A fine start to the New Years' birding with a full day's outing to the ricefields near Estombar. This great site is a known wintering ground for two rarities from North-East Europe, the Red-throated Pipit and the Little Bunting. Conditions were ideal with a bright but not sunny sky and not a breath of wind. It was also only seven degrees above freezing (yes we're still in the Algarve!) These conditions meant that keeping still and looking over the watery fields, small birds could be seen moving around the rice stubble fairly easily. The most noticeable were the many Chiffchaffs and Waxbills, even the Yellow-crowned Bishops (females) were working through the stubble in small numbers. I was scrutinising every small bird carefully, particularly pipits when I saw a small bird which at first glance, looked like a fan-tailed warbler. When it flew into a near bush, accompanied by a 'tik' call, it was the Little Bunting. A great look at this little rarity. The chestnut face is very conspicuous, as is the dark head with a paler crown stripe. The breast is pure white with thin, dark streaks. The bill is very small and pointed on the Little Bunting. Really pleased with this fairly quick find, the search for the 'pipit' resumed. In the order of around eighty Glossy Ibis were on the fields this morning, taking to the air as they moved from field to field. Together with the ibis, herons and egrets were also feeding and a Great White Egret was with them. In one of the fields, many birds were feeding. A large sparrow flock comprising House and Spanish birds moved around noisily, putting up Corn Buntings, Skylarks and plenty of pipits. It was in this field that I heard a Red-throated Pipit call but couldn't pick it out, with most of the birds disappearing in the stubble. I did manage to separate quite a few Water Pipits from the Meadow Pipits. A female Bluethroat. One of eight bluethroats seen on the walk around the fields. The ever present Stonechat.
22/1/2021 12:56:09 pm
Congratulations !. You have a successful year trip. The birds featured in your post are beautiful. My favorite is the Great White Egret, which looks very prominent in the middle of the field. Comments are closed.
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