I missed adding the April Weather to my April Blog. So here goes.
April turned out to be the poorest month for weather so far this year. The first week in April was unsettled with below average temperatures. Moderate north west winds kept temperatures down. We had two days with light rain. Night temperature was 3C below average. day temperature was 2C below average. The second week in April started off unsettled, with three days of light rain. Then we had some fine, sunny weather with a gentle to moderate north west wind. The night temperature was average at 11C. The day temperature was 1C above the average. The third week in April , apart from the first two days - fine and sunny - was unsettled, with varying amounts of rain and cold moderate to strong easterly winds. Despite that temperatures were 3C above the night average, but 2C below the day average. The fourth week in April was mixed, three days with dull and overcast conditions, and two further days with rain. Two days were fine and sunny, albeit with moderate easterly winds. Temperatures were average for night 11C, and average for day at 21C. The last two days in April were fine and sunny, with gentle winds. Average day temperature was 20C (68F) 1 C under the average. Average night temperature was 11C (51F) average for the month. Highest day temperature was 24C (75F) on the 11th, 14th and 29th April. Highest night temperature was 16C (60F) on the 18th. Coldest day was 17C (62F) on the 1st, 18th and 19th April. Coldest night was 5C(41F) on the 6th April. Total rainfall was 2.1 inches (53mm) over nine days. Average for April is 3.5 inches (89mm) The heaviest rain fell on the 18th April with 0.9 inches(23mm).
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82 species were seen in the Alcossebre area in April 2019. No new species were added to the Alcossebre list, which remains at 244. There were first of the year records for Common Shelduck, Peregrine Falcon, Common Redshank and Whimbrel. There were first of the spring records for Squacco Heron, Black-crowned Night heron, Short-toed Eagle, Elenora´s Falcon, Little Ringed Plover, Black-winged Stilts, Common Sandpiper, Whiskered Tern, Turtle Dove, European Bee eater, Golden Oriole, Willow Warbler, Greater Whitethroat, Spectacled Warbler, Subalpine warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat, Blue-headed Wagtail and Tree Pipit. April is one of the best months of the year for the variety of species seen. There is the last of the winter visitors and summer birds arriving, plus passage birds. So every day has something new and this year was no exception. The cover was 26 days out of the 30, four days were lost with the weather conditions. This is how the month turned out. 11 Lesser-black back Gulls and 16 Barn Swallows flew east on the 1st April. No overnight arrivals. No cover on the 2nd April due to the weather. On the 3rd April 81 Great Cormorants and 12 Barn Swallows flew east. A Bee eater was the first this spring. The 4th of April was one of those special days. Eight Little Egrets, 27 Barn Swallows, two Red-rumped Swallows and 20 House Martins flew east. One Purple Heron flew south. 32 Black-winged Stilts were a record number for here. Overnight arrivals were two Willow Warblers (the first this spring), seven Chiffchaffs, 10 Blackcaps, three Subalpine Warblers (the first this spring), one Pied Flycatcher(the first this spring) and two Black Redstarts. In contrast the 5th of April was a quiet day with only two Grey Herons flying south. On the 6th April 38 Great Cormorants flew east inland and one Great Egret flew east over the sea. Corn Buntings returned to the Rural farmlands. The 7th of April was another quiet day. 14 Great Cormorants flew east, and 17 Pallid Swifts flew south east. Overnight arrivals on the 8th of April included a Little Ringed Plover at Capycorp lagoon, the first since May 2017. Other arrivals were two Black-winged Stilts, two Rufous Nightingales and four Willow Warblers. The 9th of April saw the first Short-toed Eagle of spring arrive, plus 11 Blackcaps and two Subalpine Warblers. Two Common Shelduck and 10 Great Cormorants flew east, on the 10th April, and overnight arrivals were two Woodchat Shrikes and one Subalpine Warbler On the 11th April three Common Redshanks were the first this year, seven Pallid Swifts flew east. Overnight arrivals were one Rufous Nightingale, one Greater Whitethroat(the first this spring), and three Willow Warblers. The 12th April was another special day. One Great Egret, two Marsh Harriers, 10 Common Swifts, 16 Barn Swallows and 24 House Martins all few east. Overnight arrivals included one Turtle Dove(first this spring), two Rufous Nightingales, four Willow Warblers, two Subalpine Warblers, one Spectacled Warbler(first this spring) and four Blue-headed Wagtails(first this spring). There were no passage birds on the 13th April, but overnight arrivals included one Woodchat Shrike, one Rufous Nightingale, three Willow Warblers and one Spectacled Warbler. 16 Glossy Ibis flew east inland on the 14th April, four Mediterranean Gulls, and 15 Yellow-legged Gulls flew south. Overnight arrivals were one each, Green Sandpiper, Common Redstart and Northern Wheatear. A quieter day on the 15th April, Six Great Cormorants and six Sandwich Terns flew east. Overnight arrivals one Black-winged Stilt and two Woodchat Shrikes. Sandwich Tern Two Great Egrets flew east on the 16th April, overnight arrivals Common Sandpiper(first this spring), Common Redshank, Woodchat Shrike, two Northern Wheatears and a Whinchat(the first this spring). On the 17th April four Bee eaters flew east. Overnight arrivals included two Purple Herons, one Woodchat Shrike, one Greater Whitethroat and one Common Redstart. On the 18th, 19th and 20th April we had strong winds and rain so no bird count. I knew the day after the storms would be good and so it was. On the 21st of April one Elenora´s Falcon (first this spring), 20 Yellow-legged Gulls, four Whiskered Terns(first this spring), 10 Common Swifts, 70 Barn Swallows and four House Martins all flew east. Overnight arrivals included one Whimbrel(the first this year), one Common Sandpiper, one Golden Oriole(the first this spring) and one Northern Wheatear. There were plenty birds on the move on the 22nd April. Three Greater Flamingos, one Squacco Heron(the first this spring), and hundreds of Pallid and Common Swifts flying east. Overnight arrivals one Turtle Dove, one Rufous Nightingale, one Greater Whitethroat and one Tree Pipit(first this spring). The 23rd April was a special day. Two Great Cormorants and three Grey Herons flew east. Overnight arrivals included one Little Ringed Plover, three Turtle Doves, two Bee eaters, four Woodchat Shrikes, two Golden Orioles, five Willow Warblers, one Blackcap, one Greater Whitethroat, one Spectacled Warbler, two Pied Flycatchers and two Whinchats. 24 Bee eaters flew east on the 24th April, and Black-crowned Night Heron was the first this spring. There was no passage birds on the 25th April, but overnight arrivals two Turtle Doves, three Woodchat Shrikes, four Northern Wheatears, two Common Redstarts, four Willow Warblers, one Greater Whitethroat and one Pied Flycatcher. Overnight arrivals on the 26th April included Spotted Flycatcher(the first this spring), one Common Sandpiper, six Turtle Doves and one Common Redstart The first Peregrine Falcon of the year was seen on the 27th April. Overnight arrivals included 13 Turtle Doves, one Pied Flycatcher, one Northern Wheatear and one Common Redstart. A quiet day for migrants on the 28th April, overnight arrivals nine Turtle Doves, one each Northern Wheatear, one Greater Whitethroat, one Willow Warbler Two Cattle Egrets and 12 Yellow-legged Gulls flew east on the 29th April. Overnight arrivals included five Golden Orioles, two Woodchat Shrikes and five Northern Wheatears. 18 Barn Swallows flew east on the 30th April. Overnight arrivals included one Rufous Nightingale, one Northern Wheatear, one Willow Warbler and two Spotted Flycatchers.
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