Algarve update

Yesterday we helped with the ICNF monthly count of the wetland birds in the Cerro do Bufo sector of the Castro Marim Reserve.  Who would have thought that on 5th June there would be 1,482 non-breeding Greater Flamingos there?  Who would have predicted that the second-most numerous species would be Black-tailed Godwit (570) or that there would be 135 Curlew Sandpipers?  We were also a little surprised to see how many species there were that we regard as ‘winter birds’: Cormorant, Mediterranean Gull, Red Knot, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Caspian Tern, Dunlin and Ringed Plover were all there, albeit in very small numbers.  The only ducks were the breeding Shelducks, which continue to multiply; another surprise was a single Glossy Ibis.  In total there were 3,250 birds of 27 species.  As usual we took some time to read a few colour-rings, including a Caspian Tern from Sweden and a Lesser Black-backed Gull from Scotland.

Little Tern

Common Shelduck

Although we have continued to spend time at Castro Marim and at various sites within the Ria Formosa, as usual at this time of the year the main focus of our birdwatching has moved away from the coastal wetlands and increasingly in the past few weeks we have been heading inland.  Of course we are always frequent visitors to the Castro Verde / Mértola area in the Baixo Alentejo but recently we have also been exploring again in the interior of the Algarve.

Our travels inland have been taking us to parts of the Serra de Alcaria do Cume that we haven’t seen much of before.  That’s the area we’ve agreed to cover for the latest Portuguese breeding bird atlas project that started this year.  One of the things we like about atlas survey work is that we get to see places that we probably wouldn’t otherwise have a reason to visit.

 Common Redstart

Spotted Flycatcher

We’ve also been looking at other parts of the Eastern Algarve and trying to find some of the scarcer breeding species.  Some of these, such as Common Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher, Nuthatch and Robin don’t perhaps sound very exciting but it’s been fun seeking them out in areas where they are not common but where Nightingales are abundant and where Golden Orioles are common and regularly seen.   At the same time, we’ve found Iberian Chiffchaffs, Short-toed & Bonelli’s Eagles, Black-eared Wheatears, Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin and White-rumped Swifts, any of which would go a long way towards making the day for many birders we know.

 White-rumped Swift

 Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin

 Bonelli's Eagle

Unfortunately, time is running out before we leave here and head first to the UK and then to Tanzania but there are still lots of new places in the Algarve to go and surely more birds to be found!  

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.
 

Castro Marim

We’ve spent three mornings this week at and around the Reserva Natural do Sapal de Castro Marim e Vila Real de Santo António, which not surprisingly we tend to refer to simply as Castro Marim.  Not only is this one of the most productive birding sites in the Algarve but it also has the attraction for us that it is reasonably close to our base in Tavira and can be reached fairly quickly without incurring road tolls.

It’s getting to be quite warm here now with temperatures rising to 30ºC and higher by mid-morning, so early starts have become an essential part of our routine.  Breakfast has been accompanied by the ‘cut-ock, cut-ock’ song of Red-necked Nightjars and the calls of Little Owls, two birds that get the day list off to a good start before leaving home.

Castro Marim is primarily a wetland area and we have mentioned before that we recently counted almost 1,600 Greater Flamingos there.  We haven’t counted them this week but have no reason to think that there are any fewer than that number.  There is more to the reserve than just saltpans but they are a major attraction and already many Spoonbills and waders are returning, birds that have been north to breed or perhaps have suffered a failed breeding attempt.  Most numerous of these are Black-tailed Godwits but Dunlins, Grey Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones have also been seen and we were particularly pleased to see and hear the return of our favourite, Greenshanks and Green Sandpipers.

The local breeding waders, Kentish Plovers, Avocets, Black-winged Stilts and Stone-curlews all have young, some of them now well-grown.  A month or so ago, we saw a pair of Little Ringed Plovers with young on the reserve and it seems likely that Common Redshank have also nested in the area.

Gulls seen this week have been just the usual Yellow-legged, Slender-billed and Audouin’s.  Little Terns are numerous but it seems that they may not have had much breeding success.  Up to three non-breeding Caspian Terns have remained in the area and a flock of 18 Black Terns passed through on Tuesday.  Sightings of Collared Pratincoles have been popular and several pairs are assumed to be breeding.

We read somewhere in one of the guide books to the Algarve that there are few raptors here other than those seen at Sagres during the autumn period and that seeing anything other than a Common Buzzard or a Common Kestrel could be considered a bonus.  Well, we must have been very lucky this week with seven species seen just at Castro Marim!  A Black-winged Kite near Tavira made eight species.

We are still finding one or two Glossy Ibises in unexpected places and Castro Marim is no exception.  Several Purple Herons are being seen around the reserve which may also be birds displaced from Doñana.

Other highlights of the week at Castro Marim have been a pair of Purple Swamp-hens, singing Golden Orioles, a pair of Spectacled Warblers feeding young, Bee-eaters going backwards and forwards in and out of nest holes, several pairs of White Storks with young, Woodchat Shrikes, Southern Grey Shrikes, Little Bustards and what appeared to be a family party of four Common Ravens.

It is disappointing that ICNB have found it necessary to stop access to the Cerro do Bufo sector of the reserve and we miss doing the circular walk there that was part of our weekly routine.  Still, we have adapted to the change and we hope that visiting birders will also respect the restrictions – there are plenty of birds to be seen without the need to trespass!  

A Tour of the Saltpans

We took ourselves off to Olhão yesterday afternoon. It’s the next large town along the coast to the west of here. We were hoping to see Collared Pratincoles, which we eventually did. Not surprisingly, Kentish Plovers, Little Terns and Black-winged Stilts all seemed to have young around the saltpans and it looked as though a few pairs of Pied Avocets might also have nested.

Little Tern

Black-winged Stilt

With all this breeding going on it was hard to think about ’autumn’ wader passage but there were at least 120 Black-tailed Godwits in the area, plus a couple of Ringed Plovers and presumably these are birds that have returned here from breeding grounds far to the north. Let’s hope they’re not all failed breeders! Later at Santa Luzia we saw more Black-tailed Godwits and two Oystercatchers.

At Santa Luzia there were 26 Audouin’s Gulls. A colour-ring on one of them was easy to read from the photograph, but unfortunately that isn‘t the case with the Spoonbill - one of at least 50 of this species seen at Castro Marim this morning. Also at Castro Marim were yet more Black-tailed Godwits and two Greenshanks but what really had us looking twice at the calendar was the sight of a drake Northern Pintail!

Audouin's Gull

Eurasian Spoonbill

Yesterday we spent a while watching Bee-eaters taking food to nest-holes here in Tavira. There was no possibility of photographing them but this morning at Castro Marim we were able to almost walk up to one.

European Bee-eater

We also managed without much difficulty to photograph a Little Owl in Tavira - presumed, as it was on the same building, to be a bird that was completely unco-operative on a previous visit. That's birds for you!

Little Owl

Little Terns

We had to make a trip to Faro airport yesterday so where better to go afterwards than Quinta do Lago - yet again!

We walked in through Ludo farm and used the last hour or so of light trying to photograph Little Terns, a surprisingly difficult task. In fact we managed no more than half a dozen images but got lucky with this one. Not brilliant, but our best so far.

Little Tern

We arrived back in Tavira at 9.00pm just an ideal time for us to check on our local Red-necked Nightjars. No pictures but good views as usual and again we enjoyed seeing an assortment of bats flying about in pursuit of the many moths and other insects. We also watched two juvenile Little Owls, one of them running about just a few yards in front of our parked car, picking beetles off the road surface. All of this to a background of singing Nightingales - an excellent end to the day!