31 May:  Clear skies with light easterly winds, but by mid morning the winds picked up to fresh and gusty with levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour.

A Hooded Crow was seen at Europa Point.  This is only the second record of this species, with the first seen from 19/05/2026 until 25/03/2017.

Photos:  D. Parody

30 May:  Clear skies with some wisps of levanter cloud early in the morning.  Winds light easterly.

There were single Balearic Shearwater and an Audouin's Gull observed from Europa Point.

29 May:  Levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour lifting by the end of the morning to give clear skies in a light easterly wind.

The gulls were mobbing a downed Griffon Vulture below Devil's gap battery.

Two Gannets flew west past Europa Point.

28 May:  Overcast skies with heavy levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour, in moderate easterly winds.  Clouds clearing in the afternoon and winds dropping to light easterly.

27 May:  Clear skies with a light westerly wind becoming moderate to fresh south-westerly in the Strait

There were 210 Cory's Shearwaters heading west off Europa Point.  Also seen there were two Shags.

A trickle of raptors all day with some Griffon Vultures mobbed by the Yellow-legged Gulls.

Totals until mid to late afternoon as follows:- 11 Honey Buzzards, 34 Griffon Vultures, 11 Short-toed Eagles, 34 Booted Eagles and 140 Black Kites.

Griffon Vulture mobbed by Yellow-legged Gulls. C. Perez

Griffon Vulture . C. Perez

Griffon Vulture mobbed by Yellow-legged Gulls. C. Perez

Griffon Vulture . C. Perez

26 May:  Mainly clear skies with hazy sunshine.  Winds light variable to light easterly.

Robin and Spotted Flycatcher still present at Commonwealth Park. A Short-toed Eagle was mobbed by gulls over Devil's gap Battery.

25 May:  Heavy levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour in a moderate easterly wind.

An Eleonora's Falcon was observed over Catalan bay on the east side of the Rock.

24 May:  Mainly clear skies but some thin levanter cloud over the Rock and town in the afternoon.  Winds light easterly.

There were 10 Cory's Shearwaters milling about, and 105 Balearic Shearwaters heading west out of the Mediterranean mid afternoon from Europa Point.

23 May:  Thickening high clouds with sunny intervals, but some levanter cloud over the Rock mid afternoon .  Winds light to moderate easterly .

There were at least 20 Cory's Shearwaters off Europa Point in the afternoon.

21 May:  Clear skies with a moderate westerly wind.

Honey Buzzards, Black Kites and Booted Eagles were observed over the Rock but no counts were made.

Great Tits and Serin present in the Convent gardens.

20 May:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds moderate to fresh westerly.

Some raptors crossed the Strait but no systematic counts were made as many Honey Buzzards were blown to the east side of the Rock. Nevertheless in the morning there were 87 Honey Buzzards, 48 Griffon Vultures, two Short-toed Eagles, four Booted Eagles and 26 Black Kites.

Many Griffon Vultures landed as soon as they arrived to the Rock, with some rescued from the sea, and unfortunately four drowning within sight of the coastline.

Griffon Vulture mobbed by Yellow-legged Gulls. C. Perez

Griffon Vulture . C. Perez

Griffon Vulture . C. Perez

Griffon Vulture mobbed by Yellow-legged Gulls. C. Perez

Four Griffon Vultures and a Black Vulture were recovered from the sea and are now in the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre.

There were Great Tits present at Middle Hill.

19 May:  Cloudy skies with sunny intervals clearing in the afternoon in moderate to fresh westerly, with south-westerly in the Strait.

North Front Cemetery held a Woodchat Shrike and two Spotted Flycatchers, with another Spotted Flycatcher and a Robin at Commonwealth Park.

18 May:  Clear skies with some intermittent cloud in the morning, clearing in the afternoon.  Winds moderate to fresh westerly.

Raptor passage throughout the day with a total of 233 Honey Buzzards, 152 Griffon Vultures, an Egyptian Vulture, 11 Short-toed Eagles, 38 Booted Eagles, and 469 Black Kites.  A flock of 29 Flamingoes flew west past Europa Point in the morning.

Griffon Vulture R. Azopardi

Griffon Vulture R. Azopardi

One of the Common Mynas was seen perched on a lampost by the GASA pools.

17 May:  Overcast skies with some light showers throughout the day.  Winds moderate westerly.

North Front Cemetery held a Melodious Warbler, a Spotted Flycatcher, a Redstart and a Blue Rock Thrush.

Raptors were observed throughout the day with flocks mainly Composed of Honey Buzzards, but counts were not made.

16 May:  Mainly clear skies but some clouds increasing from the west.  Winds moderate to fresh westerly.

There were two Spotted Flycatchers at North Front Cemetery and another two at Commonwealth Park.

A Nightjar sp. Was flushed at Tovey Cottage.

Raptor totals consisted of 362 Honey Buzzards,  13 Griffon Vultures, a Short-toed Eagle,  seven Booted Eagles, a Bonelli's Eagle, a Sparrowhawk, and 263 Black Kites. Also seen were 18 Swallows and five House Martins.

15 May:  Clear skies in a moderate to fresh westerly wind.

A count from mid morning until 14:00hrs totalled 30 Honey Buzzards, nine Griffon Vultures, 326 Black Kites, a Short-toed Eagle and six Booted Eagles. Also seen were 27 Swallows and 19 House Martins.

A Glossy Ibis was observed along the east side of the Rock.

14 May:  Overcast skies at dawn but soon clearing to give a sunny day.  Winds moderate to fresh north-westerly.

A flock of 304 Griffon Vultures flew in from the Bay at 13:45hrs but one fell into the sea and drowned.

A flock of 31 Flamingoes flew west over the isthmus, and a Grey Heron flew north over the harbour.

Two Robins and two Spotted Flycatchers were present at the Alameda Botanic Gardens.

13 May:  Hazy skies with high cloud and moderate visibility in the morning, with sunny intervals and light to moderate westerly.  Quite warm and sunny in the afternoon with winds  becoming fresh westerly in the Strait.

Raptors begun crossing along the east side of the Rock in the morning with several hundred Honey Buzzards involved.  Some Griffon Vultures and a Black Stork were also blown to the east side and then headed west towards Eastern beach.

A count was made from 12:00-18:30hrs with a total of 2515 Honey Buzzards, 112 Griffon Vultures, three Egyptian Vultures, 11 Short-toed Eagles, six Marsh Harriers, a melanistic Montagu's Harrier, 115 Booted Eagles, four Sparrowhawks, 597 Black Kites an Osprey and a Hobby.  Also seen were hundreds of Common Swifts non-stop over the Rock, 20 Swallows, and a Black Stork.  Many Honey Buzzards were missed along the east side of the Rock.

A Woodchat Shrike was present at Europa foreshore, and two Gannets and two Cory's Shearwaters were observed at Europa Point.

12 May:  Clear skies with a light easterly becoming light and variable.

A Robin and a Great Tit present at Commonwealth Park.

As winds shifted to westerly in the evening, some Honey Buzzards crossed with approximately 80 birds.

11 May:  Levanter cloud over the Rock and town, in a strong easterly wind becoming fresh in the afternoon.

Five adult and a juvenile Shags were resting on the rocks at Seven Sisters, with others at Little Bay rocks, together with a Common Sandpiper.  A Willow Warbler was ringed at Jews' Gate.

House Martins were present at their nesting site at Four Corners.

10 May:  Clear skies with a fresh and gusty easterly wind.

The post-nuptial ringing campaign ended today with only the pond nets active.  A special thanks to Mark Cutts, Chrissi Twitchen and Richard Geary as ringers in charge for their untiring effort.

Ringing Totals

Three Nightjar sp. were seen on the Engineer road at dawn.

09 May:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds fresh and at times strong easterly.

Ringing Totals

At North Front Cemetery there were single Woodchat Shrike, a Bonelli's Warbler, three Spotless Starlings and a Spotted Flycatcher.

08 May:  Overcast skies with heavy levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour in a moderate to fresh easterly wind.

The low levanter cloud overnight did the trick for a fall of migrants.

Ringing Totals

At North Front Cemetery there were a Bonelli's Warbler, a Spotless Starling, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Redstart.

07 May:  Clear skies with a light westerly breeze in the morning but winds turned to a light to moderate easterly by 10:00hrs, followed by fresh easterly with strong gusts and heavy levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour.

Ringing Totals

Honey Buzzards headed north on a broad front at dawn with over 900 Honey Buzzards , a Sparrowhawk and 13 Black Kites counted until the winds turned easterly.

North Front Cemetery held a Kestrel, two Woodchat Shrikes, a Melodious Warbler, two Common Redstarts and two Spotted Flycatchers.

06 May:  Overcast skies in the morning with alto-stratus, becoming brighter with sunny intervals later on.  Winds light westerly becoming moderate.

Ringing Totals

Raptor totals were 347 Honey Buzzards, an Egyptian Vulture, four Short-toed Eagles, 13 Booted Eagles, four Sparrowhawks, and 174 Black Kites.

North Front Cemetery held a Woodchat Shrike, three Melodious Warbler, a Garden Warbler, a Sardinian Warbler and four Spotted Flycatchers.

05 May:  Clear skies with increasing cloud in the afternoon.  Winds light westerly in the morning, becoming moderate in the afternoon with sunny intervals.

Ringing Totals

In the afternoon raptor migration picked up with a total of 132 Honey Buzzards, 14 Egyptian Vultures, four Griffon Vultures, seven Short-toed Eagles, 32 Booted Eagles, four Sparrowhawks, 218 Black Kites and an Osprey.

A Tawny Owl was heard calling behind the old Casino.  Robins present at Commonwealth Park and the Trafalgar Cemetery again.

At North Front Cemetery there were single Melodious Warbler, two Spotted Flycatchers, a Redstart and a Whinchat.  Another Spotted Flycatcher was observed near the old Motorcycle club.

A flock of 17 Flamingoes flew west in the Strait.  Two Mynas were present around the Morrison's carpark.

04 May:  Clear skies with a light variable to light easterly wind, becoming light westerly in the evening.

Ringing Totals

Only four Honey Buzzards, and Osprey and a Black Stork seen from the Observatory.

At North Front Cemetery there were single Woodchat Shrike, a Melodious Warbler and two Spotted Flycatchers.

03May: Clear skies in a light variable to light westerly wind.

Ringing Totals

A flock of four Cormorants flew north over the Port area.

At North Front Cemetery there were a Melodious Warbler, two Sardinian Warblers, a Blackbird, two Spotless Starlings and a Blue Rock Thrush.

02 May:  Mainly cloudy with high cloud and sunny intervals.  Winds light north-westerly becoming moderate in the afternoon.

Ringing Totals

A visit to Windmill Hill produced the following:-

Raptor passage was slow but picked up in the late afternoon.  Totals for the day were 365 Honey Buzzards, 52 Griffon Vultures, eight Short-toed Eagles, two Marsh Harriers, a Montagu's Harrier, 12 Booted Eagles, seven Sparrowhawks and 292 Black Kites.  Also seen a single Black Stork and some Bee-eaters were heard.

A Turtle Dove was seen at Westview Promenade, and a Yellow Wagtail was present at Western beach.

01 May:  Overcast skies with showers in the morning in a moderate westerly wind.  Cloudy with sunny intervals increasing in the afternoon to give clear skies in the evening. 

Small numbers of raptors crossed once the clouds cleared in the late afternoon for a total of 43 Honey Buzzards, a Griffon Vulture, a Marsh Harrier,  four Booted Eagles, two Sparrowhawks 13 Black Kites and a Hobby.