Gibraltar in spring (but not migration) (1 Viewer)

[Owene]

I'm looking at a long weekend in Gibraltar next spring primarily for Two Tailed Pasha (and the monkeys) and probably with hand luggage only (so no scope)

I'm sure there will be a few soaring raptors around but I wondered if anyone here had any experience of birding on the rock itself, I've seen some sightings lists but it's a bit hard to separate out migrants from residents. Also what reptiles or larger insects might be likely in two days of dedicated looking.

It looks like there are a few cheapish dolphin boats and that Striped Dolphin is fairly likely. Does anyone have any experience of them and know whether Scopoli's Shearwater is likely?

 

[Jos Stratford]

Doesn't answer your question directly, but if Two-tailed Pasha is your goal, this can be done in September too, then clearly coinciding with very good birding. Did this a few years back:

Autumnal Andalucia 2017, Butterflies & Migration.

Jos Stratford - Birding Lithuania and Beyond...a birder's tale

josstratford.co.uk

 

[Jos Stratford]

Birding in Gibraltar was not particularly notable, did this over in Spain

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Hi Owen. We took the boys on a Dolphin watching trip and had great views of a Scopoli’s.

Rich

 

[Owene]

Doesn't answer your question directly, but if Two-tailed Pasha is your goal, this can be done in September too, then clearly coinciding with very good birding. Did this a few years back:

Autumnal Andalucia 2017, Butterflies & Migration.

Jos Stratford - Birding Lithuania and Beyond...a birder's tale

josstratford.co.uk

Thanks yes birds wise I think that would be miles better the next few months are really booked out with trips already though so I think May/June for the first brood is more likely. It'll be my first time trying a flying visit to somewhere for wildlife so I wasnt sure about the added logistics of the border crossing and transport in spain although as I research more I may get more ambitious if there is cool stuff quite easily nearby.

The flights are really cheap and line up nicely with my days off and the stuff actually in Gibraltar seem (obviously) really close together.

 

[Owene]

Hi Owen. We took the boys on a Dolphin watching trip and had great views of a Scopoli’s.

Rich

Thats good to know, You can't remember if it was mainly Common Dolphin can you, I've never seen Striped but they seem to be resident

 

[SlowLowFlyingTurkey]

I've done a dolphin watching boat trip from Gibraltar and they were all Common Dolphins.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Thats good to know, You can't remember if it was mainly Common Dolphin can you, I've never seen Striped but they seem to be resident

From memory I think they were Commons. Tbh I was much more focussed on the birds 👍

 

[Owene]

From memory I think they were Commons. Tbh I was much more focussed on the birds 👍

What else did you have?

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Not much tbh. Sunfish was the only other notable sighting.

 

[kb57]

Never been myself, but the Crossbill Guides Eastern Andalucia book has quite a lot of info on Gibraltar, as well as raptor viewpoints in neighbouring areas of Spain.

 

[Ernest Garcia]

Have a look at the website of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (www.gonhs.org), which has plenty of current and past information on birds, including free-to-access back numbers of the Gibraltar Bird Report (which I edit) and species lists for other fauna and flora. There is a chapter on Gibraltar in my book 'Where to watch birds in southern and western Spain', 4th edition 2019, Helm, which also has plenty of information on sites, timing etc.