Magnus Robb
Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:04:51 -0700
3-4 October, the Fortaleza of Sagres, the southwest corner of Europe, and the last point of land for many migrants flying towards Africa. Full moon, a light (force 3) northwest wind, and some thin, wispy cloud.
From about 45 minutes after sunset, I started hearing European Robins calling seep as they flew over the floodlit fortress and out over the sea towards Africa. This was something new for me. Only once before had I managed to convince myself I was hearing a Robin migrating at night (in Zeeland, the Netherands). Now, between 19:45 and 23:30, and from 05:00 to 07:15 the next morning, I heard about 80! In among them were also 6 Pied Flycatchers, 5 Ortolans, 1 Corn Bunting, 1 Common Sandpiper and 1 Common Ringed Plover, not to mention a good few UFOs. The Pied Flycatchers were particularly exciting for me, as I’m not aware of any previous claims of this species migrating audibly at night. Spotted Flycatchers have sometimes been identified elsewhere, which suggested to me that Pied should be possible, and I’d been listening out for them. The call I'm hearing is not the better known wit call (though I did hear this once), or the very short, sharp tak, but a high-pitched, buzzing call very similar to one used frequently by resting migrants during daytime. I need to take a closer look at the contexts in which they use this call, but I have the impression that it is mainly during encounters with rivals (Pied Flycatchers defend feeding territories during their migration stopovers in Portugal). Because this is so new, and I'm not sure how different Spotted Flycatchers sound at night, its probably best to regard these as probables, but I’m pretty sure the majority of the 6 were Pied. Of the Ortolans, two gave multiple calls (with a variety of typical Ortolan sounds), and three just a single call, so the latter are perhaps also best regarded as probables. The Corn Bunting gave a whole series of unmistakeable flight calls as it flew over in the dark. The two following nights sounded almost birdless, perhaps because of clear skies on one and a southeasterly headwind on the other. Or because of poor weather further north, and the supply of new migrants running dry. I still have much to learn about the right conditions for hearing nfcs here, but at least now I've experienced one really good night. bye for now, Magnus Robb -- NFC-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_WELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NFC_RULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nfc-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NFCL.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NFC-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --