At first light this morning, I went to see my old friend the male Eagle Owl not far from where I am now at Vila do Bispo. After hearing a few calls, I managed to locate him but he was extremely well concealed and barely showing at all. In the same valley, a Red-necked Nightjar flew through and as it became fully light, a Blue Rock Thrush was seen. Later on at Cabranosa, raptors were few and far between. A couple of Short-toed Eagles passed over close and showed well for us. Three Honey Buzzards and a Peregrine were noted and a distant falcon was thought to be an Eleonora's Falcon, by the assembled team. A nice surprise was a lone Bee-eater which remained in the area for an hour or so. Two very distant Bonelli's Eagles were watched for some time but they didn't approach Cabranosa. Only two Booted Eagles, one pale and one dark hung around in the afternoon. Sparrowhawks numbered around five, including this female. Later, back at the house, 2 Peregrines were seen over the fields to the rear and a late Alpine Swift flew over also.
Soon I'll be moving along to the Sagres Peninsula so I took the opportunity to visit Salgados once more. I will probably be back in the winter when, the Tawny Pipits will have been replaced by Richard's Pipits and many more wildfowl will be present. My walk along the lane this morning revealed a smart male Common Redstart. A Great Spotted Woodpecker flew by, a Little Owl called and Garden Warblers were the only small birds in the bushes. At Salgados, I walked the track North to check that the Ortolons are still around as some friends are coming to look for them shortly. I found four Ortolons in their favourite olive tree and on the ground in the stubble field. Also in the field, the flock of Short-toed Larks had returned and numbered eleven birds altogether. They were difficult to locate as their colour exactly matched their surroundings. Three of the Short-toed Lark flock. Two Northern Wheatears, a male Stonechat and two yellow Wagtails (ssp Flava) were also in the small stubble field. A Peregrine was seen flying in the distance. On the marsh, more waders seemed to be enjoying the muddy islands and I added Red Knot and Little Stint to my tally. Just after noon, an Osprey arrived which I have not seen before as it clearly carried colour rings on its legs. It circled Salgados a few times before climbing and leaving in an Easterly direction. As I was also about to leave, I noticed a high flying harrier which appeared quite long tailed. It came a little lower and I was pleased to see it was a juvenile Montagu's Harrier. Revealing a beautiful juvenile plumage, the harrier flew around twice before heading out towards the sea.
Met with Chris and Sue today, who join the band of raptor watchers and spent a lovely couple of hours in their company. Overhead the Honey Buzzards continue to arrive, a stiff South-Easterly was blowing and it kept the birds high up. Occasionally we were treated to a lower flying bird and the buzzards showed a wide variety of juvenile plumages, as they are known to do. Together with the Honey Buzzards, we picked up the following:- 3 light and 1 dark Booted Eagles, 1 Black Kite, 1 Peregrine and a distant adult Bonelli's Eagle. The best I could get of the Bonelli's Eagle.
With the present heat, not too much birding is possible but several short visits have been made and some interesting birds have been found. I stepped outside two mornings ago and heard a Wryneck calling in the garden. I found it on the overhead power line! New in around the garden are 3 Spotted Flycatchers. Pied Flycatchers are always present, as are the Red-rumped Swallows. A drive up the Odelouca valley revealed little in the way of birds but, I was rather taken with the amount of dragon-flies and a couple of huge Monarch butterflies. This image is, I think, a Red-veined drop winged damselfly. Fantastic news for Salgados lagoon as the proposed, massive development project seems to have been kicked out again and, a project is to be undertaken to further research and hopefully protect this important wildlife area. Northern Wheatears are around in small numbers throughout the fields. The Ortolon Buntings, only 3 yesterday, are still showing in the North field. Late yesterday, I went out with Carl Hawker to a fascinating area to which he alone has access. In the first couple of hundred metres, he found me a 'lifer' in another introduced species - Yellow-crowned Bishop. As usual, the male is a stunning colour! We saw around eight in a small area, includings some females as well (below). Glossy Ibis number many hundreds at this site and always find good resting areas. Skulking Eurasian Reed Warblers were more difficult to locate, but showed eventually. On the wet areas, Common and Green Sandpipers were seen along with an incredible number of Wood Sandpipers. We counted twenty three altogether which is a very high count over here. Large numbers of Common Snipe frequent this wet area also. Two Marsh Harriers were seen and a pair of Black-shouldered Kites passed over.
It's half past eight in the evening, 25 degrees and I'm sitting in the garden, writing up my blog by the light of the Moon. I am so grateful for the 62 'likes' on Twitter, with regard to my Sub-alpine Warbler, I thought I would include a few more images of presumably the same bird. This morning it was in the garden, feeding on insects in the hibiscus bush, together with an Iberian Chiffchaff. It was back to Foz do Almargem later and, a more intensive look at the roosting gulls. Approximately half the roosting gull flocks. The Lagoon at Almargem. The sea can just be seen, beyond the raised beach area. There were five Slender-billed Gulls, which I haven't seen West of Tavira before. 3 Slender-billed and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. 'Argentatus' Herring Gull. Herring Gull with Lesser Black-backed Gull (left). Adult Audouin's Gull 1st summer Mediterranean Gull. ........ and one of five Glossy Ibis.
Along the lane this morning, the Red-rumped Swallows aren't showing signs of leaving just yet. 1st winter Common Redstarts are always around but proving very difficult to photograph, hiding in bushes for long periods. Chiffchaffs, probably Iberian at this time of year, are seen occasionally around here. The star bird in the lane was, without doubt this immature Sub-alpine Warbler. Showing very little colouring yet and with a habit of cocking its tail frequently, I daren't think it was a Red-breasted Flycatcher. The faint red orbital ring, within the white eye ring eventually gave it away and I was pleased to see my first Sub-alpine of the year.
I felt that it was going to be really hot today and ventured to the coast at Salgados, for a cooling breeze off the sea if nothing else. Instead of 'just another day at the office', it turned out to be an excellent day at my new office!! What was until last year my bogey bird - I found my second Ortolon Bunting here this morning. At the end of the track running North from the viewing screen, I arrived at the field where last year's Sociable Lapwing resided and where I found Short-toed Lark and Tawny Pipit the other day. I didn't see any Tawny Pipits but several Wheatears were running about and 3 Whinchats were dropping from long grass to feed on the ground. There were also 3 Chiffchaff feeding in the same manner which were quite early arrivals. I carried on scanning the field for larks and noticed a small bird not moving as a lark would. When its head lifted, I realised I had connected with an Ortolon Bunting! The 1st winter Ortolon remained on the ground as I rattled off images, struggling with heat haze until finally, a Wheatear chased it off, and it landed two trees away from where I was standing in the shade. Delighted!! I returned to the car for a rest and watched an Osprey pass through without stopping. There is less and less water here now so perhaps the Osprey is fishing elsewhere. I then noticed a large flock of White Storks gliding in from a Westerly direction and as they first circled the lagoon, every other bird took flight. I've never seen large numbers of White Storks at Salgados and felt these were migratory birds. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a juvenile Egyptian Vulture attached to the flock of storks and, I wondered just how far they had traveled. In all, there were 62 White Storks. They circled the lagoon three times before drifting off in a North-easterly direction. Presumably, this wasn't Gibraltar and they were going to try again!! I have no doubt this is an excellent sighting record for Salgados.
Before I begin the day's outing, an early walk along the lane showed a slight change from the Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers of late. The fig trees frequented by the Redstarts had been taken over by 3 Garden Warblers this morning. A more unusual visitor was what I took to be a Reed Warbler. This individual looked rather different to the ones I have seen in previous Autumns and, considering I am staying out on farmland, miles from any significant water sources, I wonder if this an African Reed Warbler sub-species. This sub-species is being found in Iberia and although I didn't hear a call, I am just a bit puzzled over the extended white lores, the grey legs and most of all, the white almost yellowy look to the underside. I would be grateful for any thoughts on this bird. Thanks to a friend down here, I have a positive i.d. of a Melodious Warbler. The Red-rumped Swallows were busy first thing and the flock had increased to around 30 birds. It was a wonderful opportunity to sit on a wall and watch them to and fro from the power lines above. On the way to Foz do Almargem, I remembered once visiting the Etang (waterworks) at Vilamoura and dropped in their for a while. A small water channel runs parallel with the lane and was busy with Reed Warblers and Cetti's Warblers. A Common Sandpiper was feeding there and Grey Wagtails came in with young. The trees lining the channel were where I found a fair number of Black-headed Weavers, one of the introduced species in Portugal. Female Black-headed Weaver - very different to the male! FOZ DO ALMARGEM. This lagoon lies a few metres literally, behind the sea and the beach of Praia do Almargem. The site turned up a fairly impressive number of birds, certainly the most Little Grebes I have seen with a count of 63. 11 Spoonbills, 16 Little Egrets, 5 Glossy Ibis, 3 Grey Heron, 2 Black-winged Stilts, 40 Dunlin, 1 Redshank. 4 Kentish Plover, 1 Ringed Plover and 2 Wood Sandpipers. Wood Sandpiper. Among the Yellow-legged and Black-headed Gulls were 8 - 1st winter Little Terns which were good to see before their departure soon. Adult and young Glossy Ibis with Little Egret. On the other side of the approach road is an area of Stone Pine trees which was bristling with both Pied and Spotted Flycatchers. I added a few more species here, including 1 Crested Tit, Coal Tit, 3 Serin, 1 Whitethroat and 3 Short-toed Treecreepers moving from tree to tree.
My present location is around 5 kilometres inland from Salgados and on a quiet lane in the countryside. With a mix of smallholdings containing fig and olive orchards, a few interesting species are being found, including Red-rumped Swallows, Little Owl and the juvenile Woodchat Shrike shown below. It won't be long before the ten or so Red-rumped Swallows will be leaving as they fly around noisily and settle together on wires for long periods. Another nice find this morning was this female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker fifty metres from the apartment and, as I've said before, easier to find in the Algarve than in England. There are a few Summer visitors about, mostly Common Redstarts of which I've found six and, three Pied Flycatchers. At Salgados Lagoon, there was little change from yesterday except that, a Flamingo had arrived on the marsh and, at the front of the gull roost was a smart adult Audouin's Gull. I concentrated on the fields, noting more Wheatears, a Stonechat, 2 Whinchats and in the top field, a flock of 7 Short-toed Larks. Hoopoes were in 'flocks', thirteen counted together! Once an extremely rare find for me, I'm getting better at digging Tawny Pipits out of dry grassland and came across three today. Finally, not encountered everywhere in the Algarve, 5 Eurasian Magpies flew in together.
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