Today was a 'fingers crossed' day as I drove good friends Roger and Cheryl out from Alvor, to see the roaming plains of the Alentejo and some of the wonderful birds to be found there. Our first stop was in the town of Castro Verde itself. In a street on a quiet Sunday morning, we were not long in finding one of the Long-eared Owls which can be found roosting in the trees, either side of the street. While the owl gazed down, it did not move at all and is almost certainly used to the pavement onlookers. A good start to the day and with some 'life' and 'year' ticking done, we moved on to Horta de Nora. This is the small lake outside Castro Verde and, whilst the Black Stork wasn't there, we had some nice views of Corn Buntings, Swallows, Great -crested Grebes and a Black-winged Stilt. The next stop was at the LPN centre at Vale Goncalo. Our target bird here was to be the Lesser Kestrel, after reading reports that two birds at least, have returned from their wintering grounds. Lesser Kestrel, along with Roller, breed at this fantastic reserve in the wildest of locations. Along the approach road to the Centre, we saw several Kestrels in flight and I pointed out to Roger and Cheryl that one of them had rapid, almost fluttery wing beats. There was a good chance this was one of the Lesser Kestrels and after parking up, we were treated to a fly around by both male and female birds. While the female is practically indistinguishable from the Common Kestrel, we were looking for the blue/grey wing panel above, on the male. There are other diagnostic features but, this is the quickest method of identification. We had a break for coffee and took in some of the features of the reserve (apart from the model of a Great Bustard!) A purpose-built tower exists for nesting birds, primarily Roller and Lesser Kestrel. This looks as if it has been taken over by many Jackdaws and a few Carrion Crows for the moment. Other nest boxes exist around the buildings, just waiting for the Spring arrivals. Taking a walk up one of the designated tracks, we began to see Red Kites in the air and a collection of pipits/larks attracted our attention. A large hovering lark turned out to be Calandra Lark. We looked at the facial markings, the large bill and dark under-wings. It was time to get on the N123 and carry on through Bustard country. Towards the village of Salto, we watched two of around five Southern Grey Shrikes seen on our visit, perching on wires and dropping to the field in pursuit of prey. During a lunch stop along this road, more Red Kites were seen, one Common Buzzard and two Black-shouldered Kites were added to the growing list. So far, no Bustards and at this point, I decided to head for the high ground of Senhora Nossa de Aracelis and hopefully, a different surprise. From this high point, the views over the Alentejo are magnificent and the cork oak trees nearby are the roosting and feeding area for wintering Common Cranes. On my last visit, I saw around 200 Cranes but today, I could only pick out three distant Cranes at a small lake. Nonetheless, it was another 'tick' for my friends and I was happy we were finding the targets.
We had lost the sun and it was distinctly chilly up on this vantage point. A return along the same route may just find us the wandering Bustards, so like any good tour leader, full of confidence and calmness (*!!**!) we set off again. Ten minutes later, on the very same hills we had scoured before lunch, we now had a super flock of 20 Great Bustards. Such is the undulating terrain here, they wouldn't have been far away at all - only out of sight for a while. I didn't take any pictures today, that was Cheryls' delight, recording their first Great Bustard sightings in the Alentejo.
Cheryl Hewins
21/2/2019 01:11:18 pm
It was a fabulous days birding Nigel Thank you. An experience we will never forget! Comments are closed.
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