Green-winged teal and more @ São Jacinto (January 20 - 21)

Eurasian wigeons Anas penelope were abundant...



Eurasian teals or Common teals Anas crecca were even more abundant...



And among these there was an uncommon teal, which ended up in our captures: a 2nd cy male Green-winged teal Anas carolinensis, a North American species.



A single Common pochard Aythya ferina.



Perhaps the biggest surprise was the presence of a sleepy female Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis, another North American species and the second individual to show up at the pateira. We all remember this one, of course: http://btoringing.blogspot.pt/2014/11/portuguese-ringed-lesser-scaup-in-wales.html

Eirol landfill, Portugal (January 12, 2015)

One of two adult Herring gulls Larus argentatus present at the site.




Herring gull number two.




Ringed Mediterranean gull Ichthyaetus melanocephalus, from Véron, les Prés Pendus, Yonne, FRANCE 48,07N 3,17E. One of two birds observed.




A Pied wagtail Motacilla alba yarrellii (top) and white wagtail M. a. alba (bottom).




The only signs of the young Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus that resided at the landfill for some time (see previous posts) were 10 older remains of Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus…

...and, remarkably, the remains of a 1st winter Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus. Not a common prey for a Peregrine.

Ringing garden birds in Zwolle, the Netherlands (January 4, 2015)

 

Colour-ringed Tree sparrow

With Jan van Dijk (Stichting Avifauna Zwolle). 32 birds, 9 species, one recapture:


Great tit Parus major 10

Eurasian blue tit Parus caeruleus 9 (1)

European robin Erithacus rubecula 1

Common blackbird Turdus merula 3

Goldcrest Regulus regulus 1

Dunnock Prunella modularis 2

Eurasian jay Garrulus glandarius 1

House sparrow Passer domesticus 2

Eurasian tree sparrow Passer montanus 2



Eurasian jay



Goldcrest


Happy 2015!

Peregrine Falcon at the Eirol landfill: the story continues (December 3, 2014)

During recent visits to the landfill we were pleased to see the immature Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus (or hybrid?) was still around, putting some pressure on the Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus population. Recently, many new gulls have arrived from the north. The number of Black-headed Gulls increased to about 500 birds. Many of the new birds will have been unaware of the falcon’s presence. This will make them easy prey for the Peregrine, which is still operating from the top of the same Eucalyptus tree, aiming for the gulls that come to take a bath in the ditch below the tree. The ground around this ditch is currently littered with the remains of at least 9 Black-headed Gulls.










Among the new gulls that recently arrived at the site was this Black-headed Gull from Poland (White THPP).




The single Common Gull Larus canus were recorded on December 3, 2014.




It would be interesting to see how the Black-headed Gulls will deal with the presence of the falcon this winter. Since I’ve never visited Eirol in December there’s no data available about the number of gulls present at the site around this time. At the time the Taboeira landfill was still operational, during four visits in December 2011, I counted between 2500 and 5000 Black-headed Gulls...

Peregrine Falcon versus Black-headed Gulls at the Eirol landfill

There currently seems to be a Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus residing at the Eirol landfill. It was observed yesterday, November 17 2014, while it hunted repeatedly on the smaller birds present at the site. In search for prey it was flying through the thousands of gulls above the landfill.








It’s a 1st winter male, which appears to have a remarkably dark plumage. The head and breast of this bird are extremely dark, making me unsure about what subspecies it would belong to.






Its favorite perch is a dead branch in the top of a Eucalyptus tree, overlooking a ditch with fresh water that attracts many of the gulls and other birds present at the site, including Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus. And those Black-headed Gulls are of interest to the falcon. Throughout the day we noticed it making several unsuccessful attempts to catch one. We also found some remains of a Black-headed Gull that recently had been eaten by a peregrine.




In the morning, before we realized there was a peregrine present at the site, we already noticed there were very few Black-headed Gulls present. During the past few weeks their numbers had been increasing, as many northern wintering birds were arriving. Yesterday we counted only 75 Black-headed Gulls. The number of Black-headed Gulls on previous visits is shown in the table below. At the moment many of those Black-headed gulls probably realize it’s smarter to stay away from Eirol.




Thanks to Pedro Moreira for the close up photos of the falcon!

Torreira - Sao Jacinto beached bird and mammal… and REPTILE transect (November 12, 2014)

The first Leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea we found, also the first reptile species we recorded on the transect.





Below the second Leatherback, laying on his… leather back.








The head (rotated 180°), showing some teeth. I thought these were very friendly animals.






Throughout our walk we encountered very clear tide lines.




Coastal erosion at work. It wasn’t like this a month and a half ago.




Goose barnacles Lepadidae growing on a buoy.




We noticed an increase in the amount of washed up small plastic particles, including what seemed to be some industrial plastic pellets.




Near Sao Jacinto, the beach is now almost made up entirely from plastic litter.

A special guest at the landfill

On October 4th 2014, Paul Veron (http://guernseygulls.blogspot.pt/) joined Pedro Moreira and me on a ring-reading trip to the landfill of Eirol. Due to the surprisingly large number of gulls present at the site (15 – 30.000) a record amount of rings were read. More about this event can be found on Paul’s blog in some time from now. Among all these birds was a single Herring Gull Larus argentatus.