After several days that have been dominated by rarities, this morning we resumed our battle of wits with the local Stone-curlews. It was a beautiful, sunny, cloudless morning making the conditions ideal for photography. We approached the edge of the field cautiously and edged our way slowly to the point along the track which is closest to the strip of ploughed land where the birds regularly hide themselves away. As on a previous occasion, we were parked close to a culvert from which a Little Owl was looking out. He must be getting used to seeing us and the hope is that the Stone-curlews will also begin to accept that the car with the lens poking out of the window poses no threat. Actually, several of the birds did seem pretty relaxed this morning, so much so that they could hardly be bothered to stand up and all we could see were the tops of their heads! We did eventually manage to get a couple of images but we're still hoping for much better.
Rather than go straight home we went for a drive along the river to see whether we could find any roosting Night-Herons. No such luck, but we did see Booted Eagle, Common Buzzard, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Kingfisher and Grey Wagtail - one of each - so it was a worthwhile diversion.
2 comments:
As a regular visitor to the Algarve I am follwoing this blog with interest and admire your dedication in getting THAT shot of the Stone-curlews. For me, you have done well so far anyway.
I do not know the Tavira area that well as we usually stay further west but I intend to visit it this winter and look around more. I have only been down the Quatro Aguas Road.
Thanks, Andrew. What we probably need is a longer lens!
Tavira is a particularly good area for waders but if you're a regular reader you'll know there are lots of other good birds here.
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