With the final round of the World Superbike Championships being held this weekend in Portimã o, it was no surprise to find a little more traffic on the motorway this morning, most of it two-wheeled and too fast! We were heading for Ludo, close to Faro airport, the starting point for a our walk to Quinta do Lago. Again there was a rather chilly start to the morning but like yesterday it soon warmed up and we were happy to be back in short sleeves and shorts.
The walk took us through a variety of habitats (pine woods, saltpans, estuary, fresh water lake, reedbeds) and produced about 75 bird species. For the UK-based birder, highlights were a Booted Eagle, dozens of Greater Flamingos, several Purple Swamp-hens, three Caspian Terns, a sharpei Green Woodpecker, three Short-toed Treecreepers, Serins, Spotless Starlings and countless Azure-winged Magpies.
Purple Swamp-hen
For us the ‘star’ bird was a Great Egret, an Algarve rarity, but we also enjoyed seeing nine species of ducks, including hundreds of recently arrived Eurasian Wigeon, and a nice selection of waders that included some of our favourite tringas.
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