It's strange how quickly your luck can change on a quiet Sunday afternoon. After a morning spent around the Lagoa ricefields and a pleasant lunch in Ferragudo, there only remained the fish quay to check out, to complete the day's birding. There was a marked shortage of gulls around the dock, possibly due to it being Sunday and not much fish landing going on. I was on the point of calling it a day and checked the Cormorants on the estuary as I have many times. There, sitting far out was a Great Northern Diver - my second ever in the Algarve. This juvenile Great Northern spent a good time diving, coming up with an assortment of small fish and I spent an hour at least waiting for it to come closer. Each time it came close a boat would pass, driving it further out again. Eventually, it came in quite close and I took some photos just before a large fishing vessel berthed, sending it out to mid-river once more. Great Northern Divers are not seen here very often, my first record was in Lagos harbour and it's always worth checking in Winter.
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