Once again, I'm in familiar territory and looking forward to another long spell of good birding. Having arrived late yesterday, the next two weeks or so will be spent in the area around Guia before moving to the Sagres peninsula. Guia is very close to the Salgados Lagoon (Pera Marsh) and I had a short visit there today. The temperature inland at Guia is around 30C but an onshore breeze at Salgados made strolling very pleasant. The water level in the Lagoon is very low, too low for Flamingos of which there were none but, it looks ideal for getting a nice rare wader or two! Since my visit coincided with the hottest part of the day, pictures of waders were turning out poorly however, I was pleased to see 3 Curlew Sandpipers and a Ruff, in with the usual Kentish and Ringed Plovers, Stilts and Black-tailed Godwits. A large gull roost was present in which I saw a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull and two resting Caspian Terns, both adults. The dusty track on the West side of the Lagoon had 2 Crested Lark, 1 Whinchat, 1 Northern Wheatear, 1 Yellow Wagtail (iberiae) and 3 Tawny Pipits. This particular track and adjacent field is good for Tawny Pipit in Summer and Richard's Pipit in Winter. Adult Tawny Pipit with slightly streaked breast and all the nice facial markings too. An obliging Fan-tailed Warbler on the boardwalk.
Tomorrow, Ellie the dog completes her long overland journey and I'm sure she'll be more than keen to stretch her legs, as she joins me birding in the Algarve. It's that time in September when I start to get ready for Southern Portugal and, among other delights, the autumn raptor migration at the Sagres peninsula.
The Sagres Bird Festival runs from the 4th to 8th October this year and I am looking forward to seeing the friends I have met, over the last few years. Hopefully, there will be some wonderful encounters with the very varied bird life which exists all along the Algarve and neighboring regions. A beautiful start to the morning, except to say that when you visit the coast in the Southern North Sea, the view is now predominantly one of wind turbines!! The enthusiasm for today's visit followed the finding of not one, but two Ortolon Buntings yesterday by some fortunate birders. A species I have still not seen in the UK despite an almost annual occurrence at Spurn. Most of the morning was spent searching likely areas but the Ortolon was not apparent today and remains one of my most difficult birds to find. There didn't seem to be much in the way of migrant arrivals, the wind had not turned to the North-East as hoped and the only birds in reasonable numbers seemed to be Whinchats which were well distributed throughout the entire area. Warblers were in short supply also with remaining Common and Lesser Whitethroats, a Willow Warbler and several Chiffchaff. Common Whitethroat. I faired quite well with raptors in the morning. After seeing two Short-eared Owls on Kilnsea Wetlands and a further one on the Humber saltmarsh, it was a large female Merlin that scattered the Goldfinch and Linnet flocks. At Sammy's Point, a Common Buzzard was sitting around on bushes and a male Marsh Harrier passed through West to East. A Peregrine was just finishing off a Wood Pigeon before flying out to the estuary. Two Sparrowhawks were seen and with very little breeze, the local Kestrels were hovering over the stubble fields. The early afternoon was particularly quiet but later, I found a Redstart at the Riding School and then at least three Pied Flycatchers began to appear in the Crown and Anchor car park. I do like Pied Fly's and these kept me busy for some time as they circuited the car park trees, feeding constantly. A young Pheasant, I assume!
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