Yesterday's early start at Atalaia was very uneventful, with an almost total clearout of migrants. It was left to the resident Choughs, Kestrels and Thekla's Larks to provide the sightings and, this Peregrine circled the headland as it does most mornings. Back at the apartment it was a slightly different story. I stepped outside to look for the local Booted Eagle and found this Black Kite had made an early appearance. As I was writing that one up, the kite was followed by this incredibly low pass, made by an Egyptian Vulture. This is quite an unusual record, in that this vulture is within the sub-adult range and must therefore be around two to three years old. Normally around Sagres, the Egyptian Vultures seen are all dark juveniles so, the reason for this vultures appearance is quite unclear. The nearest image I can find in 'Helm's Identification of European Raptors' would show this bird to be in its third year, as the bill has turned yellow and the juvenile brown colouration is all but gone. At Cabranosa, many of the juvenile Honey Buzzards had not left during the North winds and some were in the air early on. It was great to see Chris and Sue together with Brian and Pam back here yesterday - members of the Cabranosa Crew, as we call ourselves and all keen to get stuck in to the analysis of what was going on in the skies above us. For those who were out yesterday, the fresh wind kept the raptors at low level, barely over the tree tops at times. This gave us the best possible views, particularly of the many Booted Eagles fighting against the wind. With small birds in short supply, a brief visit by a juvenile Woodchat Shrike to Carl's pond, made a welcome sighting. After lunch, a few new birds appeared including a Black Kite and a number of Short-toed Eagles. Short-toed Eagle 'head on'. This morning at Cabranosa with a light East to South-East wind now, some of the recent Honey Buzzards were moving out and with them, the Booted Eagles also. By late morning, what appeared to be fresh birds were arriving. I don't have the totals but there were many more Short-toed Eagles and Booted Eagles. A Peregrine was seen and a good number of Sparrowhawks too. I was watching a group of four Booted Eagles which had at least three Sparrowhawks with them, when I noticed the largest hawk was, in fact a juvenile Goshawk. This could be told by the vertical barring on the chest, as opposed to horizontal, in Sparrowhawk. On the ground, I had the impression there were a few more birds coming in. A nice male Cirl Bunting was in the trees near the pond. A walk over the mound led me to hear what I thought was an Iberian Chiffchaff calling - 'see-u'. I found two birds calling to each other making them my first 'definites' this year. More greenish upperparts than Chiffchaff. Yellow supercilium leads in front of the eye - happy with that!
*** Late News - Visited Martinhal late this afternoon. The sea has come over the beach and made a large, sand-edged lagoon extending into a wet marsh area. Looks good for a few waders soon. *** September is the main month for Honey Buzzard passage, with juvenile birds arriving at Sagres. The strong winds yesterday meant the young raptors rested overnight in the woods surrounding Cabranosa. A short walk around my locality saw two Honey Buzzards, already in the air at 7-45 a.m. I came across a familiar pale Booted Eagle down a nearby lane. This was an excellent sighting as the eagle perched for a short time, before hunting the nearby fields again. Few small birds were around first thing, a female Blue Rock Thrush on a low building roof was singing intermittently. As I've probably mentioned before, I no longer need to scour cliff faces for Blue Rock Thrush. With ongoing coastal development, the birds have adopted these new habitats as suitable lookout points and are commonly found on building roofs. Back to the Honey Buzzards and this morning, there were excellent examples of the three main juvenile forms - light, medium and dark plumage variations. The Booted Eagle below was among twenty or so seen, with three dark form birds. Four Sparrowhawks were in the air and a Short-toed Eagle turned up around midday.
The Northerly wind which has been blowing for a few days now felt even stronger this morning. I wasn't very optimistic for a good raptor day, though 3 pale Booted Eagles were in the air fairly early. I knew one of them was the bird from the fields near the apartment, as it patrolled the same area again today. By 11-00 a.m. there were 2 juvenile Black Storks circling overhead and after lunch, I drove up to Cabranosa. Despite the wind, which was quite gusty on the watchpoint, Booted Eagles were picked up in various locations and the numbers were in the twenties. A similar number of Honey Buzzards began appearing all the time. As the afternoon progressed, all the raptors had circled the peninsula several times. Heading back into the North wind each time, little headway was being made and some of the Honey Buzzards were seen to drop into the trees, to rest. There were some wonderful colour variations in these juvenile birds, from the very dark form - ......... to the pale variants like this almost white individual seen at some distance. One of the two Black Storks which arrived today. Also noted this afternoon were a Short-toed Eagle, a Black Kite, a Peregrine, 5 Sparrowhawks and a Hen Harrier. 2 Ravens were in the area and a flock of around 40 Choughs flew over the watchpoint. 2 Mistle Thrushes were found in the woods.
The wind has been in the North for a couple of days now, quite fresh and gusty, not ideal for raptors. After yesterdays' clear out at Atalaia, I was surprised to find the bushes full up again this morning. Forty plus Willow Warblers were seen along with 7 Spotted Flycatchers, 4 Pied Flycatchers, 2 Redstarts, Garden Warbler, 2 Subalpine Warblers and a couple of Chiffchaffs.
I am checking every small migrant carefully as my Autumn target bird still hasn't emerged - Western Orphean Warbler. A few hours at Cabranosa was difficult in the windy conditions. I came across 4 Booted Eagles, 6 Short-toed Eagles, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Black Kite and 3 Egyptian Vultures. None of the birds were particularly close however, near the apartment, a pale Booted Eagle has been hunting the nearby fields and was keeping a close eye on Ellie the dog! My early start at Atalaia revealed a substantial clearout of small migrants, after the intense activity of the last week. The Sub-alpine Warblers continued to show well in the lower bushes and as one of my favourite warblers, I watched them for a while. Although there were many fewer birds, there were two new arrivals. Firstly, an Ortolon Bunting dropped into one of the larger bushes and showed for a few seconds only, before concealing itself in the bush. The second new bird was a Western Bonelli's Warbler. Showing only occasionally in a large tamarisk, it looked extremely white, alongside several Willow Warblers. It was particularly difficult to see other diagnostic plumage and, to get a decent image. So moving on to Cabranosa later, the clearout I had found at Atalaia also applied across the entire peninsula. The trees were now quiet, where there had been many flycatchers and redstarts. Turning my attention to the raptors, two pale form Booted Eagles were already over Cabranosa and followed shortly by a third pale bird. Very soon, a juvenile Black Stork appeared and joined the Booted Eagles, trying to work out their next direction. This Stork must have returned to us on the hill at least six times, I felt sorry for it as it tried again and again in quite a fresh North wind. There were seven Sparrowhawks seen, 2 Common Buzzards, 1 Honey Buzzard, 1 Hen Harrier, 1 sub-ad Egyptian Vulture, 1 juv Peregrine and 9 Booted Eagles in the time I watched (c1230 hrs).
As I was about to leave, the bird of the day turned up! A juvenile Eleonora's Falcon flew across the watchpoint at fairly close range. This is a good record for Cabranosa and as an adult falcon appeared a few days ago, this may not be the last one. I know I keep banging on about Atalaia but, I am still astounded at the range of species found here. At sunrise again, I was waiting for the new arrival migrants to emerge, sitting out on the bushes to warm up as they do each morning. The first obvious bird was a Hoopoe on one of the tall aloe vera stalks. On a similar 'tree', a female Blue Rock Thrush was singing away. The next encounter provided me with my closest views yet of a Golden Oriole! What appears to be a 1st summer male, this bird put on a stunning show around the trees. Even the Spotless Starlings were sharing the same tree. A few more images around the bushes, then a list of species there this morning. The following birds were seen over a 2 hour watch:-
Hoopoe, Blue Rock Thrush, Black Redstart, Tawny Pipit, Golden Oriole, Stonechat, Blackbird, Spotted Flycatcher, Kestrel, Sardinian Warbler, Thekla's Lark, Spotless Starling, Pied Flycatcher, Goldfinch, Redstart, Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Whitethroat, Whinchat, Sub-alpine Warbler, Red-rumped Swallow, Common Swift, Reed Warbler, Woodchat shrike, Willow Warbler, Melodious Warbler, Chiffchaff, House Sparrow, Collared Dove, Chough. ......then back for breakfast! A spectacular find by Georg Schreier yesterday, came in the form of a 1st winter Lesser Grey Shrike at Vale Santo. A bird normally found in Eastern Europe towards Asia, this 1st winter shrike was making a different migration route to Africa. The key identification features stand out well - lack of a white band over the eye, found on Iberian Grey Shrike. A broad depth to the bill with a curved upturn to the lower mandible. Long primary projections which showed at times when the shrike perched side on. Together with a handful of my Portuguese birding friends, we remade contact with the Lesser Grey Shrike this morning, though it remained distant across a field. This was my second record of this species, having seen one at Spurn many years ago now. I was delighted to be part of this superb record for Portugal. The shrike remained in the same field all day, feeding and having several favourite bushes to look out from. It almost appeared of lesser importance when a stunning juvenile Pallid Harrier flew through, early this morning - accounting for the rubbish images! This afternoon around Vale Santo the Pallid Harrier was still about, as was a Montagu's Harrier, up to 10 Booted Eagles and a few Black Kites. Two juvenile Woodchat Shrikes were in the same field as the Lesser Grey Shrike.
I arrived on Atalaia headland minutes before sunrise and parked up next to the row of bushes which can hold small migrants. This morning was no exception with the sun rising behind me, birds could be seen sitting out on the bushes everywhere. In fact, the number and variety of birds beginning to appear was quite staggering. The very first bush had what I thought was a large warbler, skulking in the dense, lower branches. In time, the bird started to appear and I was delighted to identify it as a Nightingale. I was not at all prepared for finding such a bird, first thing in the morning. A superb find, with its white eye ring, the rufous tail cocking frequently as it hopped through the bushes. Spotted Flycatchers were sitting on the bushes, as if warming up in the sun. Common Redstarts were moving more quickly around the headland. I counted several Sardinian Warblers, Chiffchaffs and a single Willow Warbler. A Sub-alpine Warbler was the next migrant to show itself, as I slowly walked the fifty yards or so of mixed bushes. What appeared to be a family of Whitethroats were feeding in a myrtle bush - two adults and two juveniles were seen. I turned around when I heard two Choughs calling and noticed a flock of 13 Grey Heron, passing over in a Westerly direction. Some of the Grey Heron flock. Towards the end of the row of bushes, a juvenile Woodchat Shrike was perched with striking plumage. The shrike remained here for a considerable time, probably waiting for the larger insects to appear. Northern Wheatears were numerous all over the headland. This one rested on a myrtle bush with another on the ground below. Thekla's Lark can be found on this headland and much of the Sagres peninsula. A few hours were spent at Cabranosa watch-point this afternoon. All the raptors seen were flying very high today and I only made an effort to record this Sparrowhawk, annoying a much larger Goshawk. ......while a Honey Buzzards flies over - that's Cabranosa.
While I was there, I saw the following - 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Goshawk, 2 Honey Buzzard, 3 Bonelli's Eagle, 5 Short-toed Eagle, 1 Montagu's Harrier and a Black Stork also flew at height. Perhaps my best find was, after hearing a slightly familiar call, the sight of a Crossbill flying across the watchpoint. There is a small influx of Crossbills at the moment from the North, which accounted for the presence of this bird. A further addition to my Algarve list and a great day altogether. A small piece of information for those birding this location, as I was again this morning. I found almost the same number of flycatchers plus a handful of common warblers and so turned my attention to the rough ground and land, East of the wood. It was here along with more flycatchers and Stonechats, that I found a smart Whinchat quite uncommon here. I went on to find 3 Redstarts including this superb male. The other two being first winter types. My best find was a Wryneck on the ground. One of the most popular and sought-after migrants which unfortunately stayed too briefly. So definitely another area worth taking into account when birding around Sagres.
The apartment sits in a prime location looking one way towards Cape St. Vincent, and the rear towards Raposeira and the wind farm high on the hill. It appears initially to be a great location to observe raptors passing overhead. Just outside my door are the remains of a Red-rumped Swallow nest which was visited by a juvenile bird yesterday evening. At sunrise this morning I was at Vale Santo farm, looking for two birds in particular - Tawny Pipit and Short-toed Lark. The fields before the farm had flocks of Corn Buntings, Linnets and individual Wheatears, every few yards. In a short space of time, I found two Tawny Pipits on the ground. The image is a rather orange colour as, straight after sunrise! Around the farm I didn't see any Short-toed Larks, only five juvenile Skylarks with Corn Buntings. At the pottery pinewood, I was greeted with both Pied and Spotted Flycatchers. Four Turtle Doves flew out as I made my way between the trees, flycatchers showing continuously. A Common Whitethroat, Sardinian Warbler, 3 Chiffchaffs and 4 Willow Warblers accounted for all the warblers seen on the walk. One of the 1st winter Pied Flycatchers. The afternoon was spent at Cabranosa. The woods there had more Spotted and Pied Flycatchers than I have previously seen. Perhaps due to me being here earlier this year. Several Redstarts were flitting about in the trees and a Tree Pipit was a nice find. There were few warblers around, a couple of Chiffchaffs and the usual Sardinians. Continuing a walk through the trees, I found a juvenile Cirl Bunting in a pine. The raptor watching is just getting underway and my start began with 2 Honey Buzards. A group of four distant birds were identified as 2 Short-toed Eagles, 1 light Booted Eagle and a Black Kite. A further five Short- toed Eagles flew in together. The pale Booted Eagle made a further appearance over the wood. One of the many 1st winter Pied Flycatchers around the hill at Cabranosa. 7-00pm Update: Taken Ellie for a walk in the pinewood. Loaded with flycatchers, a male Whinchat and Tree Pipit were seen and a female Golden Oriole flew over followed by a Turtle Dove.
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