Alentejo again plus a Tavira walking tour

No two trips to the Castro Verde area are ever the same. Take last week for instance: on Monday we had really good looks at Griffon Vultures, flying and on the ground; just a few days later, we struggled to get more than a very distant view of a couple of birds in flight; on Monday there were plenty of Little Bustards to be seen, while on our second trip we didn't find any at all. On the other hand, we saw more raptors on the second trip, including Golden, Bonelli's and Spanish Imperial Eagles and our first Red Kite of the autumn.

Eurasian Griffon

Sometimes it's hard to account for such differences between visits that are just a few days apart but this week we can maybe point a finger at the calendar and see that Tuesday was a public holiday, celebrating the Implantação da República, a date that also marks the opening of the hunting season. From mid-August it is permitted to shoot migratory birds such as Turtle Doves but now Rabbits, Red-legged Partridges and probably Little Bustards, too, are fleeing for their lives and every other wild creature is keeping its head down. Hunting here is not just one or two people walking around with shotguns, its highly organised parties of heavily-armed men, out from the towns with their dogs, 'hides' made from straw bales to shoot from, tell-tale groups of vehicles parked in unusual, isolated locations. They take over the countryside and who knows what they shoot?

In between our trips to the Alentejo we agreed to help out our friends at Another Level by leading one of their guided walks starting in Tavira. It came as a relief and a surprise that people turned up for this walk carrying binoculars and so very quickly we were able to treat it as a 'birding walk'. We were out for something like seven hours and didn't carry a telescope or any heavy camera gear but we still managed to record 68 bird species. The highlight amongst these was a Black-winged Kite, the day's only raptor. We also took a few photos using the Panasonic Lumix FZ50 that is ideal for long walks such as this in that it weighs next to nothing.

Praia da Terra Estreita - a lovely, sunny day - nobody on the beach!

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Not all of the birds were easy to identify!

No sign all day of the rain that was forecast - no surprise there!

The "anchor cemetery" - remnants of the tuna fishing industry

Bougainvillea - starting to fade a little but still a colourful sight

No train ride for us but a good way to get to Praia do Barril

Coming off the island

We walked through areas of cultivation with vines...

...olives...

and pomegranates

Speckled Wood

Greater Flamingos at Santa Luzia saltpans

Crimson Speckled

Praia do Barril

Just a short walk this morning to Praia do Barril, our local beach. Many people who go there use the narrow-gauge railway to cover the short distance from Pedras d'el Rei but by doing so they miss out on the birds - we prefer to walk!

There are always waders to be seen but at this time of year the trees and bushes can be good for migrant passerines. This morning we found just a handful - two Spotted Flycatchers, a Chiffchaff, two Garden Warblers, a Melodious Warbler and a couple of Northern Wheatears.


From the beach itself only Northern Gannets were passing close enough to the shore for safe identification.

With our binoculars and camera, we somehow felt we should avoid the section of beach that has been designated 'Praia Naturista'.

By the time we were leaving at 9.30am the beach was filling up and we were walking very much against the flow of traffic as we returned to the car park.

A Day of Sunshine

We had more heavy rain at the weekend, there was even a hail storm on Sunday and, only 150km away to the east, Seville experienced its first snow in 50 years. Today it is not only pouring with rain but the wind is gale force. Amazingly, amidst all this, yesterday was dry, bright and sunny and the temperature reached 18°C - this is climate change on a daily basis!

One of the inevitable side-effects of all this rain is that paths and trails everywhere are horribly muddy and so Praia do Barril was the obvious choice for us to have a walk in the sunshine. Along the pathway that leads from Pedras d'el Rei to the beach we saw the usual common wader species, including Greenshank, Redshank, Grey Plover and Whimbrel. Birds here are quite confiding and it's difficult to resist a few photographs. Even the Bluethroats seem more inclined to sit up and pose here than they do elsewhere.

Greenshank

Bluethroat

There were few birds on the beach itself, just the odd Kentish Plover, plus a few Sanderlings and gulls. A monkfish, washed up on the sand, provided food for one Yellow-legged Gull and when it had finished feeding it washed its bill in the surf. When the gull had left, a Sanderling moved in and also fed on the monkfish.

Kentish Plover

Yellow-legged Gull

Yellow-legged Gull

Sanderling with monkfish

Sandwich Tern

Off-shore there were the usual Gannets, a few Razorbills and several Sandwich Terns but elsewhere along the coast there have been sightings of Leach's Storm-petrels and further north a Madeiran Storm-petrel was blown inland. It's so rough here at the moment that we half expect one to fly past the window any minute!

Changing Weather!

It's been a week when we have had to adapt our birding activities to the ever-changing weather conditions. We've had 'sunny & warm', we've had 'cloudy & warm', for two days it was 'sunny & really cold' and then, yesterday, we had 'torrential rain with winds gusting to gale force'.

Twice we have taken advantage of the good weather to have nice long walks along Praia do Barril and Praia da Terra Estreita, wonderful beaches that form part of the Ilha de Tavira. The trail to the beach crosses saltmarsh and at low tide it's a good place to get close looks at waders, such as Whimbrel, that are obviously quite used to seeing people pass by. At this time of year, we're fairly sure to find a Bluethroat or two and on Sunday we also saw a ringtail Hen Harrier.

Whimbrel

Out at sea there are usually plenty of Northern Gannets passing by. This week we've also seen several Razorbills, a Great Skua, a Caspian Tern and several Sandwich Terns as well as the usual gulls. On the beach there were just a few Sanderlings and a Kentish Plover, although we did also find a few dead birds - a Gannet, three Razorbills, several gulls, a Purple Swamp-hen and what we think was a Manx Shearwater (not much left of it!).

Praia da Terra Estreita

Sanderling

We spent both of the cold days just birding around Tavira, staying in the car most of the time (we must be getting soft!) and taking a few photographs. Mostly it was the usual subjects: Sardinian Warbler, Goldfinch, Stonechat, Little Egret, Zitting Cisticola, Bluethroat, etc. There must be 150 or more Audouin's Gulls here now and it's still fairly easy to go and find a Slender-billed Gull or two; Stone-curlews remain in their usual place and have now been joined by a few Golden Plovers. Of course, the saltpans are still full of birds - about 20 species of waders, Spoonbills, Flamingos and an assortment of ducks.

Stonechat

Bluethroat

The highlight of our week was, of course, the day we spent in the Castro Verde/Mértola area. As well as the Sociable Lapwing that we found near Benviuda we saw an adult Spanish Imperial Eagle, about 70 Great Bustards, a dozen or so Black-bellied Sandgrouse, plenty of Common Cranes and most of the other expected species. It was good to see that quite a few White Storks have already returned to their enormous nests.

White Stork with Red Kite in attendance

Sociable Lapwing

Great Bustard

The 10-day forecast suggests that we might be in for quite a lot more rain. We do need it but unfortunately it might mean that we don't get out quite so much next week! We'll see...