New Year's Day

Once again we spent New Year’s Day trying to find as many bird species as possible – a ‘Big Day’. It’s just a bit of fun and the only competition involved is with ourselves – our record to beat was 106, set in 2009 and a total that we managed to equal last year.

In past years we have spent the morning in the Ludo/Quinta do Lago area, the afternoon at Castro Marim and then used up the remaining hour or so of daylight around Tavira. Unfortunately, as there is no longer any access to the best (Cerro do Bufo) section of the Castro Marim reserve, yesterday this plan had to be revised. We decided, based on our visit there last Monday, to go instead to the Parque Ambiental de Vilamoura but this proved to be something of a tactical mistake.

We set off from Tavira at about 7.00am, not easy after a late night watching the New Year’s Eve firework display! The weather forecast referred to just a 20% chance of rain all day, which often means no rain at all, so there would be no excuses on that score.

At Ludo, we started the day with the expected Booted Eagles and Black-winged Kites but it was a sign of things to come that there was no Osprey or Hen Harrier to be seen, birds that we have found there on a number of recent visits. However, after continuing to Quinta do Lago, we saw most of the other expected species and when after about five hours we left the area, our running total was 84. We would have liked it to be at least 90!

Glossy Ibis at Quinta do Lago - No: 78 for the day

Opting to visit Vilamoura meant that we were driving further than we really wanted to, using up valuable birding time, but we were seduced by the prospect of Southern Grey Shrike, Penduline Tit, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin and Black-necked Grebe, species that we had seen there only a few days ago most of which we were unlikely to see elsewhere. We also had this fantasy about finding a Jack Snipe there! In the event, Vilamoura let us down badly. We saw none of those anticipated species. In fact we left there having added only five species to the total and four of those we could probably have found around Tavira. The exception was Black-headed Weaver which we had somehow contrived to miss at Quinta do Lago. In the context of the day it was a long drive for effectively that one species.

We now had very little time left to cover our home area around Tavira and virtually no chance of getting anywhere near a record total. Even then, in an area we know so well, some birds that we were confident of seeing let us down. The flock of Knots that on any other day would have been feeding at Quatro Águas were nowhere to be seen! We simply didn’t have time to go and look for the local Blue Rock Thrush.

At about 5.00pm we were feeling a bit dejected and ready to pack up and return home. In the fading light we had found Stone-curlews and Golden Plovers but were more than a little disappointed that they were only numbers 94 and 95 on our list, way short of our target.

At this point, the last bird of the day put in a very welcome appearance and what a change there was in our mood. It was a Short-eared Owl! We may have been 10 species short but this bird was completely unexpected and it saved our day. There seem to have been more reports than usual of Short-eared Owls this winter but this was our first and we’ll be hoping it stays around so that we can see it again.

So, a total of only 96 species. Next year there will definitely have to be a re-think about the day's schedule and, of course, we will hope for more co-operation from the birds!

Another Week At The Office

We’ve had another week of really enjoyable birding, much of the time under a clear blue sky with temperatures again reaching 17°C or more most days.

Around Tavira we’ve been seeing pretty much the same birds as previously including 80 or more Audouin’s Gulls, a Slender-billed Gull and at least one Razorbill.

On Tuesday we had a good long walk on Barril beach, part of the 11-kilometre stretch of sand on the Ilha de Tavira that earlier this year was listed by Lonely Planet as one of the world’s top ten beaches. Walking for two hours on a glorious sunny morning we saw no more than half a dozen other people! We weren’t there for the birds but there was a constant movement of Gannets just off shore and over the adjacent salt marsh we watched 30 or more Stone-curlews take flight as a Hen Harrier passed by. On the beach itself were just a few Sanderlings, a small flock of Lesser Black-backs and a long-dead Dolphin.

Wednesday saw us return to Altura but there was no sign of either the Whooper Swan or the Yellow Wagtail seen a week previously. We did though see a Grey Wagtail and two Green Sandpipers (both of them in Peter’s top ten favourite species!). We also saw several Crimson Speckled moths, attractive day-flying insects that have somehow not registered with us before. There haven’t been many butterflies these last few days, just an occasional Clouded Yellow and Red Admiral.

Crimson Speckled

In woodland not far from Altura we spent a while trying to photograph Crested Tits and Short-toed Treecreepers but with very limited success. A bonus in this same area was to see two Purple Swamp-hens at the edge of a small man-made pond, not an easy bird to find in the Eastern Algarve. Nearby, we also came across two Moorish Geckos.

Crested Tit

Moorish Gecko

On Thursday, a fairly relaxed day spent mainly at Castro Marim produced a total of 86 bird species. There are several hundred Mediterranean Gulls there now, matched in number by the Lesser Black-backs. There were at least 16 Slender-billed Gulls but surprisingly we could find only a single Audouin’s. A Glossy Ibis was an unusual bird for us to see at this site; other highlights were about 50 Black-necked Grebes, probably four different Marsh Harriers, 20 or so Little Bustards, a Caspian Tern and four Lesser Short-toed Larks.

Mediterranean Gull

Yesterday we went to the Ludo Farm and Quinta do Lago area where we haven’t been for about a month. Our morning got off to a great start when, within about fifteen minutes of arriving, we had seen eight Booted Eagles, at least four Black-shouldered Kites, two Ospreys, a Marsh Harrier and a Common Buzzard! These were quickly followed by two of June’s favourites - a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Green Woodpecker!

We usually plan to spend about five hours on the walk to Lagoa but this time we somehow managed to add two hours to our normal schedule! The lake is one of the Algarve’s most popular birdwatching sites but many of the visitors there are simply out for a walk, have not much more than a casual interest in the birds and know the names of few of them. One of our pleasures is to let some of these ’non-believers’ use our Swarovski telescope to look at birds such as Little Bittern and Glossy Ibis and possibly convert one or two. On this occasion a group of women from New York City were particularly appreciative of our help and very impressed by Purple Swamp-hens. At the same time they gave us a lot of pleasure through their enthusiasm and excitement.

Since our last visit a lot of the vegetation around the lake has been cut back quite severely. In the short term the result isn’t visually attractive but it probably makes sense for this management work to be carried out at this time of the year. It has certainly made it quite a bit easier to see and photograph some of the birds (and has made for some really horrible backgrounds in many of the photos!). Chiffchaffs and Common Snipe were very confiding by the water’s edge, a Glossy Ibis came close and for once wasn’t half hidden by reeds but it was just our luck that an obliging Bluethroat should be the least colourful example of this species that we have seen in a long time!

Chiffchaff

Glossy Ibis

Common Snipe

Bluethroat

Quinta do Lago

We had an enjoyable visit to Quinta do Lago this morning but nothing very unusual to report. Duck numbers are increasing with Wigeon in particular quite vocal and we saw Booted Eagle and Osprey and a nice selection of waders on the saltpans as we walked through from Ludo farm. A highlight for June was one of her favourite Iberian Green Woodpeckers.

At Lago do São Lourenço Purple Swamp-hen, Kingfisher and Glossy Ibis were popular as ever but none gave really good views during our stay and the only Little Bittern that put in an appearance was at the far end of the lagoon. The photographs below are ones that were taken on our last visit on 2nd October.

As to be expected on a Sunday there were plenty of walkers, joggers and cyclists to contend with and with the temperature reaching the advertised 27°C or more, after lunch at Faro beach we decided to call it a day.

Glossy Ibis

Purple Swamp-hen

Northern Shoveler

Little Grebe

A Busy Week

Another busy few days of birding has seen us spending lots more time in the Baixo Alentejo, making several visits to Castro Marim and still finding a few minutes to have a look round Tavira. Today we rounded off the week with a trip to Quinta do Lago.

In the Castro Verde area we have seen countless Great Bustards and Little Bustards, there have been excellent views of Lesser Kestrels, several sightings of Spanish Imperial Eagle, Great Spotted Cuckoos have been easy to find, Black-eared Wheatears have returned and yesterday a Black Vulture was soaring with about 20 Eurasian Griffons. After really good views of them last weekend, on our last two trips we have struggled to find Black-bellied Sandgrouse but while we have been searching we have enjoyed watching and listening to the song flights of the many Calandra Larks. There hasn’t been time for much photography but it would be a poor show if we couldn’t get a picture of the area’s most numerous species - Corn Bunting.

Corn Bunting

Our walk around the saltpans at Castro Marim on Tuesday morning took us six hours to complete - there were just so many birds to look at. After lunch, we walked some more! Highlights for us among more than 80 species seen were the single Little Bustard that was virtually the first bird we saw when we arrived, a high count of 30 Caspian Terns, Audouin’s Gulls, a Spectacled Warbler, several Stone-curlews and a Bluethroat.

We made a further brief visit to Castro Marim on Thursday when this colour-ringed Spoonbill was very obliging. In an immediate response to our report, we learned from Otto Overdijk that the bird, a male, had been ringed as a nestling 2120 km away in the Netherlands on 24th May 2008.

Eurasian Spoonbill

Around Tavira we have seen Blue Rock Thrushes, Stone-curlews and Dartford Warbler, heard Water Rail, Cetti’s Warbler and Quail and managed to photograph Woodchat Shrike. On Monday, we saw two different grey egrets, presumably the same birds that we have seen many times before and which are thought to be Little Egret x Western Reef Egret hybrids.

Highlights from Quinta do Lago today were three Glossy Ibises, two Audouin’s Gulls, a Purple Heron and a Bluethroat.

Dusky Warbler twitch

Well the builders came early as promised, they worked well for about two and a half hours and then, in the manner of builders everywhere, they left, promising to return tomorrow. Presumably they had other promises to fulfil today!

Although this was more than a little frustrating, it did mean that we could go out and this put the possibility of Dusky Warbler back on to the agenda. So off to Quinta do Lago we went.
We arrived at about 1.00pm to find just two people looking for the warbler. Simon and his pal, Thijs, had been there since 8.00am and thought they might at some point have heard a call that could have been Dusky Warbler…or possibly Yellow-backed Weaver. Not surprisingly, having put in a shift that was twice as long as our builders, they were soon ready to go and so we were left with the responsibility of finding the bird.

The information we had about the bird was that it was seen on Tuesday ‘in scrub near to the new hide at Quinta do Lago‘. It sounds quite precise until you get there and remember just how much scrub there is. The question soon arises: how near to the hide?

To cut a long story short, we drew a blank. We found ourselves looking at Chiffchaff after Chiffchaff and although we knew that we should quickly recognise a Dusky Warbler amongst all these Phylloscs it was difficult to avoid critically examining every one, lovely birds that they are. In fact it was quite educational (or as we say, confusing) to see how much they varied.

We put in a ’builders’ shift’ of two and a half hours and left at about 3.30pm. Our rewards were Little Bittern, Glossy Ibis, Water Rail, Purple Swamp-hen and all the usual birds of Lago do São Lourenço.

Glossy Ibis