Falkland Islands - 1

Peter writes:
I have just returned from my first ever visit to the Falkland Islands where I was one of a group of six (four tour operators plus a journalist and a photographer) invited by the Falkland Islands Tourist Board to sample the islands for a week.  This invitation came to me via Avian Adventures.

Gentoo Penguin

Just getting to the Falklands is an adventure in itself.  Located in the South Atlantic about 300 miles off the coast of South America, the islands are not the most easily accessible destination.  The vast majority of visitors arrive by sea on cruise ships and stay for only a very short time.  The other way to get there is by air, either taking an RAF flight from Brize Norton via Ascension Island or doing as I did, flying from Heathrow to Santiago via Madrid and after an overnight stay in Chile, onward flights to Punta Arenas and finally to Mount Pleasant Airport on East Falkland.  Total flying time was more than 20 hours; I left home in the UK at 6.00am on Thursday and arrived in Port Stanley at 3.00pm on Saturday!

 Port Stanley from the air

Stanley Airport

And that was just the start of my ‘flying visit’.  After a night in the Malvina House Hotel in Port Stanley the next morning we flew from there to Pebble Island for a one night stay.  Then it was on to Bleaker Island for a night, Weddell Island for two nights and then back to Stanley for two nights.  The flights between islands were operated by Falkland Island Government Air Service (FIGAS) using Britten Norman Islander aircraft.  We didn’t always fly directly to our destination island and in all there were eleven FIGAS flights.

Britten Norman Islander aircraft

Although my main focus was on the birds and other wildlife, it was difficult not to be aware the whole time of ‘the conflict’, the war in 1982 that resulted in 907 deaths in just 74 days.  On Pebble Island, in particular, and on East Falkland we came across the wreckage of various aircraft strewn across the countryside; in Stanley and elsewhere there are war memorials and even after more than 30 years there is still a team of Zimbabweans clearing landmines.

Pebble Island

During what was just about a week actually on the Falklands I saw a total of 48 bird species, nine of which were ones that I hadn’t seen before.  Of those nine, four were penguins and it was penguins that dominated the entire trip.  I couldn’t raise much enthusiasm amongst my non-birding travelling companions for the likes of Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant, Blackish Cinclodes or even Upland Geese but even as non-birders they were all completely enthralled by the penguins.

 Imperial Shags

I get to meet two Kings...

In the next few days I’ll share some more photographs from what was a very tiring but most enjoyable trip. 

Algarve Bufflehead

We were pleased enough last Saturday to start 2016 with a couple of hours birding around Tavira and Santa Luzia, a session that produced 66 species.  These included an Osprey, 36 Stone-curlews, two Slender-billed Gulls, two Caspian Terns, a Bluethroat and four Black-necked Grebes but the highlight for us was probably a Dunlin, one that carried a combination of colour-rings that indicated that it originated from Svalbard in the Arctic Ocean.  We read and report a great many colour-rings but mostly they are on Greater Flamingos, Spoonbills, various gull species and larger waders such as Black-tailed Godwits; we don’t see many on waders as small as Dunlin and few from so far north.  We sent a report straightaway and now await formal confirmation and full details of a bird that unlike us has probably seen a Polar Bear! 

The following day brought an even better New Year present.  We had switched our attention to the Castro Marim area and having been to Cerro do Bufo and Venta Moinhos we decided to visit the Coastal Dunes National Forest, near Monte Gordo.  In particular, we like to take a look at a small lake there which in the past has sometimes produced something unusual.

On this occasion the little lake exceeded all expectations!  We usually see Common Pochards and Northern Shovelers on the water and sometimes Red-crested Pochards or even a Ferruginous Duck but almost the first bird we saw was a Bufflehead.  Yes, a Bufflehead, a North American duck that has only been recorded once before in Portugal!

We have both seen this species many times in the USA (also in Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire!) so the identification was easy enough.  We very quickly took a few photographs, sent some text messages to spread the news and then as it began to rain quite heavily we headed back to the car.  We were there watching the bird for probably no more than about 15 minutes, if that.  It was all a bit surreal!

It was inevitable that there should soon be some doubts expressed about the origin of this bird.  Records of exotic wildfowl are always subject to debate, quite often from those who haven’t seen them!  Did it have any rings on it?  Were there any signs of its flight feathers having been cut?  Did it show any fear of human presence?  These were valid questions and understandable from anyone contemplating a long trip to come and see it but it in the short time that we watched it, the bird gave no indication that it might be anything other than a genuine transatlantic vagrant.

There was also discussion about its age and sex.  Is it an adult female?  Is it a first-winter male?  Is it an immature female?  This doesn’t seem easy to resolve.  The key feature seems to be the wing pattern as described here and it’s easy enough to see if you have the bird in your hands!  Seeing that detail on a bird that is mostly swimming and diving is very difficult and the best chance may eventually be from photographs. 

There was a report on Monday that the duck had gone missing but that it had been relocated about 2km to the east on a wastewater pond at Altura.  On Tuesday, we went to take another look and found it back at the original site in the National Forest.  On Thursday it was again at Altura and we watched it for almost an hour during which it was quite active, frequently diving and on several occasions it got up and for no obvious reason flew across the water to resume feeding in a different area.  It still gave no reason to think it might be an escape.  It was reported again from Altura today.

During the week quite a number of the Algarve’s birders have been to see the bird and no doubt this weekend will bring more birders from further afield.

Buffleheads are members of the genus Bucephala and therefore closely related to the goldeneyes.  They breed around wooded lakes and ponds in Alaska and Canada and migrate south to spend the winter in the ‘Lower 48’ where they favour the coasts and large bodies of water, particularly shallow saltwater bays.  They feed on crustaceans, molluscs and insect larvae. 

They are quite small (length 32-40 cm, wingspan 55cm) and are able to nest in the disused tree cavities made by Northern Flickers.  These holes are usually too small to be used by Common & Barrow’s Goldeneyes and the main competition for nest sites is said to be from Mountain Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and European Starlings.

The previous record of Bufflehead in Portugal was in 1993 when a female was seen in the Sado estuary for ten days or more in January and February.  Maybe if this latest bird stays there can be agreement about its likely origin and about its age and sex.

Fuerteventura - 3

We visited most of the island’s recommended birding sites seeking out our ten target species.

The Barranco de la Torre is described as the best site on the island for Fuerteventura Chat and we saw several of them there.  It was another place that we saw Barbary Partridge and we photographed Spectacled Warbler and Southern Grey Shrike there.  Again, with the shrike, we were looking at an endemic subspecies koenigi; they proved to be reasonably common in most areas that we went, often heard before they were seen.

Barranco de la Torre

 Barbary Partridge

Southern Grey Shrike - subspecies koenigi

 Spectacled Warbler - subspecies orbitalis

Berthelot’s Pipits and Trumpeter Finches proved to be common and widespread but with our remaining two target species we just got lucky.  We saw only one Barbary Falcon, which we watched for just a couple of minutes when we had stopped to look at something else and it was quite by chance that we came upon a small mixed party of Plain & Pallid Swifts when heading back late one afternoon to Caleta de Fuste.  They were circling quite low over the small town of Tetir and we had time to compare the two species.

 Berthelot's Pipit

Trumpeter Finch

We made just one trip to the south of the island to the Costa de Jandia, which sounded much better in the books than it proved to be on the day we went.  We assume that accounts of exceptional numbers of waders in pools along the beach refer to migrants in the late summer and autumn and not to wintering birds in December.

While we were ‘down south’ we crossed to La Pared on the opposite coast where Black-bellied Sandgrouse reputedly come to drink.  Not while we were there, they didn’t!  Nor were we successful in the area between La Pared and Costa Calma, which is supposed to be good for desert species.  Probably we weren’t persistent enough having already seen all the species in question near Tindaya.

The most common birds seen almost everywhere were Eurasian Collared Doves and Spanish Sparrows.  Ravens were widespread and wherever there was water, there were Ruddy Shelducks.  The Ravens are of the subspecies tingitanus that also occurs in North Africa.

Spanish Sparrow

 Common Raven - subspecies tingitanus

Barbary Ground Squirrels were quite common but the only other mammal species seen were a single Rabbit and several Algerian Hedgehogs that were ‘ roadkill’.  All of these have been introduced to the island.

Barbary Ground Squirrel

In total we saw only 52 bird species during the week, although with a bit more effort that number could no doubt have been improved on.  However, there seemed little point in spending time searching out common species that we see regularly and we very much concentrated on our targets.  We didn’t even go and look for the Yellow-browed Warbler that was reported from Costa Calma while we were there!

Fuerteventura - 2

During our week on Fuerteventura we were based at Caleta de Fuste, a tourist resort situated only about 10km from the airport and no more than an hour’s drive from any of the birding sites we planned to visit.  It proved to be a good choice.

We had prepared for the trip by reading various tour reports published on the internet and by talking to friends who had been to the island.  We took with us Finding Birds in The Canaries by Dave Gosney and A Birdwatchers' Guide to the Canary Islands by David Collins and Tony Clarke both of which proved helpful.

We particularly wanted to see ten species that would be new for us: Fuerteventura Chat, Houbara Bustard, Plain Swift, Barbary Falcon, Barbary Partridge, African Blue Tit, Berthelot’s Pipit, Canary Islands Chiffchaff, Trumpeter Finch and Atlantic Canary.  In the event, we managed to find nine of them.  Some sources suggest that the Canary doesn’t even occur on Fuerteventura and we might now be inclined to agree with that!

We also wanted to try and photograph Cream-coloured Courser, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and Lesser Short-toed Lark.

 Cream-coloured Courser

 Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Lesser Short-toed Lark - subspecies polatzeki

We went twice to the reservoir at Los Molinos, where Ruddy Shelducks outnumbered all other birds put together!  We counted about 200 of them.  Unfortunately, the high water level resulted in very little shoreline for waders but this was one of the places we saw Fuerteventura Chat and Egyptian Vulture and we also had good views of the dacotiae race of Common Kestrel and the insularum race of Common Buzzard.

 Los Molinos Reservoir

 Ruddy Shelducks

Common Kestrel - subspecies dacotiae

Egyptian Vultures - subspecies majorensis

We made two visits to the plains around Tindaya and La Oliva.  On the first occasion we saw Houbara Bustard, Cream-coloured Courser and Black-bellied Sandgrouse.  They all took a bit of finding and the birding was ‘hard work’ but we enjoyed it so much that we went back there on our last day simply for a second helping!

Houbara Bustard - subspecies fuertaventurae

The water level at the Las Peñitas reservoir was also very high and it was hardly worth going there.  However, on the walk along the mainly dry river bed we did see a Grey Wagtail and our first African Blue Tit.  Nearby we spent some time in the attractive little town of Betancuria.  Founded in 1404 this was the original capital of the Kingdom of the Canary Islands and while there we slipped into ‘tourist mode’ for a short while.  It was also there that we had our best views of African Blue Tit and we also saw Canary Islands Chiffchaff and Monarch butterflies.

 Iglesia Catedral de Santa Maria de Betancuria

 African Blue Tit - subspecies degener

 Monarch Butterfly

More from us about Fuerteventura to come shortly...

Fuerteventura - 1

We’re just back from a week-long stay on Fuerteventura, the second-largest of the Canary Islands and the nearest of them to the coast of Morocco.

Although the name Fuerteventura is said to derive from the Spanish ‘viento fuerte’ meaning ‘strong wind’, the island enjoys year-round pleasant weather and it is only a four-hour flight from Birmingham.  It’s not difficult then to see why it’s such a popular holiday destination, particularly for those seeking winter sunshine.  For keen birders, however, it’s maybe a place to visit just once!  When it comes to birds it’s very much a question of quality rather than quantity.  In fact, we’ve seen more species in a morning around Tavira than we saw in the whole of our week on Fuerteventura.

The island is volcanic with extensive lava beds resulting from eruptions that reportedly last took place about 4-5,000 years ago.  It is essentially a desert island with rather little vegetation although there are areas with some trees and these attract migrant birds in spring and autumn increasing species diversity.  With an area of 1,660 square kilometres it is about the size of Surrey; the distance by road from Corralejo in the north to Punta Jandia at the south-western extremity is about 135km.

The ‘star’ bird is the Fuerteventura Chat (Saxicola dacotiae), which now occurs only on Fuerteventura and is the only species with that distinction.  It looks a lot like a Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) but the male has a pure white supercilium reaching behind the eye, a narrow white throat and white sides to the neck; the breast is a light orangey-chestnut becoming duller and paler on the underside towards the whitish belly; there is also a white wing bar.  The female is similar to a washed-out version of the male, with a brown, black-streaked head and no white neck patches.  The bill is noticeably long compared to that of Stonechat.

We saw quite a few Fuerteventura Chats without much difficulty, one of them within sight of the airport.  We have heard it suggested that you could easily fly in, add the species to your life list and fly out again later the same day.  That seems a bit extreme but certainly with a bit of luck you could expect to find most of the islands bird species in a couple of days.

The Fuerteventura Chat was only one of the reasons for our choosing the island for a rare week’s holiday.  There are several other species there that we had never seen and some that we had seen but not been able to photograph.  Also, as might be expected on an island, there are a number of subspecies that were interesting to see.

There will be more from us about Fuerteventura very soon…

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.

Birding mostly around Tavira

For much of the last week or so our birding has been restricted to our local patch - the Tavira and Santa Luzia area.  With most of the time spent around the saltpans and along the edge of the Ria Formosa it’s not surprising that we have seen mainly wetland birds.

 Tavira saltpans

 Santa Luzia saltpans

Estrada das 4 Aguas - roadworks are still unfinished and

birding here will never be quite the same again

There are only relatively few Greater Flamingos here now and Spoonbill numbers have also dropped as birds have continued their migration south into Africa.  However, after a period of absence, White Storks are now quite numerous and there are plenty of Little Egrets and Grey Herons to be seen.

Little Egret

Wader numbers have also fallen but there continues to be a good variety of species although for some reason, Golden Plovers have been conspicuous by their absence.

Common Greenshank

Numbers of Stone-curlews seem to be fewer than in some previous years but at least 20 birds are regularly present.  Sadly, the area that they have usually favoured continues to be subject to disturbance and disruption.

Stone-curlew

It’s still easy enough to find six species of gulls in the area but the flock of 500 Mediterranean Gulls that we were seeing earlier in the month seem to have moved on.  However, we counted 50 Slender-billed on the 18th November, which is an increase.

Slender-billed Gull 

We expect to find Caspian Terns and Sandwich Terns at this time of year but a Little Tern has also been seen on a couple of occasions.  A few Little Terns usually spend the winter in the mouth of the Guadiana River but otherwise they are normally gone from the Algarve by the end of October.

Even more surprising was the Whiskered Tern that we found, also on the 18th and seen for at least the following two days.  This is easily our latest ever record and only our second in November.

Whiskered Tern

The low bushes around the saltpans provide insect food for numerous Chiffchaffs, Zitting Cisticolas, Sardinian Warblers; Stonechats are common and it’s not hard to find a Bluethroat or two.

Sardinian Warbler

Raptors seen in the last few days have been Black-winged Kite, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier and Common Kestrel. 

Yesterday, by way of a change, we spent a couple of hours in the morning at the wastewater lagoons near Faro, tempted by a report of a Terek Sandpiper being seen there the previous day.  A light northerly wind has dropped the temperature here in recent days (to a maximum of about 18ºC) but it was a very pleasant, sunny morning.

 Northen Pintail

 Peregrine Falcon

 Eurasian Wigeon

We didn’t find a Terek Sandpiper but can hardly say we came away disappointed when we saw Peregrine Falcon, Marsh Harrier, Glossy Ibis (20+), Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Common Snipe (c.6), Common Sandpiper (c.12), Black-winged Stilt (c.15), Spoonbills, Greater Flamingos, Water Pipit, Bluethroat and Audouin’s Gull, plus hundreds of Gadwall, Shoveler, Pintail and Wigeon and more than 50 Cormorants.  We particularly enjoyed watching the Peregrine as it flushed more and more ducks from unseen ponds in the surrounding area.