Southerly Winds & Rain = Migrants!

Southerly winds coming from North Africa

The last blog post I wrote was on Tuesday night. I heard the very unfamiliar sound of rain whilst at work and was surprised. It hadn't rained here properly in months. Lots of areas that normally have little pools of water were totally dried out with cracked, baked mud. Leaving work at 10pm, it was foggy and it later turned into a substantial downpour again. I instantly thought of migrants and the prospects of this rain dropping them in the delta as I heard the rain pelting against the window. 

A quick weather search showed that not only was it raining. but, the winds were coming in directly from North Africa and were curling into Barcelona directly! It was perfect. I went to bed dreaming of what migrants I might see in the morning. As I moved here in late May, and didn't really discover the delta properly until June, I had never birded the delta in spring, having previously visited the region in autumn or summer. As a result of this I'm still catching up on the numerous spring migrants which are either more difficult or not available during the rest of the year. 

I got up bright and early Wednesday morning, did my chores around the house and set out via bicycle to Cal Tet (my local reserve and part of the delta complex). I received a WhatsApp message in Catalan which I stopped to translate. Yep, there were migrants around - Common Redstarts, 2 Redwings, Common Whitethroat, etc. Nearing the entrance to the reserve, there was an arable field with some weeds which attracted a low-flying hirundine flock. I stopped for a quick scan and soon realised there were several Yellow Wagtails feeding amongst the vegetation. Upon closer inspection I noticed some larks too. As it is a little late for skylark I suspected these were Greater Short-toed Larks. After a minute or two I had better views and could confirm this. A new species for me! 

Feeling rather pumped by the evidence of migrants on the ground I went directly to the reserve, parked my bike and started my loop, checking everything that moved. As I went through the first scrubby track a white flash alighted in front of me and landed atop a bush. It was a Woodchat Shrike, another new delta bird for me. A Sedge Warbler sang in the background - an exclusively migratory species in the region. As I continued, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Robins, & Song Thrushes were flushing all around. It seemed like the weather had indeed dropped a lot of migrants and it felt like a fall was on.

Woodchat Shrike, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

Next I checked a little track at the far end of Cal Nani where I'd seen lots of migrants last Autumn. First thing, I picked up a lovely male Pied Flycatcher, doing what flycatchers do in a great big willow. A Common Redstart flew up from the ground and shivered its tail from a branch. I decided to stay here and see what would pop up. A small warbler flew across, past my face appearing pinkish/purple below. When it landed I realised it was a another new delta bird for me - a lovely male Western Subalpine Warbler! At this moment I felt like anything could happen. I continued and began to flush Common Redstarts left, right and centre, and probably had 15 or more in total in a little area. 

Pied Flycatcher, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

Common Redstart, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

Western Subalpine Warbler, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

I checked the lagoon and had large flocks of calling Common Swifts as well as the 3 common hirundine species. A lovely Night Heron passed overhead and provided a welcome year tick, as did the deafeningly crunchy song of a Great Reed Warbler. The resident Ferruginuous x Common Pochard hybird also showed well in front of the hide.  

Black-crowned Night Heron, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

Ferruginuous x Common Pochard hybrid, above - Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

 

 

Happy with my lot, I decided to loop back, and enjoyed views of many of the previously noted species again. Halfway back to my bike I noticed a hawker, flying and looping at almost impossible speeds around my head. I knew this would probably be a Vagrant Emperor, given the time of year. Every dragonfly I've seen in the last few weeks has been this species. I took some photos of this species at rest recently having tried and failed for weeks, and I was given the opportunity once again, as this new individual landed right in front of me. My previous photos were close up and sharp, however, the distracting background really bothered me. As this one was sat on a stem some distance from any background matter, it allowed for the background to blur our, keeping the animal and stem in focus. I was much happier with these pictures!

Male Vagrant Emperor, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

The following day (04/04/19), I decide to try my luck again. It had rained fairly solidly the evening and night before, but the winds had turned somewhat northerly, which left me feeling much less optimistic. But you never know, I thought - birds can turn up in all sorts of conditions and perhaps the rain dropped something or at least kept birds from the previous day in the area. Arriving early in the morning, it was immediately evident that there were much less migrants around. The field which held the hirundines, wagtails and larks was empty, there were much fewer redstarts and the pied fly, subalp and woodchat all appeared to have cleared out. 

I didn't have the same enthusiasm as the previous day but I enjoyed my freedom before work and tried to make the most of it. I plugged away and picked up a few redstarts, a single Wood Sandpiper, feeding with 8 Green Sandpipers, and passing hirundines kept me busy, searching for the still elusive Red-rumped Swallow. 

I made my way to the Sabogal hide, which overlooked Cal Tet lagoon with a nice island in front, which often held ducks, wagtails and other birds. I did a very brief scan and nothing obvious jumped out. I decided to scan the hirundines for a red-rumped - still no joy. Then, I heard some Yellow Wagtails calling so I decided to scan through them to see if I could find any interesting subspecies. There were at least 20 birds popping in and out of view in the grass and general vegetation of the island, but with patience each bird could be seen well enough to assess. 

I could see lots of  iberiae, with some cinereocapilla. I got a surprise when I picked up a wagtail with a black head. Of course I immediately thought of feldegg, a rarity here. On closer inspection I noticed it had a white throat and a tiny white supercillium which are wrong for feldegg. Everything looked OK for cinereocapilla only the head was black not blue/grey. I thought it could have been a hybrid but have since been told that it is still ok for cinereocapilla. Wow - wagtails were tougher than I thought. 

Presumed Iberiae Yellow Wagtail, but possibly just a well-marked cinereocinella (still learning!), Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

Presumed cinereocapilla  Yellow Wagtail, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

"Black-headed", perhaps a dark-headed cinereocapilla, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

As I was asking a friend for advice on this "black-headed" wagtail, I was simultaneously scanning and trying to locate it once again after taking my eyes off the island to send a message. I couldn't see it so began to scan right. Then something happened to me - something that only ever happens when I find a good bird. It's a strange sensation and it's like my body reacts before my brain registers what I'm actually seeing. My hands and head started to shake and I could barely keep my binoculars still. A millisecond later I realised I had just seen a "grey" wagtail with a fully yellow head and breast with white wing-bars. Jesus Christ! It was an adult male Citrine Wagtail!!! 

Male Citrine Wagtail, Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat!

This is a species I had never seen anywhere in the world. I had failed to connect with any of the rather infrequent Irish vagrants in the past, and failed to connect with the species in Poland, in 2017. In a panic, I picked up my camera to fire off some record shots in case I lost it. The wagtails are always very flighty here and can take off and leave at any moment, because of the frequent passes of overwintering Marsh Harriers. 

Western Marsh Harrier, quartering the reedbed at Cal Tet, Delta Llobregat

Looking through my camera I couldn't see it! For what seemed like an eternity I searched in a panic with my camera, thinking I had lost it and fecked up! I began to think, was it really a Citrine? Did I imagine it and actually see a yellow wagtail badly? 

Then, it popped out from behind some sedges. Jesus! It was definitely a male Citrine Wagtail. All of this happened in a matter of seconds, and I more or less instantly sent a message to Ferran Lopez, who was quick on the scene with Sergi Bosch. I was worried it would leave before they arrived, so I stayed glued to it with my binoculars until I heard the hide door open behind me. They quickly got onto the bird and we had really good views, including a close flight pass! I took some closer record shots and enjoyed the moment. It just reminded me - despite non-ideal conditions, and not many evident migrants: it only takes one bird to change the game!

What a beauty!

 

Citrine Wagtail - looking immense!

Whilst not the massive rarity it once was, it was still a lovely Siberian gem, and a totally unexpected find for me. I was ecstatic. This is the best bird I've found in the delta so far, and it constitutes the 19th (!) record of the species in the delta.It's been a great week, with 8 year ticks, and 3 delta ticks, bringing my year and total delta lists to 155 & 190 respectively. For the next week or so I'm going to be rather busy but I'm going to be watching the weather closely and will be out at the next opportunity looking for migrants again!