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.
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