Bird migration this year

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olive
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Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:57 am

First day of Spring today.

Biting cold and we are still in a wet spell.

We have had one swallow roosting at night since the 11th March. I saw just two flying in our local town yesterday.

Is there a bottleneck somewhere with thousands of migrating birds(of different species) waiting for this weather to go before heading off to various destinations? If so is it North Africa or the Southern Coast of Spain?

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Wicksey
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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby Wicksey » Wed Mar 21, 2018 1:29 pm

We've often heard our first bee eaters in March and usually we hear the cranes fly over in the night, but nothing so far this year. Mind you, the sound of the rain lashing down would have drowned out most bird song this month!

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby brightonion » Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:31 am

The Bee Eaters arrived yesterday (5th April) a week later than last year, they congregate here, North Antequera, then most move on to other nesting sites.

olive
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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:25 pm

Brilliant . Our Bee eaters arrived at 2 p.m. today. Lovely portent of Spring.

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby Gasman » Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:37 pm

Our bee eaters were heard and seen for the first time this year yesterday, in Huelva province. There are more and more swallows about now, arriving since about 7 to 10 days ago and seem to be starting nesting. Spring has awakened, all of a rush, over the last week!

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:05 pm

I know it isn't a bird but saw two bits of road kill tonight. First was a medium sized snake no doubt getting some late warmth from the road. The second was a polecat- I think. I am going out early in the morning so will stop and have a good look. There was a dead badger in exactly the same place a while back.

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby Wicksey » Sat Apr 07, 2018 3:50 pm

For me the sound of the bee eaters is always the start of spring, but not heard them yet here. I did hear the cranes go overhead the other evening though.

olive
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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Sat Apr 07, 2018 6:25 pm

Cranes? Never seen them flying over. Do they sound and look like a skein of geese? If so we might have heard them in the past and assumed rhey were geese. There have been some interesting tv programmes on the return of cranes to the uk after a long absence.

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby gavilan » Sat Apr 07, 2018 6:27 pm

and the nightingale is back here ... not yet singing full throttle but warming up well enough!

olive
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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:16 pm

I am glad I am not the only one that finds nightingales over the top. Best kept in Berkeley Square.

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Wicksey
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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby Wicksey » Sun Apr 08, 2018 9:56 am

olive wrote:Cranes? Never seen them flying over. Do they sound and look like a skein of geese? If so we might have heard them in the past and assumed rhey were geese. There have been some interesting tv programmes on the return of cranes to the uk after a long absence.
They seem to always go over in the middle of the night and you hear them all calling to each other, a similar call to geese. I'm not sure I've ever seen them here as they fly at night but when I lived in France we did see them and they were in the classic V formation and loads of them too ..... quite a sight. Listen to them on this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPCciRdeU9M

olive
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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Wed Apr 11, 2018 10:16 am

Thanks for that clip. Could quite easily have been cranes.

Still not heard a cuckoo yet. I guess any that are around are hunkered down in this foul weather! Anyone else heard one yet?

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Wed May 02, 2018 1:29 pm

Update. Still haven't heard or seen a cuckoo yet this year despite being out in the groves each day. Anyone else heard one?

The lone swallow vanished after about 11 nights of roosting, then reappeared three nights ago. Talking with a local , he thinks that a lot of migrating birds perished on arrival as it was too cold and there was a lack of food.

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby gavilan » Wed May 02, 2018 8:20 pm

and yet, despite the cold, I saw our first golden oriole in the trees by the stream two days ago ... much earlier than previous years by at least a couple of months! ... maybe bird arrival is erratic as the weather seems to be at present!

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby country boy » Sat May 05, 2018 7:00 pm

It is definitely strange this year; We have one Golden Oriole taking the fruit from our Morus tree, normally they miss the main crop, we heard a cuckoo a couple of days ago but not since. We have no Wheatears, or Shrikes yet and only one pair of Swallows (now with 5 eggs happily). House sparrows are a positive rarity at our bird table these days whereas normally them dominate. We still have plenty of resident Great and Blue T1ts, Sardinian Warblers, Blackbirds and Collared Doves and a few Stonechats. Swifts have now arrived but in fewer numbers. It does not look good!

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby olive » Sat May 05, 2018 8:43 pm

I heard my first cuckoo today. Some way off.

The lone swallow is pitiful. It is trying to attract a presumably replacement mate and keeps showing the other swallow last years unsuccessful nesting site. It was ragged by a large flock of Blue "magpies". They have had the temerity to build their nest in the nearest tree to the house.

Nice that someone else has a bird table. We keep ours well stocked but the birds here certainly eat differently to their UK cousins. We get some very strange plants germinating from seeds that blow away. Plenty of lettuce and the occasional marijuana.

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Re: Bird migration this year

Postby Wicksey » Sun May 06, 2018 4:01 pm

We rarely see the Golden Oriole but do usually hear it, although not yet this year. I've hardly seen the bee eaters either but the numbers of blackbirds have increased .... something we never used to get here. It sounds like an English summer when they are singing away.

With 3 cats that like to catch birds we try not to encourage them too close to the house but we've noticed a lot more come down to the gravel driveway to feed now and they are constantly flitting about in the trees and shrubs that grow around the house. We are surrounded by wild flowers and grasses at the moment so that will give many of the seed eaters plenty to eat in due course.


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