Colour-ringed Gulls

At least one Short-eared Owl is still an attraction hunting over the local saltpans here in Tavira but the last few days have seen us giving more attention to the many gulls that have been loafing in the same area.

Mediterranean Gull

In particular, there are currently about 300 Mediterranean Gulls using the same bund every day and, of course, we’ve been reading and reporting colour-rings.  Green ones, white ones and red ones – so far we’ve been able to read 20 of them and although we’ve not yet had any details confirmed it looks as though we’ve got birds from Belgium, France, Hungary and Poland.

We’ve also managed to read a couple of Lesser Black-back rings.  One of them is a bird that was ringed here in the Algarve after being ‘rescued’ but we believe the other is from Norway and we’re looking forward to receiving confirmation.

While we were looking at the gull flock on Thursday afternoon the whole lot took flight and cleared off when an Osprey flew over, presumably the same bird that we had been so pleased to see a few days before but which now had brought to a premature end our search for rings.  Briefly, we were a bit annoyed but the mood quickly changed when we noticed that there was in fact a single gull remaining.  It was a first-winter Little Gull, not a very common bird here and only the third we have seen in the Algarve in December.

Little Gull

At a different site nearby there are still more than 100 Audouin’s Gulls, which like the Meds are faithful to one particular area day after day and therefore easy to see.  Again there are rings to be read and recently these have included several birds from the colony on the Ilha da Barreta here in the Ria Formosa as well as the usual birds from the Ebro Delta in Spain.

Audouin's Gull

Slender-billed Gulls are another story!  There are about 15 of them here currently but they seem to spend all of their time on the water with legs submerged giving only an occasional glimpse of a ring.

Slender-billed Gull

Desert Island Clicks

Yesterday’s trip to the Ilha da Barreta (also known as Ilha Deserta) wasn’t expected to produce a long bird list.  The main object of the visit (by Peter along with Ray Tipper) was simply to see the growing colony of breeding Audouin’s Gulls – more than 300 nests this year, we had been told – and to take a few photographs.

The island is one of the chain of islands that stretches from Faro to Cacela Velha, protecting the Ria Formosa from the impacts of the Atlantic Ocean.  It is uninhabited but it has 10km of beautiful, relatively quiet beaches and, somewhat surprisingly, a restaurant.  Its main attractions, however, are the unique flora and its birdlife.  It is also notable for being the southernmost point of continental Portugal.

Access to the island is via a ferry from Faro.  As it caters primarily for tourists, the first sailing of the day is at 10.00am!  The crossing takes about 45 minutes and costs 10 Euros.

The Audouin’s Gulls were interesting to see but proved no more photographable than those we find regularly around Tavira and Santa Luzia.  As the colony grows, however, it becomes increasingly important for what is, according to BirdLife International, a species that is ‘Near Threatened’ even though the world population appears to be multiplying quite rapidly.   Yellow-legged Gulls and Little Terns were also nesting.

There were a few Kentish Plovers and other waders along the shore, notably a party of eight Red Knots, some of which were living up to their name in at least partial breeding plumage.  Several Mediterranean Gulls were also in smart breeding dress and we saw a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls and wondered whether perhaps they might also be breeding!

There were few passerines to be seen: Crested Larks and Greater Short-toed Larks, Yellow Wagtails, Sardinian Warblers and, inevitably, a few House Sparrows.

The island is also said to be well worth a visit at migration times and we will certainly keep that possibility in mind. 

Maybe not as many clicks as we might have hoped for, but it was a very pleasant day out and a change from our regular haunts.
 

On Our Travels...

We’re in the UK for a few days, preparing for an Avian Adventures tour in Ethiopia. There were long range forecasts of freezing weather here, so it’s a relief that it’s actually quite mild currently with temperatures up to 12°C. It’s still a bit of a shock to the system, though, for 'southern European softies' like us and we’re definitely hoping for some African sun next week. At the same time, we’re packing plenty of warm clothes for our days in the mountains.

Earlier this week we enjoyed what will be our last day this year of birding and guiding in the Algarve. An excellent day was spent around Ludo, Quinta do Lago, Olhão, Santa Luzia and Tavira recording a total of more than 90 species.

Slender-billed Gull

Highlights included at least 7 Booted Eagles, 2 Black-winged Kites, an Osprey, a Bluethroat, Slender-billed & Audouin’s Gulls, 23 wader species, more than 60 Stone-curlews, 3 Caspian Terns, a Blue Rock Thrush, 3 Black-necked Grebes and, of course, the always popular Purple Swamp-hens. Also notable for us were a Pied Wagtail, a sub-species that isn’t particularly common in the Algarve, and a Spanish colour-ringed Spoonbill that we had seen before in exactly the same place two years ago.

Purple Swamp-hen

Black-tailed Godwit

Although we're obviously looking forward to our travels, it's been a bit of a wrench leaving the Algarve where the birding can be so good at any time of the year and where we really enjoy spending what passes for winter.

Audouin's Gulls

Green Sandpiper

Look out for some photographs from Ethiopia in about three weeks time!

Rain in Tavira

Back in Tavira, it was disappointing that our first morning's birding was interrupted by rain. As if we hadn't seen enough rain in the UK these last few weeks. That's definitely not what we came back for! Thankfully, the difference here is that even when it's wet, it's still warm.

Tavira saltpans

We managed a couple of hours around the town during which we saw about 50 species, the majority of them wetland birds either on the saltpans or tidal channels of the Ria Formosa. On cultivated land adjacent to the saltpans, there were two or three Northern Wheatears and nearby we found an Iberian Grey Shrike.

Curlew Sandpiper

There are lots and lots of Greater Flamingos here now and a good proportion of them are juveniles. As usual, it was no time at all before we were reading their colour-rings. Although we occasionally see Flamingos that have been ringed in France or Italy, most of those we have reported have originated in Spain, particularly Laguna de Fuente de Piedra near Malaga. Not surprisingly, there were also a couple of colour-ringed individuals among the Audouin's Gulls. Almost certainly they will have come from the Ebro Delta.

Greater Flamingo

Audouin's Gull

This was a second outing for the newly acquired Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ-100. Not too many opportunities to really test it but we're reasonably pleased with it so far.

Audouin's Gull

A few pairs of Audouin’s Gulls have been breeding in the Algarve since 2001 and the species can be seen here throughout the year. They are mainly nocturnal feeders, spending their days loafing on the saltpans and, as they often stay faithful to the same areas for weeks or even months, they’re easily found.


The world population of Audouin’s Gulls is now something like 21,500 pairs, a remarkable total bearing in mind that as recently as 1975 there were thought to be only 1,000 pairs.


The increase in numbers is the result of the establishment in 1981 of an extremely successful breeding colony at La Punta de la Banya in the Ebro Delta in Spain. This colony, which has been extensively studied, now holds roughly 65% of the world total. As well as in Spain and in Portugal, there are breeding colonies in Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Corsica (France), Italy, Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia.


Although most Audouin’s Gulls spend the winter around the southern Mediterranean, many, particularly young birds, find their way down the coast of West Africa to Mauritania, Gambia, Senegal and Gabon.


The initial success of the Ebro Delta colony was said to result from a ready supply of food in the form of discards from the local fishing industry. A trawler moratorium from 1991 to 2000 that coincided with the birds’ breeding season put an end to this easy life for the gulls but it had little effect on the colony’s growth as they sought alternative food sources and ranged more widely along the coast. The introduced American Red Swamp Crayfish, abundant in the area’s extensive rice fields, became an important food source. When fishing recommenced the renewed availability of fish waste naturally gave a substantial boost to the population.

With such a high percentage of the population concentrated at one site and dependent to quite a high degree on a trawling fishery that is considered unsustainable, Audouin’s Gull is classified as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List.


In the last five years we have reported details of about 40 darvic-ringed birds that we have seen around Tavira and Santa Luzia. Replies with ringing details and life histories are very slow to arrive but so far, not surprisingly, all have been from the Ebro Delta or satellite colonies nearby, including one from Isla Moltona, Mallorca. In the last few days we have been seeing a bird that we first reported two years ago and which was ringed as a pullus in 2002.

Jean Victoire Audouin (1797-1841), for whom the species is named, was a French naturalist, an entomologist, ornithologist and malacologist.

Sunday Morning

A four-hour walk around the local saltpans certainly gave us an appetite for Sunday lunch but it provided no real surprises among the birds seen. A Kingfisher was probably the least expected among about 45 species recorded. A temperature of no more than 22°C and a slight breeze made for a pleasant morning.

Black-winged Stilt

Pied Avocet

There’s clearly been some breeding success for Kentish Plovers, Black-winged Stilts and Avocets and we saw at least one juvenile Common Redshank but quite a few Avocets in particular do appear to have failed and we could find no Little Tern chicks at all. Ominously, more Yellow-legged Gulls have nested than we have seen in previous years and it may well be that there has been an increased level of predation on eggs and young birds.

Yellow-legged Gull

Other waders included about 100 Black-tailed Godwits, plus a few Dunlin, Curlew Sandpipers, Oystercatchers and a Grey Plover. On the adjacent tidal area there were more Oystercatchers and a few Bar-tailed Godwits, Turnstones, Whimbrels and Curlews. Greater Flamingos continue to increase in number and we found a couple of Spoonbills hiding amongst them.

Greater Flamingos

A flock of about 25 Audouin’s Gulls included a colour-ringed bird that we had seen in almost the same place two years ago. It was ringed in the Ebro Delta in Spain in 2002. Completing the gulls were a few Black-heads and a couple of Meds. Several times recently we have seen two Slender-billed Gulls but there was no sign of them this morning.

Audouin's Gulls

Mediterranean Gulls

Last Week

A week of very mixed weather - some days warm and spring-like, others almost monsoon-like! Clive Viney's description, “gloriously unpredictable”, seems just about right!

Last Saturday I had a full day out, birding most of the daylight hours, visiting Ludo/Quinta do Lago and Castro Marim as well as several sites around Tavira. Although a long list wasn’t the object of the exercise, over 90 species were noted, including some, like Water Rail, that were only heard. Highlights at Ludo were six Booted Eagles, an Osprey, two Black-winged Kites and three Siskins, a species that we don’t see much in the Eastern Algarve. At Castro Marim, it was nice to see ten Ruff.

On Monday I went to Olhão and Fuseta and on Thursday to Castro Marim again, but otherwise activity has centred on Tavira where there are plenty of birds, particularly waders, to look at and photograph.

Common Greenshank

Grey Plover

Ringed Plover

Kentish Plover

Common Redshank

Eurasian Curlew

Sardinian Warbler

The number of gulls here has fallen significantly now. There are still lots of Lesser Black-backs and Black-headeds but nowhere near as many as there were a month ago. Most of the Meds seem to have gone, I’ve seen no more than ten Audouin’s all week and the single Slender-billed near Forte do Rato was the first I’d seen in a while. Amongst the Lesser Black-backs at Fuseta was another one that had been colour-ringed at Gloucester in the UK.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - with crab for lunch

Audouin's Gull

An Osprey was seen again at Santa Luzia saltpans; it was on the same post where we saw it three weeks ago. I wonder where else it gets to. A Black-winged Kite was at the edge of Tavira, not far in fact from the Gran-Plaza shopping centre (of which the least said the better). Barn Swallows and House Martins are quite numerous now, as of course are Crag Martins but Red-rumped Swallows don‘t seem to be back yet.

June is now about half way through her tour in Uganda. There has been little news other than confirmation that the 'must-see' species, Shoebill, has indeed been seen! That’s always a relief!

Colour-rings

We're always on the lookout for colour rings when we're out and about. Greater Flamingos, Spoonbills, Black-tailed Godwits and various gulls are the species on which we most often find them.

Several of the Audouin's Gulls that we've seen this winter around Tavira have been ringed. Mostly they're birds that were ringed at the nesting colony in the Ebro Delta in Catalonia. One that we reported in November was ringed there as a nestling in June, 2000 and in a previous winter had been seen at nearby Santa Luzia. Another, however, was from Isla Moltona at the southern end of Mallorca.

Audouin's Gulls

This Lesser Black-backed Gull is one we spotted earlier this month at Olhão 'docapesca'. It's obviously a bird in its first winter and we are told that it was ringed in June 2009 at Gloucester in the UK. We're also told that it's a female.

Griffons and Gulls

The weather here remains dry but temperatures are falling and today’s forecast maximum is ‘only’ 21° C. For a few days now a strong wind has been a feature.

Yesterday morning from the window here on the outskirts of Tavira we watched for half an hour or so a group of 15 Griffon Vultures struggling to make headway in the wind. We don’t often see Griffons at this eastern end of the coast but we also saw two last week near Castro Marim. Presumably these are young birds that are gradually and inexpertly finding their way to the Tarifa area for the short crossing to North Africa.


We now have hundreds of gulls on the local saltpans. Six species are involved and it’s not difficult to see them all together. Lesser Black-backs are the most numerous and at the other end of the scale there are just a handful of Slender-billed Gulls.







We were very pleased earlier this year when SPEA announced at last that they would no longer be treating Slender-billed Gull as a rarity requiring a description to be submitted with our records. With an expanding population in Iberia, the species has not been a rarity in Portugal for several years now but it is regular only here in the south-eastern corner of the country. As these decisions are made in far away Lisbon where Slender-billed is hardly if ever seen it has taken time for its true status to be acknowledged. In 2008 we found more than 70 individuals on 23 different dates and we are now seeing them most days.