With the present heat, not too much birding is possible but several short visits have been made and some interesting birds have been found. I stepped outside two mornings ago and heard a Wryneck calling in the garden. I found it on the overhead power line! New in around the garden are 3 Spotted Flycatchers. Pied Flycatchers are always present, as are the Red-rumped Swallows. A drive up the Odelouca valley revealed little in the way of birds but, I was rather taken with the amount of dragon-flies and a couple of huge Monarch butterflies. This image is, I think, a Red-veined drop winged damselfly. Fantastic news for Salgados lagoon as the proposed, massive development project seems to have been kicked out again and, a project is to be undertaken to further research and hopefully protect this important wildlife area. Northern Wheatears are around in small numbers throughout the fields. The Ortolon Buntings, only 3 yesterday, are still showing in the North field. Late yesterday, I went out with Carl Hawker to a fascinating area to which he alone has access. In the first couple of hundred metres, he found me a 'lifer' in another introduced species - Yellow-crowned Bishop. As usual, the male is a stunning colour! We saw around eight in a small area, includings some females as well (below). Glossy Ibis number many hundreds at this site and always find good resting areas. Skulking Eurasian Reed Warblers were more difficult to locate, but showed eventually. On the wet areas, Common and Green Sandpipers were seen along with an incredible number of Wood Sandpipers. We counted twenty three altogether which is a very high count over here. Large numbers of Common Snipe frequent this wet area also. Two Marsh Harriers were seen and a pair of Black-shouldered Kites passed over.
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