The times are getting noticeably longer now. The solar units after 630pm and the Higher Rock Nature Reserve is wanting lush and inexperienced, because of the autumn rains. The Paper-white Narcissi, which had been in full flower earlier than Christmas, are gone. Clematis, one other season starter, is now exhibiting it’s “previous man’s beards” in all places because it prepares to disperse its seeds. The almonds are blossoming and honeysuckle and lavender are in flower.
It’s a good time to wander up right here seeking birds, all the time now with the hope and expectation of seeing a brand new arrival. It may very well be a Nice Noticed Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) or maybe a Hoopoe (Upupa epops). Some Hoopoes keep within the Iberian Peninsula all winter however not right here in Gibraltar, which implies that any noticed are migrants.
The winter guests are nonetheless right here, although on the brink of go in just a few weeks’ time. Black Redstarts (Phoenicurus ochruros) nonetheless function prominently amongst these, perching boldly on rocks, posts or fences. Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collybita) and Robins (Erithacus rubecula) are additionally beginning to fatten up for the journey north.
Certainly one of my favorite birds, a resident, is now in splendid plumage and beginning to arrange breeding territories. The chatter of the Sardinian Warbler (Curruca melanocephala) is as a lot a marker of this time of the 12 months as any migrant or winter customer. These warblers inhabit the dense wild olive maquis. As spring progresses, and the times get longer, the chatter will grow to be a string of chatters, which we name tune. For them, it’s a standing image – that is my territory so maintain away! As Sardinian Warbler breeding affairs intensify, the tune isn’t just delivered from inside a bush. The male flies vertically into the air above its tune perch and delivers its aria in mid-air.
Come March, and it isn’t simply fellow Sardinian rival males that must be contended with. Dwelling in a migratory sizzling spot presents its difficulties in case you are a Sardinian Warbler. Instantly, out of nowhere, unusual intruders might descend into your territory. The place did they arrive from? Time now must be spent chasing off Western Subalpine Warblers (Curruca iberiae), Spectacled Warblers (Curruca conspicillata), Frequent Whitethroats (Curruca communis), strangers with even longer tails than you (Dartford Warbler, Curruca undata), and veritable giants (Western Orphean Warbler, Curruca hortensis).
However all that is over a month away. For now, the Sardinian Warblers chatter among the many lavenders and brooms, busily catching aphids and small beetles from the foliage, listening out for his or her companions and able to chase off intruders.
