West Midlands Melodious Warbler

A Melodious Warbler, the first ever in the West Midlands metropolitan county and only the third to be recorded in the West Midland Bird Club area, was found on 11th June at Mercote Mill, close to Marsh Lane Nature Reserve, by Alan Dean.

We see lots of Melodious Warblers in Portugal and have in any case long ago given up fretting about any rarities we might miss seeing back home, but we do like to try and keep up with what’s happening in the UK and especially in our local area.  Although we were in the Algarve, we had read about this bird on the internet and indeed seen several photographs of it. 

When we arrived back at Birmingham Airport on 17th June the Melodious Warbler was still being seen just four miles away but we had no thoughts about going to see it.  After all, it was just another Melodious Warbler!

We didn’t really give the bird another thought until yesterday when we needed to visit Focus Optics at Corley to get some minor repairs carried out to our binoculars.  To get there we had to pass within just a couple of miles of Mercote Mill.  It would surely have been rude not to stop by and have a look for the Melodious Warbler!

In fact we didn’t have to look for it - we could hear it singing from almost 50 yards away and it continued to sing during the whole time we were there.  If it was defending its territory from other Melodious Warblers or trying to attract a mate, it seems very likely that it was wasting both time and effort but the loud song, full of variety and mimicry was itself well worth the short diversion.

Algarve update

Yesterday we helped with the ICNF monthly count of the wetland birds in the Cerro do Bufo sector of the Castro Marim Reserve.  Who would have thought that on 5th June there would be 1,482 non-breeding Greater Flamingos there?  Who would have predicted that the second-most numerous species would be Black-tailed Godwit (570) or that there would be 135 Curlew Sandpipers?  We were also a little surprised to see how many species there were that we regard as ‘winter birds’: Cormorant, Mediterranean Gull, Red Knot, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Caspian Tern, Dunlin and Ringed Plover were all there, albeit in very small numbers.  The only ducks were the breeding Shelducks, which continue to multiply; another surprise was a single Glossy Ibis.  In total there were 3,250 birds of 27 species.  As usual we took some time to read a few colour-rings, including a Caspian Tern from Sweden and a Lesser Black-backed Gull from Scotland.

Little Tern

Common Shelduck

Although we have continued to spend time at Castro Marim and at various sites within the Ria Formosa, as usual at this time of the year the main focus of our birdwatching has moved away from the coastal wetlands and increasingly in the past few weeks we have been heading inland.  Of course we are always frequent visitors to the Castro Verde / Mértola area in the Baixo Alentejo but recently we have also been exploring again in the interior of the Algarve.

Our travels inland have been taking us to parts of the Serra de Alcaria do Cume that we haven’t seen much of before.  That’s the area we’ve agreed to cover for the latest Portuguese breeding bird atlas project that started this year.  One of the things we like about atlas survey work is that we get to see places that we probably wouldn’t otherwise have a reason to visit.

 Common Redstart

Spotted Flycatcher

We’ve also been looking at other parts of the Eastern Algarve and trying to find some of the scarcer breeding species.  Some of these, such as Common Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher, Nuthatch and Robin don’t perhaps sound very exciting but it’s been fun seeking them out in areas where they are not common but where Nightingales are abundant and where Golden Orioles are common and regularly seen.   At the same time, we’ve found Iberian Chiffchaffs, Short-toed & Bonelli’s Eagles, Black-eared Wheatears, Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin and White-rumped Swifts, any of which would go a long way towards making the day for many birders we know.

 White-rumped Swift

 Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin

 Bonelli's Eagle

Unfortunately, time is running out before we leave here and head first to the UK and then to Tanzania but there are still lots of new places in the Algarve to go and surely more birds to be found!  

Having a light meal!

Although it couldn’t be described as common the Blue Rock Thrush is a widely distributed species in the Algarve and is usually not difficult to find.

It is perhaps mainly associated with the sea-cliffs and rocky coastline of the western Algarve but it also occurs elsewhere, breeding in steep-sided, rocky valleys, in quarries, on ruined buildings and on churches and other large, town-centre buildings.

In the quarry

We have been watching several pairs in recent weeks around Tavira and further inland.  In March, we were even able to watch one from our kitchen window as it sang from the roof of a building across the road.

Feeding young

In the centre of Tavira a pair has been seen on the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo.  These birds have been notably inactive during the day but they come alive each evening at around 9.00pm (half an hour after sunset) when the floodlights that illuminate the church are switched on and immediately attract many moths and other flying insects, which are ready-meals for the thrushes.  Although this behaviour and feeding strategy doesn’t seem to have been previously documented for Blue Rock Thrushes, it is not, of course, unusual these days for birds’ lives to be affected by artificial light sources such as street lamps and floodlights, leading to extended feeding hours and for some species extended periods of singing.

At the church (ISO 6400; f/5.6: 1/200 sec)

Church of Santa Maria do Castelo

Another species taking advantage of the abundance of insect prey at the church in Tavira is Red-necked Nightjar.  Twice this week we have seen a bird hawking insects from a high tree-top perch next to the church.  After each aerial sortie it returns to the same perch in the manner of a Spotted Flycatcher and it has used the same perch on successive evenings.

On a ruined building

The floodlighting at the church is clearly making life easier for the Blue Rock Thrushes and Red-necked Nightjars but spare a thought for the moths and other insects.  It has been estimated that up to 30% of insects attracted to such lighting die or are injured by colliding with a hot lamp surface or as a result of predation.  Artificial lighting can have several other negative impacts on a wide range of invertebrates including disrupting their feeding and breeding.  Developments in lighting technology have led to major increases in the distribution and intensity of artificial light in the past few decades and its growth is continuing largely unchecked.  When we consider why insect populations have been so severely reduced, impacting also on the populations of the bird species that feed on them, we tend to think (quite rightly) about pesticides but maybe artificial lighting is also an important contributory factor. 

Thanks to Kenny Boyle for bringing the birds at the church to our attention.

What a great day!

It’s been baking hot here these past few days; August weather in the first half of May!  In spite of this we have enjoyed some really good birding.  As well as visiting Castro Marim and keeping an eye on the local Bee-eaters in Tavira, we’ve spent quite a bit of time in the Serra do Caldeirão, the hills north-west of here.   We have also made several visits to the Castro Verde area where the temperatures have generally been even higher than on the coast.  Early starts have been essential and we have been on the road before 6.00am almost every day.  

Yesterday morning we were out with UK birders, Dave & Simon  We considered another trip to the Baixo Alentejo to look for a Rufous-tailed Scrub-robin and perhaps a White-rumped Swift but the prospect of again being out all day in such heat wasn’t attractive.  Instead we decided to stay near the coast and head for Quinta do Lago where our main targets were to be Black-headed Weaver and Iberian Green Woodpecker with Purple Swamp-hen and Little Bittern on the list of birds that would also be nice to see.  We thought that later in the morning we might go to the saltpans near Olhão in the hope of finding a Caspian Tern.  That would have to be around 11.30am to coincide with high tide.

By 8.00am the job at Quinta do Lago was done and just as we were wondering what to do and where to go next we received a message from Thijs Valkenburg.  It was to say that he had just found a female Red-footed Falcon, a rarity here in Portugal.  He was at the waste water treatment ponds (ETAR in Portuguese) between Olhão and Faro, not too far away from where we were.  He had just made our decision for us.  We jumped in the car and off we went.

When we reached the ETAR, Thijs was just leaving.  He told us his story about the falcon and off we went to look for it.  He mentioned also having seen some migrant Common Redstarts, which we should look out for.  There were lots of other birds to see including a Spotted Flycatcher, several Mediterranean Gulls, about half a dozen Red-crested Pochards, a few Collared Pratincoles and about 20 Spoonbills but sure enough it wasn’t long before a Red-footed Falcon came into view.  However, this Red-footed Falcon was a male!  It was soon joined by a female and we watched the two of them feeding above the ETAR and neighbouring areas for quite some time.  

We phoned Thijs to let him know that there were now two falcons but that was just the start!  Minutes later a bird flew over that we quickly identified as a Western Reef Egret.  It was heading towards Olhão; we made another call to Thijs who by now was already on his way back to join us.

Before long, the egret re-appeared.  First it flew off to the west towards Faro but then it came back and landed and for a while we were able to watch it on the edge of one of the ponds.  However, all the time it looked distinctly unhappy, nervous and unsettled and after a few minutes it again flew off and out of sight.  By now we had noticed that each time it flew it was accompanied by what we at first thought was a Little Egret but which we now start to think may well have been a white-morph individual of its own species, another Western Reef Egret.

We now turned our attention to finding the Common Redstarts that Thijs had seen earlier.  He pointed us in the right direction and we began working our way along a line of conifers where we soon began to see not just Redstarts but both Spotted & Pied Flycatchers, a Garden Warbler, a Tree Pipit and, most exciting of all, a Wood Warbler, a real rarity here in Portugal!

Eventually we dragged ourselves away from the ETAR and reverted to our original plan; we headed down the road to the nearby saltpans to look for a Caspian Tern.  Alas, we were unsuccessful, possibly because we were now much too late, having missed the high tide period when birds regularly roost here.  However, there was still plenty to see including a few Oystercatchers, small numbers of Dunlin, Sanderling, Curlew Sandpipers and Black-tailed Godwits, a Stone-curlew and about 50 Spoonbills so it wasn’t exactly a wasted journey!

From there we headed to Praia do Barril where the isolated stand of trees near the beach can sometimes act as a migrant trap and which seemed worth a look on a day when birds had obviously been on the move.  We were obviously now much later in the day than was ideal but we weren’t disappointed.  We managed to find a Spotted Flycatcher, a Common Redstart and a Melodious Warbler and perhaps more surprisingly a roosting Black-crowned Night-Heron.

After ice creams and drinks in Santa Luzia, we finished the day’s birding around Tavira where a Spotted Redshank was one of 20 wader species that we saw during the day.  The species total for the day was 92 and three of those (Red-footed Falcon, Western Reef Egret and Wood Warbler) were ones that we hadn’t seen before in Portugal.  What a great day indeed!

It isn’t often that we don’t have with us a camera of some sort to record the unusual but unfortunately this was one of those days!  Thanks, then to Thijs Valkenburg for the use of his images of the three rarities.  Thanks also for the very timely message that took us to the ETAR in the first place.   

We learned later that there has been a remarkable influx of Red-footed Falcons into Portugal involving perhaps as many as 40 birds, most of them further north. 

More Alentejo days

At this time of the year it is difficult to beat a day‘s birding in the Castro Verde area of the Baixo Alentejo, particularly if you enjoy seeing birds of prey.  We’ve been up there three times during the past week and seen 16 raptor species!  That’s five eagles, three kites, three falcons, two harriers, two vultures and of course Common Buzzard.  There has seldom been a moment when there wasn’t at least one raptor in view.
 

Montagu's Harrier

Great Bustards are easy to see; Little Bustards are easy to hear but becoming more difficult to locate as the vegetation grows.  Roadside fence posts and power poles and cables provide perches for countless Corn Buntings and Thekla Larks and a surprising number of Iberian Grey Shrikes; among them the prospect of an occasional Black-eared Wheatear, Tawny Pipit or Short-toed Lark keeps us alert.  Yesterday we found an Ortolan Bunting, which was a surprise - an unusual bird in this area and on an early date.

Little Bustard

 Black-eared Wheatear

Iberian Grey Shrike

Rollers have now returned to their regular nesting areas and they are always fun to watch.  They mostly nest in artificial sites, nest boxes and the like, which are provided for them at several of the farms.  Often they have Lesser Kestrels as next-door neighbours but yesterday we watched a pair that seemed to have competition from Jackdaws.  It is easy to see how a resident species like Jackdaw might gain the advantage over a late-arriving migrant when it comes to nest site selection.  

European Roller

The area is dotted with small reservoirs and ponds where Little Grebes and Little Ringed Plovers are frequent and Black-winged Stilts are often found.  One or two of them have Collared Pratincoles breeding.  We have particularly enjoyed watching the Pratincoles this week.  They are such attractive birds and wonderfully confiding.

Collared Pratincoles

Nesting White Storks never lose their attraction and there are so many that we have given up trying to count them.  There are nests on poles, in trees and on buildings and many of them have tenants living alongside the storks: House Sparrows, Spotless Starlings and Spanish Sparrows.

Spanish Sparrow

And it’s not just a visual experience!  As well as the constant jangling song of the Corn Buntings and the zitting of Cisticolas, most of the water courses with any vegetation have Nightingales singing loudly.  There are numerous Calandra Larks singing and displaying, Bee-eaters can frequently be heard passing overhead and where there is suitable habitat, often roadside eucalyptus trees, there is the sound of Golden Orioles.

Corn Bunting

No doubt we’ll be heading to the Alentejo again next week!  Every day up there is different.   

Easter birding in the Algarve

This last week our birding time has been spent mostly around Castro Marim and in the Ludo / Quinta do Lago area.  Both have been full of interest and some days it has been difficult to decide in which direction we should set off! 

 Castro Marim Reserve

Quinta do Lago

In a week which saw temperatures rise to almost 30º and a change in the wind direction, it has been great to see a variety of migrants at last arriving in numbers including Common Cuckoos, Bee-eaters, Nightingales, Northern Wheatears, Purple Herons, Woodchat Shrikes and Reed Warblers as well as the first Golden Orioles and Collared Pratincoles.  There have been Garganeys at several sites and among the Yellow Wagtails birds of the flava and flavissima races have joined the earlier arriving iberiaes.

 Woodchat Shrike

 European Bee-eater

Garganeys

The main attractions currently at Castro Marim have been the Little Bustards, which are now displaying and easy to see.  Spectacled Warblers and Great Spotted Cuckoos have also been popular and there has been a nice selection of passage waders that has included Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits and Greenshank.  On Good Friday we saw a Short-toed Eagle there and the wintering Osprey with the red ring on its left leg seems reluctant to leave.  Marsh Harriers are also displaying and from time to time a pair of Ravens appear.

Spectacled Warbler

Although we have found Little Bitterns, Glossy Ibises, Red-crested Pochards and Purple Swamp-hens around Castro Marim in the last few days, these are species that are definitely easier to see In the Ludo / Quinta do Lago area.  Black-headed Weavers are now busy building nests and are also fun to watch in front of the hide that overlooks the Lagoa de São Lourenço.  The long-staying Red-breasted Flycatcher seems to have left and the Little Crakes didn’t stay very long but we have seen Wryneck, Booted Eagles, Osprey, Black Kite and Black-winged Kite as well as a few Mediterranean & Audouin’s Gulls.

Little Bittern

Purple Swamp-hen

Of course, we have also managed to visit the wonderful Castro Verde / Mértola area where Great Bustards are now displaying and easy to see.  One morning we stood and watched about a dozen of them at the same time as there were also in view two Spanish Imperial Eagles, a Black Vulture, 30 Black-bellied Sandgrouse and several Calandra Larks.  It was hard to decide where to look first!  We saw 10 raptor species during the day, which really is the minimum number we would expect at this time of year.  The first Rollers are just arriving but our experience is that Black-eared Wheatears are so far slow making an appearance.

Great Bustards

 White Storks

Almost wherever we go but particularly numerous in the Baixo Alentejo there are White Storks nesting.  We rather take them for granted but their black, white and red colours seen against a clear blue sky make a fine sight and we love to hear them bill-clapping.  There’s a colour-ringed White Stork nesting near Aipo that was ringed as a nestling at nearby Navarro (Castro Verde) in 1999.  It has been using the same nest for several years which is typical of the species but has been seen feeding on rubbish dumps in Spain in the dry autumn months when frogs are hard to come by.

Two days in Doñana

We can always find more than enough in Portugal to keep us interested and occupied but now and again we do like to pop across the border into Spain, usually to the Doñana area in Andalucía.

It takes only a two-hour drive from Tavira before we can be through Villamanrique de la Condesa and heading for the Dehesa de Abajo or to the José Antonio Valverde Visitor Centre.  We usually see a few bird species in Doñana that are seldom found in the Algarve or that occur in Doñana more frequently or in greater numbers than they do here but as much as anything it’s nice to have a change of scene occasionally.

 Doñana has huge numbers of Glossy Ibises

Our visits to Doñana are usually day trips, which limits how far we can travel so it was nice this week to have a two-day trip over there with an overnight stay in El Rocío.  This gave us time to have a look at sites that we have been to less often and some we haven’t visited for quite a while.

We saw exactly 100 species over the two days.  The highlights were probably White-headed Duck and Red-knobbed Coot, simply because they are birds that don’t occur very often in the Algarve but it was good to see our first Northern Wheatear, Sedge Warbler and Collared Pratincole of the year and to hear our first Nightingale and Savi’s Warbler. 

Red-knobbed Coot

Another highlight was to look out of the window of our hotel room and see Greater Flamingos, Spoonbills, Glossy Ibises, Common & Red-crested Pochards, Northern Shovelers and Black-tailed Godwits.  We fell asleep to the ‘honking’ calls of Flamingos and the croaking of frogs!  The shallow lagoon and marshes right beside the village of El Rocío make a marvellous sight at this time of year with countless hundreds of birds.  It does seem strange that the place is best known for the annual pilgrimage that attracts one million or more people in May every year.  The object of the pilgrimage is a 13th-century statue of the Virgen Del Rocío and you can read more about it here.  Suffice to stay that it is a date that is always in our diary…as a time to stay well away from the area!

 Ermita de la Virgen del Rocío

 Las Marismas Del Rocío

The view from our hotel room

Close to El Rocío is the La Rocina Visitor Centre where the boardwalk trail known as the Sendero Charco de Boca was well worth the visit and nearby the Palacio del Acebrón has an interesting exhibition depicting the history of rural life in the Doñana area.

 Palacio del Acebrón

Inside the Palacio...

...and on the roof

Taking the little ferry across the Rio Guadalquivir, we made the long drive to the Bonanza saltpans and the Laguna Tarelo and we also managed to spend an hour or two at La Dehesa de Abajo Visitor Centre where it’s nice that you can now get food and drink.

 Bonanza saltpans

Other than Great Flamingos, Slender-billed Gulls were the most numerous species at Bonanza

La Dehesa de Abajo has a huge breeding colony of White Storks

Two days were better than one but still nowhere near enough to fully explore this wonderful area.