White-rumped Swift

White-rumped Swifts breed in much of sub-Saharan Africa and we have seen then regularly when leading tours in Uganda and Tanzania and in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe. They also now occur in Morocco and the Iberian peninsula; the first record for Portugal was in 1983 and the first confirmed breeding here was in 1995.

Although this is still a scarce breeding species in Portugal, it does seem to be well established. We know of only four breeding sites but there must surely be more and we hope to find time during the next few weeks to try and locate them.

Because of the birds’ comparative rarity in Portugal we have been reluctant in the past to take anyone to see them and have declined several requests. However, we know that other guides have taken a different view and perhaps this is understandable given that details of several breeding sites have now been published. Recently, the Portuguese Rarities Committee (Comité Português Raridades) removed White-rumped Swift from its list of species requiring approval.

Against this background we have decided this year that we will be open to requests to see White-rumped Swifts and, in fact, we have already in the last couple of weeks provided two clients with great views of these attractive little birds.

Attractive they may be, but they do take over the nests of other birds, not necessarily waiting until the original occupants have finished with them! In Africa, Little Swifts and Wire-tailed Swallows are among those who give up their nests; in Portugal, it is Red-rumped Swallows that are the victims. Red-rumps nest under bridges and culverts and on other man-made structures and they are quite common here. White-rumps therefore have plenty of nests to choose from and so it probably won’t be easy for us to find new sites.

Castro Verde and more

We spent much of today in the Castro Verde area. Not surprisingly, the forecast was for it to be hot, around 35 degrees, and not surprisingly that's exactly what it was - it was baking hot! But we started early and had an enjoyable and reasonably successful day. We had no particular plan or target species but simply wanted to try and take a few photographs. With very little effort we saw most of the 'usual suspects', including Rollers, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, both Bustards, Collared Pratincoles, Black-eared Wheatear, Great Spotted Cuckoo and a good selection of raptors. We eventually succumbed to the heat and headed back south soon after lunch.

Here are a few of today's more co-operative birds:






On the way home we diverted to a site where White-rumped Swifts were found breeding last year and we were pleased to find that they had returned. This species is now known to be breeding at several sites in the Alentejo and the Algarve and is almost certainly overlooked.



While Peter was away in Tanzania, June managed to see four species of owls in the Algarve in the space of just a few hours. Today it was just Little Owls - lots of them, but they're hard to resist when they pose like this one!

We regularly make our last stop at Altura where the 'tank', a wastewater pond that doesn't look particularly promising, has turned up several interesting species for us in the last few years. These have included Red-knobbed Coot, Ferruginous Duck, Whooper Swan and Ring-necked Duck. Today we spotted a Little Bittern lurking in the reeds, not an unusual species in the Algarve but the furthest east we have seen one.