Projecto Arenaria 2015/16

Earlier this week, we spent a morning counting the waders and gulls along the Algarve’s easternmost stretch of beach near Monte Gordo.  We walked from the Guadiana River to Praia Verde, a distance of about 7km and then back again to the car.  We were taking part in Projecto Arenaria, a survey of the birds of Portugal’s non-estuarine coast.

Looking west towards Monte Gordo

Gulls feeding on the falling tide

We have taken part in Projecto Arenaria in previous years and blogged about it here, here, here and here.  It is similar to the BTO’s Non-Estuarine Waterbird Survey, which grew out of the Winter Shorebird Count of 1984/85 but it has been difficult to think of any day this week as winter - in fact, we could hardly have wished for better weather for a walk on the beach.  There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was warm enough for people to be sunbathing!

Lots of jellyfish on the beach

Based on previous experience it wasn’t a surprise to find that there rather few waders on the beach.  The Ria Formosa and other tidal areas along the Algarve coast provide much better feeding and roosting places than the beaches.  We found just three species: Sanderling (39), Oystercatcher (9) and Kentish Plover (8).  It was disappointing not to find even one Turnstone, the species that gives its name to the survey.

Sanderling

We did, however, find some gulls.  Often they were quite mobile, disturbed by various walkers, joggers and fishermen and they were difficult to count accurately.  We counted each flock that we came across and tried as best we could to avoid including the same birds twice if they moved ahead of us.  In the end, we had a grand total of 1,050, mostly Lesser Black-backs but also a few Yellow-legged.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - ringed in Bath, England in June 2015

Not surprisingly we managed to find five Lesser Black-backs with colour-rings: two from the Channel Islands and one each from England, Holland and Denmark.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - ringed on Alderney in July 2014

We hoped that on the sea we might find some Common Scoters or a Razorbill but it wasn’t to be.  A couple of Cormorants flew by and there were plenty of passing Gannets but we saw no other seabirds.

As well as the birds, we were also required to count people (98), vehicles (2) and any dogs not on a leash (2) but we doubt that any of these had a significant influence on the numbers of birds we saw.

Our contribution to Project Arenaria was our last birding in the Algarve for a while but we hope to be reporting from elsewhere before very long.

More Colour-rings

Although the numbers of gulls and other birds wintering in the Algarve have now reduced considerably, we’ve still managed during the last couple of weeks to read several interesting colour-rings.

There are Greater Flamingos here all the time.  Rings that we have seen recently confirm what we already know about their origin - most come from colonies in Spain and France.  Two that we saw at Castro Marim had both been ringed in July 2009 in Spain, at Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, near Malaga; one of them we had seen before in Tavira in November 2010 and in the Santa Luzia saltpans in June 2011; the other had been seen several times at Lagoa dos Salgados and Ria de Alvor.

There are very few Mediterranean Gulls here now so it was pleasing to find one at Olhão that had a colour-ring.  It had been ringed in France in June 2013 at Barbâtre, Polder de Sebastopol, Vendée, a site from which we have had several other birds here in the past.

The same day, also at Olhão, there was a Lesser Black-backed Gull that had been ringed in July 2011 at Rauna, Farsund, Vest-Agder in Norway.  It seems that this bird has spent quite a lot of its life around the harbour in Málaga and in fact was there only a month or so ago.

Slender-billed Gulls

Most of the ringed Slender-billed Gulls that we see have originated in Spain, with the majority coming from Veta La Palma in the province of Sevilla.  One of last week’s birds was ringed in 2001, making it the oldest ringed bird of this species that we have seen.

Slender-billed Gulls

We have reported the ring details of countless Audouin’s Gull over the last few years and most have originated from the Ebro Delta in Spain.  However, increasingly we are seeing birds with blue rings which we know straightaway come from the colony on the Ilha da Barreta, here in the Algarve.  We have seen two of these recently in Tavira, both of them birds hatched in 2012.

Using a telescope, reading the numbers and letters on the rings of flamingos, gulls and Spoonbills is child’s play compared with sorting out the details of multiple colour-rings on small waders.  However, last Sunday, we managed to get photographs of two Sanderlings at Olhão that enabled them to be identified.  The photographs were taken from quite a distance using a Panasonic Lumix FZ100 and they were pretty poor but sufficient to ascertain that one of them had been ringed in Iceland in May 2011 and the other in Greenland in June 2010.  Both birds had been reported previously during the winter in the Olhão area and the Icelandic bird was also seen there in January 2012.

Sanderlings - spot the rings!

Finally, we were delighted to hear that Common Redshank H19 has made it back to The Netherlands after its (her) fourth winter in the Santa Luzia saltpans.  We hope that she will attract a mate this year!

Foz do Almargem

We were at Faro airport early yesterday and then spent the morning birding around the Foz do Almargem and Trafal.  We might normally have gone to Ludo or Quinta do Lago but a report a few days ago of a Red-knobbed Coot and a Little Gull at Foz do Almargem was enough for us to opt for a change of scene.  It was a cool morning with 100% cloud cover.

Based on past experience, both of the ‘target’ birds were ones that were likely to stay for a while.  Last year’s Little Gull here in Tavira was in the area for at least a week and a Red-knobbed Coot, once settled, might remain throughout the winter.

Our confidence was justified!  There were several hundred gulls bathing and splashing, Lesser Black-backs, Yellow-legged and Black-headed, but the tiny Little Gull was easy to find, bobbing about on the water appearing from a distance almost like a phalarope. 

 Little Gull

There were about 80 Eurasian Coots in a flock and we set up the ‘scope to search through them.  Again it didn’t take long - even in very poor light, the pale blue bill of the cristata made it very obvious amongst its more common pinkish-billed cousins.

One of each - Eurasian and Red-knobbed Coots

Other birds on and around the lagoon included Red-crested Pochard, Purple Swamp-hen, Black-tailed Godwits, Sanderling, Common Sandpiper, Dunlin and Kentish Plover.

Sanderling

We walked to Trafal where a Black-winged Kite was sitting on top of one power pole and on the side of another a Great Spotted Woodpecker was immediately replaced by an Iberian Green Woodpecker.  Between the poles, four Hoopoes were perched on a cable, at least one of them calling loudly.  A couple of Barn Swallows flying through seemed particularly unseasonal on such a drab day.

Out over the sea, Gannets were numerous and a flock of about 100 Common Scoters got up and flew a short distance when disturbed by a passing boat.

Projecto Arenaria 2011/12

Projecto Arenaria (the ‘Turnstone Project’) is a survey of non-estuarine coastal birds here in Portugal that is similar to the Winter Shorebird Count carried out in the UK in 1984/85 by the British Trust for Ornithology. Living at the time in Staffordshire, about as far from the coast as you can be in the UK, Peter was an unlikely volunteer to participate in that survey but that’s what happened with round trips of 300 miles being made to count shorebirds along the coast of North Wales. Madness!

Arenaria began in 2009/10 so this is its third year. Counts have to be made between 1st December and 31st January, a period for most of which we were away in Ethiopia, the UK and the USA, so we weren’t expecting to take part this time. However, we returned last Tuesday to find that there was a stretch of coast not too far away that still hadn’t been surveyed.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

So this morning we walked along the beach from Praia Verde to Cacela Velha and back. It was another beautiful morning with a clear blue sky and temperatures that at times exceeded the forecast 16°C. A three-hour walk in the sun was exactly what we needed! As part of the survey, we counted not just the birds but also the people and any dogs that weren’t on a leash and as it was Saturday there were plenty of both.

By far and away the most numerous bird species was Lesser Black-backed Gull totalling just over 500. There were only a handful of Yellow-legged Gulls and a single Slender-billed. A few Sandwich Terns flew by, Northern Gannets were diving off-shore and just off the beach there was a single Razorbill. Waders were represented only by Kentish Plovers and Sanderlings and there were few of either.

Slender-billed Gull

Sanderling

Single Spoonbill and Cormorant flew over but probably the only real surprise was when a flock of 22 Common Pochards passed over, heading east to and from who knows where.

Will our data be of any use to anyone? Well, of course we hope so but more importantly we enjoyed collecting it and what’s more we didn’t have to drive 300 miles to do it!

Ria Formosa

Just today we’ve seen Tavira referred to again as ‘the most beautiful town in the Algarve’ and it’s not a description that we would want to argue with. Its location on the river, its attractive architecture (including 37 churches!), the wonderful beach and lots of historical interest going back 2,000 years are amongst the many reasons why people come here on holiday or, like us, for longer.


An added and major attraction for us was the town’s position adjacent to the Parque National da Ria Formosa. The Ria Formosa consists of coastal lagoons, vast areas of tidal flats, saltmarsh and saltpans that are enclosed by a belt of sand dune islands. It’s a really important wintering area for many birds from northern Europe and as a resting and feeding station for birds migrating between Africa and Europe.

Throughout the year, there are waders (shorebirds) here. Sometimes in late autumn and winter as many as 25 species can be found within easy walking distance from the town centre! Even now, as we approach the middle of June, we have seen in the last two or three days in the Ria Formosa almost half that number.

Kentish Plover

Black-winged Stilt

Breeding here in good numbers are Black-winged Stilts, Pied Avocets and Kentish Plovers plus a few Common Redshanks and Stone-curlews. But we also still have plenty of Dunlins and Sanderlings and small numbers of Eurasian Oystercatchers, Black-tailed Godwits, Ruddy Turnstones and Curlew Sandpipers. Although a great many of these birds are in something approaching full breeding plumage, presumably at this late stage, few of them are now going to try and head north to breed. Mostly they are likely to be birds in their first year or maybe some of them are birds that were just not fit enough to attempt migration. Whatever they are, we’re pleased to have them!

Sanderling

Curlew Sandpiper

Dunlin

Little Terns and Collared Pratincoles are also breeding; Greater Flamingos and a few Eurasian Spoonbills are still around and at least five species of gulls can be found.

Collared Pratincole

And that’s not the half of it...

A Day of Sunshine

We had more heavy rain at the weekend, there was even a hail storm on Sunday and, only 150km away to the east, Seville experienced its first snow in 50 years. Today it is not only pouring with rain but the wind is gale force. Amazingly, amidst all this, yesterday was dry, bright and sunny and the temperature reached 18°C - this is climate change on a daily basis!

One of the inevitable side-effects of all this rain is that paths and trails everywhere are horribly muddy and so Praia do Barril was the obvious choice for us to have a walk in the sunshine. Along the pathway that leads from Pedras d'el Rei to the beach we saw the usual common wader species, including Greenshank, Redshank, Grey Plover and Whimbrel. Birds here are quite confiding and it's difficult to resist a few photographs. Even the Bluethroats seem more inclined to sit up and pose here than they do elsewhere.

Greenshank

Bluethroat

There were few birds on the beach itself, just the odd Kentish Plover, plus a few Sanderlings and gulls. A monkfish, washed up on the sand, provided food for one Yellow-legged Gull and when it had finished feeding it washed its bill in the surf. When the gull had left, a Sanderling moved in and also fed on the monkfish.

Kentish Plover

Yellow-legged Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Sanderling with monkfish

Sandwich Tern

Off-shore there were the usual Gannets, a few Razorbills and several Sandwich Terns but elsewhere along the coast there have been sightings of Leach's Storm-petrels and further north a Madeiran Storm-petrel was blown inland. It's so rough here at the moment that we half expect one to fly past the window any minute!

Changing Weather!

It's been a week when we have had to adapt our birding activities to the ever-changing weather conditions. We've had 'sunny & warm', we've had 'cloudy & warm', for two days it was 'sunny & really cold' and then, yesterday, we had 'torrential rain with winds gusting to gale force'.

Twice we have taken advantage of the good weather to have nice long walks along Praia do Barril and Praia da Terra Estreita, wonderful beaches that form part of the Ilha de Tavira. The trail to the beach crosses saltmarsh and at low tide it's a good place to get close looks at waders, such as Whimbrel, that are obviously quite used to seeing people pass by. At this time of year, we're fairly sure to find a Bluethroat or two and on Sunday we also saw a ringtail Hen Harrier.

Whimbrel

Out at sea there are usually plenty of Northern Gannets passing by. This week we've also seen several Razorbills, a Great Skua, a Caspian Tern and several Sandwich Terns as well as the usual gulls. On the beach there were just a few Sanderlings and a Kentish Plover, although we did also find a few dead birds - a Gannet, three Razorbills, several gulls, a Purple Swamp-hen and what we think was a Manx Shearwater (not much left of it!).

Praia da Terra Estreita

Sanderling

We spent both of the cold days just birding around Tavira, staying in the car most of the time (we must be getting soft!) and taking a few photographs. Mostly it was the usual subjects: Sardinian Warbler, Goldfinch, Stonechat, Little Egret, Zitting Cisticola, Bluethroat, etc. There must be 150 or more Audouin's Gulls here now and it's still fairly easy to go and find a Slender-billed Gull or two; Stone-curlews remain in their usual place and have now been joined by a few Golden Plovers. Of course, the saltpans are still full of birds - about 20 species of waders, Spoonbills, Flamingos and an assortment of ducks.

Stonechat

Bluethroat

The highlight of our week was, of course, the day we spent in the Castro Verde/Mértola area. As well as the Sociable Lapwing that we found near Benviuda we saw an adult Spanish Imperial Eagle, about 70 Great Bustards, a dozen or so Black-bellied Sandgrouse, plenty of Common Cranes and most of the other expected species. It was good to see that quite a few White Storks have already returned to their enormous nests.

White Stork with Red Kite in attendance

Sociable Lapwing

Great Bustard

The 10-day forecast suggests that we might be in for quite a lot more rain. We do need it but unfortunately it might mean that we don't get out quite so much next week! We'll see...

Waders again

More 'admin' the last couple of days while the weather has been wet and windy but staying home has not been all bad news. At lunchtime on Monday we heard a Wryneck calling in the trees outside and when we went to look for it we found there were actually two of them. We were only out there for a few minutes but could see that the trees were full of newly arrived Blackcaps. Today a Black-shouldered Kite(or should that be Black-winged Kite?) was hovering out there briefly but was quickly carried off on the wind.

We did manage to get out for a couple of hours late on Monday afternoon to have a look at the local waders around Tavira. There were no rarities but plenty of birds to watch, photograph and enjoy.

Tavira saltpans

We spent a couple of hours or so this afternoon around the saltpans here in Tavira. The area forms part of the Parque National da Ria Formosa, designated a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. It's a wonderful place to see wading birds and we can routinely see more than 20 species here in the winter months and at migration times. Just now most of the pans are dry and wader numbers are relatively low but in our short visit this afternoon we still managed to find 17 species.

They say that salt was harvested in the Tavira area as long ago as 2,000 BC and the expertise required to produce high quality salt, flor de sal as it is called here, is passed down from generation to generation. Today we were pleased to see work being done to prepare the pans for this year's production and we hope that it won't be long before the pans are flooded again and providing feeding areas for the many migrant waders that will be passing through here in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, we managed to photograph a few of the current 'residents'.