Birding

Early March in the Strait of Gibraltar

March 9, 2025 by Clive Finlayson 1 Comment

This week has seen the first big push in the spring migration here at Gibraltar. It’s not been easy for the birds, strong winds and rain having interrupted the passage several times. Although not ideal for the birds themselves, these conditions have made for spectacular moments for those watching them. I’ve been following this migration for over fifty years, since I was a little boy, and each season is similar, yet quite different. The overall pattern remains the same but, as this year, local bad weather has delayed the passage of some species by over a week.

Black Kite sheltering from the rain in an old WWII bunker at Gibraltar
Black Kites on the move
Short-toed Snake Eagle

A break in the weather in the last couple of days allowed thousands of raptors to get across. These birds had been building up in numbers on the Moroccan shore, with fresh arrivals each day, until they were able to get across. The numbers in a couple of days have been put at around 8,000 Short-toed Snake Eagles (Circaetus gallicus), 12,000 Black Kites (Milvus migrans) and over 500 Black Storks (Ciconia nigra) with a sprinkling of other raptors. This is only the beginning and we may expect many more as the month advances and, hopefully, conditions improve.

Short-toed Snake Eagle against the cliffs at Gibraltar
Black Storks on the move
Egyptian Vultures are among the first to return

One feature about Gibraltar is the diversity of the migration. You can be watching raptors one minute and seabirds the next, from the same spot! There are still plenty of Northern Gannets (Morus bassanus) about and this week. They have been with us all winter and will soon be returning to their North Atlantic breeding colonies. This week also saw the arrival of flocks of Scopoli’s Shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) as they entered the Mediterranean after a four-month sojourn in the South Atlantic.

Northern Gannet
Arrival of Scopoli’s Shearwaters

The rain has also been pushing down passerine and near-passerine migrants. These birds found shelter in the olive scrub where they fed frantically before continuing the journey. Some even used the rain pools for a quick drink and bath. Among the early trans-Saharan migrants this week, I would highlight Hoopoe (Upupa epops), of which there have been plenty, the first Woodchat Shrikes (Lanius senator) and the harbinger of the long-distance migrants: the Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe). The first contingents of Pallid Swifts (Apus pallidus) have arrived on schedule.

One of many Hoopoes resting at Gibraltar this week
Woodchat Shrike
Northern Wheatear hunting for insects
Pallid Swift

Some of the birds that have spent the winter with us are preparing to leave and are joined by contingents that spent the winter in Morocco. You can always tell the arrivals by their nervous behaviour and because they show up in unusual locations. Black Redstarts (Phoenicurus ochruros), Chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus collybita), Robins (Erithacus rubecula), Song Thrushes (Turdus philomelos) and Grey Wagtails (Motacilla cinerea) have been among the more obvious species this week.

Black Redstart
Song Thrush
Grey Wagtail in rain pool at Gibraltar this week

This is an exciting time to be here on the shores of the Strait of Gibraltar. Each day is different and brings with it its surprises. They may take the form of new species arrivals or simply the arrival of thousands of raptors in one go. We will now have migration of one sort or another until the end of June. I’ll keep readers posted on developments.

Robin getting ready to go


Written by Clive Finlayson
Growing up in Gibraltar, it is impossible not to notice large birds of prey, in the thousands, overhead. That, and his father’s influence, got Clive hooked on birds from a very young age. His passion for birds took him eventually to the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology at Oxford University where he read for a DPhil, working with swifts and pallid swifts. Publishing papers, articles and books on birds aside, Clive is also a keen bird photographer. He started as a poor student with an old Zenit camera and a 400 mm lens; nowadays he works with a Nikon mirrorless system. Although his back garden is Gibraltar and the Strait of Gibraltar, Clive has an intimate knowledge of Iberian birds but his work also takes him much further afield, from Canada to Japan to Australia. He is Director of the Gibraltar National Museum. Clive's beat is "Avian Survivors", the title of one of his books in which he describes the birds of the Palaearctic as survivors that pulled through a number of ice ages to reach us today.