Sunday at Castro Marim

For the second day running we woke this morning to find that it had rained overnight but when we eventually started our walk at Castro Marim it was starting to show signs of brightening up a little. It was still shorts and t-shirt weather but it did seem sensible to carry the waterproofs just in case.

Although we walked for about four hours we covered very little distance at all, probably less than a couple of miles. It takes a long time because there are thousands of birds to look through. It’s a walk that we do regularly and it never disappoints. Today we noted 70 species, which is about the number we would have predicted.

Among the highlights it was good to find Little Bustards again in exactly the same place we saw them last Tuesday, even though there were only six of them today. Raptors included the same Peregrine Falcon, a female based on its size, that we saw last week. We haven’t yet seen this bird fly, it has a fence post that it likes where it sits surrounded by ducks and waders. Perhaps it hunts and feeds early before we get there; perhaps it just likes watching the Flamingos!

Although we didn’t cover anything like the whole site, there seemed to be fewer waders today and only 15 species. Amongst these we include Stone Curlews, which we always enjoy seeing. A group of 25 of them were seen in flight. We have seen as many as 80 here but they are very difficult to get near and a decent photograph of one remains a dream.

Again we saw six species of gulls including several Slender-billed and as well as the usual Little, Sandwich and Caspian Terns there was a single Black Tern.

Migrants included several Northern Wheatears, a couple of Willow Warblers, a Whinchat and a Pied Flycatcher. Robins are also migrants and along with Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs and Meadow Pipits are just now starting to arrive here on the coast.

Finally, a flock of eight Common Magpies was an unusually high number here. They aren’t common along the Algarve coast but they are gradually spreading west.

Working the local patch

We were at Castro Marim again this morning. For the first time in a week it was quite cloudy and the temperature remained comfortable all day. We walked nowhere near as far as we usually do but probably saw just as many species.

The highlight was seeing a flock of 13 Little Bustards; they’re not uncommon here but can’t be guaranteed. Additional to the 19 wader species found in the same area last week were about 10 Northern Lapwings and a Wood Sandpiper. There were still a few Slender-billed Gulls; Mediterranean Gulls had increased to double figures and there were at least 100 Audouin’s Gulls. A few Northern Pintail had arrived to swell the duck numbers and in addition to the usual Caspian and Little Terns, about a dozen Black Terns were feeding over the marsh. One or two Marsh Harriers were around, a Peregrine Falcon was sitting on a post in the middle of the salinas and just as we were leaving a Booted Eagle passed over.

On the way back we checked our best local sites for Blue Rock Thrush and Bluethroat and were successful at both, although we had to be patient. It was a case of “come on out - we know you’re in there” as we sat in the car waiting for them to appear. The Bluethroat was our first of the autumn but was in exactly the same spot that we see them every year which, not surprisingly, we call ’Bluethroat corner’.

While we were looking for a Bluethroat we saw another grey egret. We weren’t able to say with any certainty whether it was the same bird we saw at Santa Luzia last week but the suspicion is that there are at least two birds that frequent the Tavira area. Ray Tipper is comparing the many photographs of these birds and we will be adding the one below to his collection. Also seen here was one of the pinkest Slender-billed Gulls we have seen. Not only were its underparts pink but also its rump, tail and primaries. Oystercatcher and Bar-tailed Godwit brought the wader species total to 24 since we arrived back here last week.

'Grey Egret'