Algarve rarity update

The second half of October saw more rare birds arriving in the Algarve.  The star attraction was an Olive-backed Pipit found near the Cabranosa raptor watch point on the 21st.  The only accepted record of this species in Portugal was down here in the south at Alvor some 20 years ago but several have been reported from the Berlengas, Cabo da Roca and elsewhere in the last three years and those reports are still in the hands of the Rarities Committee.

Also found near Cabranosa on the 21st was a Yellow-browed Warbler, which proved to be the first of many!  So far there have been about a dozen in the Algarve and others further north.  There is still time for more to be found and numbers look certain to exceed last year’s total, which itself far surpassed anything that had gone before.

Yellow-browed Warbler - Castro Marim, November 2013

As might be expected, these birds at Cabranosa attracted some attention and perhaps it was increased observer activity in the area that resulted in three Rüppell’s Vultures being identified amongst the many Griffons and to the discovery of a White-rumped Sandpiper at nearby Martinhal on the 22nd.

Rüppell’s Vultures, while still very rare in the Algarve, are now birds that can almost be expected at this time of year at Sagres.  Recently we wrote here about vultures in Portugal and the fact that five Rüppell’s had been seen together in the Eastern Alentejo.

The White-rumped Sandpiper, which stayed until at least the 26th, is interesting as it is only the seventh record of this species in Portugal and it follows two others at Martinhal in 2009 and 2013.  Or does it?  What are the chances of three different White-rumped Sandpipers turning up in exactly the same place?  The 2009 bird was a juvenile; we believe the subsequent reports have referred to adult birds.  There seems no reason at all why this latest record (and last year’s) isn’t the return of the same bird and, who knows, it may well have remained undetected when making other visits to Martinhal.

White-rumped Sandpiper - Martinhal, November 2009

Perhaps because it was more of an oddity than a rarity, we omitted to mention in our earlier rarities roundup the hybrid Western Reef x Little Egret that we saw near Forte do Rato in Tavira on 19th September.  It looked very much like the bird that we had seen in the same place in September 2013 and we are reminded of it now because it seems to have moved to Spain.  See here a photograph that appears to be the same bird reported from Isla Cristina, Huelva on 26th October.

Western Reef x Little Egret hybrid - Tavira, September, 2013

No doubt November will bring more interesting birds to the Algarve; last year we had Eider, American Wigeon and Lesser Yellowlegs amongst others and from a previous November we recall a Red-breasted Flycatcher so there’s still time to look for passerine vagrants.

Algarve rarity roundup

The autumn rarity season in the Algarve opened with a 2nd-year male Red-footed Falcon seen near the Cabranosa raptor watch point on 8th September.  This was only the seventh record of this species for Portugal and the fourth for the Algarve.  Remarkably, a second Red-footed Falcon, a juvenile, appeared in the same area on 16th and 17th September.

A Pectoral Sandpiper was found at Martinhal on 13th September and the same day there was a report of a Marsh Sandpiper at Lagoa dos Salgados.  Photographs of the Marsh Sandpiper sparked a certain amount of debate and it will be interesting to see whether a supporting description of the bird proves sufficient to satisfy the Portuguese Rarities Committee.  Also at Lagoa dos Salgados, a White-winged Tern was a one-day bird on 17th September.

A Paddyfield Warbler was trapped and ringed at the Parque Ambiental de Vilamoura on 1st October.  This was only the second record of this species for the Algarve and the fifth for Portugal but there had been another one further north in the country just ten days earlier.  This a species that breeds mainly in Asia with the westernmost breeding population being along the Black Sea coast of Romania and Bulgaria; they winter in India and Pakistan, so definitely unexpected here.

Paddyfield Warbler (Scott Petrek)

Friday, 3rd October was the second day of the Sagres Birdwatching Festival and that ensured many people were present at Cabranosa to enjoy the sight of a juvenile Pallid Harrier.  Portugal’s first record of this species was as recently as 2011 but there have since been about a dozen reports that are awaiting the verdict of the Rarities Committee.  Pallid Harriers, the vast majority of which breed in southern-Asian Russia and northern Kazakhstan, are reported to be in steep decline as a result of the destruction and degradation of steppe grasslands in the breeding range and both habitat loss and the use of harmful pesticides on wintering grounds in Central Africa and India.

There was another Pectoral Sandpiper on 6th and 7th October, this time at a wastewater treatment lagoon near Faro and most recently, on the 14th, a Little Swift was reported from the Ria de Alvor.  Eleven previous records of this species have been accepted in Portugal, four of them in the Algarve but there are several others awaiting a decision.  The only previous October record was in 1997.  Little Swift has a predominantly Asian and African distribution but there is, of course, a small breeding population in Spain.

You can keep up with news of rare birds in the Algarve on Facebook but remember that ‘rare’ in this context refers to species that are subject to review by the Portuguese Rarities Committee and that may include some that are quite common where you live!

We look forward to some more rarities in the next few weeks...