18 May:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds moderate south-westerly.

Three Honey Buzzards, a Short-toed Eagle  and three Black Kites were seen this morning.

A Robin was present at Campion park

17 May:  Mainly  clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds light variable to moderate south-westerly around midday onwards.

A singing Melodious Warbler was present at Jacob's Ladder, with another at Nun's Well.

A Turtle Dove and two Melodious Warblers were present at North Front cemetery.  A Spotted Flycatcher was seen at Commonwealth park.

Melodious Warbler at North Front cemetery.                                     C. Fortuna.

Twenty Honey Buzzards and a Short-toed Eagle were observed around midday.

16 May:  Clear skies with some westerly cloud.  Winds light variable becoming moderate to fresh south-westerly in the Strait.

Camp and Little bays held the following:-

A morning visit to Europa Point produced the following:-

A Griffon Vulture was observed heading north over the Rock. A Melodious Warbler was present in the Arengo's area.

15 May: Clear skies with a light westerly wind.

A Cormorant was present at Camp bay. A Spotted Flycatcher and a Robin was observed at Commonwealth Park.

An evening watch at Europa Point produced the following:-

Two Egyptian Vultures were seen around midday.

There was a White Stork and  14 Black Storks seen during the day.  Also seen were 14 Black Kites several Honey Buzzards and a Hobby.

14 May:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud in the morning.  Winds light to moderate south-westerly.

As winds freshened across the Strait, the first raptors turned up late morning.  Totals 13 Honey Buzzards, 23 Griffon Vultures, a Booted Eagle and three Black Kites.

There was a Robin at Camp Bay, and  an immature Audouin's Gull in a gull feeding frenzy.

An afternoon visit to Europa Point produced the following:-

A flock of 11 Gull-billed Terns flew west past Europa Point.

Gull-billed Terns heading west at Europa Point.                 T. Vinet

13 May:  Mainly clear skies with a moderate to fresh westerly becoming south-westerly in the afternoon.

A morning watch from Europa Point produced the following:- 

The slope above Little Bay held a Robin.  The Alameda Botanic Gardens held a Great Tit, a Chiffchaff, six Spotted Flycatchers and a Robin.

Some more raptors in the afternoon with 30 Griffon Vultures, 130 Honey Buzzards, three Short-toed Eagles, a Booted Eagle and three Black Kites.  There was also a Spotted Flycatcher and a Melodious Warbler at Europa foreshore.

An afternoon watch at Europa Point produced the following:-

12 May:  Cloudy skies with some sunny intervals and morning showers.  Winds moderate westerly.

Honey Buzzards, Booted Eagles and Black Kites continued to cross sporadically.

Sporadic raptor passage with four Griffon Vultures, 55 Honey Buzzards, a Short-toed Eagle, four Booted Eagles and two Black Kites seen intermittently.

An afternoon watch at Europa Point produced the following:-

11 May:  Plenty of sunny intervals but also westerly cloud in the morning creating overcast conditions.  Clouds dispersed in the afternoon.  Winds light variable to light to moderate south-westerly in the afternoon.

The North Front cemetery held two Turtle Doves, a Melodious Warbler, a Reed Warbler, an Orphean Warbler and two Spotted Flycatchers.

10 May:  Cloud increasing from the west to bring some showers.   Winds light south-westerly, becoming moderate.

Again trickle of raptors, mainly Honey Buzzards and Black Kites continued their migration northwards, together with an Osprey, two Short-toed Eagles and several Booted Eagles.but no systematic counts were made.  Continual steady passage of Common Swifts northwards throughout the day.

The morning at Europa Point was productive with 404 Balearic Shearwaters moving out of the Mediterranean, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, two Audouin's Gulls and three Shags.

At North Front cemetery there was a Woodchat Shrike, a Reed Warbler, two Melodious Warblers and a Spotted Flycatcher.

On the Talus slope there were four Barbary Partridges, a Melodious Warbler, four Sardinian Warblers and a Spotted Flycatcher.

09 May:  Overcast skies with a light variable breeze becoming light westerly, with some showers in the morning and afternoon.  Winds increasing in the afternoon to fresh to strong south-westerly.

A walk along Camp & Little bays produced the following:-

A trickle of raptors, mainly Honey Buzzards and Black Kites continued their migration northwards, but no systematic counts were made.  A steady passage of Common Swifts northwards throughout the day.

A Yellow Wagtail was seen at Europa Point and a Melodious Warbler observed behind Arengo's area

North Front cemetery held three Turtle Doves, a Reed Warbler , a Melodious Warbler, an Orphean Warbler, a male Spectacled Warbler,  two Spotted Flycatchers and a Corn Bunting.

Spectacled Warbler male at North Front cemetery.                                                         C. Fortuna

08 May: Cloudy skies with some sunny intervals later.  Levanter cloud developing over the Rock and town.  Winds light easterly.

At North Front cemetery there were two Turtle Doves a Melodious Warbler , two Spotted Flycatchers and an Ortolan Bunting.

At Parson's Lodge there were two Melodious Warblers and two Spotted Flycatchers among other resident birds.

07 May:  Clear skies with some westerly cloud.  Winds light to variable  westerly.

No raptors due to light variable winds.

There were five Cormorants heading west in the morning, and eight Glossy Ibises heading east at Europa Point in the afternoon.  At North Front cemetery there were two Turtle Doves and a Woodchat Shrike.

06 May:  Hazy sunshine with plenty of high cloud.  Winds light westerly to light south-westerly.

A very slow trickle of raptors throughout the day.

A Black Stork was also seen heading north.  A Turtle Dove was present at the Alameda Botanic gardens.

Two White Wagtails were present at the small boats Marina.

05 May:  Hazy sunshine with plenty of high cloud.  Winds light westerly becoming moderate to fresh south-west in the Strait by the afternoon..

A trickle of raptors in light winds even when winds freshened from the south-west in the Strait.

Raptor Totals

Also seen were 55 White Storks, a Black Stork, three Bee-eaters, eight Swallows, three House Martins and two Sand Martins.

A Melodious Warbler was seen above Arengo's area.

The Eagle Owl was seen hunting over Middle Hill through  a night-vision scope.

04 May:  Mainly clear skies with some westerly cloud.  Winds moderate north-west but turning to fresh south-westerly in the late morning.

Due to a coming spate of westerlies over the next few weeks, the ringing campaign came to a close today.

Good passage of raptors throughout the day, specially Griffon Vultures and Black Kites.  Honey Buzzards were numerous in the early morning with Black Kites the main species in the afternoon.  Possibly as winds increased the Honey Buzzards passage must have taken place to the east of the Rock.  Totals  for the day, an Osprey,  700 Honey Buzzards,  298 Griffon Vultures, a Rüppell's Vulture, two *White-backed Vultures, three Egyptian Vultures, eight Short-toed Eagles, 20 Booted Eagles,  two Montagu's Harriers, a Marsh Harrier,  a Sparrowhawk, 1080 Black Kites and a Hobby.  Also seen were a White Stork, seven Black Storks and 11 Glossy Ibises heading west past Europa Point.

Eleven Glossy Ibises flew west at Europa Point.                                                         B. Morgan

Seven Griffon Vultures were rescued from drowning in the sea by the Environmental Protection & Research Unit (EPRU boat).  They may have been many more that did not make it. 

The Europa foreshore held a Turtle Dove and a Bonelli's Warbler.  Offshore an Audouin's Gull flew by and an immature Cormorant  flew overhead.   A Red-necked Nightjar was observed on Engineer road.

Two Turtle Doves were observed in the Nature Reserve.

03 May:  Overcast skies in the early morning, clearing to give a sunny day but with high cloud.  Winds light variable to light south-westerly.

Ringing Totals

There was a Reed Warbler, an Ortolan Bunting and a House Bunting seen at Europa foreshore.

A Red-necked Nightjar was seen around Jews' gate Observatory.

Approximately 946 Honey Buzzards, two Griffon Vultures, three Marsh Harriers, 15 Booted Eagles and  450 Black Kites were counted over the Rock heading north.

02 May:  Overcast skies also with levanter cloud over the Rock, town and harbour.  Light drizzle around midday in a moderate easterly wind.

Ringing Totals

There were 10 Yellow Wagtails at Europa foreshore.

The Pied Crow is still present in the Europa Point area.  A Booted Eagle was seen hunting in the area, and eight Bee-eaters flew north over the Observatory.

A Turtle Dove was seen above Engineer road.

Windmill Hill held the following:-

01 May:  Mainly clear skies with some high cloud.  Winds light northerly becoming light south-westerly.

Ringing Totals

A Honey Buzzard and a Black Kite flew north over the Observatory at midday. A Robin was observed in the Alameda Botanic gardens and a Tawny Owl was seen behind the Arengo's area.

There were three Melodious Warblers, seven Spotless Starlings and a Yellow Wagtail at North Front cemetery.