30 Nov:  Clear skies with a light and variable northerly.  Very cold conditions the past few days.

Two Grey Herons flew northward via Rosia Bay.  

On a sadder note, two unresponsive Yellow-legged Gulls and a dead Razorbill were reported off Europa Point.  The Veterinary Clinic will investigate the cause of mortality in light of the recent Avian Flu epidemic.

At Europa Point, a single Gannet,18 Black-headed Gulls feeding below the Point and three Sandwich Terns into the Bay.

An Osprey was seen again at the airfield, and two were seen over Europort.  A Kingfisher was observed at the GSLA Pavilion.

29 Nov: Clear skies in a moderate northerly wind.

 Razorbills have been reported in the harbour and inshore areas around the Rock.  A Grey Heron was resting on the western end of the runway. 

28 Nov: Clear skies with a moderate northerly wind.

 A Razorbill was seen swimming at the Queensway Quay Marina, with another around the GSLA pavilion.

27 Nov: Levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour with sunny spells in the afternoon.  Winds fresh to moderate easterlies.

A Razorbill was seen swimming close to a paddleboarder off Sandy Bay, and another was observed in Rosia Bay.

An afternoon watch at Europa Point produced 18 Balearic Shearwaters, 11 Gannets, four Shags, 20 Black-headed Gulls, three Mediterranean Gulls, a Black Redstart and two Serins.

26 Nov: Levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour with sunny spells in the afternoon.  Winds fresh to moderate easterlies.

At Camp and Little Bays there were single Shag and five Cormorants and a Grey Heron on the rocks, offshore two Gannets, and in the surrounding vegetation a Chiffchaff, two Black Redstarts and a White Wagtail.

Single Razorbills were seen at the GSLA pavilion and at Western Beach, where there were eight Cormorants.

25 Nov:  Mainly clear skies with a moderate westerly wind.

An afternoon visit to Europa Point produced nine Gannets, a Little Egret, 14 Razorbills in a flock heading west, 25 Black-headed Gulls, five Mediterranean Gulls, and in the scrub vegetation behind the Mosque four Chiffchaffs, two Sardinian Warblers, a Stonechat, two Black Redstarts and two Goldfinches.

Fourteen Razorbills heading west at Europa Point.                                   R. Perez

24 Nov: Clear skies with a light westerly wind.

A Shrike sp. was seen at Campion Park.

23 Nov: A cloudy and drizzly morning with light winds, then clear skies during the afternoon. 

A Sparrowhawk was at Windmill Hill and two White Wagtails were at Commonwealth Park.

22 Nov: Mainly clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds light to moderate westerly, swinging from northerly.

A Yellow-browed Warbler was close to Royal Anglian Way in the Gibraltar Nature Reserve.

Ringing Totals

21 Nov: Mainly clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds northerly.

A Kingfisher was close to the GSLA swimming pavilion within the harbour.

20 Nov: Mainly clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds northerly.

Two Siskins were at Europa Point and another was close to the top of the Rock.  Eight Sanderlings were at Eastern Beach.  Four Jackdaws were on the Moorish Castle.  A variety of birds around Europa Point included twelve Barbary Partridge, ten Chiffchaff, a Dartford Warbler, four Stonechats and two White Wagtails.  Seabirds off the point included some Gannets, two Lesser-black-backed Gulls and an immature Slender-billed Gull.

19 Nov:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud from the north.  Winds light to moderate northerly, rather cold.

As colder conditions settled in to the north of Iberia, with some higher areas registering their first snow, finches were seen to move south, with many flocks heading south low over town, with flocks mainly of Goldfinches and Serins.

18 Nov:  Overcast skies with regular showers from the west  Winds light to moderate WNW.

This morning there were 10 Black-headed Gulls at Europa Point, with some feeding below the Point and some offshore, but no Gannets could be seen.  Two Black Storks flew over the Rock.

17 Nov:  Cloudy with sunny spells and the chance of a light shower.  Winds moderate westerly.

The rocks at Little bay held five Cormorants, and three Shags,(two juveniles and an adult were fishing inshore.  Also two Grey Herons on the cliffs flew out and headed north.

In the late afternoon flocks of Goldfinches totaling about 50 birds crossed the Strait at Europa Point, and offshore there was a small passage of Gannets into the Mediterranean with 18 birds counted in 30 minutes.

16 Nov:  Overnight gale force south-westerlies and a frontal system brought much needed rain to our area.  It was the wettest day since April 4^th!  In the morning overcast skies continued with some lighter showers and drizzle, with winds easing off to a fresh south-westerly, and cloud continuing well into the afternoon.

15 Nov:  Sunny spells in a cloudy start to the morning becoming overcast as a frontal system passed over.  Winds fresh south-westerly with strong gusts.

A flock of eight Cormorants flew north over town early in the morning.

Just the one net in strong and windy conditions in two hours.

Ringing Totals

14 Nov:  Clear skies with a light westerly becoming moderate in the afternoon.

 Only the nets above the Observatory, (six nets),  and two at the pond were used.

Ringing Totals

Two flocks of Griffon Vultures were seen over the Rock around midday totalling 71 birds.

13 Nov:  Cloudy start to the morning with cloud from the east and levanter cloud over the Rock, clearing to give sunny spells at midday, and clear skies all afternoon.  Winds moderate to light easterly.

A Black Vulture and a Short-toed Eagle was seen over the northern end of the Rock at about midday, and a Booted Eagle was observed over the east side of the Rock.  This was followed by a flock of at least 120 Griffon Vultures that flew in low over the South Mole, and soared over the southern end of the Rock.

12 Nov:  A clear start to the day followed by dense fog from the east mid morning, and a thick overcast skies with levanter cloud later.  Cloud thinning during the afternoon to give mainly clear skies in a moderate easterly wind.

Ringing Totals

Another successful ringing session this morning with the 20th record of Yellow-browed Warbler and the 11th ringed, and the 25th record of Bullfinch and the 24th ringed.

Bullfinch

Yellow-browed Warbler

Two flocks of Scopoli's Shearwaters numbering 85 birds were seen from Europa Point.  Also seen were 45 Balearic Shearwaters heading west and six Gannets.

A Common Nightjar and a medium sized Owl sp. was seen in the evening at Jews' Gate.

11 Nov:  Overcast skies with a fresh easterly winds and gusts over the Rock, and levanter cloud over the Rock,  town and harbour as well.

Ringing Totals

Redwing showing the underwing colouration

Redwing, one of two ringed at the Observatory

10 Nov:  Clear skies in the morning with a light variable breeze, becoming light to moderate to fresh north-easterly as the afternoon progressed, with levanter cloud developing over the Rock.

Ringing Totals

A visit to the Alameda Botanic Gardens produced the following, including a late Garden Warbler:-

A flock of approximately 10 Egret sp. flew south past the North Mole. 

09 Nov:  Overcast skies in the morning and continuing cloudy in the afternoon with sunny spells.

08 Nov:  Hazy sunshine with high cloud from the west.  Winds light to moderate westerly.

Ringing Totals

07 Nov:  Clear skies with a light variable breeze.

Ringing Totals

A flock of seven Long-tailed Tits were trapped and ringed this morning at the Observatory.  The last record of this species was in November 2004 when 4 birds were ringed on the 13th, and another on the 27th. Some remained until February of 2005, with two retrapped on the 13th February and another on the 16th. 

One of seven Long-tailed Tits trapped and ringed at the Observatory.                                                       J. Yeoman

The Yellow-browed Warbler continues to call from the trees opposite McDonalds.

A visit to North Front Cemetery produced two Chiffchaffs, a Blackcap, four Sardinian Warblers, three Blackbirds, a Robin, eight Black Redstarts, a White Wagtail and two Siskins.

 An hours watch at Europa Point in the earlyKestr afternoon produced 26 Scopoli's Shearwaters, a Cory's Shearwater, seven Gannets, 48 Black-headed Gulls, a Mediterranean Gull and six Sandwich Terns.

A Common Sandpiper was at the GSLA Pavilion.

In the afternoon, a visit to the top half of Windmill Hill produced the following:-

06 Nov:  Clear skies with a light north-westerly breeze.

The Yellow-browed Warbler continues to call from the trees opposite McDonalds.

Ringing Totals

Brambling ringed at the Observatory.

Europa Point area morning

At Western Beach there were two Common Sandpipers, a Black Redstart and two White Wagtails. 

The Europa foreshore held a 15 Collared Doves, Turnstone, two Chiffchaffs, a Sardinian Warbler, a Dartford Warbler, four Black Redstarts, a Blue Rock Thrush, a Northern Wheatear of the Greenland race, (O. o. leucorhoa ) and 15 House Sparrows.

Northern Wheatear of the Greenland race O. o. leucorhoa in a typical upright stance.                          C. Perez

Offshore at Europa Point there was a flock of 24 Scopoli's Shearwaters, 64 Balearic Shearwaters, six Gannets, a Shag and three Black-headed Gulls. 

In the afternoon, a visit to the top half of Windmill Hill produced the following:-

05 Nov:  Clear skies with a light variable to light easterly breeze.  Very warm.

Ringing Totals

Two Grey Herons were seen at Rosia Bay. A number of wintering species was also present there including three Chiffchaffs, two Sardinian Warblers and four Black Redstarts.  At the Europa Point area there were two Chiffchaffs by Nun's Well, a Gannet was seen offshore and Shags and Cormorants were present.  In the tamarix bushes there were three Chiffchaffs, four Black Redstarts and overhead three White Wagtail, 14 Goldfinches and four Serins.

The Osprey was present at the western end of the runway and possibly another was seen heading south low over the Small Boats Marina.  Two Grey Wagtails were observed in the area of Queensway, and a Redwing was seen past Eliott's Battery.

There were five Meadow Pipits and a Black Redstart on the airport lawn, and a Sparrowhawk flew south low over the airfield.

 A Whimbrel was seen north of Vanguard Cave in the morning.

04 Nov:  Cloudy skies with some sunny intervals in the morning and afternoon.  Winds a moderate north-westerly, becoming westerly.

Windy conditions at the Observatory prevented any possibilities of operating the ringing campaign.

The Yellow-browed Warbler was heard again opposite McDonalds.

At Little Bay rocky shoreline there were three Shags, a Cormorant and two Grey Herons. The vegetation surrounding Little Bay there were four Blackcaps, four Sardinian Warblers, two Blackbirds, five Robins, two Black Redstarts, a Blue Rock Thrush  and a Grey Wagtail.

A visit to Europa Point produced three Gannets, four Corys/Scopolis Shearwaters, 91 Balearic Shearwaters heading west and a Turnstone.  Two Chiffchaffs were feeding among the Tamarix bushes at Nun's Well, and overhead Meadow Pipits were heard, a flock of 12 Serins and four Goldfinches were seen.

A Common Starling, a Meadow Pipit, five White Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail were present at Commonwealth Park.  A variety of wintering and migrant birds were present at Westview Promenade with a Song Thrush, two Chaffinches, a White Wagtail, Chiffchaffs, Black Redstarts and finches heading south overhead.

03 Nov:  Cloudy skies with some breaks of sunshine in the morning but overcast with high cloud from the west in the afternoon.  Finally a chilly start to the morning in a light north-westerly wind becoming light westerly in the afternoon.

Ringing Totals

A Yellow-browed Warbler was ringed this morning at the Jews' Gate Observatory.

Yellow-browed Warbler.

Four Cormorants were seen over Europort.  Just before midday a flock of approximately 1000 Griffon Vultures flew in over the northern end of the Rock, before returning back north with some heading west over the Bay.  Also seen with them was a juvenile Egyptian Vulture and a Marsh Harrier with both heading south. 

Part of the 1000 flock of Griffon Vultures.                                                                    E.F.J. Garcia.

02 Nov:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud from the west and levanter cloud creeping over the crest of the Rock.  Winds a very humid light easterly.

Ringing Totals

The Yellow-browed Warbler was still there in the afternoon.  An Osprey carrying a fish flew past the Observatory in the afternoon.

01 Nov:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud from the west.  Winds light westerly to light variable.

Ringing Totals

A Yellow-browed Warbler was found at midday, in trees opposite the McDonalds at the back entrance of Montagu Gardens residential complex.  The bird was first located by its call, from an 8th floor apartment on the opposite side of the road, despite the traffic noise.  It was still heard calling from the same location mid afternoon.

An evening watch from Europa Point produced eight Gannets, 36 Scopoli's Shearwaters, 10 Shags, four Black-headed Gulls, seven Mediterranean Gulls, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, 12 Meadow Pipits, two White Wagtails, 20 Goldfinches and two Siskins.