East Yorkshire has been beset with seemingly endless days of cold, grey, rainy weather and, I don't care if it is forecast to be better at the weekend - I'm off to........ The Rock of Gibraltar. Flying out in the early hours of Friday 13th could only mean one thing, a bit too windy to land at Gibraltar so a touch down at Malaga followed, after circling the Rock for half an hour. Coaches were laid on and after travelling along the Concrete del Sol for an hour and a half, I was pleased to be enjoying the warm, sunny weather overlooking the Bay of Gibraltar. This is my first time in Gibraltar and as it was a very rushed decision, I knew only that the Spring raptor migration should still be ongoing and had researched the minimum information to get me started. A short walk from the hotel just outside Gibraltar (otherwise known as Spain!) leads to the Border formalities and after the marina (above), I found a lovely Woodchat Shrike on an area of scrub. The plan for today was to take two short bus journeys, which would end at the Southern tip of Gibraltar - Europa Point. I was not prepared for how close the coast of North Africa actually is and can see why it is the chosen route for migratory birds. Having been in both the Merchant Navy and a reserve Naval Officer, my fascination with shipping has never dwindled and much of the World's shipping can pass through the Straits of Gibraltar at extremely close range.. I was a little while finding my first arriving raptor, which turned out to be a Black Kite, one of four seen during the watch. It was soon to become apparent that the birds were crossing at an incredible height and, hence poor photos, I probably missed far more than I actually picked out. The next bird was a dark Booted Eagle, followed by two Light form birds. One of the light Booteds did eventually cross at low level, I picked it up flying over a yacht's mast and it made landfall just to my right. The image below shows quite nicely the distance involved in crossing the Straits. The only other 'low level' sightings were 2 Sparrowhawks coming in together, a group of 6 passerines and a single Swallow. There are an immense number of Yellow-legged Gulls flying around the Rock, often at height and they can be a constant distraction while looking for raptors. I almost missed this adult Audouin's Gull as it passed with some Yellow-legged's. Cormorant's and Gannets were the only seabirds seen apart from gulls. Occasionally a Gannet would come quite close. I wasn't seeing raptors in big numbers at all, it could be ages between sightings with 9 Booted Eagles, 4 Black Kites and what may have been a Bonelli's being the total. Looking across to Morocco, heavy cumulus clouds had formed over the hills, down to low levels along much of the coastline and I wondered if these were halting the birds' progress. Tomorrow, I hope to be up the Rock at the Observatory and learn a lot more about migration at Gibraltar. I finished by seeing a larger than normal 'dot in the sky' and my photos confirmed my suspicions of adult Griffon Vultures - three in total, in line behind each other. I was pleased with those! The Rock from Europa Point.
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