Yesterday we dodged a few black clouds along the way, picking various locations towards Sagres for a great day's birding. We met with Chris and Sue at Boco do Rio, keeping to the marshes on the lookout for small birds. It turned out to be rather quiet and we moved on to Cabranosa. Here we had lunch together and also a final meet with the raptor counters who are completing the annual raptor migration work. Moving on to the lagoon at Martinhal, we found a number of gulls flying in to the lagoon for a bathe and preen. Among the Yellow-legged Gulls were four Audouin's Gulls which I had not previously seen here. One of the Audouin's was clearly an adult with a distinct red bill. The remaining birds were not yet adult, with bills a more yellow/orange colour. I always find Audouin's Gulls are very smart looking gulls. I have never seen a scruffy or poor condition Audouin's ever! The lagoon edge had a number of White Wagtails around and a Grey Wagtail dropped in here also. We walked the beach, almost stumbling over six Kentish Plovers which were resting in small depressions in the sand, making them easy to miss. The Kentish Plovers in flight. On the rocks we found a few Turnstones and, at least two possibly three Purple Sandpipers on the outer rocks. This bay is frequented by Shags as well as Cormorants. We were lucky to see one close by, preening continuously. A Whimbrel and two Ringed Plovers were also along the rocks during our visit.
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