Today was my first look at the fire-ravaged hillsides covering a huge area around the town of Monchique and surrounding small settlements. During the heat of Summer, the fire raged for weeks engulfing eucalyptus forests and threatening the lives of those living in the hillside communities. Ceaseless hard work in terrible conditions by the volunteer firefighters and the villagers themselves, led to no lives being lost but at enormous cost to their smallholdings and livestock. I was no sooner in the foothills when signs of the fire became apparent. When I reached the lower village of Caldas de Monchique, it was clear to see how the fire-fighting efforts had preserved many of the buildings, including a prestige health spa. The fire damage can be seen all the way up the Monchique hills. The road continues up through Monchique itself and on toward the summit at Foia, where I invariably find a few special birds such as the Alpine Accentor and Rock Bunting. I was staggered by the change in the beautiful landscape and can only hope that recovery takes place quickly. Whether eucalyptus will continue to be grown here is a matter for the government and the large timber companies which operate in these areas. More views on the way up to Foia. Once at the summit and it's only a small hill, I'd forgotten how cold it could be and with a Northerly wind, the temperature was only 7C! The search for some birds became rather urgent and my first impressions were, whether post-fire or not, I wasn't finding a single bird. In time, around one of the transmitter stations, I saw what I thought would be a Blue Rock Thrush and walked over for a closer look. The bird looked in every way a Ring Ouzel but was lacking any white crescent on the breast. I concluded it must be a first winter Ring Ouzel which I haven't seen in this plumage before. It was a while before another bird appeared,this time two Common Buzzards soaring across the summit. A single Stonechat was huddled behind a rock and three Meadow Pipits were in the grass surrounding a transmitter site. Eventually I picked up a Blue Rock Thrush and it was a nice looking male too. It was very mobile, moving from rock to rock and sometimes flying to perch on overhead wires. I also managed to locate one of my favourite warblers that frequents the gorse scrub up here on the summit. The Dartford Warbler has stunning colours, this one just wasn't going to turn round but still showed really well for me. It's short rattling call was given quite often. So, no Alpine Accentor apparently and surprisingly I didn't see a Rock Bunting anywhere towards the summit.
Comments are closed.
|
|