Algarve Autumn Update

After our trip to Bulgaria we had only a few days in the UK before we returned to the Algarve.  We expected October to be a busy month and it certainly was!

October is always a month that produces rarities in the Algarve.  This year has been no exception although the suspicion must be that several of them are birds that have returned for at least a second visit here.  Surely this must be the case for the Rock Pipit at Porto do Baleeira, the Ring-necked Duck(s) at the ETAR de Vilamoura and probably the Marsh Sandpiper at Marinha do Grelha.  Still, it’s always good to see old friends.

Rock Pipit

Most photographed bird of the month (judged from appearances on Facebook) must be a Snow Bunting that was a surprise find at Alvor that gained many admirers.  As well as being a particularly attractive bird, this is not an easy species to see in the Algarve, one we have seen here only once, back in 2012.

Snow Bunting - this one from 2012

Also much photographed eventually was an American Golden Plover at Quinta de Marim although when we went to follow up on the initial report we were the only ones there – a typical Algarve twitch!  Interest in it did increase in subsequent days and it was present for at least two weeks.

American Golden Plover

Possibly the most surprising rarity has been the single Pink-footed Goose that was first seen mid-month.  This was the first of this species recorded in the Algarve and it has remained in the Sagres area at least until the end of the month but has sometimes been elusive.

A couple of Olive-backed Pipits have been seen and several Yellow-browed Warblers, encouraging us to look carefully at the numerous Meadow Pipits and Phylloscopus warblers that have been arriving even though those two rarities are probably more likely to be identified by their calls.

At this time of year there is a tendency for rarities to be found in the Sagres area in the extreme south-west.  At least in part this is probably the result of an increased number of birders in that area during the migration season.  The annual birdwatching festival brings visitors from far and wide with raptors being the particular attraction.  More than 20 raptor species were reported during the month including Golden, Bonelli’s & Spanish Imperial Eagles and Rüppell's Vultures.  We saw about 400 Griffon Vultures during one of our visits there but only from such a distance that any Rüppell's amongst them were impossible to pick out.

Griffon Vultures

This has been the first autumn for several years when we haven’t managed to take a boat trip to look for seabirds.  Reports suggest that it hasn’t been a vintage year for seabird passage but the Long-tailed Skua photographed on 12th October and the Sabine’s Gull on the 18th would both certainly have been nice to see.  Many of those who have ventured out to sea have been rewarded with some excellent cetaceans including Fin & Humpback Whales.  As it is, we have had to content ourselves with watching distant Cory’s & Balearic Shearwaters from the cliff top at Cabo de São Vicente.

In the past, our friends from Belvide Ringers in the UK have trapped and ringed a few rarities here during their annual autumn visits.  Common Yellowthroat, Aquatic & Paddyfield Warblers and Common Rosefinches spring immediately to mind!  This year they were here for two weeks, one spent as usual in the Parque Ambiental de Vilamoura and the other spent ringing waders at Quinta de Marim.  We spent several hours with them at both locations and although there were no rarities it was as always educational to see so many birds at close quarters.

 Wryneck

Penduline Tit

When we haven’t been guiding we’ve spent time birding around our local patch, the Tavira/Santa Luzia saltpans.  It’s not unusual to see 20 or more wader species during a visit here as well as six gull species and at least two terns.  There have been hundreds of Audouin’s Gulls, many of them with colour rings and we have reported quite a few.  Most have been birds from the Algarve breeding colony on the Ilha da Barreta but we have also seen ART8, a bird ringed in 2005 on the Isla de Alborán in Spain that we have now seen about a dozen times over the years.   The number of Slender-billed Gulls also increases year after year - it’s amazing to think that only quite recently this species was treated as a rarity in Portugal!  If ever people we meet here suggest they’re not keen on gulls we try to convert them by showing readily identifiable and attractive Slender-billed & Audouin’s Gulls.

 Greenshank

 Spotted Redshank

 Whimbrel

 Ruddy Turnstone

 Slender-billed Gull

Audouin's Gull

Reservoir at Álvares - almost dry!

We’ve also had a couple of trips to see Great Bustards in the Castro Verde area.  Visiting this area has underlined the fact that the southern part of Portugal is suffering from a severe drought.  A favourite site, the reservoir at Álvares that stores water to irrigate a huge olive plantation is currently reduced to just a small ‘puddle’ and passing by the Barragem de Odeleite, on the way north, we saw the water level there lower than we have ever seen it.  And this is the reservoir that supplies mains water to most of the Eastern Algarve.  We really do need to have a seriously wet winter!  Something to look forward to?

Vilamoura & Quinta do Lago

Well that 10-day forecast certainly proved to be right! In fact, we've just experienced probably the worst prolonged spell of weather that we've known during our time here in Portugal. We've had a week of torrential rain, thunderstorms and quite severe gales. Just when people were starting to worry about low water levels in the reservoirs, we've probably had half the year's total rainfall dumped on us in a matter of a few days!

We have managed to get out birding once or twice but until today it's mostly been around Tavira. At last, today was promised to be a day without rain and we set off early to the Parque Ambiental de Vilamoura. As we have commented before, this wonderful wetland area with its extensive reedbeds is an important site for breeding, migrating and wintering birds and is surely deserving of some formal protection. Instead it is threatened by further development of the sort that has already claimed much of the surrounding area and made Vilamoura one of the most unattractive places in the Algarve.

Although the weather has been very wet it has remained quite warm and there is plenty of insect life about so it wasn't a complete surprise to see about two dozen hirundines feeding over one of the pools. Crag Martins we expect, but it was a surprise to see them out-numbered this morning by House Martins. With Barn Swallows also present, it was difficult to get an exact count of each species but House Martins probably made up half the total. As many as seven species of herons and egrets have been seen in the Parque Ambiental recently but today we managed to find only four of them. We did get good views of several Penduline Tits and also in the reeds were a few Yellow-backed (or Black-headed) Weavers.

We spent the afternoon at Quinta do Lago, another area that has been sacrificed to golfing tourism. Fortunately, what remains is still attractive to birds and the lake here is one of the most popular birding sites in the Algarve, known as 'the' place to see Purple Swamp-hen, Glossy Ibis and Little Bittern. Today we managed to see two out of the three.

Although we had no rain, we didn't see the sun either! So it wasn't really a great day for photography. Still we couldn't resist taking a few:

Chiffchaff

Purple Swamp-hen

Grey Plover

White Stork - nesting on camouflaged phone mast

Booted Eagle

Penduline Tit

Common Snipe

Ludo & Quinta do Lago

Had it not been for the cold north westerly wind, today would have been just about a perfect birding day. The sun shone from a cloudless sky throughout and we recorded 87 species of birds. Once again we were at Ludo and Quinta do Lago. Did we think there might still be a chance that last week’s Dusky Warbler was in the area? Of course we did. Did we find it? Well, no but it didn’t really matter.

Dave and Sue Smallshire were with us, both of them dragonfly enthusiasts so it wasn’t just birds we were looking at. As a result, the walk that sometimes takes us five hours to complete today took just over six hours!

We started by climbing to a viewpoint from where we hoped, based on previous experience, that we might see some raptors; we saw two pale phase Booted Eagles almost overhead immediately we reached the top of the bank and a Peregrine Falcon followed just a few minutes later.
Then we began our walk, passing by a reedbed where a Penduline Tit was first heard and then seen very well at close range. A little further on we found a juvenile Black Stork and while we were watching that a Purple Heron appeared - two species that we definitely wouldn’t have predicted in the second week of November. It was that sort of day!

Glossy Ibis and Little Bittern both showed at Lago do São Lourenço, there were several good views of Bluethroats, most of the expected wildfowl and waders were there, plus Iberian Green Woodpecker, flocks of Azure-winged Magpies and lots more besides.

So there was no disappointment about the Dusky Warbler, nor about the Osprey that we apparently missed.