59 species were seen in the Alcossebre area in December 2016. No new species were recorded this month. Three species were first records for December. Common Shelduck, Great White Egret and Peregrine Falcon. Of the birds that winter with us 15 species were up in numbers and 22 species were down in numbers , 17 species were in average numbers, based on the 15 year study. 7 species were still to appear. A number of factors can cause non appearance of wintering birds. Poor breeding season, mild weather in their breeding areas, or lack of food in their winter grounds. Ducks. Only one species of duck was seen Common Shelduck. Eight birds flew south over the sea on the 11th December. My first December record here. Seabirds. 220 Balearic Shearwaters were well below the average of 572. Single Northern Gannets were just slightly below average numbers. Great Cormorants peaked at 209 birds, above average numbers for December. Egrets and Heron. A Great White Egret on the 20th December at Torre de Capycorp pond was a first December record. One or two Little Egrets along the coast were average numbers. Cattle Egrets peaked at 7 birds in the rural farmlands. Average numbers for December. Grey Herons were seen six times this month. Above average numbers. Five species of bird of prey were seen Marsh Harrier (seen four times, 1 to 2 birds) Sparrowhawk ( seen five times, singles), Common Buzzard ( seen 15 times, 1 to 2 birds) Common Kestrel ( seen daily, up to 4 birds) and Peregrine Falcon (seen two times). Only one species of wading bird was seen, a Common Snipe at the sewage pond on the 8th and 11th December. Five species of Gull were seen Black-headed Gull (max. 8 birds), Mediterranean Gull (max. 135 birds, very good numbers), Audouin´s Gulls ( max. 10 birds, very low numbers) Yellow-legged Gulls (max. 8 birds, very low numbers), Lesser Black-back Gulls (max. 10 birds, average numbers). Only one species of Tern winters here - Sandwich Tern (max. 60 birds, well down in numbers, eg in 2003, 212 birds were noted). Wood Pigeon numbers were well above average at a max. of 132 birds. Collared Doves numbers were the second highest recorded with 137 birds max. With only single Little Owls noted this was well down on the five to six birds noted in from 2004 to 2008, so a downward trend. Common Kingfisher numbers were above average with up to two birds seen, either at Capycorp lagoon or Torre de Capicorp pond. Hoopoe were in average numbers with up to nine birds seen daily. The only member of the crow family seen was the resident Common Magpie with above average numbers of 16 birds seen daily. Two species of lark were seen. The resident Crested Lark was well down in numbers, with only a daily max. of six birds. Wintering Common Skylark numbers were well above average numbers with up to 110 birds counted. Crag Martins were well down in numbers with only a maximum of 19 birds. From 2013 to 2015 up to 130 birds were counted. Six species of Warbler were seen in December. Single Cetti´s Warbler were well below average, between 2007 and 2014 3 to 4 birds were normal. A max. of 18 Common Chiffchaffs was below the average of 28 birds. Zittling Cisticola´s at 7 birds max. were also below the average of 12 birds. Blackcaps at a max. of 7 birds were also well down on the average of 21 birds. One or two Dartford Wablers were normal for these winter visitors.The coastal scrubland being the best place to see them. A max. of 15 Sardinian Warblers was also below the average of 21 birds. Two species of Tit were seen. One or two Great Tits were below the average of 8 birds. Up to six Long-tailed Tits were noted, a species not seen every winter, were average numbers. A maximum of 9 Robins were well down on the average of 21 birds. Up to 20 Black Redstarts were seen daily, just below the average of 24 birds. 11 Common Stonechats were the max. seen, were well below the average of 17 birds. Single Common Blackbirds were normal winter numbers. Nine Song Thrush were well below average numbers. Common Starlings were the commonest winter visitor with flocks of 3,000 not uncommon. The resident Spotless Starling was in much smaller numbers max. of 20 birds. Two species of Wagtail were seen. Resident White Wagtails peaked at 11 birds, just below average numbers. The Grey Wagtail is a winter visitor in small numbers, max. of two birds was average numbers. Meadow Pipits peaked at 83 birds, above the average of 50 birds. Buntings were scarce this month, just one Reed Bunting, one Corn Bunting and two Cirl Buntings seen. As yet no wintering Rock Buntings seen, the first time in 15 years. Five species of Finch were seen. Chaffinch numbers peaked at 76 birds, well below the average of 133 birds. 9 Greenfinch max. was really low , average 47 birds. Goldfinch peaked at 70 birds , average numbers. A max. of 110 Linnets was well above the average of 85 birds. Resident Serin numbers peaked at 28 birds, average numbers. Alcossebre weather in December 2016.
A real mixture of weather this month, one week good, one week bad. The first week in December was poor, with fine sunny weather at a premium - only two hald days of sunshine. There were three days with rain. Winds were gentle, north easterly until mid morning then east or south east pm. The second week in December was settled, mainly fine and sunny. Three mornings had high thin cloud cover, until the sun burnt it away. Winds were the same as the first week. The third week in December was the worst of the month. Over a months rain falling over four days. Throw in a couple of thunderstorms, and moderate to strong NE winds, and the result was most unpleasant. The fourth week and the last three days returned to mainly fine and sunny weather with gentle or light winds. The average daytime temperature was 15C.(59F). 1C below average. The average night temperature was 7C (44F). Average for month. The highest day temperature was 18C (64F) on the 22nd. The lowest day temperature was 11C (51F) on the 19th. The highest night temperature was 15C (59F) on the 5th. The lowest night temperature was 1C (33F) on the 29th. The total rainfall for the month was was 8.8 inches (424mm) over seven days. Average rainfall for December is 2.1 inches. The heaviest rain fell on the 17th with 3.5 inches (89mm) causing widspread flooding.
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