As you know, this species features on my website homepage and has to be one of a few birds which reminds me so much of the times I spend birding in Portugal. Whenever I have the opportunity to watch these small rare kites, I will for as long as they remain in view. Like many other raptors, they can perch for long spells not doing a lot but when in the air, the Black-winged Kite has its own way of hunting with a very conspicuous hover. Combine the silvery grey and black plumage with the staring red eyes and bright yellow feet and you have a spectacular small raptor which still confines itself to much of Iberia. What else caught my attention last week? Well I couldn't resist another look at the Great Northern Diver at Sagres which was still munching large numbers of crabs from the harbour walls. Little Gulls have featured along much of the Algarve coastline recently and these fine birds were seen at Quinta do Lago. These Gadwall lifted off while I was with the Little Gulls and made there own colourful spectacle. Nearby at Ludo, large flocks of Black-tailed Godwits and the Avocets shown here, made frequent fly-arounds when disturbed by the local Marsh Harriers, or Osprey in this case. The fields around Quinta da Vala produced the largest 'newt' I have ever seen! Identified for me by Lars Goncalves and others, this is an Iberian Ribbed Newt and was around 20cm in length, including the tail. This same area is where several hundred Glossy Ibis are roosting at the moment. We saw them fly out towards Lagoa in the morning and, return to the fields in the late afternoon. This was the scruffiest bird I saw by far - a Common Buzzard at the above site, with some serious tail damage. .....and the smartest has to be this male Bluethroat at Salgados.
Interesting seabird reports are happening all the time, the sea is getting noisier outside and for the first time, I have watched Kittiwakes feeding off the beach at Alvor. A trip across to Sagres was inevitable today, but not before I'd caught an adult winter Little Gull passing along Alvor's beach:- Our first stop was in Porto do Baleeira, the harbour below Sagres. There has been a Great Northern Diver here for a few days and I always like to see these when they visit the local harbours. This Great Northern Diver was first seen well out in the bay this morning, but disappeared and couldn't be found despite scanning the bay, along the rocky shore and into the harbour entrance. Walking back on the harbour wall a little despondent, I noticed the Diver was alongside the fish quay as close in the harbour as possible! A fine looking diver in winter plumage. A very restless Razorbill was also in the harbour and frequently flying around the bay. Moving on to Cape St. Vincent, I spent a couple of hours seawatching from the cliff top. The Kittiwakes which are so noticeable along the coastline now seemed quite at home around the cliffs at the Cape. In total, there were thirteen birds in our estimation, 4 adults and 9 juveniles. A juvenile Kittiwake flying over the 'foaming' sea at the base of the cliffs. Other sightings included 5 (4+1) Grey Phalaropes, 2 Razorbills, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 1 Great Skua, several Audouin's Gulls and Med Gulls also passed through.
A walk we have done many times along the harbour took a different turn yesterday, when a small tern flying around the moored fishing boats turned out to be a juvenile Common Tern. The whole seabird situation appears very erratic this year with large numbers of unexpected birds such as the Razorbills, Kittiwakes and even Puffins showing up, while very low figures on Great Skuas and to an extent Gannets also. The Common Tern is recorded along the Algarve coast but until now, I had not seen one and this juvenile tern was a welcome sight. In Portugal this tern is called andorinha do mar commun - the sea swallow, and you can see the reason for that:- A nice addition to my Algarve List! Across the River Arade :- Two Little Buntings briefly visited the ricefields. They were rather elusive and difficult to photograph this particular morning. I managed an extra reward with a Richard's Pipit which took off noisily with other pipits on the fields. Purple Sandpipers are back in their Winter haunts, this individual was on the Praia do Mohle breakwater at the entrance to the Arade estuary. Two female Hen Harriers were observed this week, one at Estombar and the second at Vilamoura. At an undisclosed location, the appearance of an adult Bonelli's Eagle nicely rounded off an otherwise quiet walk. A very well fed Bonelli's Eagle by the look of that crop! There is an 'orange' rain warning in force this morning which has given me the opportunity to write up my blog, usually carried out on an evening. Looking outside, rain showers keep passing through and there are some Gannets flying close to the beach along with many gulls. This is quite a lot of activity for Alvor bay which is usually on the quiet side with seabirds. Between the next showers, I break off writing and stand by a hut on the beach. Most of the gulls are Mediterraneans in winter plumage. A lonely Razorbill is sitting on the sea not far out. It takes off before I get my camera on it and disappears along the coast. More Mediterranean Gulls and Gannets further out, a Great Skua flies east in the distance. Two Sandwich Terns come along the beach with a smaller tern following - Unbelievable, an adult Common Tern!! My first record of this species yesterday and my second this morning. Brilliant!
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