Pessimistic Predictions Crumble

Pessimistic Prediction #1 - that the planting of saplings in the field near the Pumping station would put off the wheatears.

Wrong!

We saw (part of) a whole family there today and absolutely gorgeous. A magnificent male Black eared wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica melanoleuca) in summer plumage hopped and chirped on the rocks quite close to us, often not more than twenty feet in front of us.. for all the world looking like he was attracting our attention. I believe he was, he put on quite a performance, enchanted us with calls, posturings and posings for some minutes. The photograph above shows a male in spring plumage. In summer plumage the black has retreated further from the bib revealing more white, and his feathers are mostly snow white all over. He was enchanting! .. we could see the silky white and cream of his breast plumage.

A little while later he crossed the field and visited a mound of earth and boulders. On it, perched, still and almost totally camouflaged was a juvenile wheater. Dad visited it quite briefly, no doubt hoping us humans wouldn't notice. These humans were equipped with 10x50 Bushnells and we did :) It was very likely Mom and other juveniles were around but under cover of grasses. He then flew down by the saplings and visited a third wheatear that had a much more extensive dark chin and black and brown wings but pretty much white everywhere else but the centre and tips of tail, which were black. Plumage contrasting too much to be a female I thought.. first year male? His son from last year? The two interacted several times though socially, not aggressively.

(I'm sure the dad of the family was attracting our attention at the start to distract us from the rest of his family. I'm also sure that he was exactly the same kind of wheatear we saw at the cistern a week ago although almost definitely not the same individual. Back then I claimed that other black- eared wheatears we've seen were likely O.h. hispanica. Now, given the amount of variation I've seen in their plumage, especially in younger birds and the fact that O.h.h. occurs more in west mediterranean and O.h.m. occurs over here it seems that we've been seeing the latter all along , but only this summer we've seen the male in all his glory. Surprises me that we missed such an obvious bird in earlier years but that's the way it can go.. nature shows you what it will, when it will. )

My second pessimistic prediction was that the sunbird would not bother to visit the Bauhinia now the blooms quit putting out nectar. Wrong again! He's in there every day, calling and today a little song again just after 7 p.m. Perhaps he has a nest very close by. Now his usual nesting haunts in the cape honeysuckle are plagued with cats he could have moved to a different location close to the Bauhinia or possibly higher in the thick of the canopy above my window. I prefer not to hunt for nests because I don't wish to disturb the birds at all. I simply wait for evidence to show itself to me.

Cistern.. Eurasian Jay hopped in briefly for a drink. Soon after a party of two pairs of collared doves arrived. The two males were in an amorous mood, strutting, cooing and inflating necks maximum size, apparently too much for the females. They took off and headed off west across the field, males in pursuit. Shortly after another collared dove appeared by cistern, couldn't know if one of the earlier party or another.. there are a LOT around.

Calls of great tit heard so I predicted 'there'll be a great tit by the cistern in a minute'.. and there was. I love it when that happens. Then a group of youths appeared to play 'kerplunk', followed by a group of children on a saturday afternoon stroll so that curtailed that 'cistern-watch' as far as the birds were concerned.

Calls of great spotted cuckoo juveniles over in pine grove immediately to our east both on 8th and 9th but not visible.

2 hoopoes in the field by the saplings.

Turtle doves: Cooing in many locations.. pairs in flight here and there.

House sparrows, Hooded crows, Jays, Feral pigeons, stone curlews, sunbirds, great tits : Usual activity

Senegal doves: Coos and usual activity

Jackdaws: still mysteriously absent

Chukar: 9th .. one in dry stream bed.. then crossed trail and climbed up slopes to east

Greenfinches, quieter on 9th

Plenty swifts active around 7 p.m. on -9th. No show on bee-eaters.

No gazelles 8th or 9th.. some hyrax activity.