A Scops For Breakfast

There’s a story behind the Scops Owl in the picture below. It’s not the best quality photograph and that’s because it’s a photo of a photo.

"Click the pics" in turn for owls and scenes from Menorca 

Two friends of ours, Alan and Jane, who also go to Menorca each year, had arrived a few days before us. One morning while they were sat eating their breakfast, Juan Ramon the head waiter, and knowing them as birders, said that there was a strange bird in the conservatory dining room, a room unused in early May. He and other staff thought the bird might be a Hoopoe! When Alan went to look, having grabbed his camera, a Scops Owl sat at the breakfast table. As Alan approached closer a second Scops flew up from the floor and the two sat together briefly before a hastily opened door allowed them to depart. 

The picture makes for an interesting story but for a technophobe who has yet to invest in a computer, the Internet, a tablet or a Smartphone, there was no way Alan could send me a picture other than a print when he returned to Leeds in June. So when he showed me the picture, the only way for me to obtain a copy was to photograph the digital display on the back of his Nikon camera and hence lose the quality of the original. 

Scops Owl 

Our guess was that the owls had entered the building the previous night in their search for a nesting site. In previous years we have seen the owls on a nightly basis and also roosting in pines nearby. Early May of 2019 came with a cool Tramuntana wind for a number of days which made for unsuitable owling evenings when the owls would normally visit the hotel grounds. We heard them in the early hours on two or three occasions but for the first time in 15 years, failed to see a Scops Owl. 

Scops Owl 

Scops Owls are widespread across Europe with most of the population migratory, however those on the Balearic Islands including Menorca are thought to be mainly non-migratory. The Balearic race Otus scops mallorcae is also said to be slightly smaller than other races, with less bulk and a smaller wing length, the latter probably as a result of becoming less migratory over many, many years: mallorcae is also said to show less colour variation than the more widespread nominate race. 

Here’s more pictures from our time in Menorca 2019. 

Es Mercadal 

At Son Bou marsh we saw a good number of species: Cattle Egret, Squacco Heron, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Bee Eater, Marsh Harrier, Whinchat, Wheatear, Wood Sandpiper, Redshank, Greenshank, Little Ringed Plover, Woodchat Shrike,  Great Reed Warbler, Spotless Starling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Sardinian Warbler, Nightingale, Cetti's Warbler, Turtle Dove. 

Son Bou Marsh 

Glossy Ibis

Turtle Dove

Cala Galdana 

Cala Galdana is the best place to see Alpine Swift, Egyptian Vulture and Firecrest: three unlikely compatriots.

Egyptian Vulture 

At Tirant - Red-eared Slider

In two weeks we saw just 5 Red-footed Falcons, all second year females, scattered along an overhead cable on the road to Cap de Cavalleria on the morning of 4th May. 

Red-footed Falcon 

Red-footed Falcon 

The roads around Binimel and Cap de Cavalerria proved the best for photographing Corn Bunting, Stonechat and Tawny Pipit.

Tawny Pipit 

Stonechat 

Corn Bunting

Fornells 

Nasturtiums

Log in to Another Bird Blog another day for more birds and photos.

Do The Splits

We are back from Menorca where we spent two weeks enjoying this wonderful island for the fifteenth year.

We collected a Fiat Panda from Mahon Airport via our good friends Setta and Mixalis at Momple Car Hire.  The little Panda is the ideal car for negotiating the sometimes narrow lanes of the Menorcan countryside or the slender, immaculate streets of quiet inland towns. 

We split our time between sightseeing, birding and simply relaxing during the warm, sunny days.

"Click the pics" for bigger photos and a taste of Menorca.

Near Es Prat 

Near Binimel 

Cala Fornells

Es Mercadal 

Es Migjorn

Joan Riudavets Moll - Aged 114 years

Melons- Es Migjorn 

Es Migjorn 

Hotel Ses Tillets

I'm now busy catching up with friends and family alike. Until then the rest of this post is about a relatively common species wherever I go.  

I took quite a lot of pictures of flycatchers, birds that at home I would normally just label as “Spotted Flycatcher” Muscicapa striata, the common flycatcher of the UK that breeds in most of Europe and western Asia.  

Quite recently the International Ornothological Committee (IOC) decreed that the spotted flycatcher that breeds in the Balearic Islands (Menorca, Majorca, Ibiza) and also the islands of Corsica and Sardinia is a separate and distinct species, Muscicapa tyrrhenica. They named the species Mediterranean Flycatcher. 

A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2016 found that the subspecies M. s. tyrrhenica and M. s. balearica were genetically similar to each other but significantly different from the other spotted flycatcher subspecies. The authors proposed that these insular subspecies should be considered as separate rather than conspecific species. In recent years “splits” of previously conspecific species are all about genetics rather than appearance, and as one might expect, the description of each species is much the same. 

It is said that Muscicapa striata has “dull grey-brown upperparts and off-white underparts. The crown, throat and breast are streaked with brown while the wings and tail feathers are edged with paler thin margins.” In comparison Muscicapa tyrrhenica has “paler and warmer plumage on the upperparts, with more diffuse markings on the head and breast.” The sexes are alike in each case. 

Judge for yourself with pictures here from Greece, the UK and Menorca.

 

Mediterranean Flycatcher - Menorca

 Mediterranean Flycatcher - Menorca 

Mediterranean Flycatcher - Menorca

Spotted Flycatcher - Greece 

Spotted Flycatcher - Greece 

Spotted Flycatcher - Greece

Spotted Flycatcher - UK

Are you a splitter or a joiner? Maybe like me you just enjoy flycatchers - with or without spots?

Linking today to Wild Bird Wednesday,  Anni's Birding  and Eileen's Saturday Blog.

A Few Days Away

We counted. This is our fifteenth time in Menorca. And yes, Menorca is that special. But it does get less quiet, much busier and more popular each year, and that's why this may be our last.

We left Joanne in charge of the house; well she is over 21. There’s very little blogging while Sue and I are away so I posted a few pictures from Menorca, both birds and photos of special places.

Don’t forget – “click the pics” for a trip to sunny Menorca.

Fornells, Menorca

Mahon, Menorca

Es Migjorn, Menorca

Coffee Time, Menorca

Fornells village, Menorca

Cattle Egret

Turtle Dove

Egyptian Vulture

Wood Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper

Menorcan Panda

Hoopoe

Es Grau, Menorca

Black-winged Stilt

Cattle Egret

Greater Short-toed Lark

Punta Nati- Menorca

Bee-eater

Audouin's Gull

Red-footed Falcon

Ciutadella - Menorca

Ciutadella - Menorca

Serrano Jamon

 Hoopoe

 Red Kite

Bee-eater

Menorcan Friends

Ensaimada and Coffee - Menorca Style

 Back soon with more news, views and photographs home and away on Another Bird Blog.

Mayday, Mayday!

For the hills of Oakenclough one weather forecast predicted rain for Wednesday. The other promised 50/50 of showers and cloud. Both were sure of there being less than  5mph wind so we simply had to go for it. I met Andy at 0600 to a light drizzle that came and went for the next two hours. We had two hours simply because there were no birds to be had other than the 2 Lesser Redpoll and a single Willow Warbler that found the nets; the overnight 100% cloud and another easterly waft did us no favours. 

Willow Warbler

 Lesser Redpoll

Otherwise we heard and a few Siskins overhead and then a single Swallow that flew quickly north. This really has been a very unproductive spring up here where the temperature has been consistently lower than the coast some 10 miles downhill and where most migrant birds, perhaps with the exception of Swallows, appeared to arrive on time. 

This was probably our last post-winter/spring session here at Oakenclough with just 154 captures. Leading the tallies were respectable totals of 33 Lesser Redpoll, 28 Goldfinch, 20 Siskin and 12 Chaffinch. Much more disappointing were just 10 Goldcrest, 6 Willow Warbler, 5 Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff for the spring period that was dominated by cold easterly winds. Just one of those Willow Warblers was a female, suggesting that the females are still on their way here.

As I motored down to sea level the distant coast looked much clearer and a little inviting so I called into Conder Green for a look. 

Waders are pretty numerous there now that there is exposed mud and lots of places for nests. I counted 6 Avocets as three pairs, one pair of Little Ringed Plover, 22 Oystercatcher, 14 Redshank, 12 Black-tailed Godwit , 1 Greenshank, 2 Little Egret and 1 Grey Heron. While both Black-tailed Godwit and Greenshank are migrants, the Redshanks and Oystercatchers are pretty much paired for breeding. 

Little Ringed Plover  

Eurasian Avocet

At least one pair of Shelduck are about to breed as I watched a male vigorously chase a second male off a prime spot from the island habitat. Likewise the Tufted Ducks are mostly paired up with 14 counted. 

Shelduck 

As I stood at the viewing screen a Blackcap sang in my left ear with both Dunnock and Robin present. Further along the coastal path I found Common Whitethroat and a lone Willow Warbler, but very few Swallows or House Martins on the move. 

We are due cold northerlies this weekend. Luckily I will be somewhere slightly warmer by Friday lunchtime.