Swallow which must be the nicest hirundine we get.

Nightingales were singing and calling as we started walking as were Blue rock thrushes also performing display flights blue colour sparkling in the sun. A Woodchat shrike surveying its surroundings for its breakfast. Furthermore two female Marsh harriers coming in from the sea, later a Common Kestrel and yet another two Marsh harriers.

A Hoopoe was feeding on the path before it fluttered off with its butterfly flight. Tree Pipits and Tawny pipits were also present while it seems that all the Meadow pipits have left for their breeding grounds.

Scanning the sea as we walked produced a single Little egret and several Yellow-legged gulls. Back on the garigue two Northern Wheatears, a quite tame male but of course flew off just as I got out my camera. Also sighted was a Wryneck, an Alpine Swift, which are always fun, one of the very few remaining breeding Corn buntings and a female Subalpine warbler. On arriving at Ghajn tuffieha, a half hour seawatch didnt produce anything and quite satisfyed with the morning we headed home.

Some more twitching

2010-04-05T03:00:00.000-07:00

Bar-tailed Desert Lark.

Black-eared Wheatear male, found on the way to get the Bar-tailed lark

Bar-tailed Desert lark, 8th record for Malta and a bird not to be missed! Another birder picked me and my sister up and we sped off. On arriving we found two more birders only a couple of meters away from the very tame bird seeming quite at home in what has to be the closest Malta can offer to a desert; an unsurfaced carpark and not at all minding all the attention.

After getting the Bar-tailed lark, we watched a stunning male Pallid harrier hunting over the malta airport runway.

Managed unfortunatly to dip a Lesser short-toed Lark yesterday the third mega in only two days, but a fair variety of other birdssort of made up for it. The best being a Woodchat shrike, 3 Red-rumped swallows, 2 Alpine swifts, Northern wheatears, Tawny Pipits and a Quail.

April's Fool

2010-04-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

Common sandpiper at Ghadira

We started off the day at Simar, with Hirundines fluttering above us, mostly Swallows, some House Martins and the odd Sand Martin. At first a message about a Purple Gallinule at another location was taken as a joke and we stayed on at the reserve. Well, glad I did as I got my second lifer in two days, a Little crake, not a rare species but one that had eluded me so far. And altough a female a great bird anyway! Other birds seen were a Collared flycatcher, Snipe, a Little Egret which had a hole in its beak caused by gunshot, 2 Tree Ppits and a Yellow wagtail. Also a handful of migratory warblers; Sedge, subalpine and Wood as well as one or two lingering Chiffchaffs.

When the Puprle Gallinule, which would be a first for Malta, became apparent to be no joke, we hurried off only to arrive too late. However returned to the site in the evening and this time the twitch was succesful. Short views of this misterious and beautiful bird that seems to have been forgotten by evolution and has come directly from the time of the dinosours!

Got to Ghadira too during the day were quite a few waders were present. My first two Wood Sandpipers of the year feeding close to three Green sandpipers. Two Ruffs, a Greenshank, a Black-winged Stilt and 3 Common Sandpipers also present. Incubating Little ringed plovers were given a hard time keeping feeding Moorhens away from their nest. One bird even acting injured, the Moorhens only looking on with curiousity. At least two Hoopoes were flying about and feedin gon the embankment. Of furthernote was a female garganey spending most of the the time dosing, a male wheatear and two Marsh harriers overhead.

31st March - THE day for birding?

2010-03-31T07:23:00.000-07:00

It seems that through the years this day, strange as it may be, has got the reputation to always produce something rare or a good amount of birds. Even to the extent that some maltese birders can recount a good number of lifers they got on this date.

Altough a bit sceptical, especially as not having had much luck on this day as yet, I made sure I got out birding, the destination being Cirkewwa.

On arriving the first of over 200 Tree pipits were spotted flying over, heading North. Even better quite a few small flocks of Garganeys were crossing through the channel, the pale wings flashing in the morning sun. Common Swifts were also migrating this rather windy morning and with them a Pallid Swift which together with a Short-toed lark were yearers.

One or two Kestrels hovering over the surrounding garigue, a Hoopoe flew by and Blue rock Thrushes, Malta's national bird were singing.

With 8 Garganeys a flock of 49 waders flew quickly through the channel, a bit too quickly for immeadiate identification. But from a few rapid shots: Bar-tailed Godwits. A very rare species and the first I've seen in Malta. The 31st was coming up to its reputation!

As the wind increased the small garganey passage ceased, but small flocks of Sandwhich terns appeared flying above the horizon. Then a long time with nothing and just when i was getting bored the cherry on the cake. A dark bird with white belly flying swiftly over the waves puzzled me at first not resembling any bird families I had seen, but suddenly it went up for me that it must be a skua! It was an adult Pomarine and my first identified skua :)

The evening wasn't bad either with around 16 Marsh harriers spotted from Mosta, and even better a male Pallid harrier flying over, being my sixth this spring.

A bit late up, but still a good morning out

2010-03-13T09:58:00.000-08:00

Feldegg male Yellow wagtail posing in front of the hide

Woke up at 5.30 in the morning, only to see the rain pouring down...crept into bed again and slept for two more hours. Shouldn't have tough, lost a small passage of Grey herons which stopped soon before I finally got to Ghadira nature reserve.

Also a few Marsh harriers were passing by, one as soon as I stepped down from the bus, and five more latter. As well as a small number Lesser Kestrels came in over the Marfa ridge in singles and small groups.

The highlight of the day was definetly an Osprey which passed overhead quite high but as always very happy to see this magnificent bird.

Down in the reserve a Black-winged Stilt was feeding, together with 3 Little-ringed Plovers, 2 Common and 2 Green sandpipers completing the wader list which is rather lacking so far this year.

Barn Swallows and House Martins were plentiful as well as a few Sand martins, giving that special feeling of spring as they fly all over the place low over the water. Also fun was a foraging flock of some 30 Yellow wagtails giving the reserve a lot of colour and life with their flurry of activity. Various sub-species present; feldegg, flava, dombrowskii, thunbergi and superciliaris all there.

A Kingfisher giving good views was yet another colourful addition to the day's list. A Coot was a good sighting not being that usual a visitor at the reserve any longer. To finish off one or two Subalpine warbers in the bushes, Chiffchaffs busy feeding and 3 Reed Buntings flying up from the side of the track.

Spring feeling

2010-03-10T11:20:00.000-08:00

Two of the Lesser kestrels

The sun was shining, Sardinian and Fan-tailed warblers singing...spring is here or just round the corner anyway. So were the spring migrants as I walked through a valley close to home. A male Yellow wagtail feldegg drying himself after bathing in the watercourse. An old male Marsh harrier crossing low over the valley followed by a female. Two Swallows crisscrossing low over the meadows. Further on 6 Lesser Kestrels busy hunting not disturbed by my presence. A Green sandpiper flew up from the muddy water edge always reminding me of a oversized House martin in flight. Talking of them a small flock was flittering about too.

Well can't forget to mention the remaining overwintering birds some staying to accompaning us a bit longer. The last White Wagtails, Meadow pipits, a pair of Stonecahts, Robins Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs.

Thumbs up to the bad weather!

2010-03-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

Just after clearing

Finally Malta got some much needed rain, and with it came a fair share of birds too...

Was just cycling up the steep Dwejra hill when a flock of 15 Grey herons passed over, heading North. Another flock of around 40 was spotted far away a little before visibilty went from bad to zero and it started to drizzle for earnest. I gave up whipping bins and glasses, and scanning into the wall of rain....so took a walk producing my first Hoopoe of the year.

Altough we needed the rain I i wished it wouldn't rain that much just when i was out birding. Anyway when after an hour it cleared two Marsh harriers came in over the hill giving quite good views. Another 3 Grey herons and a further Marsh harrier as I was cycling back .

Went up to the roof at home to get 2 more Grey herons and even better 3 Common cranes (yearer) at dusk. They were joined by 11 Grey herons and headed all roughly eastward. The local pair of Tree sparrows ended a great afternoon.

High hopes...

2010-02-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon a handful of lucky birders witnessed quite a good passage of Pintails of over 400 birds noted. So this morning so me even earlier up from bed hoping that yesterday's passage would continue and reach a peak today...
On arriving at Cirkewwa nothing had been seen yet but a Marsh harrier. No ducks though...for now we still scanned the sea eagerly a Nothern gannet providing some distraction from the frustration.
Finally someone spotted a small flock of Pintails, 8 males and 7 females which altough did not quite make up for the lack of numbers gave satisfactory views. In fact they were only followed by another 2 Pintails.
To add to the list were 2 House martins coming in fromt the sea, a few Yelkoan shearwaters, 150+ Cory's shearwaters following a trawler, 2 Med gulls, 2 Sandwhich terns, 2 Dunnocks calling from the tamarisk trees and a Spectacled warbler male.

With the full moon...

2010-02-27T10:14:00.000-08:00

Full moon in Febuary sends maltese birders to a different location for seawatching in the northern most tip of Malta overlooking the channel between Malta and the two other islands Gozo and Comino, to watch migrating wild ducks. That's were we went today, arriving just too late for two flocks of Pintails. At first scanning the sea only produced cory's shearwaters until a flock of 25 Pintails were spotted. After a lot of circling around and settling on the sea they came rather close and we could identify a male shovler in amongst the rest. So two more duck species to my yearlist. Two Yelkouan shearwaters passed by low over the waves and an adult Med gull setlled on the rocks beneath us as another passed furhter out at sea.
Decided to take a walk in search of Hoopoe and Northern Wheatear of which the first individuals have arrived. We had no luck though. 9 Skylarks part of the small migration of this species today, as well as a song thrush and a singing Corn Bunting heard in the distance.
Popped into Ghadira before going home with very little about. Only my first Little ringed plover of the year was of note.

Some more seawatching

2010-02-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

A poor shot of the local male Black redstart

Another windy and rainy day so it was off to Qawra again. It is a public holiday just in case someone was wondering if Iwas skiving school... ;)

Anyway much the same birds seen as last time plus a few Yelkoaun shearwaters bringing my year list up to 42. Enjoyed good views of yet another Lesser Black-backed gull, an intermedius this time. As well as two or three Northern Gannets, 3 Sandwhich terns one taking ages to gobble up a fish or wathever its catch was and 5 Black-headed Gulls. Also nt to forget to write down was a Common Kestrel, most probably a migrant, mobbed by the ever present Yello-legged gulls.

Popped into Simar Nature Reserve afterwards hoping to see a wild Mallard (no it isn't a mistake, wild Mallards are rather scarce in Malta only seen occasionly from sewatches or in the reserves) that had been sighted yesterday. But no luck. Rather quiet with compensation only to be had by two truly beautiful breeding plumaged Little grebes, no chicks out yet though, as well as two winter plumaged, eight Coots and two House Martins reminding us that Spring is just round the corner or very close anyway.

Seawatching in between the showers

2010-02-07T10:18:00.000-08:00

A cold blustery morning saw us huddled on a bench at Qawra promenade scanning the sea for anything that would turn up. A dozen or so Black-headed gulls struggling in the wind as well as a smaller number of Sandwhich terns flying by. Not long after arriving I spotted two larger birds, coming head on i first tought they were Cormorants but no, even better, they turned out to be Northern Gannets an adult and an immature. Unfortunatly it then started pouring, up came umbrellas and raincoats, trying to peak through the scope didn't give much more than a wall of rain. Three Black redstarts amongst them the local male and two Stonechats continued to feed and cahse each other in the rain tough providing some consolation. With short pauses in between the rain continued much of the time and only Yellow-legged gulls and occasinal Sandwhich terns were to be seen. All the same just before leaving we got our reward for our patience, an adult Lesser-blacked Back gull graelssi over head, both a Malta tick for me and my sister and our first graellsii sub-species.

PLEASE SIGN PETITION AGAINST SPRING HUNTING!

2010-02-02T12:03:00.001-08:00

As spring is approaching so is one of the highlights on every maltese's birdwatcher calendar: Spring Migration! For two years in a row this was a more enjoyable experienced due to banned spring hunting, both for us and even more for the birds! However this year its obscured by the renewed debate that spring hunting will yet again be opened on Turtle doves and Quail, at the same time offering a loop hole for may more species.
This cannot be accepted! So please sign the petition below and encourage friends to do likewise!

http://www.birdlifemalta.org/petition/

Many thanks :)

Winter stroll

2010-01-17T04:48:00.000-08:00

Male Blue Rock Thrush at Mizieb

Took a short walk in beautiful weather after strong winds and rain, this morning. Started from Xemxija Bay where around 13 Black-headed gulls were bobbing up and down on the waves and 3 Sandwhich terns on the buouys. Look down on Simar from Mizieb to enjoy the two male Common teals still present. Coninued from Mizieb to Mistra, with not too much about either than a few Blue Rock thrushes already in song, Black redstarts, Stonechats, Robins, Chiffchaffs and Meadow Pipits. On looking out over the sea form Mistra a Great Cormorant was spotted as well around 30 Yellow-legged Gulls.

Sandwhich terns in Xemxija Bay

2010-01-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

Took a few shots of Sandwhich terns and Black-headed gulls in Xemxija bay on waiting for the bus after seeing much the same birds at Simar as last time. In all there 7 Sandwhich terns as well as at least 8 Black-headed gulls.

Simar this morning.

2010-01-05T04:24:00.000-08:00

The two Teals, photo by Nicholas Galea

Moorhen

Sandwhich terns as well as Black-headed gull at Xemxija Bay

Two male Common Teals were obviously the highlight. Magnificent birds that have stayed in the reserve a few days now. Also great were two Snipes feeding on the edge of the water. Two Water rails gave brief views, quite some time since I had seen one. What's more around 10 Coots were about and some five Little Grebes as always were a good entertainment. Two pairs are in full summer plumage and we're expecting to spot young popping out from between the reeds soon. A Wryneck was yet another good bird seen. Finally several Chiffchaffs were singing in the background as if saying spring isn't that far away.

Check out the bay before heading home, and found 6 Sandwhich terns perched together with the usual Black-headed Gulls.

Year List for 2009 in Malta

2010-01-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

01/01/09

Common Kestrel
Yellow-legged Gull
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
White Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Robin
Black Redstart
Stonechat
Blue Rock Thrush
Song Thrush
Blackcap
Sardinian Warbler
Cetti’s Warbler
Zitting Cisticola
Chiffchaff
Starling
Spanish Sparrow

04/01/09

Little Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Common Shelduck
Gadwall
Common Teal
Moorhen
Common Coot
Common Sandpiper
Common Snipe
Black-headed Gull
Kingfisher
Tree Sparrow

10/01/09

Great-crested Grebe
Ferruginous Duck
Dunnock
Chaffinch

18/01/09

Moussier’s Redstart
Spectacled Warbler

9/02/09

House Martin

20/02/09

Gannet
Yelkouan Shearwater
Green Sandpiper
Sandwich Tern

21/02/09

Water Rail
Collared Dove
Reed Bunting

23/02/09

Spotted Crake
Sedge Warbler

07/03/09

Little Ringed Plover
Common Redshank
Common Swift
Alpine Swift
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow
Common Redstart

08/03/09

Marsh Harrier
Yellow Wagtail
Serin

14/03/09

Grey Heron
Garganey
Goldfinch

15/03/09

Hoopoe
Northern Wheatear

17/03/09

Great Cormorant
Linnet

18/03/09

Corn Bunting

19/03/09

Semi-collared Flycatcher
Tree Pipit

21/03/09

Great White Egret
Black Kite
Little Stint
Spotted Redshank
Greenshank
Ruff
Red-rumped Swallow

29/03/09

Lesser Kestrel
Nightingale
Subalpine Warbler

31/03/09

Tawny Pipit

02/04/09

Hobby
Willow Warbler

05/04/09

Shoveler
Avocet
Black-winged Stilt
Wryneck

07/04/09

Bee-eater

08/04/09

Whinchat
Common Whitethroat
Great Reed Warbler
Wood Warbler
Pied Flycatcher

10/04/09

Pallid Harrier
Collared Flycatcher
Woodchat Shrike

11/04/09

Short-toed Lark
Black-eared Wheatear

12/04/09

Little Egret

14/04/09

Squacco Heron
Purple Heron

15/04/09

Montagu’s Harrier

18/04/09

Turtle Dove
Red-throated Pipit
Spotted Flycatcher

24/04/09

Wood Sandpiper
Reed Warbler

26/04/09

Common Cuckoo
Garden Warbler
Western Bonelli’s Warbler
Golden Oriole

3/05/09

Ringed Plover
Curlew Sandpiper

9/05/09

Pallid Swift

10/05/09

Honey Buzzard
Red-footed Falcon

14/05/09

Icterine Warbler

13/06/09

Pectoral Sandpiper

15/09/09

Osprey

18/09/09

Sparrowhawk

19/09/09

Turnstone
Little Bittern
Nightjar

21/09/09

Black Stork

22/09/09

Peregrine Falcon
Caspian Tern

23/09/09

Night Heron
Hen Harrier
Dunlin
Whiskered Tern
Quail

24/09/09

Lesser Spotted Eagle

25/09/09

Roller

26/09/09

Cory’s Shearwater
Slender-billed Gull
Common Buzzard

03/10/09

Audouin’s Gull
Red-breasted Flycatcher

04/10/09

Short-toed Eagle

05/10/09

Merlin

24/10/09

Pintail

02/11/09

Siskin
Greenfinch

28/11/09

Wigeon

05/12/09

Mediterranean Gull

19/12/09

European Golden Plover

20/12/09

Common Crane

30/12/09

Blackbird

A total of 145 species.

Lifers are marked in blue

A Weekend's birding

2009-12-23T00:58:00.000-08:00

1 of many flocks of cranes that passed over the islands , PHOTO BY ADIN VELLA

Drive slowly please

Saturday morning we went to Ghajn Zejtuna, an urbanised valley which is the only area were you can see good numbers of Collared doves in Malta. Not only it being the first breeding site but hunters have had little chance to shoot the birds so the population has expanded. We spotted around 60 of them flying around, males performing display flights and the background cooing of course.

We continued to Ghadira Nature Reserve a bit too late to see a Lapwing and Golden plover which had flown over. However it was great to see 5 Gadwalls including two males, in the bay, this species being rather scarce in Malta with only a handful of records each winter. Inside the reserve there was much the usual stuff...Shelduck, Black-necked grebe and Grey Heron. Just before leaving a wader landed on one of the islands, in the scope it proved to be a Golden plover. Finally I could enjoy good views of this beautiful bird after quiet some time and tick of another yearer.

Next day, black rain clouds covered the island and for sunny Malta it was chilly. After a night out i didn't feel like birding but a call drom another birder about a heavy passage of Common Cranes got me scanning from my roof. Unfortunatley most of the flocks passed to the south of Malta where they gave good views and a total of around 870. I had to be content with a flock of 80 in the distance. Luckily I at least got enjoyable views of an adult and juvenile the next day from Dwejra the following day as well as two more in the distance. This made even better by a flock of 7 Siskins flying by.

Well this is biriding I suppose...

2009-12-12T05:16:00.000-08:00

Black-headed gulls at Xemxija Bay

...it's not always exciting! Ghadira reserve was rather empty, the only birds of interest at first glance being two Shelduck, a Grey heron that seems to be over wintering here, 3 Black-necked grebes busy fishing and a Little grebe. Two hours more of birding produced little else, although I was quite happy with my first views of Reed bunting this year and not bad ones at that. What's more two Kingfishers showed up, not a bird you complain about seeing as well as hearing a Greenfinch and a Chaffinch. But that was about it.

There are positive things about exams too...

2009-11-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

Exams are obviously a pain in the neck, but at least I get home earlier from school, meaning that I can grab my bins and get out birding berfore it gets dark. Not really much about though at Chadwick Lakes. Was getting a bit bored with seeing Stonechats (10), Meadow Pipits(16), White Wagtails (10), Chiffchaffs (7) and Starlings (300) which are the most abundant birds about all through the winter, when a Common Kestrel flew over the hillside and hovered a while in the wind. It was followed by a male Chaffinch. Not the only about and saw a pair well and heard two more. Also great to see that Black Redsarts have increased since last time. There where 8, 1 of them a beautiful male. Good views of two Grey Wagtails was welcome. Finally I heard two of both Dunnock and Blackcap as well as the usual Sardinian, Cetti's Warblers and Zitting Cisticolas.

Morning spent at Ghadira Nature Reserve

2009-11-28T03:22:00.000-08:00

Black-necked Grebes

Wild Rabbit

Not that much about but still we got a few good birds, among being a Grey heron dozing in the shadows, a female Wigeon (yearer), 2 Little grebes and 2 Black-necked grebes which came close enough for some fairly good shots although the light wasn't on our side. Also nice were two Kingfishers and a Little Stint. A few Stonechats, Black Redstarts, Chiffchaffs and White wagtails about as well as a calling Dunnock, Reed bunting and two Chaffinches.

Mid-term holidays do it again!

2009-11-02T09:48:00.000-08:00

1 of 16 Stonechats at Chadwick Lakes

Male Siskin at Ghadira

The effect of overzealous dredging - this part of the watercourse at Chadwick Lakeswas full of Sharp rush and other vegetation, all gone now.

Two years ago I had about 12 lifers in a day(!), last year we found a Yellow-browed warbler and I got my first Firecrest in these holidays. Today wasn't an exception either with a Siskin being the highlight (quite scarce in Malta) and I finally added Greenfinch on my Malta list.

Other good birds were a flock of 6 Grey herons (my first sighting in November), a Little Grebe, 2 Shelducks, 6 Teal, 6 Little Stint, Wryneck, 7 Skylark and some Chiffchaffs at Ghadira Nature reserve. At Foresta 2000 (birdlife afforestion project - great place!) there were quite a few Song thrushes and Stonechats as well as a Kestrel, 3 Black Redstart and 4 Chaffinch.

Quite a variety at Chadwick Lakes too, the best being good views of a Linnet, 2 Serin and 3 Chaffinch. Another Kestrel, 3 Grey Wagtail, 14 White Wagtail, 16 Stonechat and my first Dunnocks of the winter finished the day.

Not that bad..(:

2009-10-30T09:46:00.000-07:00

After quite some waiting for buses we finally arrived at Buskett early in the morning. As usual the air was full of Robin, Blackcap, Dunnock, Sardinian and Cetti's Warbler's calls and songs. As we made our way towards a small valley were we hoped we would find a Redwings, a male Blue Rock Thrush flew by, but on arriving we didn't hear the hoped for calls of the more northern species. Only a few Song thrushes flew up from the Lentisk bushes, by the end of the trip we had seen 20 or so as well as two Blackbirds which we were very pleased being probably the last yearer of 2009. Another good sighting was two Quails flew up suddenly from close by giving us quite a surprise, enough for me to manage to knock of my glasses in lifting my bins...Finally also of interest were around 25 Chaffinch, one or two seen well while drinking and bathing in a small stream together with other passerines, as well as two Linnets.
In the afternoon we walked in Chadwick Lakes valley, not to see anything apart from the usual birds, but when taking a rest at the innermost dam a small flock of 6 Corn Buntings flew overhead, probably not part of the drastically decreasing breeding population but birds from mainland Europe overwintering here. Also fun was a Wryneck calling from a dead tree but which flew off too quickly to really enjoy.

fink fink...

2009-10-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

Rather quiet (I seem to be using this phrase a bit too much) Buskett valley this morning, the highlight being probably around 16 Chaffinches. Not a garden bird here in Malta unfortunately, we only see it on migration and a few rest and even overwinter in places like Buskett. Illegal trappers are still out to trap it...
Song Thrushes haven't arrived yet, we only saw four. 5 Stonechats were good considering it isn't ideal habitat for them. 3 Swallows were a pitiful sight with many flight feathers missing - one had had half a wing blown off. Blackcaps (about 18) calling from the undergrowth were the only birds to answer to the Hawfinch calls we played. Also plentiful were Robins (seemed to arrived in larger numbers this night - there are two now in the gardens behind my house). I finally got my first Chiffchaffs (2) of the winter. Before I left a last taste of autumn migration - 2 Yellow wagtails feeding in a field, probably a few months to the next...

One minute silence for the Skylarks

2009-10-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today we witnessed a heavy passage of Skylarks over the Maltese islands. The figure of 84 I saw from Il-Qlejgha Valley (a valley with a small watercourse and dams - now empty), were nothing compared to other sightings mostly in the morning, the highest of over 500 birds. And of course as maltese hunters are eager conservationists (this is really part of their federation name - FKNK) they were enthusiastically shooting down as many of these birds as possible. It was litrary like walking through a war zone, with nearly non stop shooting from both sides of the valley. Needless to say it was depressing and frustrating...
Other birds of note was a Snipe I flused from the watercourse and 4 Grey wagtails - I enjoyed good views of one of these beautiful birds. Also the last hirundines about (several with missing feathers after bieng illegally targeted by hunters) - 45 Swallows and 5 House Martins. Around 80 Starlings were in the line of fire too. Finally I saw 17 White Wagatails, 4 Stonechats, some 25 Robins and a Blackcap.

2009-10-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

Painted Lady at Buskett

Woke up to hear a Robin calling from the garden, finally! It has been rather late this year... but it came...
At Buskett I just arived in time to see the only Marsh harrier of the day, but fortunetly it wasn't the only raptor except three Common Kestrels... it was followed by a Peregrine falcon, quite a few of them this year, which probably migrated. An Osprey was great espacially as we hadn't seen one since the 30th of September. A Song Thrush flew by and a Linnet was calling from somewhere.
To conclude the day we saw a Grey wagtail and some 4 Blackcaps down in the valley.

Yet another satisfying afternoon at Buskett

2009-10-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Although a strong (and cold...) North west was blowing we managed to get some good birds. The highlight of which was a Merlin that flew past rather close. Six Common Kestrels that migrated too, with four or so others hunting about the valley. One of them managed to catch a Swallow low over the ground which was fun to see! What's more a male Marsh harrier was much more enjoyed than when they come in larger quatities. Two flocks of Yellow-legged gulls passed by in the distance (total: c60). Quite a few passerines about; some 60 Barn Swallows, 18 Skylarks (a flock of 14), 1 White Wagtail, a Red-throated Pipit (only the second for me) and around 80 Starling.

You never know what will turn up...

2009-10-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

Record shot of Peregrine falcon, sorry for terrible quality

Walking up to the watchpoint at Buskett, a Song thrush flew up from the lentisk bushes. The wind was blowing from the North west, and while thinking what was the point in sitting on a blustery hill scanning empty skies when I spotted something flying down in the valley...a juvenile Peregrine Falcon! After flying quite close it settled down in a pine tree and stayed there for the rest of the afternoon, what a lazy bird! The only other birds of prey were 2 Common Kestrels (1 beautiful male had a dangling leg!) and a Sparrowhawk which gave a great but short view.

The usual Saturday Routine: Seawatching followed by Buskett

2009-10-10T02:20:00.000-07:00

A light Westerly meant that seawatching at Qawra this morning wasn't the most productive. Although 2 Common Shelducks were nice. Four Little Egrets far out at sea as well as a Sandwhich tern and lots of Yellow-legged Gulls resting on St. Pauls Islands(120+). My first two Black-headed gulls of the year flew past. A Skylark passed somewhere overhead but that was all...
Rather quiet at Buskett too, a Peregrine was good sighting though. Otherwise we saw 4 Honey Buzzards (1 was frequently calling - not something we hear often), 2 Marsh Harriers, 6 Common Kestrels, 1 Hobby and a Sparrowhawk panicking all the Hirundines.

Winter is on its way & Hundreds of hirundines

2009-10-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

There was a very small trickle of migrating raptors: 25 Marsh harriers and 24 Honey Buzzards (1 seriously injured, another shot down and a third shot at...disgusting!) as well as 2 Hobbies, 8 Common Kestrels and a Sparrowhawk which stooped down straight into the valley from a great height (others saw two more Sparrowhawks). Just as fun were the hundreds of hirundines: House Martins (500+) and Swollows (500+) too which were everywhere one scanned most afternoon. 11 Alpine Swift (flock) were great too. As the one of the last Bee-eaters called down in the valley, the first Song thrush flew over signalling the coming of the winter. Also a Chaffinch was calling as was a male Blackcap. Finally there was a small passage of Starlings with a total of over a 150.

Two hours at Buskett...

2009-10-05T10:43:00.001-07:00

...didn't produce much except a female Merlin, which was good. Its an annual record, last year was the exception. Also good was a Sparrowhawk that came close. Moreover we spotted 3 Honey Buzzards, 7 Marsh Harrier, 2 Hobby fighting in the valley and 5 or so Common Kestrel, one of which was injured. Good numbers of hirundines (400+) as well as an increasing number of Robins down in the valley - quite late this year, usually there are loads by the 25th of September.

And at last...I've got It...

2009-10-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Malta in the sky

Record shot of juvenile Short-toed Eagle

Still blowing rather strongly from the North west so not much migration seen from Buskett. 7 Honey buzzards came in as well as a Marsh harrier and 11 Common Kestrel. What's more 2 Sparrowhawks were hunting in the valley. As most days this last week we talked about if this was the day a Short-toed eagle would appear, most years one does but it's always been a day I haven't been there. A phone rang and I said that must be it, and it was. It was heading our way the other birdwatcher said. We watched it coming nearer, hovering from time to time, until it was right over us and although high up it was beautiful! A really fantastic lifer! We continued seeing it in the distance quite some time hunting. Other birds included 2 Pallid swift, 25+ Barn Swallow, 8+ House Martin, 6 Yellow wagtail and 5 Robin.

Birding in the Wind

2009-10-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Caspian Tern calling

Grey Heron

Seawatching from Qawra in the morning was fairly successful, the highlight being a juvenile Audouin's gull, a lifer and although sightings are becoming more freuquent, its still quite scarce. We also got good views of three Caspian terns. The other tern species present was a fishing Sandwhich tern. Still some Grey herons migrating (been a very good autumn for herons them this year), a flock of 4 came right over followed by a flock of 12 later. Unfortunately 10 large duck species didn't pass as close. A Dunlin flew by fast (a yearer - how did I manage not seeing it?) and of course Yellow-legged gulls (80, good number) and around 40 Cory's Shearwater. A Marsh harrier struggling in the force 6 north west wind before we left was the only broadwing I saw today as raptor watching in the afternoon didn't produce much more than 5 Common Kestrel, a Hobby and a Sparrowhawk - too windy I suppose. However two Red-breasted flycatchers were a great compensation, beautiful, energetic and scarce birds - a joy to watch. Finally there were also some 50+ Swallow, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Wood warbler and 13 Starling.

The day of the Falcons

2009-10-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Moderate to rather strong SE winds produced more falcons than broadwings. 15 Hobbies, 20 Lesser Kestrels and 8 Common Kestrels (numbers are estimates) were all flying around giving a small airshow. Unfortunately some of them were targeted by some hunters who now can again start to hunt after 3pm. This law that prevents hunters to shoot after 3pm between the 15th to 30th September and makes illegal hunting on birds of prey much more controllable. There should be made an extension into October though. The broadwings included 8 Marsh harriers and 10 Honey Buzzard. The other raptor seen was a Sparrowhawk but nothing else. Little else was seen of note except around 400+ Swallows and 100+ Starling.

Honey Buzzard Peak

2009-09-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

A masked juvenile Honey Buzzard

On arriving at the Buskett watch point, a female Black-eared wheatear flew over the garigue and a Blue rock thrush was singing. Very few birds of prey until the wind turned south east when flock after flock of Honey buzzards (108) with the occasional Marsh harrier (19) migrated right overhead. The largest flock of 25 was quite something to watch! Unfortunately around 5 pm it clouded over and migration stopped but we got good views of the 15 or so Honey buzzards that remained circling above us before roosting. Two Sparrowhawks were great to watch hunting down in the valley and mobbing each other. An Osprey was also good. Additionally there were 4 Lesser Kestrels, 2 Common Kestrels and 6 Hobbies which at dusk were busy catching dragonfly after dragonfly. A beautiful spectacle against a beautiful sunset. Finally there were a good number of Swallows (400+), as well as 20+ House martin, a Sand martin and 4 Alpine Swifts.

Rather quiet...

2009-09-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

Maybe the wind was a bit on the strong side but else conditions were very good but produced nothing. Well that's not totally correct...17 Honey buzzard (1 injured holding its wing very strangely, other 2 with missing secondaries and primaries) and 13 Marsh harriers were something but we are still hoping for larger numbers as this migration's totals are below average. An Osprey was fun as was a Sparrowhawk as well as 6 Hobbies flying about and chasing each other. The highlight were two Red-footed falcons, a female and a juvenile, although frequent in May, they're quite scarce in autumn. Moreover 4 Common Kestrels, 4 Kestrel Sp. and 5 migrating Great Cormorants. There was a good passage of Starlings (300 in total), rather early this year. On the garigue a female wheatear was about and a Spectacled warbler was heqard calling. Finally down in the valley I there were 3 Wood Warblers, 1 Garden warbler, 1 young male Redstart, and around 5 Robins.

A morning at Simar Nature Reserve

2009-09-28T06:12:00.000-07:00

Common Snipe and two passing Moorhens

Another digiscoped pic; of a Turtle Dove

Simar Nature Reserve is one of two nature reserves managed by Birdlife Malta and the only extensive reed bed. Quite a few passerines about with 3 Great reed warblers, 2 Reed warblers, around 5 Sedge warblers, 5 Willow warblers, 4 Wood warblers, 2 Garden warblers, an Icterine warbler and two Tree pipits were all fun to watch. Also of note was a Wryneck that flew by and even better was a Kingfisher showing well but always flying off just as I was about to take pics. A minimum of 5 Turtle doves were just as nice as was a Common snipe giving good views. 3 Little grebes (1 in breeding plumage already) were as always great and have nearly become a guaranteed treat at Simar. Obviously Moorhens were present as well as a Coot. Not as fun was to receive a call after I had left, from the manager of the reserve and ringer that he had just caught a Little Crake a would be lifer hadn't I been sitting on the bus nearly home...well that's part of birding too...

A trickle of migrating raptors at Buskett

2009-09-27T12:06:00.000-07:00

Part of a flock of 200+ Barn Swallows at dusk

There was a small, but fairly steady flow of Honey Buzzards (total: 35) and Marsh Harriers (total: 52) until late afternoon. While 11 and 18 Marsh harriers came down to roost at dusk. A few Kestrel species (4)passed high above us. A Sparrowhawk came lower down giving better views. Also 1 Hobby and 6 Common Kestrel. Maybe the highlight of the day was a flock of 71 Grey herons (my biggest flock ever) which flew by in the distance. What's more there were large numbers of Barn Swallows (600+) as well as 100+ House Martin and around 3 Sand Martin. Some "hunter" passed the time shooting at them! What a hobby! Finally a Turtle Dove, an Alpine swift, 4 Common Swift, 17 Starling, my first Grey wagtail of the season and 5 Bee-eaters of which there hasn't been many of, resting on the wires.

Raptor watching from my roof and Seawatching

2009-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Lobed Argiope (Argiope lobata) at Sunrise

Started the day seawatching at Qawra, quiet quite though but a flock of 5 Slednder-billed gulls and another closer to shore compensated greatly especially them being lifers! Cory's shearwaters (50+) were rather plentiful far out at sea as were Yellow-legged gulls of course. Three Sandwhich terns were busy fishing. Other birds included a Little Egret resting on an a small island, a Grey heron, a Lesser kestrel and 8 Marsh harriers coming in from the sea.

Back home I endured the heat on the roof and spent three hours (12.15 - 15.15) scanning for birds of prey and was rewarded. First by three Marsh harriers, then by a flock of 10 Honey Buzzards, followed by 3 singles and another flock of 5 together with a Marsh harrier. Also 2 Lesser kestrels and 4 unidentified broadwings. The highlight was a Common Buzzard (my second in Malta) which came fairly close but decided to turn before I got a photo of it.

In the evening I went to my local patch in the limits of Mosta. Not much about and only spotted a single Honey Buzzard, a Lesser kestrel female and a calling Grey heron. Swallows were fairly abundant and three Spotted Flycatchers were catching insects from the tops of the Carob trees.

Roller Day

2009-09-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Spotted Flycatcher

Black Kite

Juvenile Marsh Harrier

Adult male Marsh Harrier

Another afternoon spent at Buskett watching raptor migration. No impressive numbers but most birds migrated except 11 Marsh harriers that came low down to roost. Sizeable and mostly mixed flocks of raptors (largest being of 18 Honey buzzard and a Black kite) came in amounting to a total of 62 Honey Buzzard and 30 Marsh harrier. Other raptors were another Black kite with a very white head and pale patches on the wing, a hunting male Sparrowhawk, 15 Lesser Kestrel, 1 Common Kestrel and two Hobbies. The highlight were three Rollers, a lifer for me, two adults seen in the begining of the afternoon flying around giving good views before flying down in some trees. Another flew fast overhead later in the evening. Really stunning birds! Another beautiful bird was a Black Stork which flew in from Gozo (took it 15 minutes) circled a bit with someHoneys and continued far out at sea and probably migrated. A flock of seven Turtle Doves were a nice sighting. There were many hirundines down in the valley, mostly Swallows (400+) with some House Martins (30+) and at least one Sand Martin. Swifts were well represented with 1 Alpine, 3 Common and 3 Pallid. One more enjoyable evening, which ended with three Nightjars, a Little Bittern and a Night Heron (the last two only heard) after dusk.

Lesser Spotted Eagle - what a bird!

2009-09-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Adult male Honey Buzzard

Record shot of Lesser Spotted Eagle

After getting a message from another birder up at Buskett that there were quite a few raptors including a Lesser Spotted Eagle as well as a Black Stork, we rushed (well it takes an hour with the bus) up and got excellent and long views of the superb juvenile eagle, my first really good views of the species. A pity that we lost the stork though. Around 150 Marsh Harriers were circling around some quite close in addition to circa 25 Honey Buzzard. Also fun were a flock of 24 Lesser Kestrel hunting over the ridge. Furhermore 2 Ospreys migrated over and as always were a joy to see! 6 Grey Herons and two singles were spotted in the distance. As the wind strengthened the birds were pushed to the south of the island were more birds were coming in while we saw barely anything. Even more frustrating and saddening were the reports of much shooting on birds of prey (illegal of course) while going down to roost. We suspect that even the Lesser Spotted Eagle was shot... Finally there were three Hobbies (one with dangling leg), large flocks of Yellow wagtails and got to a total of 600+, a Golden Oriole, 4 Turtle Doves, 1 Whinchat, 1 Wheatear and a Pied Flycatcher female.

Migration before the rain and Peregrine Airshow

2009-09-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

The weather today was terrible - force 6-7 south east wind and frequent rain, however we got some good birds especially in the morning at Ghadira Nature Reserve. There was quite a lot of migration before the worst of the rain which provided a hectic an exciting hour. A total of 60 Grey herons (largest flock of 32) 1 Purple Heron, 25 Little Egret (2 injured), 1 Night Heron were the herons seen. Raptors were represented by around 40 Marsh harrier, 3 Honey Buzzard, 7 Lesser kestrel, 5 Common kestrel, a Hobby and the best of all the very scarce Hen Harrier (male). Some so called hunter shot at it and it seemed as if it got injured but continued flying. Just as exciting was a Whiskered tern also scarce and a lifer. It entertained us with its successful fishing in front of the hide. The most interesting wader present was a Spotted Redshank while 1 Wood sandpiper, 1 Common sandpiper, 5 Dunlin, 8 Little stint weren't bad either. Moreover two Kingfishers were also fun to watch as well as a Black-eared Wheatear.

At Buskett there was no migration except for 10 Honey buzzards, otherwise around 5 Marsh harrier, 10 Hobby, 8 Lesser kestrel, 3 Common Kestrel were staying in the area. The treat of the afternoon were two juvenile Peregrine falcons mobbing aggressively all other raptors. As too often hunting ruined it all: after dusk a shot was heard from underneath the tree where one of the Peregrines had roosted. Will it be there tomorrow? On a more positive note we managed to flush 4 quails (one of my favourite parts of birding - flushing quails and grouse). Finally we saw 7 Night heron, 8 Turtle dove, a Golden oriole, 120 Yellow wagtail, 3 Tree pipits, 60 Barn Swallow and 5 House martin.

A dream bird come true...

2009-09-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

The afternoon at Buskett began with a steady trickle of migrating Honey Buzzards and Marsh harriers as well as less numbers of Hobbies, Kestrels and Lesser kestrels. As the clouds cleared migration came to a near stop but two Black kites, an Osprey appeared while the Honey buzzards and Marsh harriers that didn't continue migration circled above in small flocks. An unexpected and good record was A Caspian tern which flew over, a species I had never seen in Malta. Even better was a pair of Peregrine falcons! We got splendid views of the male bird which hunted low over the valley. A lifer I had long longed for! Its not a common bird here, with only a few records each year. Finally we aslo saw 5 Alpine swift, 2 Grey heron, 1 Purple heron and good numbers of hirundines - four species present: Barn Swallow, House martin, Sand martin and a Red-rumped Swallow.

The fate of the Black Storks

2009-09-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

I spent the afternoon in the limits of Mosta searching the skies for two Black Storks which had been sighted from Buskett. After a lot scanning I found them, far away but still rewarding to see these great and rare birds. All was ruined when I heard from another birder at Buskett that both had been shot down! They were juveniles, learnt to fly around two months ago, lucky to find a rock in the Mediterranean and not having to cross it all in one go, then blasted down by a maltese "hunter"! All sorts of emotions - sadness, anger and bewilderment over the egoism of these people! This is the sad fate of too many Black Storks that decide to rest in Malta...

Not the most exciting day!

2009-09-20T12:40:00.001-07:00

There was very little migration today except a short while of about half an hour when a total of 35 Honey Buzzards migrated. The largest flock was of 20 birds. Otherwise it was very quiet with only 4 Marsh harriers, a Sparrowhawk, a Hobby, a Lesser and a Common Kestrel. A male Nightjar was seen twice in daylight, probably flushed. A Pallid Swift must have been shot at as it had quite a few feathers missing. Finally beautiful Red-rumped swallow, rare in autumn migration, caused some excitement. Well I guess thats birding, one day there's loads of birds, the next barely anything...

A lucky Osprey and much more...

2009-09-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 5.45 and set off to Qawra, the best point for seawatching at this time of the year. It started well with a winter plumage Turnstone flying close to shore. There was not much migration though and I didn't get the Audouin's gull I had hoped for! Two Grey and three Purple herons weren't a bad compensation. After quite some time with only Yellow-legged gulls, a wave of migrants: 3 Wheatear, 1 Redstart, 1 Willow warbler and a Hoopoe, provided some action.

In the afternoon we went up to Buskett for some raptor watching. Unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side so no large numbers. A small migration of Lesser Kestrels was going on which was fun (33 in all). When a Black kite was spotted in the distance we thought it had a dangling leg but it turned out to be the tail of a rat it was feeding on! A total of four of the latter raptor was seen as well as 15 Honey Buzzard, 35 Marsh harrier, 3 Hobby and 4 Common Kestrel. Later on in the afternoon it got exciting when an Osprey flew low over the area for a place to rest. This often spells disaster but fortunately it escaped being seriously injured although it was shot at 5 times and landed on a pole. We didn't expect it to live long being very exposed, but it did and made of to roost at dusk! One lucky Osprey and some lucky birders to witness it! Further there was a good migration of Barn Swallows (700) and good numbers of Yellow Wagtails (250). The first Starling was recorded - winter is on the way! Before leaving the watch point a flock of 23 Grey Herons flew past. The day ended well with three Nightjars down in the valley and two Little Bitterns heard calling.

Raptor migration - a good variety

2009-09-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

As we arrived at the raptor migration view point at Buskett (a hill over looking a small wooded valley) a flock of 11 bee-eaters were feeding overhead. Soon after the first honey buzzard appeared and not before long a flock of 6 and another of 9 flew over and migrated against the wind. An Osprey, followed by another later, were the highlight together with a female Pallid harrier, the first this autumn. Together with the honey buzzards that continued coming mostly in singles there were quite a few Marsh harriers (total: 29)as well a beautiful Montagu's harrier male. As the afternoon went on the honey buzzards (total: 65) didn't migrate but the same birds circled overhead giving good views as they came down to roost. A sparrowhawk was spotted in the distance. Falcons were represented by 4 Lesser kestrles and two hobbies. Finally we also saw 19 Grey herons, a turtle dove, a flock of 12 Alpine swift and over 70 yellow wagtails. Although we could have hoped for a larger number of BOPs it was an enjoyable afternoon made even better by there being no hunting, very good considered low flying raptors are quite often targeted!