The Report sections listed below are largely complete and may be consulted here. They remain subject to further alteration until the final Report, complete with photographs, is published in the usual format later in the year. In the meantime, suggested changes, alterations or submissions for publication will be gratefully received by the Editor, Ernest Garcia (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

TABLE 1.  SPECIES THAT HAVE CHANGED MARKEDLY IN ABUNDANCE BETWEEN THE TWO SAMPLED PERIODS  

TABLE 1A. SPECIES THAT HAVE INCREASED (N = 23)

TABLE 1B. SPECIES THAT HAVE DECREASED (N = 17) 
Short-stopping refers to species that latterly winter further north than before and no longer enter the Iberian Peninsula in their former numbers.

BLYTH’S REED WARBLER ACROCEPHALUS DUMETORUM IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

ERNEST GARCIA

Blyth’s is a small reed warbler that breeds across central Asia, chiefly in a region extending between southern Finland in the west and northwestern Mongolia in the east (Dyrcz 2020). It is a summer visitor to this region, wintering in India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. European populations have shown a marked recent increase in abundance (Piha 2020). At the same time, the breeding range has shown some recent westward expansion resulting in nesting in Norway and Sweden, in The Netherlands in 2021 and, in 2024, in Scotland (Hine & Malin 2024). Otherwise migrants are reported on rare but increasingly frequent occasions in western Europe, notably in Britain (437 records to 2023:  White & Kehoe 2025) and the Netherlands (60 in 2020 alone: Gelling et al. 2021).

Undoubtedly this species is easily overlooked away from its known breeding and winter quarters. The plumage is nondescript and quite similar to other unstreaked reed warblers, in particular the Marsh Warbler A. palustris. Although its song is distinctive migrants are unlikely to sing. Hence, most extralimital accepted records have involved birds captured by ringers or those for which clear photographs, showing the diagnostic wing structure, are available.

There are nine accepted Iberian records (Table 1), all in the second half of the year and mainly in September and October. An additional Spanish record is of uncertain status, despite the bird having been examined in the hand. Five birds have been found in Spain, two in Portugal and two in Gibraltar. 

The first Gibraltar record was of an individual caught and ringed by Brian Etheridge in September 1973. The second record is accepted on the basis of a long series of photographs of an obliging individual, taken by Morris Figueras in the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens. Two of these are included here (Figs 1 and 2). They show the diagnostic, if subtle, plumage and structural characteristics of the species (cf. Kennerley & Pearson 2010, van Duivendijk 2024). These photographs have been examined by Dr Daniel López-Velasco, a long-standing member of the Spanish rarities panel (CR-SEO) who is much experienced in passerine identification. He has commented as follows (translated from Spanish):

‘For me the bird in the photographs is undoubtedly a dumetorum, as you have suggested. Leg colour, head and bill pattern, primary projection length, coppery wing colour contrasting with other plumage, alula and tertials showing poor contrast with rest of wing, and very obvious emargination on primaries 3 and 4…...allow other options to be discarded’.

Table 1. Iberian Records Of Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum
A  Ardeola. AO  Anuario Ornitológico. BOG Birds of Gibraltar. GBR Gibraltar Bird Report 

Figure 1. Showing diagnostic emarginations on P3 and P4; short primary projection; coppery flight feathers contrasting with other plumage; weak head pattern with short supercilium, overall greyish appearance very distinct from brighter brownish plumage tones of Eurasian Reed Warbler A. scirpaceus, Marsh Warbler and Paddyfield Warbler A. agricola  (Photo Morris Figueras).

Figure 2. Pale grey, not dark, legs and feet are characteristic of Blyth’s Reed Warbler, as are the pale greyish white belly and flanks, lacking cinnamon tones typical of Paddyfield Warbler (Photo Morris Figueras).

Figure 3. Showing long, thin bill, with dark upper mandible and dull yellow lower mandible darkening towards the tip; characteristic of Blyth’s Reed Warbler (Photo Morris Figueras).

Acknowledgments
I am most grateful to Danny Velasco for his prompt and helpful comments on the photographs of this individual. I also thank, Morris Figueras, for his skill and patience in obtaining those photographs, without which this identification would not have been possible.
 
References

Dyrcz, A. 2020. Blyth's Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus dumetorum), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blrwar1.01

Gelling, G.J., van der Spek, V., Lidster, J. & CDNA. 2021. Rare birds in the Netherlands in 2020. Dutch Birding 43(6): 433–435.

Hine, M. & Malin, R. (Eds). 2024. Blyth’s Reed Warbler breeds in Britain. British Birds 117: 589.

Kennerley, P. & Pearson, D. 2010. Reed and Bush Warblers. Helm, London.

Piha, M. 2020. Blyth’s Reed-warbler. Pp. 620–621. In Keller, V., Herrando, S. et al. European breeding bird atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Bird Census Council and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Van Duivendijk, N. 2024. ID Handbook of European Birds. Volume 2: Passerines. Princeton University Press. 

White, S. & Kehoe, C. 2025. Report on scarce migrant birds in Britain in 2023. Part 2:  passerines. British Birds 118: 392.

RINGING REPORT 2025

Charles Perez

Gibraltar Ringing Group, GONHS, P.O. Box 843, Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Ringing Group, working under the auspices of the British Trust for Ornithology, is based at the Jews’ Gate field centre, on the Upper Rock. The 2025 pre-nuptial ringing campaign began at Jews' Gate on January 15^th and ended on May 10^th. The 1,655 new birds ringed and 226 retraps totalled 1,881 individuals of 52 species, a similar total to 2024 but far fewer than in 2023, when 2,580 birds of 45 species were processed.

Eight species ringed last year were absent: Alpine Swift, Collared Dove, Golden Oriole, Sedge Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, Brambling, Siskin and Ortolan Bunting, but ten species were recorded that were not encountered in spring 2024: Quail, Short-toed Eagle, Eurasian Kestrel, Great Tit, Barn Swallow, Icterine Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Spectacled Warbler, Redwing and Goldfinch.

The season began better than in 2024, with recoveries of wintering birds encountered during the post-nuptial campaign in October and November. The 584 new birds ringed during January and February mainly comprised 61 Common Chiffchaffs, 439 Blackcaps and 27 Robins.  A Redwing was ringed on January 20^th, and a Wryneck on February 3^rd.  Trans-Saharan migrants began appearing in mid- to late February, with a Hoopoe on the 16^th and an Iberian Chiffchaff on the 19^th.

March began with a period of westerly winds and incessant rain showers, amounting to one of the wettest months on record. This hampered the ringing effort and explains the low number of birds ringed during this period: only 324 were ringed plus 48 retrapped. Species totals included good numbers of Phylloscopus warblers: 94 Common Chiffchaffs, 46 Willow Warblers, 35 Bonelli’s Warblers and 12 Iberian Chiffchaffs.  Other trans-Saharan migrants were few, with the first Nightingale on the 12^th, Woodchat Shrike on the 14^th, Common Redstart on the 20^th, Subalpine Warbler on the 22^nd and Common Whitethroat on the 30^th.

April was dominated by westerly winds which hampered the catching rate but there were some days with easterly winds and levanter cloud that produced good daily totals. There were 553 birds were ringed plus 53 retraps. Phylloscopus warblers again dominated with 86 Bonelli’s Warblers and 162 Willow Warblers caught. Blackcaps and Garden Warblers accounted for 61 and 46 birds respectively, with Melodious Warblers and Nightingales accounting for 32 birds each.  A fall of migrants on the 12th produced 80 new birds ringed, including the first individuals of Scops Owl, Wood Warbler and Spectacled Warbler. 

Only ten days in May were covered, giving 193 new birds and 21 retraps processed. May 1^st, with overcast skies and levanter cloud, produced a good fall, with 109 birds ringed.  They included 47 Willow Warblers, seven Eurasian Nightjars, three Red-necked Nightjars, nine Common Reed Warblers, seven each of Wood Warblers, Melodious Warblers and Pied Flycatchers, six Bee-eaters and several other species. The rest of the period was dominated by westerly winds, with low catches of migrants.

Among interesting species ringed were a female African Chaffinch on March 24^th, a Quail that struck a window in the town area on May 2^nd, a Short-toed Eagle that was recovered from the sea on May 5^th, a Booted Eagle on April 2^nd, a Red-rumped Swallow on April 2^nd, a record 12 Wood Warblers, two Spectacled Warblers and two Icterine Warblers on May 1^st and 2^nd.

The post-nuptial ringing campaign began at Jews’ Gate on August 3^rd and officially ended on November 20^th, although a few nets were opened on three days in December. A total of 5,526 new birds and 290 retraps brought the total processed to 5,816 birds of 53 species. This was 915 birds more than in the same period in 2024, when only 4,611 birds of 53 species were processed, mainly wintering birds.  
Captures during August, during which only 16 ringing days were favourable, mainly comprised dispersing juvenile resident birds, with healthy numbers reflecting a good breeding season. This contrasted with the previous two years when the then-large population of Black Rats Rattus rattus alexandrinus (less apparent in 2025) may have had a negative impact on local nesting birds. Early trans-Saharan migrants were few, but resident species increased the total to 321 new birds. 

September saw 25 ringing days and a total of 739 new birds ringed, 304 more than in September 2024 and chiefly comprising trans-Saharan migrants. There were also 110 retraps, mainly of resident species. In late September, numbers increased with the arrival of migrant Blackcaps, boosting the catching rate. Scarcer birds included a Woodchat Shrike on the 7^th, a Melodious Warbler on the 8^th, a Wryneck on the 16^th and a Tree Pipit on the 17^th.  

Late trans-Saharan migrants were still encountered in the first few weeks of October but captures that month were dominated by arrivals of wintering species, giving a total of 3,072 new birds; 832 more than last year. Blackcaps, Robins, Common Chiffchaffs and Black Redstarts predominated, with 1,588, 480, 305 and 257 captures respectively.  Among the scarcer species were a Blue Rock Thrush on the 3^rd, single Wrynecks on the 2^nd and 4^th, a Red-breasted Flycatcher on the 16^th and a Rock Bunting on the 24^th.

A further 1,268 birds were ringed throughout November, with late trans-Saharan species comprising a Common Reed Warbler and three Barn Swallows on the 3^rd, a Garden Warbler on the 4^th and a Red-rumped Swallow on the 12^th. The second Red-breasted Flycatcher of the autumn, the fourth ringing record for Gibraltar, was processed on the 1^st. 

Five controls in autumn comprised two Blackcaps from Belgium: on October 7^th and November 13^th , a German (Heligoland) Blackcap on October 14^th, a French Blackcap on October 16^th and a Spanish Greenfinch on October 24^th.

Ringers 2025

D. Ash, M. Ashman, M. Bacon, P. Baker, M. Barrey, R. Bell, K. Bradley, C. Buckle, A. Commins, J. Conway, J. Cortes, K. Cramer, S. Crease, I. Dammery, R. Dann, T. Dawson, K. Dean, R. Dickey, A. Dixon, R. Duncan, E. Evetts, J. Gittins, R. Hickman, A. Hocking, B. Hopkins, L. Lappin, S. Lloyd, N. Lynch, A. Mayne, C. McLelland, O. Middleton, S. Murphy, C. Perez, A. Rees, M. Rosser, A, Sharman, E. Sherwell, A. Smethurst, J. Smith, H. Stone, B. Taylor, K. Thorpe, B. Tridgett, K. Venus, B. Williams, M. Winsloe, J. Withnail, K. Wright and J. Yeoman.

Also a special thanks to the ringers in charge, M. Cutts, R. Geary, C. Twitchen, I. Lees and D. Wilkinson.

Table 1 Controls

Table 2 Recoveries

Table 3 Species Totals