Back into Algarve birding

After quite a lot of rain at the end of October and in early November, there’s a fair amount of water lying on the ground here, the rivers and streams are flowing again and many of the saltpans are now flooded to a level that makes them unsuitable for short-legged wading birds.  There has been very little rain these last two weeks but, by Algarve standards, it’s been cold, often with a stiff wind that has had us wearing as many as four layers of clothing!

The numbers of some bird species, Spoonbills and Black-tailed Godwits for instance, have now reduced quite noticeably as they have continued their migration to West Africa, encouraged no doubt by the drop in temperatures and a following wind from the north.  However, the total number of birds remains high as thousands of gulls have arrived and there are Chiffchaffs wherever you look.

Black-tailed Godwit

Searching through the gulls isn’t everyone’s idea of fun but there are occasional rarities to be found and there are colour rings to be read.  A Ring-billed Gull was seen at Sagres at few days ago and two Great Black-backed Gulls were found at Quarteira but here in the Eastern Algarve we have so far had to content ourselves with the regular six species.  However, the numbers of Audouin’s and Slender-billed are now much lower and we have heard that Audouin’s colour-ringed this year in the colony in the Ria Formosa have been reported recently from The Gambia.  A colour-ringed Mediterranean Gull from Italy has been our best find this week.

Audouin's Gulls

We’ve been twice in the past few days to Castro Marim where there is now much more water in the Cerro do Bufo saltpans than we would wish for.  Notable sightings there have included as many as 200 Common Shelducks and close to 100 Black-necked Grebes.  Common Shelduck is a species that bred for the first time in Portugal as recently as 2000 but seems to be doing remarkably well.  Back in the summer we saw more than 100 young ones at a site near Faro but a winter flock of 200 is a record as far as we are concerned.

Common Shelduck

 Black-necked Grebe

Waders can still be found in good numbers and variety around the Ria Formosa.  In fact we have recorded 25 species locally in the last few days.  For us, one of the attractions here is how close we can get to them and, of course, we enjoy trying to photograph them.  Some are easier than others!

Little Stint

Other species that have proved popular with visitors recently have been Greater Flamingo, Bluethroat, Glossy Ibis, Little Bittern and Caspian Tern, all of which we expect but never tire of seeing and showing to people.

Caspian Tern

Less predictable are the hirundines, but at the moment we seem to be seeing Crag Martins just about everywhere (including from our window) and yesterday we saw Red-rumped Swallows.

The Algarve isn’t particularly noted for its birds of prey but in the last few days we have seen several Booted Eagles, an Osprey, Hen Harriers, Marsh Harriers, Common Buzzards, Common Kestrels, Black-winged Kites, a Merlin and an Egyptian Vulture.  And we can add to these the Red Kites, Golden Eagle and Spanish Imperial Eagles that we saw during our day in the Castro Verde area of the Baixo Alentejo.

Booted Eagle

In the Alentejo, as well as the raptors, it was good to see Great Bustards in reasonable numbers and we managed to get quite near to a flock of 100 or more Common Cranes.  On a particularly windy day we struggled to get good views of Calandra Larks or Black-bellied Sandgrouse but the Spanish Imperial Eagles made up for any disappointment; we watched three of them, all young birds, first on the ground and then all together in one tree.  It might have been nice to see them through a telescope but not really necessary as they were close enough that if we had got out of the car they would undoubtedly have flown off.

November was good, December has started well and today the wind has dropped and the temperature has risen.

Migrants everywhere!

Another busy week has seen us visit Castro Marim, Ludo, Quinta do Lago, Olhão and, of course, our local saltpans around Tavira and Santa Luzia.  We’ve also had brief looks at Altura ‘tank’ and the Vitacress site near Almancil where last year we found a Pectoral Sandpiper.

Star bird for us has been the juvenile Red-necked Phalarope that was found here in Tavira on Monday.  It was the first of this species we have seen in Portugal, mainly because the last five that have occurred in the Algarve have somehow all contrived to turn up at times when we have been elsewhere!  It was found in one of the saltpans along the Estrada das 4 Águas and was last seen on Thursday.  At no time did it threaten to come within range of a camera!

Elsewhere in the Algarve, and much rarer, a Lesser Whitethroat found in Vale Santo, near Sagres on Wednesday was the cause of much interest, although unfortunately not seen by anyone other than the finder.  There has been only one previous record in Portugal of this species.  At around the same time a Lanner Falcon was also reported from Vila do Bispo, a species not yet formally admitted to the Portuguese list although there are several records pending.  Not surprisingly, like the one we saw some years ago, it was said to be of the northwest African race erlangeri .

Here in the Eastern Algarve, we have had to content ourselves with more common migrants such as Northern Wheatears, Pied Flycatchers, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers.  European Bee-eaters have been heard most days as they’ve passed high overhead and on a couple of days we have seen hundreds of Red-rumped Swallows on the move.  Popular birds with our visitors have been a very obliging Little Bittern, a Wryneck, Stone-curlews, Caspian Terns, Glossy Ibis and Slender-billed Gulls.

  Slender-billed Gull 

Of course, in the Ria Formosa and at Castro Marim, we’ve got thousands of gulls and waders, Spoonbill numbers are also increasing and already a few Northern Shovelers, Eurasian Wigeon and Teal have arrived.

Lesser Black-backed Gulls adding flavour to the salt

A really Black-bellied, Grey Plover

 Little Stint

Also notable this week has been the return of one of the hybrid Little x Western Reef Egrets that have been a feature of the Tavira area for several years.  We went months without seeing one and had assumed that the regular birds had perished but it looks as though one has survived and may be going to spend another winter here.

Looking ahead, apart from guiding, there is fieldwork to be done for the Portuguese Atlas of Wintering and Migratory Birds, there will soon be a pelagic trip, some time will be spent with ringers and some will be devoted to photography.  It’s going to be busy and it’s going to be exciting!  Oh, yes, we almost forgot – June is going to Colombia on Tuesday!

Wet in Portugal, Dry in Spain

With a freak storm damaging the terminal building at Faro airport and water up to the tops of our wellies in the street outside, there seems little doubt that summer in the Algarve is truly over. Daytime temperatures which only a short while ago were reaching 25ºC are now struggling to reach 18ºC. No matter what the temperature, putting the clocks back an hour seems to be a signal to our Portuguese friends to change into their winter plumage and no doubt we will soon be joining them.

With so much wind and rain, opportunities for birding have been limited but last weekend we did manage a trip across the border into Spain in the hope of finding some birds to photograph in Doñana. Unfortunately, we came away disappointed. We saw plenty of birds and a reasonable variety of species but because the area is still so very dry we weren’t able to get close enough to anything to even think about pointing a camera. In fact most of the birds we saw were concentrated in just three areas: the Cañada de Rianzuela, the Caño del Guadiamar and the Isla Mayor ricefields. Everywhere else was bone dry and birdless.

Maybe we shouldn’t be disappointed by a day that included seeing nine raptor species (including Spanish Imperial Eagle), thousands of ducks (including Marbled Duck that we just don’t see in the Algarve), Cranes, a flock of maybe 1,000 Black-winged Stilts being terrorised by a Peregrine Falcon and Lesser Short-toed Lark (more difficult to see in the Algarve now since the access restrictions at Castro Marim). But the fact is that by the end of October and after a fair amount of rain we were expecting better of ‘Europe’s most important wetland’. The people we saw at the JAV Centre who were taking the official tour in two of those big green Doñana buses had almost certainly seen fewer birds than we had and seemed to be losing interest.

It’s somewhat ironic that earlier in the week we managed to see, during a fairly leisurely day of photography during which we travelled no more than a couple of kilometres from Tavira town centre, more species than we could find in Doñana. And we had an extra two hours in bed! One of the days perhaps we’ll try for 90 species around the town – it might just be possible.

Meanwhile, the rain has definitely improved conditions for photography here, providing pools of fresh water where waders and gulls come to drink and to bathe. All we need then is some sunshine and off we go...

Ruddy Turnstone

Ringed Plover

Curlew Sandpiper

Little Stint

Common Snipe

Black-winged Stilt

Common Sandpiper

Tavira and beyond

The weather has been pretty discouraging this week and there was even a day when we didn't go birding! Really - that bad!

Mostly we have been enjoying the wonderful selection of birds on our doorstep here in Tavira but we've also been to Olhão, looking for unusual gulls at the 'docapesca', to Sagres, Cape St Vincent and Martinhal, to Altura, to Fuseta and to the 'top of the Algarve' at Fóia.

Radar, TV, radio and telephone installations on Fóia

In the Cape St Vincent/Sagres area we were pleased to find that there were still plenty of raptors; a Peregrine Falcon, lots of Common Kestrels and Common Buzzards but also ten or more Booted Eagles and at least one Short-toed Eagle. The whole area is full of birds: flocks of Lapwings, Golden Plovers, Skylarks, Corn Buntings, Spotless Starlings, Goldfinches, Linnets and Meadow Pipits; Jackdaws and Choughs; Thekla Larks, Black Redstarts, Blue Rock Thrushes and more.

Short-toed Eagle

We also found Blue Rock Thrush on Fóia but our main target there was its cousin the Ring Ouzel. There were at least half a dozen of them, birds apparently of the central and southern European race, Turdus torquatus alpestris. They were extremely active and difficult to count, chasing each other around from one berry-laden tree to another, as if there weren't enough berries to go around. It was fun to watch but frustrating that, even if there had been enough light, we weren't able to get close enough for a photograph.

Around Tavira and Santa Luzia, we have at least 24 wader species in the saltpans and tidal channels, plus Greater Flamingos, Spoonbills, White Storks and the usual six species of gulls. Among the ducks, we have seen up to seven Common Shelducks; Sandwich Terns are common and one or two Caspian Terns can usually be found. A single Black-necked Grebe seems to have settled in to one particular lagoon and the hybrid Western Reef x Little Egret continues, also very faithful to one favourite channel. Bluethroats and Kingfishers provide regular flashes of colour. Raptors here this week have included a Black-winged Kite and a smart-looking male Hen Harrier.

Little Stint

Common Kingfisher

White Stork

The forecast seems to be for a further period of mixed weather with heavy rain on several days next week. No doubt we'll be doing our best to dodge the showers as usual.

The Last Few Days...

For us, highlights of the last week or so in the Eastern Algarve have been a Black Kite and more than 20 Slender-billed Gulls at Castro Marim, three Black-crowned Night-Herons and about 60 Stone-curlews just outside Tavira and two Penduline Tits and two Griffon Vultures near the Spanish border.

We’ve spent quite a lot of time sitting in the car photographing waders and we’ve also been trying to get some better shots of the local Bluethroats. There seem to be three or possibly four different Bluethroats in quite a small area but so far they have ignored the perch we provided for them, leaving it to a very obliging Sardinian Warbler to pose on.






The weather has taken a turn for the autumnal, temperatures still 20° and above but for a few days now we have regularly had a stiff breeze blowing. Yesterday we made the long trip out to Cape St Vincent (which seems to have a climate of its own!) and suffered a wet and windy morning there before retreating back to Alvor and then to Lagoa dos Salgados where the weather was much better.

From the lighthouse we watched countless Northen Gannets passing just offshore, the majority of them adults, gleaming white against the grey sea. A few Cory’s Shearwaters also went by. Before the weather closed in completely we did see a couple of distant Griffon Vultures, a handful of Common Buzzards and a Hen Harrier but really it wasn’t a morning for raptor passage. Four Ring Ouzels were probably the 'best' birds seen.

At Alvor there was a selection of the usual common wader species, a Water Pipit and just a single Greater Flamingo. A Water Rail was making a lot of noise but typically remained hidden.

Lagoa dos Salgados has recently been drained again but still had a decent number of birds to offer. A Peregrine Falcon was sat on a post in the middle of the dry lagoon, a Marsh Harrier was patrolling and what appeared to be a late female Montagu’s Harrier was also hunting along the far shore. There were about 20 each of Spoonbills and Cormorants and at least 50 Grey Herons. Other than a flock of 30 or so Northern Lapwings there were just a few waders including a single Golden Plover.

Waders again

More 'admin' the last couple of days while the weather has been wet and windy but staying home has not been all bad news. At lunchtime on Monday we heard a Wryneck calling in the trees outside and when we went to look for it we found there were actually two of them. We were only out there for a few minutes but could see that the trees were full of newly arrived Blackcaps. Today a Black-shouldered Kite(or should that be Black-winged Kite?) was hovering out there briefly but was quickly carried off on the wind.

We did manage to get out for a couple of hours late on Monday afternoon to have a look at the local waders around Tavira. There were no rarities but plenty of birds to watch, photograph and enjoy.

Lagoa dos Salgados and more

Back in the Algarve and yesterday we headed for Lagoa dos Salgados. With a new camera to try out we concentrated mostly on the waders including a surprising Buff-breasted Sandpiper, the first time we have seen this species in Portugal. The camera is a Canon 50D and there's hardly been time yet to read the manual but here are a few 'first attempts':

European Golden Plover

Ringed Plover

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Osprey

Dunlin

Little Stint

Today we were around the Cape St Vincent area in the morning where Northern Wheatears and Pied Flycatchers were the most numerous passerine migrants. A Golden Oriole was an unexpected find but otherwise we saw the usual suspects including Red-billed Chough, Blue Rock Thrush and a flock of 19 Little Bustards. We had lunch at the raptor watchpoint but in our short time there saw only a Hen Harrier and a handful of Booted Eagles.

On the way back we stopped for an hour or so at the Alvor Estuary where we had an enjoyable walk and saw the expected Greater Flamingos, Spoonbill and a selection of waders that included Greenshank and Little Stint.

Tavira saltpans

We spent a couple of hours or so this afternoon around the saltpans here in Tavira. The area forms part of the Parque National da Ria Formosa, designated a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. It's a wonderful place to see wading birds and we can routinely see more than 20 species here in the winter months and at migration times. Just now most of the pans are dry and wader numbers are relatively low but in our short visit this afternoon we still managed to find 17 species.

They say that salt was harvested in the Tavira area as long ago as 2,000 BC and the expertise required to produce high quality salt, flor de sal as it is called here, is passed down from generation to generation. Today we were pleased to see work being done to prepare the pans for this year's production and we hope that it won't be long before the pans are flooded again and providing feeding areas for the many migrant waders that will be passing through here in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, we managed to photograph a few of the current 'residents'.