An early start in Sagres and the quiet was shattered by a flock of six Ravens honking loudly and flying over the road to the Cape. Two Ravens have been seen around Vale Santo for a while though six is a significant increase. A Wryneck was found along the same road but it failed to show for long as it soon disappeared under bushes. The drive up to Cabranosa was fairly uneventful, until reaching the open ground below the hill. I noticed two large thrushes fly up from the ground, one was a Mistle Thrush and incredibly the other bird was a Fieldfare. Even though a good number of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes have come in recently, I was not expecting to see a Fieldfare just yet, if at all! Steve joined me at this time while the Fieldfare gave good views in a nearby tree. We continued looking for ground birds, checking finch flocks and still finding odd Willow Warblers and Redstarts. A further highlight for me occurred suddenly when a flock of around 40 Rock Sparrows flew noisily over the open ground. Rock Sparrow is a species on my life list, though I have never had more than a glimpse of one bird here at Cabranosa a couple of years ago and, a dubious sighting of one on Mallorca. The call, a 'vui' sound was certainly unfamiliar, heard repeatedly as the flock flew around before settling in a tree. Getting close to the flock proved difficult as they were quite mobile but stayed remarkably hidden when in the pines. The raptor watch was very slow today. The weather was beautiful and clear yet few birds showed up in the morning. Six Common Buzzards appeared together at one stage and two Egyptian Vultures were noted. In the afternoon, small numbers of very high flying birds came in. A good mix of Booted Eagles, Short-toed Eagles, one Black Kite and four Red Kites (unusually high number) made up a single flock. We were on the point of calling it a day, late in the afternoon, when there was a large arrival of Griffon Vultures once more. A rough estimate would be approximately 450 birds and today's flocks contained a Bonelli's Eagle and two Black Vultures. A few of the Griffon Vultures trying to work out a suitable direction. One of the Black Vultures ahead of three Griffons.
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