Good timing...or bad?

The Algarve can be pretty warm at this time of the year which is one of the reasons why in August we can expect an influx of tourists and why Tavira becomes rather more crowded than we like it to be.  Fortunately, the Birdfair at Rutland Water gives us an excuse to get away for a while and already we are in the UK.

We congratulated ourselves on the timing of our departure – we left on what was the hottest day of the year so far and a sign of things to come.  Of course, we knew that the weather in the UK might not be to our liking either but in fairness it hasn’t so far been too bad, although only a poor imitation of summer! 

The day after we left Tavira serious fires broke out in the hills to the north of the town and around São Bras de Alportel.  For three days almost 1,000 local firefighters battled hard to get the situation under control but were hampered by the hot and breezy weather conditions.  As many as 165 vehicles were reported to have been involved and a specialist aircraft from Spain was brought in to help in the struggle by dumping large volumes of water from the air.  In the end something like 5,000 hectares have been burned including large areas of cork oak trees.  The effect on the local economy and environment will no doubt be severe and likely to be long term.

Although the fires were far enough away from Tavira not to affect us directly, again we thought that we had done well to time our departure so as to miss them.

Subsequently, we have had to reconsider!  Firstly came news of a Broad-billed Sandpiper at Castro Marim, only the third ever record for Portugal and the second in the Algarve.  We spend countless hours at Castro Marim and have seen lots of good birds there over the years but still it was a bit frustrating to miss this one.  It’s a species that we have long predicted would turn up there and one we have often talked about seeing in the Algarve.

At least we have both seen this species in the past, most recently at Drayton Bassett Pits in Staffordshire in June 2004. 

 Broad-billed Sandpiper - Drayton Bassett Pits, Staffs - June 2004

We were just getting over the Broad-billed Sandpiper when there was more news from Castro Marim.  In what was presumably a classic instance of the ‘Roadside Rest Effect’, a Marsh Sandpiper was found there by Pedro Ramalho.  Of course, we have seen lots of Marsh Sandpipers and in fact we found one ourselves at Castro Marim in September 2009 but we do love those Tringas and were sorry to not to see this one.   

 Marsh Sandpiper - Uganda, February 2007

Incidentally, the expression ‘Roadside Rest Effect’, refers to the situation in which the discovery of one rarity leads to more rarities being found in the same location, usually because of the arrival of more birders and it originates in Arizona where the Patagonia Roadside Rest has been the scene of several twitches that have resulted in the finding of additional rarities.

So, we escaped the heat and missed the fires but we also missed out on a couple of rare waders.  Maybe our timing wasn’t that good after all!

What's in a name?

If you could change the English name of just one bird, which one would it be and what new name would you choose?

There are plenty to pick from aren’t there?  Lots of birds seem to be stuck with names that are inappropriate in some way.  What about Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus -  a bird that never has a black head and has a name designed to confuse, a name that is simply wrong?  Obvious possible alternative names would be Brown-headed Gull or Brown-hooded Gull but those already belong to C. brunnicephalus and C. maculipennis, so we would have to think of something else.  Why not Chocolate-headed Gull?

Continuing to think of birds that have names that describe them inaccurately, what about Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina?  That’s one that we find particularly irritating!  Orange-headed maybe, but never in your wildest imagination is it Red-crested!  The most obvious and striking feature of the drake is its coral-red bill – so why not Red-billed Pochard?  Maybe for some that’s too similar to Rosy-billed Pochard N. peposaca but at least it’s accurate.

Lots of birds have names that include reference to features that may be real but which aren’t easily seen in the field or they’re features that aren’t the most obvious.  We’re thinking, for instance, of Orange-crowned Warbler, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Hairy Woodpecker and several that apparently have short toes.  And what about Ring-necked Duck?  And what about those species that have inappropriate geographical references in their names, such as Kentish Plover, Nashville Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Sandwich Tern and others.

We could go on in this vein for quite a while – there are so many candidates for a name change!  However, when the International Ornithological Congress set about compiling a list of recommended English names for all the world’s birds one of their starting principles was that existing names should prevail.  In other words, long-established names would not be changed just to correct a perceived inaccuracy or wrong description.  They even quoted the examples of Dartford Warbler and Philadelphia Vireo that they had no intention of interfering with. 

It was against this background that we were more than a little surprised recently to see a formal proposal being made to the American Ornithologists’ Union Committee on Classification and Nomenclature for the name of Columbina inca to be changed from Inca Dove to Aztec Dove.  This was based on the fact that the Inca Empire was centred on the Andes in South America whereas the range of the Inca Dove doesn’t extend beyond North and Central America.  Yes, on that basis, the name is clearly wrong but we weren’t aware of many people being offended by it and, as we have noted above, it’s only one of many candidates for re-naming and hardly a priority.  It really did sound like the proposal for change was made by someone with too much time on his hands and thankfully we’ve just heard that it was defeated.

At the same time as opting to retain the name Inca Dove, the AOU Committee also decreed that there must be more changes to the taxonomic order in which we list our birds.  In these days of DNA analysis there are bound to be such changes.  However, some of us who have spent years using field guides that start with divers and grebes and end with buntings and sparrows find all these changes a bit irritating!  If you’re still struggling to find your way around a list that now starts with swans and geese, watch out, there’s more trouble on the way!  The latest changes result from recent genetic studies that have found that falcons are much more closely related to songbirds than they are to other “hawks”!  You might want to read that last sentence again.  Yes, according to this new research, falcons' closest relatives are a group consisting of the parrots and the songbirds.  As a result, the new AOU check list sequence inserts the falcons and the parrots between the woodpeckers and the passerines.  Whatever next?  Can we expect the BOU to go along with this?  Probably.

Another decision of the AOU Committee was to split what they call Gray Hawk, but which according to the IOC is really Grey Hawk, into two separate species.  These are Grey Hawk, now re-named Buteo plagiatus, which is the bird you might have seen in Arizona or Texas or as far south as the Gulf of Nicoya in Costa Rica and Grey-lined Hawk B. nitidus which is resident from southern Costa Rica south through much of South America.  For Peter this represents an ‘armchair tick’, an addition to his life list without leaving home, based on birds seen when leading more than a dozen Avian Adventures tours in Costa Rica and during an October 2004 trip to Suriname.

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.
 

Lagoa dos Salgados - update

Two weeks have passed since we wrote here about the proposed development that threatens Lagoa dos Salgados, one of the Algarve’s most important sites for birds and birdwatchers. During that time opposition to the plans has been mounting.

However, this is far from being a new problem. Salgados has been under threat for many years. What has happened now, however, is that agreement has actually been given by Silves Câmara for this awful development to go ahead and this really has concentrated people’s minds. There is a great deal of anger now at what may be allowed to happen to this wonderful site.

Detailed accounts of the troubled history of Salgados and the past efforts by SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para Protecção das Aves) and the RSPB to avert the development threat and secure Special Protection Area status for the lagoon can be read here and here. The sad fact, however, is that they have made little or no difference; their protests have been almost totally ignored.

What we now see are other local organisations joining in. Almargem and the Liga para a Protecção da Natureza both issued statements condemning the proposals within days of the latest announcement. More importantly, both have lodged formal complaints with the European Commission about Salgados, particularly regarding the failure of the Portuguese State to comply with the EU Birds Directive and afford the site the protection that it merits.

To demonstrate opposition to the development, not just from within Portugal but internationally, an on-line petition was started, which at the time of writing has gathered almost 6,000 signatures. If you haven’t already signed it, please click here and do it now.

If this proposed development is allowed to proceed, it will be a scandal.

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!  

Lagoa dos Salgados

Under the headline Silves sells out to developers, the Algarve Daily News reports that a contract for a massive development on the Salgados bird sanctuary to the east of Armaçao de Pêra was signed yesterday in Silves. An investment of more than €232 million will create jobs in the area, and boost the income of Silves Câmara (the local authority) by €35 million a year. The project plans include three hotels (two five-star, one four-star), five holiday villages, shops and an 18-hole golf course. According to the developer, the project is aimed at upper class tourists and not passengers flying on low cost airlines.

Lagoa dos Salgados, June 2012 - not much water!

Work will start in 2013 and by 2015, if everything goes as planned, the first tourists can be catered for with completion of the infrastructure and the first hotel. The development will be phased, as the promoters do not yet have the funds to complete the project, but in the course of time they hope to attract foreign investors. In fact they are confident that the money will be available "in two or three years, when this crisis is over." The first of the two five-star hotels is planned to be completed in mid 2017, the second in late 2018 and the four-star hotel is scheduled for completion in mid 2023.

The report goes on to say that “Eco pressure groups have had more than four years in which to fight for this unique bird sanctuary yet have achieved zero results despite international acknowledgement that the area is of vital importance to wildlife.” But is this really true? We have referred previously here to the long-running battle to save Lagoa dos Salgados and on the face of it that battle has been lost. However, there are those here who even now are attempting to put a positive slant on this development from the point of view of birds and wildlife, as though this further expanse of concrete, tarmac and close-cropped grass was going to bring some sort of environmental benefit.

Lagoa dos Salgados, September 2007

We are told that there is an agreement with the developer for a ‘buffer zone’ that will safeguard the lagoon, that there will be funding available for habitat improvement and site management, that there will be hides, screens and boardwalks and even a visitor centre. Maybe there will and we really hope so, but we’re not going to hold our breath!

The future visitor centre, September 2009

We already have at least 40 golf courses here in the Algarve with serious competition in that market now coming from Turkey and elsewhere. The average occupancy rate in the Algarve’s hotels this May was 55.2%, the second worst May in the past 16 years, according to the Association of Hotels and Resorts in the Algarve. Surely the financial climate will have to improve dramatically before any right thinking person (or bank) will want to put money into a project that will add further to this over-supply.

 Lagoa dos Salgados, June 2007

Let’s hope that the first phase (general infrastructure, access roads, etc) doesn’t result in the whole area being trashed. After all, it could also be the last phase with the result being no hotels, no jobs and no birds!

Antlion update

The verdict on the antlion that we found by the Esteiro da Carrasqueira at Castro Marim on 4th June is that it was Palperes hispanus.  This is a member of the Family Myrmeleonidae which in turn belongs to the Order Neuroptera .  And the good news is that Nelson Fonseca managed to find and photograph at least one more specimen when he visited the site this last weekend.
 

Palperes hispanus

We’re told that it is more than 100 years since this species was last recorded in Portugal and that there has been no previous record in the Algarve!  Of course, that may well be because there are very few people here who are remotely interested in antlions and even fewer who are capable of identifying them!  Still, it’s quite exciting.

We were at Lagoa dos Salgados at the weekend and managed to photograph another rather impressive insect that is a relative of P. hispanus.  This one is a spoonwing or thread-winged antlion, Nemophora bipennis, a member of the Family Nemopteridae, which also belongs to the Order Neuroptera.  This is quite a common species here but fun to see, nevertheless.

Nemophora bipennis