Morning spent at Ghadira Nature Reserve

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!

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..(:

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...

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

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.

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

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.