Yesterday was spent in Lagos, a few domestic tasks, a walk along the waterfront and a nice lunch. Before leaving for Sagres, I called in at Lagos airfield and checked out the old saltpans there. I have visited this pool many times and have never seen Greater Flamingos here before. I counted 29 birds in all - a mix of adults and juveniles. There must be an adequate food supply as the flamingos were feeding constantly. I was reliably told by Chris and Sue that there were more new birds on Atalaia and it was there, I visited this morning. Sure enough, following the sunrise, Willow Warblers began fluffing themselves up in the sunshine. There were approximately 20 Willow Warblers and 5 Chiffchaffs showing well in the line of bushes. I then found myself working a little harder as, the next few warblers were a little tricky. The early sunlight gave a strange impression to this female Subalpine Warbler. The next warbler was quite large and although sitting out in the open, was not immediately obvious as to its identity. The best clue came from the fact that behind the bird, you can make out the rear part of an adult Garden Warbler. Just starting to show a small grey neck patch led me to conclude this was a juvenile Garden Warbler. Also, the plain appearance, grey legs and short stout bill were helpful features. No problems with this 1w Pied Flycatcher, one of two seen in the hedge I was pleased to find another Nightingale skulking in the very bottom of the bushes. It was a long time before it showed well and remained very secretive. Only a matter of feet away from the Nightingale, a superb looking Reed Warbler showed very well and had a deep buff colour to the underparts. A female Sardinian Warbler was hunting insects on this cactus plant, completing the warbler count this morning. Other species seen in these bushes were - 1 Wheatear, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Redstart, 3 Stonechat, 3 Blackbird, 1 Turtle Dove, 8 House Sparrow, 1 Thekla's Lark.
Steve Strutt
3/10/2019 07:32:45 pm
I think I will need to have some early morning starts Comments are closed.
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