30 Sept:  Clear skies with a light westerly breeze, becoming light variable to light easterly by midday.

Ringing Totals

Two Grey Herons, a Kingfisher, a male Marsh Harrier and two Sparrowhawks were seen along the east side of the Rock.  Three more Grey Herons flew west ; one overhead at Windmill Hill and two past Europa Point.

Another Marsh Harrier flew south over Jews' Gate.

At Europa foreshore there were 10 Mediterranean Shearwaters offshore and a Wheatear,  Whinchat,  two Grey Wagtails, two Yellow Wagtails, a Serin and a Greenfinch.

29 Sept:  Overcast skies with low westerly cloud, and rain throughout the morning.  Rain stopped in the afternoon and winds a light variable to light south-westerly.

Ringing Totals

A Crag Martin was seen at Europa Point in the morning, and a Grey Wagtail was heard in the Rosia area.

Windmill Hill produced the following:-

An afternoon watch at Europa Point produced seven Black-headed Gulls, four Audouin's Gulls, a Mediterranean Gull, four Gannets, a Cattle Egret, and two two Swallows.

Little Bay held nine Shags, and a Common Sandpiper was present at Rosia Bay. 

28 Sept:  The remnants of Hurricane Gabrielle, now downgraded to a tropical storm, passed over central Portugal and Spain, but still gave us overcast skies and low cloud over the Rock, and light showers.  Winds moderate south-westerly at dawn, increasing to fresh with strong gusts.  Some sunny intervals in the afternoon.

Very windy and wet at the nets this morning.

Ringing Totals

An hours watch at Europa Point produced a Common Sandpiper, a Turnstone, three Black-headed Gulls, an Audouin's Gull west, 30 Cory's Shearwaters, 9 Mediterranean Shearwaters, 8 Gannets. and 12 Red-rumped Swallows.

A Marsh Harrier flew west over Jews' Gate, and a Kingfisher was on the Eastern beach revetment. A Lesser Black-backed Gull was present on Catalan Bay beach with Yellow-legged Gulls.

A flock of seven Black Storks flew over the Rock at 14:20hrs.

A visit to Windmill Hill in the afternoon produced the following:-

27 Sept:  Clear skies in the morning with high cloud from the west in the evening.  Winds light variable to light easterly.

Ringing Totals

An Osprey was observed at the perch along the north-western end of the runway.

Osprey at western end of the runway.                                                 J. Sanchez

26 Sept:  Levanter cloud over the Rock and town.  Clear away from the Rock.  Winds moderate to light easterly.

Ringing Totals

The first Crag Martin of the season was seen over Queen's road in the Nature Reserve.

Another arrival of Booted Eagles coasting along towards the Rock.  Several flocks of around 30 birds were observed from the Observatory.  A pair of Little Owls were heard from the east side of the Rock.

Juvenile Wren.                                              C. Fortuna.

An early afternoon walk around the Botanic gardens produced the following:-

Four Jackdaws were present at Moorish Castle estate.  Three Little Egrets were fishing from the rocks along Peter Isola promenade.

25 Sept:  Levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour, but clear away from the Rock.  Winds moderate easterly.

Ringing Totals

At least 40-50 Booted Eagles were observed drifting into the levanter cloud during the late morning.

A Hoopoe was observed on the wall by the Rock Hotel.

An afternoon visit to Windmill Hill produced the following:-

24 Sept:  Levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour, with rain clouds approaching from the east to give a light shower in the late morning.  Overcast skies in the afternoon in a fresh easterly wind.

Ringing Totals

North Front cemetery held a Willow Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher.  Along Mediterranean road there were two Sardinian Warblers, five Blackbirds, a Robin. a Pied Flycatcher and a Redstart.

There were three Red-necked Nightjars and a Scops Owl in the Nature Reserve in the evening.

23 Sept:  High cloud and hazy sunshine throughout the morning.  Winds light northerly, becoming light variable by midday, and a light south-westerly in the Strait.

The northerly winds hampered the ringing effort, until calm conditions set in at the end of the morning.  Only a few birds were ringed.

Ringing Totals

Two Hoopoes, a juvenile Woodchat Shrike, five Willow Warblers, a Redstart, a Pied Flycatcher a Wheatear, four Whinchats four Yellow Wagtails and a Serin were observed at North Front cemetery.

At Windmill Hill the following were recorded:-

A few raptors were seen early in the morning with 54 Honey Buzzards, six Marsh Harriers, two Sparrowhawks and 42 Black Kites.

A Jackdaw was seen at Laguna estate and three together were present on the bins at Parliament lane.

There were seven Grey Herons and a Little Egret at the Detached Mole.

A Spotted Flycatcher was seen at Campion Park.

22 Sept:  Clear skies in the morning with some wisps of smoke from a fire behind the Algeciras hills.  High cloud developing in the afternoon.  Winds moderate to fresh north-westerly.

A trickle of raptors throughout the day.

Totals:- Two Opsreys, four Egyptian Vultures, 364 Honey Buzzards, five Short-toed Eagles, 96 Booted Eagles, a juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle, 27 Sparrowhawks, 32 Marsh Harriers, four Black Kites and 13 Lesser Kestrels.  Also seen were 133 Black Storks in three flocks (115,9,9), a Greater Short-toed Lark, a Zitting Cisticola, 43 Swallows, five House Martins, a Willow Warbler and a Pied Flycatcher.

Juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle P. Rocca

Juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle P. Rocca

At North Front cemetery there were single Hoopoe and a Pied Flycatcher, and overhead 17 Swallows heading south.

21 Sept:  High westerly cloud in the early morning, with fog developing in the Strait and creeping into the south district.  Clearing after an hour to give clear skies.  Winds light variable to a light westerly, but moderate to fresh south-westerly in the Strait by midday. 

Ringing Totals

Booted Eagles arrived over the Rock in the late morning, but as westerlies picked up other raptors began to head south over the Rock.  A sporadic watch was kept with a constant watch between 16:00-1830:00.

Raptor totals were five Ospreys, 190 Honey Buzzards, a Short-toed Eagle, 280 Booted Eagles, 19 Sparrowhawks, two Montagu's Harriers, 12 Marsh Harriers, 12 Black Kites, seven Lesser Kestrels and a Lanner.  Also seen were 23 Black Storks, and some Bee-eaters heard.

Lanner.                                                                      D.M. Parody

20 Sept:  Overcast skies with a heavy levanter throughout the morning, with sunny intervals in the afternoon, and clearing by late afternoon.  Winds moderate easterly.

Ringing Totals

At least 80 Booted Eagles flew over the Rock before returning to the mainland.

A juvenile Lanner was chased by a pair of Peregrines for at least 10 minutes, swooping and attacking the falcon.  Eventually the left and the Lanner flew west.

A Little Owl was recorded above Both Worlds.

Migrant passerines found at the Botanic Gardens in the evening included a Reed Warbler, four Garden Warblers, three Spotted Flycatchers and four Pied Flycatchers among other resident birds.

19 Sept:  Overcast skies with heavy levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour, persisting over the Rock but sunny intervals away from the Rock.  Winds moderate to fresh easterly.

Ringing Totals

Yellow Wagtails were heard above Jews' Gate area along with two Nightingales uttering their alarm calls. A flock of seven Bee-eaters flew south in the early afternoon.

A Little Owl was heard calling behind the Rock Hotel.  A few Pallid Swifts are still active with their second brood in the lower town area.

A Grey Wagtail was present at the Botanic gardens, and a Pied Flycatcher was observed at the Cable car top station area.

A Honey Buzzard flew west over Jews' Gate.

The Botanic gardens held five Collared Doves, seven Bee-eaters, a Kingfisher, seven Blue Tits, a Great Tit, a Reed Warbler, a Chiffchaff, 41 Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, seven Sardinian Warblers, two Wrens, 21 Blackbirds, four Spotted Flycatchers, a Robin, three Pied Flycatchers, 37 House Sparrows, a Grey Wagtail and five Greenfinches.

18 Sept:  Overcast skies with westerly cloud and levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour in the morning.  Clearing by evening to give sunny intervals.  Winds moderate to light easterly.

No ringing in the morning, but a late evening at dusk with one round along the nets produced some migrants.

Ringing Totals

A Little Owl was heard along the east side of the Rock, with another at the southern end.

At least 80 Booted Eagles drifted in across the Bay and over the Rock before returning north.

A Kingfisher was observed at the Botanic gardens.

17 Sept:  Overcast skies together with levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour.  By mid morning clouds away from the Rock lifted to give sunny intervals.  Winds moderate easterly.

Ringing Totals

Two Tawny Owls and a European Nightjar heard before dawn above Jews' Gate.

Approximately 100 Booted Eagles flew in from the west low over town and soared into the levanter cloud.

An evening walk around the Botanic Gardens revealed 16 Collared Doves, a Booted Eagle, nine Blue Tits, two Great Tits, a possible Blyth's Reed Warbler, 12 Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, six Sardinian Warblers, 21 Blackbirds, four Spotted Flycatchers, a Robin, a Nightingale, 29 House Sparrows and 12 Greenfinches.

After careful consultation with other reputable ornithologists, we can confirm that the bird is indeed a Blyth's Reed Warbler.  This is only the second record for Gibraltar, the first was ringed by Brian Etheridge at Jews' Gate on the 24th September 1973.  There are two records for Portugal and five for Spain.  An article will be included in this years Bird Report.

Blyth's Reed Warbler Second Gibraltar record. M. Figueras

Blyth's Reed Warbler Second Gibraltar record. M. Figueras

16 Sept:  Levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour together with heavy fog at dawn over the northern end of town and to the south of the Rock.  Winds light easterly becoming moderate in the afternoon.

Ringing Totals

A Tawny Owl was heard calling before dawn above Jews' Gate.  A Grey Wagtail was heard from Jews' Gate.

The Europa foreshore held two Turnstones and a Blue Rock Thrush.

15 Sept:  Levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour with sunny intervals away from the Rock.  Fresh easterly winds just before dawn, becoming moderate throughout the day.

Ringing Totals

A Kingfisher , four Spotted Flycatchers, a Robin, a Pied Flycatcher and a Grey Wagtail were observed at the Botanic gardens, among other resident species.

At North Front cemetery there were two Blue Tits, a juvenile Woodchat Shrike, a Kestrel and four Sardinian Warblers.

14 Sept:  Clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds light to moderate south-westerly in the Strait, becoming light variable. Heavy fog creeping in from the east side mid afternoon, and enveloping the town in the evening.

Little bay held 15 Shags, including a juvenile.  There were two Redstarts present at North Front cemetery.

A forty minute watch at Europa Point produced seven Audouin's Gulls and 31 Cory's Shearwaters.

A Tawny Owl was seen around the City Under Siege area.

13 Sept:  Mainly clear skies but some fog developing on the east side of the Rock in the afternoon.  Winds moderate easterly.

Ringing Totals

 The seabird outing to Europa Point was marred by some fog to the east of the Rock, which dissipated eventually.  Totals seen were one Common Sandpiper, two Turnstones, an Arctic Skua west, a Caspian Tern west, four Sandwich Terns, 163 Cory's Shearwaters, seven Mediterranean Shearwaters, four Gannets, four Shags and a Blue Rock Thrush.

A Little Owl was heard calling in the Witham's cemetery, Sandpits area.

A Tawny Owl was heard in the Botanic Gardens.

At Europa foreshore there were five Turnstones, two Sandwich Terns and two Yellow Wagtails.

An Audouin's Gull was present around Camp bay.  A spate of Duck sp. from a collection found themselves in harbour waters and Rosia bay.

A Melodious Warbler was observed close to the Europa mosque.  

An evening walk around the Botanic gardens produced 31 Collared Doves, 17 Blue Tits, two Great Tits, two Iberian Chiffchaffs, eight Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, 11 Sardinian Warblers, 22 Blackbirds, eight Spotted Flycatchers, 42 House Sparrows and 13 Greenfinches.

12 Sept:  Clear skies with a light easterly becoming moderate south-easterly.

Ringing Totals

A morning watch at Europa Point produced five Collared Doves, a Turnstone, 50 Cory's Shearwaters, a Sardinian Warbler and 19 House Sparrows.

Little Bay held six Barbary Partridges, eight Collared Doves, 11 Shags, two Blue Tits, two Willow Warblers, a Blackcap, seven Sardinian Warblers, a Wren, four Blackbirds, two Robins, a Blue Rock Thrush and 14 House Sparrows.

11 Sept:  Clear skies with a moderate to light north-westerly, becoming light variable to light easterly.

Ringing Totals

A trickle of raptors at dawn with passage progressively moving across the Bay until 10:00hrs.  In total 125 Honey Buzzards, four Sparrowhawks, 10 Marsh Harriers, 20 Bee-eaters and four Swallows.

A Robin was observed close to the top of the Rock.

A watch at Europa Point from 11:00-1200 produced two juvenile Flamingoes, two Grey Herons, six Black-headed Gulls, seven Audouin's Gulls, two Gannets and two Cory's Shearwaters.

10 Sept:  Mainly clear skies but some high cloud during the day.  Winds moderate to fresh westerly to south-westerly.

A Hoopoe and a Yellow Wagtail were observed around Vineyards estate.

A morning count from Princess Caroline's battery area produced 1156 Honey Buzzards, an Egyptian Vulture, two Booted Eagles, four Sparrowhawks, 22 Black Kites and 11 Bee-eaters.

An afternoon watch from 15:00-18:00hrs produced four Ospreys, 1785 Honey Buzzards, six Booted Eagles, five Sparrowhawks, eight Montagu's Harriers, 36 Marsh Harriers, 246 Black Kites, 12 Lesser Kestrels and 78 Swallows.

09  Sept:  Cloudy skies in the morning clearing by the afternoon.  Winds moderate north-westerly, becoming fresh westerly.

Windy conditions affected the catching rate.

Ringing Totals.

Several hundred Honey Buzzards were seen throughout the day, mainly in the morning.  Also seen were about 50 Black Kites, a Booted Eagle and a Montagu's Harrier. Also seen were two Sand Martins.

A Hoopoe was seen by the Cable car top station. A Little Egret was observed at the Westview park revetment, and a Grey Heron was present at the rocks opposite the rowing clubs.

08 Sept:  Mainly clear skies until midday when high cloud covered the region, clearing in the late afternoon.  Winds light westerly to moderate south westerly.

Ringing Totals

Two Yellow Wagtails were flushed from the Europa foreshore.  There were three Kingfishers present on the groynes at Sandy Bay.

07 Sept:  Overcast skies in the morning with some sunny intervals in the afternoon.  Winds light easterly to light variable.

Ringing Totals

A Tawny Owl was heard at dawn from the Mount gardens area.  A visit to the Talus slope revealed 20 Barbary Partridges, two Melodious Warblers, five Sardinian Warblers and two Blue Rock Thrushes.

A Yellow Wagtail flew north over Jews' Gate, and a Little Owl was heard in the vicinity of St. Bernard's church.

19 Honey Buzzards flew south mid morning, but there was no wind to bring over the migration flow of raptors.

A walk around the Botanic gardens produced 12 Collared Doves, 11 Blue Tits, a Great Tit, seven Blackcaps, 9 Sardinian Warblers, 13 Blackbirds, four Spotted Flycatchers, a Robin, a Pied Flycatcher, 28 House Sparrows and two Greenfinches.

06 Sept:  Overcast skies in the region, with levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour.  Light drizzle after dawn fading by 09:00.  Sunny intervals in the afternoon.

Ringing Totals

A Nightingale was heard calling in the Arengo's area.

Nine Sandwich Terns were observed in the morning at Western beach.  Two Spotted Flycatchers were seen along Mediterranean road.

05 Sept:  Heavy levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour, with some sunny intervals in the afternoon.

Only the two pond nets were opened with only a Reed Warbler, two Sardinian Warblers and four House Sparrows processed.

A 2hr late evening watch at Europa Point revealed a Common Sandpiper, a Black-headed Gull, an Audouin's Gull, 15 Mediterranean Gulls 12 Cory's Shearwaters and 17 Shags.

04 Sept:  Clear skies with a light easterly breeze becoming light variable to calm around midday.

Ringing Totals

A Hoopoe was seen around the GLO area, 

A 2.5hr watch in the evening at Europa Point produced three Common Sandpipers, four Black-headed Gulls, three Audouin's Gulls, three Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 28 Sandwich Terns and 25 Cory's Shearwaters, a Gannet, 24 Shags, and a Kingfisher.

03 Sept:  Clear skies with a light variable breeze becoming light easterly in the afternoon.

Ringing Totals

An afternoon watch at North Front cemetery produced a Blue Tit, six Sardinian Warblers, four Blackbirds, a Pied Flycatcher, a Redstart and 13 House Sparrows.

02 Sept:  Clear skies with a moderate north wind at dawn becoming light and then variable to light easterly in the afternoon.

A trickle of raptors until 09:30hrs.

47 Honey Buzzards, five Montagu's Harriers, three Marsh Harriers and 109 Black Kites.  Also seen at the Cable car top station were a Bonelli's Warbler and two Yellow Wagtails.  

A Hoopoe was observed at Casemates, and a Blue Tit, a juvenile Woodchat Shrike, two Sardinian Warblers, three Blackbirds and a Pied Flycatcher were observed at North Front cemetery.

Juvenile Woodchat Shrike devouring a Scolopendra centipede at North Front cemetery.               C. Fortuna.

01 Sept:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud in the afternoon.  Winds fresh north-westerly.

Good raptor passage at dawn, and continuing until mid morning when movements dropped to a trickle.  Honey Buzzards drifted to the east of the Rock.

Totals:- 850 Honey Buzzards, four Egyptian Vultures, eight Booted Eagles, a Montagu's Harrier, a Marsh Harrier, two Sparrowhawks, and 1250 Black Kites.  Also seen were 268 White Storks.

Montagu's Harrier male at Europa Point.                                           P. Rocca.