A bit late up, but still a good morning out

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

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!

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...

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...

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

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

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.