The Report sections listed below are largely complete and may be consulted here. They remain subject to further alteration until the final Report, complete with photographs, is published in the usual format later in the year. In the meantime, suggested changes, alterations or submissions for publication will be gratefully received by the Editor, Ernest Garcia (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

TABLE 1.  SPECIES THAT HAVE CHANGED MARKEDLY IN ABUNDANCE BETWEEN THE TWO SAMPLED PERIODS  

TABLE 1A. SPECIES THAT HAVE INCREASED (N = 23)

TABLE 1B. SPECIES THAT HAVE DECREASED (N = 17) 
Short-stopping refers to species that latterly winter further north than before and no longer enter the Iberian Peninsula in their former numbers.

BLYTH’S REED WARBLER ACROCEPHALUS DUMETORUM IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

ERNEST GARCIA

Blyth’s is a small reed warbler that breeds across central Asia, chiefly in a region extending between southern Finland in the west and northwestern Mongolia in the east (Dyrcz 2020). It is a summer visitor to this region, wintering in India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. European populations have shown a marked recent increase in abundance (Piha 2020). At the same time, the breeding range has shown some recent westward expansion resulting in nesting in Norway and Sweden, in The Netherlands in 2021 and, in 2024, in Scotland (Hine & Malin 2024). Otherwise migrants are reported on rare but increasingly frequent occasions in western Europe, notably in Britain (437 records to 2023:  White & Kehoe 2025) and the Netherlands (60 in 2020 alone: Gelling et al. 2021).

Undoubtedly this species is easily overlooked away from its known breeding and winter quarters. The plumage is nondescript and quite similar to other unstreaked reed warblers, in particular the Marsh Warbler A. palustris. Although its song is distinctive migrants are unlikely to sing. Hence, most extralimital accepted records have involved birds captured by ringers or those for which clear photographs, showing the diagnostic wing structure, are available.

There are nine accepted Iberian records (Table 1), all in the second half of the year and mainly in September and October. An additional Spanish record is of uncertain status, despite the bird having been examined in the hand. Five birds have been found in Spain, two in Portugal and two in Gibraltar. 

The first Gibraltar record was of an individual caught and ringed by Brian Etheridge in September 1973. The second record is accepted on the basis of a long series of photographs of an obliging individual, taken by Morris Figueras in the Gibraltar Botanic Gardens. Two of these are included here (Figs 1 and 2). They show the diagnostic, if subtle, plumage and structural characteristics of the species (cf. Kennerley & Pearson 2010, van Duivendijk 2024). These photographs have been examined by Dr Daniel López-Velasco, a long-standing member of the Spanish rarities panel (CR-SEO) who is much experienced in passerine identification. He has commented as follows (translated from Spanish):

‘For me the bird in the photographs is undoubtedly a dumetorum, as you have suggested. Leg colour, head and bill pattern, primary projection length, coppery wing colour contrasting with other plumage, alula and tertials showing poor contrast with rest of wing, and very obvious emargination on primaries 3 and 4…...allow other options to be discarded’.

Table 1. Iberian Records Of Blyth’s Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum
A  Ardeola. AO  Anuario Ornitológico. BOG Birds of Gibraltar. GBR Gibraltar Bird Report 

Figure 1. Showing diagnostic emarginations on P3 and P4; short primary projection; coppery flight feathers contrasting with other plumage; weak head pattern with short supercilium, overall greyish appearance very distinct from brighter brownish plumage tones of Eurasian Reed Warbler A. scirpaceus, Marsh Warbler and Paddyfield Warbler A. agricola  (Photo Morris Figueras).

Figure 2. Pale grey, not dark, legs and feet are characteristic of Blyth’s Reed Warbler, as are the pale greyish white belly and flanks, lacking cinnamon tones typical of Paddyfield Warbler (Photo Morris Figueras).

RINGING REPORT 2025

Charles Perez

Gibraltar Ringing Group, GONHS, P.O. Box 843, Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Ringing Group, working under the auspices of the British Trust forOrnithology, is based at the Strait of Gibraltar Bird Observatory at the Jews’ Gate Field Centre, on the Upper Rock.

The 2025 pre-nuptial ringing campaign began at Jews' Gate on the 15^th January and ended on the 10^th May.  1655 new birds, and 226 retraps brought the total of birds processed to 1881 individuals of 52 species, two more than in 2024.  There were approximately the same number of birds ringed and retrapped, but far fewer than in 2023, when 2580 birds of 45 species were processed.

Eight species ringed last year were absent – Alpine Swift, Collared Dove, Golden Oriole, Sedge Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, Brambling, Siskin and Ortolan Bunting – but ten species were recorded that were not encountered last year: Quail, Short-toed Eagle, Eurasian Kestrel, Great Tit, Barn Swallow, Icterine Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Spectacled Warbler, Redwing and Goldfinch.

The beginning of this season was better than in 2024, reflecting the recovery of wintering birds encountered during the post-nuptial campaign during October and November.  584 new birds were ringed during January and February, with 61 Common Chiffchaffs, 439 Blackcaps and 27 Robins the main species.  A Redwing was ringed on the 20^th January and a Wryneck on the 3^rd February.  Trans-Saharan migrants began appearing in mid- to late February, with a Hoopoe on the 16^th and Iberian Chiffchaff on the 19^th.

March began with a period of westerly winds and incessant rain showers, amounting to one of the wettest months on record. This hampered the ringing effort and explains the low number of birds ringed during this period: only 324, with 48 retraps.  Species totals included a good number of Phylloscopus warblers, with 94 Common Chiffchaffs, 46 Willow Warblers, 35 Bonelli’s Warblers and 12 Iberian Chiffchaffs.  Other trans-Saharan migrants were low in numbers, with the first Nightingale on the 12^th, Woodchat Shrike on the 14^th, Common Redstart on the 20^th, Subalpine Warbler on the 22^nd and Whitethroat on the 30^th. 
 
April was dominated by westerly winds which hampered the catching rate, but there were some days with easterly winds and levanter cloud that produced good daily totals.  553 birds were ringed with 53 retraps.  Phylloscopus warblers again dominated with 86 Bonelli’s Warblers and 162 Willow Warblers. Blackcaps and Garden Warblers accounted for 61 and 46 birds respectively, with Melodious Warblers and Nightingales accounting for 32 birds each.   A fall of migrants on the 12^th produced 80 new birds ringed, including the first Scops Owl, Wood Warbler and Spectacled Warbler (a male). 

Only 10 days of May were covered for a total of 193 new and 21 retraps processed. The 1^st May, with overcast skies and levanter cloud, produced a good fall of migrants with 109 birds ringed.  They included 47 Willow Warblers, seven Eurasian Nightjars, three Red-necked Nightjars, nine Common Reed-warblers, seven each of Wood Warblers, Melodious Warblers and Pied Flycatchers, six Bee-eaters and several other species.  The rest of the period was dominated by westerly winds, with low catches of migrants.

Among interesting species ringed were a female African Chaffinch on the 24^th March, a Quail that struck a window in the town area on the 2^nd May, a Short-toed Eagle that was recovered from the sea on the 5^th May, a Booted Eagle on the 2^nd April, a Red-rumped Swallow on the 2^nd April, a record 12 Wood Warblers, two Spectacled Warblers, and two Icterine Warblers on the 1^st and 2^nd May.

The post-nuptial ringing campaign begun at the Jews’ Gate Bird Observatory on the 3^rd August and officially ended on the 20^th November, with three days in December when only a few nets were used.  5526 new birds and 290 retraps brought the total of birds processed to 5816 of 53 species.   There was an increase of 915 birds compared to the same period in 2024 when 4611 birds of 53 species were processed, mainly composed of wintering birds.  

The month of August, during which only sixteen ringing days were favourable, consisted mainly of dispersing juvenile resident birds, with healthy numbers reflecting a good breeding season. This contrasted with the last two years, when it is thought that Black Rat (Rattus rattus alexandrinus) may have had an impact on the population of breeding birds. Early trans-Saharan migrants were few, but resident species increased the total to 321 new birds. 

September saw twenty-five ringing days for a total of 739 new birds ringed; an increase of 304 birds compared to last year, composed mainly of trans-Saharan migrants. There were 110 retraps consisting mainly of resident species.  In late September, numbers increased with the arrival of migrant Blackcaps, bolstering the catching rate. Scarce birds included a Woodchat Shrike on the 7^th, a Melodious Warbler on the 8^th, Wryneck on the 16^th and Tree Pipit on the 17^th.  
Late trans-Saharan migrants were still encountered in the first few weeks, but the month of October was dominated by the arrival of species that winter around the Mediterranean, for a total of 3072 new birds; 832 more than last year.  Blackcaps (1588 birds), Robins (480), Common Chiffchaffs (305) and Black Redstarts (257) dominated the month.  Among the scarcer species were a Blue Rock Thrush on the 3^rd, Wryneck on the 2^nd and 4^th, a Red-breasted Flycatcher on the 16^th and a Rock Bunting on the 24^th.

A further 1268 birds were ringed throughout November, with late trans-Saharan species consisting of a Reed Warbler and three Barn Swallows on the 3^rd, a Garden Warbler on the 4^th and a Red-rumped Swallow on the 12^th.  The second Red-breasted Flycatcher of the autumn, and fourth ringing record for Gibraltar, was ringed on the 1^st.

There were five controls during the period, with two Blackcaps from Belgium on the 7^th October and 13^th November, a German (Heligoland) Blackcap on the 14^th October, a French Blackcap on the 16^th October and a Spanish Greenfinch on the 24^th October.