This summer the Botanic Gardens have installed a number of butterfly feeding tables, which have been a great success.
We are pleased to annnounce that online payments for new membership and renewals are available on our Members page.
A juvenile Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus) was handed in to vet Mark Pizarro, having been found in a weakened state around Laguna Estate.
A juvenile Kentish Plover was seen and photographed on the rocks at the western end of the runway by Trevor Hammond. This is the first time the species has been recorded again in Gibraltar after several decades.
Various reports were received over the long weekend concerning sightings of Ravens Corvus corax over the Upper Rock.
There had been a pair of this species in Gibraltar until relatively recently (we need to check our records, although breeding was never recorded).
The Europa Foreshore is a designated part of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve. Bart Van Thienen has been working in this area in collaboration with GONHS for the last five years clearing the area of rubble and waste, and clearing invasive species of plants such as the Prickly Pear Opuntia ficus-indica, the Hottentot Fig Carpobrotus edulis and the Century plant Agave americana. He has done a great job in restoring the area to a natural surrounding, and has begun to restore the Gibraltar Sea Lavender Limonium emarginatum, by planting seedlings in various areas within the site.
In the last few weeks seabird migration has got underway at Europa Point, with birds migrating west out of the Mediterranean close inshore. The best weather conditions are usually westerly winds, although even during easterlies birds will be seen. The afternoon is the best time to watch from this site as the light is favourable, and the birds pass close providing suitable conditions for good photography opportunities.
Over the last few weeks Europe has experienced a severe heatwave named 'Lucifer'. Gibraltar did not escape the ravages of the high temperatures, but fared better than inland areas in Spain. Temperatures increased daily with the highest recorded so far 35oC on the 7th August.
