No Longer Jynxed!

It was a cool morning with quite a stiff breeze but the sun was shining. By way of a change, our given target today was Wryneck. To look for one we went to Ludo and Quinta do Lago.

As usual we started the day with a nice selection of raptors. An Osprey, two Marsh Harriers, three or more Booted Eagles, a Common Buzzard and a Black Kite were all seen soon after we arrived.

It was an excellent morning for migrants; Whinchats, Northern Wheatears, Common Redstarts, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo and flava Yellow Wagtail were all seen.

Dunlin, Kentish Plovers, Ringed Plovers and Sanderlings were the most numerous waders but there were also Greenshanks, Curlew Sandpipers, Little Stints and a Spotted Redshank, some of which were beginning to show really nice breeding plumage.

There weren't too many opportunities for photography but the Purple Swamp-hens, White Storks and Red-crested Pochards were hard to resist.

Red-crested Pochards

White Stork

Purple Swamp-hen

Wryneck? Yes, of course we found a Wryneck! And everyone went home happy.

Vilamoura & Quinta do Lago

Well that 10-day forecast certainly proved to be right! In fact, we've just experienced probably the worst prolonged spell of weather that we've known during our time here in Portugal. We've had a week of torrential rain, thunderstorms and quite severe gales. Just when people were starting to worry about low water levels in the reservoirs, we've probably had half the year's total rainfall dumped on us in a matter of a few days!

We have managed to get out birding once or twice but until today it's mostly been around Tavira. At last, today was promised to be a day without rain and we set off early to the Parque Ambiental de Vilamoura. As we have commented before, this wonderful wetland area with its extensive reedbeds is an important site for breeding, migrating and wintering birds and is surely deserving of some formal protection. Instead it is threatened by further development of the sort that has already claimed much of the surrounding area and made Vilamoura one of the most unattractive places in the Algarve.

Although the weather has been very wet it has remained quite warm and there is plenty of insect life about so it wasn't a complete surprise to see about two dozen hirundines feeding over one of the pools. Crag Martins we expect, but it was a surprise to see them out-numbered this morning by House Martins. With Barn Swallows also present, it was difficult to get an exact count of each species but House Martins probably made up half the total. As many as seven species of herons and egrets have been seen in the Parque Ambiental recently but today we managed to find only four of them. We did get good views of several Penduline Tits and also in the reeds were a few Yellow-backed (or Black-headed) Weavers.

We spent the afternoon at Quinta do Lago, another area that has been sacrificed to golfing tourism. Fortunately, what remains is still attractive to birds and the lake here is one of the most popular birding sites in the Algarve, known as 'the' place to see Purple Swamp-hen, Glossy Ibis and Little Bittern. Today we managed to see two out of the three.

Although we had no rain, we didn't see the sun either! So it wasn't really a great day for photography. Still we couldn't resist taking a few:

Chiffchaff

Purple Swamp-hen

Grey Plover

White Stork - nesting on camouflaged phone mast

Booted Eagle

Penduline Tit

Common Snipe

Vilamoura

Details of the birds trapped and ringed at Vilamoura last month by Colin McShane's group from the UK are now presented on the website of Brewood Ringers. The total number of birds ringed was more than 1200, a similar total to the last two years, although year on year comparisons are made less meaningful by the variation in ringing effort (i.e. the number of nets used) and by the slight changes in the timing of their visits. This year they were here for a week from 30th September, whereas last year their week was from 14th October and this will no doubt account at least in part for the difference in, for example, the numbers of Blackcaps (258 in 2008, 44 this year) and Willow Warblers (19 in 2008, 116 this year) that were trapped .

Colin's report again emphasises the importance of the Parque Ambiental for migrant and wintering birds from Northern Europe. There were recoveries this year of Reed Warblers that had been ringed in Holland, Bluethroats from Holland and Belgium and a Chiffchaff from the Channel Island of Jersey. In previous years they have trapped Reed Warblers, Blackcaps and a Bluethroat that had been ringed in France, Germany and the UK and these are just a tiny sample of the thousands of birds that rely on this site every year. Vilamoura's extensive reedbeds are also recognised as an important breeding area for species such as Little Bittern, Purple Heron and Purple Swamp-hen.

Purple Heron

Purple Swamp-hen

Unfortunately, all this is now under threat from further huge tourist development. Environmental group Almargem (Association for the Defence of the Algarve’s Cultural and Environmental Heritage) are threatening to submit an official complaint to the European Courts should the country's new Environment Minister approve the construction of a proposed project in Vilamoura named ‘Lacustre City’. While Almargem hopes that the arrival of the new Environment Minister will result in a re-evaluation of the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment, it has warned that failure to do so could ultimately result in legal action against the Government. Like several other sites in the Algarve, what little is left of Vilamoura's wildlife habitat should long ago have been designated a Special Protection Area under the EU Wild Birds Directive. It would be a tragedy to see it buried by yet more hotels and tourist resorts but based on what has gone before, we can't be optimistic.

It's ironic that this week the Algarve Tourism Board has announced its plan to promote the area as a birdwatching destination!

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

Ludo & Quinta do Lago

We were at Ludo Farm and Quinta do Lago again today. We thought we should try for a photograph of the Greater Scaup that we saw on Thursday, which is after all quite a scarce bird in these parts.

Our arrival at Ludo coincided with the start of a torrential downpour including hail with the result that we spent the first half an hour sitting in the car. A selection of the common wader species and a couple of Caspian Terns kept us entertained until the storm passed.

Our walk to Lago do São Lourenço and back was an exact repeat of the one we did on New Year’s Day but today it took quite a lot longer. Mostly the weather remained reasonably sunny and bright with just an odd shower or two. We had e-mailed our friend Georg Schreier with news of the Scaup and he arrived shortly after us also hoping to see it. The three of us spent a long time searching for the bird but unfortunately there was no sign of it.

We did see today four species that we failed to find during our Big Day: Grey Wagtail, Green Sandpiper, Black-necked Grebe and Red-knobbed Coot. Of course, there were several species that we saw on Thursday that we didn’t see today! That’s birding. The Red-knobbed Coot was a bird with a white neck-collar that was first seen here several months ago but hasn't to our knowledge been reported since September.

As usual it was hard to resist photographing Purple Swamp-hens.

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

Quinta do Lago

With the final round of the World Superbike Championships being held this weekend in Portimã o, it was no surprise to find a little more traffic on the motorway this morning, most of it two-wheeled and too fast! We were heading for Ludo, close to Faro airport, the starting point for a our walk to Quinta do Lago. Again there was a rather chilly start to the morning but like yesterday it soon warmed up and we were happy to be back in short sleeves and shorts.

The walk took us through a variety of habitats (pine woods, saltpans, estuary, fresh water lake, reedbeds) and produced about 75 bird species. For the UK-based birder, highlights were a Booted Eagle, dozens of Greater Flamingos, several Purple Swamp-hens, three Caspian Terns, a sharpei Green Woodpecker, three Short-toed Treecreepers, Serins, Spotless Starlings and countless Azure-winged Magpies.

Purple Swamp-hen

For us the ‘star’ bird was a Great Egret, an Algarve rarity, but we also enjoyed seeing nine species of ducks, including hundreds of recently arrived Eurasian Wigeon, and a nice selection of waders that included some of our favourite tringas.