Our birding week

There's been some fairly mixed weather this week but that’s what we expect at this time of the year.  We’ve had warm sunshine, we’ve had storms with strong winds and torrential rain and one morning we had to change our plans because of thick fog.  At least it hasn’t been too cold.

We helped out with the monthly count of wetland birds at Castro Marim on Monday.  In addition to the Cerro do Bufo area and Sinexpral, we also covered the Esteiro da Carrasqueira with the whole count taking four of us almost four hours.  Cerro do Bufo is a huge area which held close to 3,000 birds.  Counting them without disturbing them is a challenge and on this occasion we weren’t help by the presence of a couple of Marsh Harriers, an Osprey and a Peregrine Falcon that caused panic among the ducks and waders whenever they appeared.  The Shelducks were particularly flighty and we have to admit that our total count of 364 might not be the most accurate.

Osprey

Greater Flamingos (700) were the most numerous species; there were 18 wader species, seven duck species; 112 Cormorants and 70 Black-necked Grebes.  A single Great Egret was the nearest we came to seeing anything unusual.

Black-necked Grebes

At Sinexpral we found around 1,300 birds more than half of which were Dunlins; there were about a dozen Curlew Sandpipers amongst them.  In fact there were more than ten times more Dunlin here than there had been at Cerro do Bufo and lots more Ringed & Kentish Plovers, a pattern we have seen before.

Easily the most numerous species of the day were the Eurasian Coots on the Carrasqueira, about 900 of them.  On another day we might have searched through them for a Red-knobbed bird but we have to be in the right mood for that sort of thing and this wasn’t the time.  About a dozen each of Great Crested & Little Grebes were with them plus just a handful of ducks and gulls.

Great Crested Grebe

As well as Marsh Harriers and Peregrine Falcon we saw an Osprey, a Sparrowhawk, a Common Buzzard and a Common Kestrel – a six raptor day!  The following day at Quinta do Ludo we beat this with seven raptor species.  These included a Black-winged Kite, a Hen Harrier and no fewer than ten Booted Eagles.

Black-winged Kite

We always enjoy Ludo but for some reason on Tuesday it wasn’t at its best.  There was a marked lack of waders on the saltpans and an almost complete lack of ducks on the Ribeira de São Lourenço.

Thankfully, when we reached the lagoa de São Lourenço it was a different story - there were lots of birds to sort through and to photograph in the really nice afternoon light.   On the way there, we saw a Water Pipit, which wasn’t unexpected and a Woodcock, a species we see only rarely which was certainly a surprise!  Unfortunately, the Woodcock was dead by the roadside, probably hit by a car.

Eurasian Wigeon

Lagoa de São Lourenço is well-known as a place to see Little Bitterns and although this is a species that is considered to be a trans-Saharan migrant, it’s usually possible to find them here through the winter.  Today we saw three different birds.
 
Of course, this is one of the best sites in the Algarve to get close to and to photograph various common duck species and also Western Swamp-hens (a name, incidentally, we are still struggling to get used to).  Glossy Ibis and Black-headed Weaver are species that we expect to find here and in recent times we have regularly seen Water Rails.

Western Swamp-hen

Hoopoes are fewer here in winter but can usually be found on the neighbouring golf course, which is also the favoured feeding area for Mistle Thrushes.

 Hoopoe

Mistle Thrush

We got our required wader fix first of all in the Ria Formosa at Praia de Faro and later, on the way home, at saltpans near Olhão.  We often find a few Knots here and on this occasion were able to more or less walk up to one for a photograph.  This is also a regular place to find Slender-billed Gulls and we weren’t disappointed.

 Olhão saltpans

Red Knot

We finished the week with a trip west to Sagres and this turned out to be another six raptor day with Short-toed Eagle and Red Kite amongst them bringing the total of raptor species for the week up to eleven.

Short-toed Eagle

This was planned to be mainly a photography day and we hoped to find Alpine Accentors, Rock Pipits, Ring Ouzels and Purple Sandpipers.  As it was we had to settle for Cormorants, Black Redstarts, Thekla Larks and other more common species but had an enjoyable day in spite of that.

 Great Cormorant

Black Redstart

In fact we had a very pleasant week, dodging the worst of the weather and enjoying a great variety of birds.

Tavira Redstart

Spring is surely here!  It’s warmer, the days are longer and the birds are definitely getting in the mood for the breeding season.  Chiffchaffs, one of the most numerous species here through the last two or three months, are now singing everywhere, their numbers presumably boosted by returning migrants that have been much further south for the winter.  Zitting Cisticolas, with a song that is probably even more monotonous than that of the Chiffchaff, can be seen in display flights over almost any area of open grassland.  Hoopoes can also be heard; again theirs is hardly a musical song but always a pleasure.  Barn Swallows and House Martins can be seen collecting mud and starting to renovate old nests.  Great Spotted Cuckoos are courting, chasing each other around and at the same time causing alarm among the local Magpies.  How aware, we wonder, are the Magpies that they may soon be expending all their energy in raising young Cuckoos rather than their own offspring?  Yesterday, we saw our first Pallid Swifts of the year and any day now we expect to see Yellow Wagtails followed by Woodchat Shrikes and others as the migration season gets fully underway.  It all happens every year but we still find ourselves excited by it!

In the last week or so we have made further multiple visits to Castro Marim, we’ve spent quite a bit of time around our local patch, the Tavira and Santa Luzia saltpans, and we’ve been in the Castro Verde area, where Great Bustards, Spanish Imperial Eagles, Black-bellied Sandgrouse and an Ocellated Lizard were among the highlights.  Rather surprisingly, we’ve also spent quite a bit of time in the narrow, cobbled streets of Tavira town centre!

Ocellated Lizard

Black Redstart

There has been just one accepted record in Portugal of Moussier’s Redstart: a bird found near Sagres on 16th November 2006 that stayed in the area for about two months, long enough for us to see it when we returned here after an Avian Adventures tour in Costa Rica!  So, when we received news late last Tuesday evening that another male Moussier’s Redstart had been seen and that it is was no more than five minutes drive away in Tavira town centre, we immediately cancelled our plans for Wednesday!  Apart from wanting to see the bird ourselves, we were also keen to confirm the sighting and the identification because we knew that there would be people who would be planning to travel here from as far away as Lisbon once they were sure that there was a chance of seeing such an extreme rarity.  Unfortunately, our efforts have so far been in vain and we have yet to re-locate the bird.  There has apparently been another reported sighting in the last couple of days but at the moment details of that are lacking.  Our only reward to date for pounding the streets has been a nice, spiffy, male Black Redstart but we live in hope!     

Photo Session

We’re always on the lookout for photo opportunities and very often they are provided by birds being attracted to water.  A little over a week ago we came across several puddles that looked promising with dozens of birds coming to drink and bathe.  Song Thrushes and Redwings seemed to be the most numerous and we saw Blackbird, Robin, Blackcap and several Greenfinches but unfortunately there wasn’t time to stop and see what else there might be.  We knew though that we would soon have to go back and find out!

It wasn’t until yesterday that the opportunity arose.  The weather was ideal and thankfully there was still plenty of water and lots of birds.  As many as 21 species were seen coming to one puddle!  It was good that some of them also perched on nearby bushes while awaiting their turn at the water.

It was impossible to estimate numbers but Greenfinches, Song Thrushes and Redwings were the most numerous until a flock of European Starlings arrived.  Ring Ouzel is a species that we haven’t photographed before and there were at least three different individuals.

Here’s just a few of the day’s many images, all taken from the car.

Hot and Hectic!

With temperatures continuing around 25°C along the coast and 5 degrees warmer than that in the Baixo Alentejo, it’s been a another warm week for us as well as a fairly hectic one.

We’ve enjoyed two reasonably successful trips to the plains around Castro Verde looking for the special birds of that area. Even if we didn’t find Little Bustards, any day that produces four species of eagles has to be considered a good day!

On the other hand, our trip to Sagres and Cabo de São Vicente at the far western end of the coast was something of a disappointment - we simply picked the wrong day. Of course we were hoping to see some raptors migrating but few were in evidence – just a few Egyptian Vultures, a couple of Booted Eagles and one or two Hen Harriers. Not only that but we missed seeing the Rose-coloured Starling that was reported in the area. Lots of Northern Gannets and Cory’s Shearwaters were passing offshore and there might well have been more but we came away and spent the afternoon at Lagoa dos Salgados.

Black Redstart at Cabo de São Vicente

Salgados had an excellent assortment of birds in spite of the water level being rather higher than ideal. Purple Swamp-hens and Glossy Ibises were amongst the species seen. On the way back, we called at a site that regularly provides Black-crowned Night Herons and Little Bitterns with hardly the need to get out of the car. On this occasion it also provided a bonus in the form of a Wryneck.

Of course, Wednesday’s Pectoral Sandpiper was the week’s main highlight but, in terms of birds that we don’t often see here, a group of five Sacred Ibises is worthy of mention. Maybe while there are still only five of them we should be considering whether these are birds we really want here – perhaps a topic for another day.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Sacred Ibises

A morning spent in the Ria Formosa began well with five Booted Eagles, two Black-winged Kites and two Common Buzzards in the first half hour. In fact it’s been a good week for Black-winged Kites, a species which definitely seems to be increasing in numbers here. Twice recently, early starts have resulted in Red-necked Nightjars being the first birds of the day.

As usual, the Tavira/Santa Luzia saltpans have had a fair amount of our attention. This week the number of Mediterranean Gulls has increased and it’s now sometimes possible to see six gull species together – often with a Caspian Tern amongst them. More Bluethroats have arrived but there must surely be more to come and the same is true of Chiffchaffs, one of the most numerous species here in winter. With unseasonably warm weather being enjoyed further north, perhaps some of these migrants aren’t yet feeling the need to move south. The local Stone-curlews have been more difficult to see recently but can still usually be found. An Iberian Grey Shrike seems to have settled in the same area and we’re hoping it will stay around.

Mediterranean Gull

Stone-curlew

Iberian Grey Shrike

One afternoon we popped across the border into Spain and had a couple of hours birding around Isla Cristina. It’s not somewhere we often go but it made a change. We saw most of the regular wader species and, like almost everywhere else we’ve been this week, one or two Pied Flycatchers and Northern Wheatears.

Northern Wheatear

Today we were at Castro Marim where several Black-necked Grebes were our first since our last visit to Cerro do Bufo.

As we’ve said before: so many birds, so little time!

Photography morning

After a few days when the weather has been less than friendly it was good this morning to see the return of sunshine and blue sky. That's not to say that it's particularly warm or that it looks in any way settled but it was enough to have me reaching for the camera and having a couple of hours checking our regular sites around Tavira.

It's only at this time of year when the blossom is out that you realise just how many almond trees there are in the Algarve - they're a real sign of spring approaching! And everywhere you look, Bermuda Buttercups provide a bright yellow carpet. They're not really buttercups, they're Oxalis pes-caprae, a noxious weed introduced from South Africa, also known as Cape Sorrel. It's a highly invasive plant, difficult to control but for all that really quite attractive!

Almond trees with Bermuda Buttercups

I started this morning at the local saltpans and within a few minutes I saw flocks of Black-tailed Godwits flying in the distance. Something had clearly upset them and very soon I saw what it was - a male Hen Harrier, presumably the same bird that we have been seeing here since before Christmas. As I followed its progress, a flock of Golden Plovers also took flight from their regular roosting area which they share with the local Stone-curlews. I watched the Hen Harrier until it went out of sight - there was no chance of a photograph. However, it was at this moment that I thought it might be time to renew my battle of wits with the Stone-curlews, birds which rarely in my experience, allow close approach. We can see them every day but not since November have I tried to photograph them.

Well, it turned out to be the same old story! There were probably close to 100 Stone-curlews and maybe 50 Golden Plover but only a few within reasonable camera range. I managed just a few quick shots before they joined their friends in the middle of the field.

Eurasian Stone-curlew

European Golden Plover

This is the same area where for the last three weeks or more we have been watching Short-eared Owls and where we in turn have been kept under surveillance by the local Little Owl. I like to think that he has got used to seeing us and that he chose this pose realising that the yellow lichen on the roof would look nice against the blue of the sky!

Little Owl

Nearby, I found this group of Spoonbills. They're common enough here but never taken for granted.

Eurasian Spoonbills

And a little further on these two Caspian Terns were roosting along with a crowd of gulls - mostly Lesser Black-backs, but also two or three Audouin's.

Caspian Terns

Last photo before lunch was this Black Redstart. Any thoughts of an afternoon photo session disappeared with the arrival from the west of a huge black cloud and 'rain stopped play' once again!

Black Redstart