Spring has been around here in Lleida for some time now. According to weather reports from the UK it’s difficult to echo that statement further north.<\/p>\n
So just for a bit of fun, let’s compare notes. The good (native and naturalized) birders from the general area around Lleida have been collecting observations of first spring arrivals of migratory bird species for the last few years. And rather than keeping them to ourselves, I thought “Why not share them with the international birding community?”. Someone out there might find this information useful or at least interesting.<\/p>\n
Of course observations of first arrivals of migratory birds are not much use for scientifc purposes. Personally I think that such records should be extended to at least second and third observations, mostly in order to help to iron out anomalies, either in the bird world or in their human recorders.<\/p>\n
But let’s be content with what there is, rather than gripe on about what there isn’t.<\/p>\n
Below then are the first arrival dates for the migratory birds recorded in the Lleida area (northeast Spain) up until the 15th March. Birds recorded on later dates to follow.<\/p>\n
SPECIES \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 DATE Spring has been around here in Lleida for some time now. According to weather reports from the UK it’s difficult to echo that statement further north. So just for a bit of fun, let’s compare notes. The good (native and naturalized) birders from the general area around Lleida have been collecting observations of first spring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds-in-spain"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7I752-1F","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBlack Stork Ciconia nigra<\/em> 19-Feb
\nLittle Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius<\/em> 19-Feb
\nGreat Spotted Cuckoo Clamator glandarius <\/em> 21-Feb
\nHouse Martin Delichon urbicum<\/em> 23-Feb
\nBarn Swallow Hirundo rustica<\/em> 23-Feb
\nGarganey Anas querquedula <\/em> 27-Feb
\nBlack Kite Milvus migrans<\/em> 01-Mar
\nRed-rumped Swallow Hirundo daurica<\/em> 01-Mar
\nRuff Philomaxus pugnax <\/em> 02-Mar
\nEgyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus <\/em> 04-Mar
\nShort-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus<\/em> 06-Mar
\nLesser Kestrel Falco naumanni<\/em> 08-Mar
\nRing Ouzel Turdus torquatus<\/em> 09-Mar
\nSand Martin Riparia riparia<\/em> 09-Mar
\nOsprey Pandion haliaetus<\/em> 12-Mar
\nBlack-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus<\/em> 13-Mar
\nReed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus<\/em> 13-Mar
\nBooted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus<\/em> 13-Mar
\nYellow Wagtail Motacilla flava<\/em> 13-Mar
\nTree Pipit Anthus trivialis<\/em> 13-Mar
\nRedstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus<\/em> 14-Mar
\nWhinchat Saxicola rubetra<\/em> 14-Mar<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"