It's wonderful to be back in super-bright sunshine and a current temperature of 30C. In relative cool, a couple of hours spent at Lagoa dos Salgados this morning seemed a pleasant way to spend a Sunday. The water level at Salgados is high again, meaning few waders were showing but I made out an Avocet, Black-winged Stilts, Black-tailed Godwits and a Green Sandpiper was seen flying in. The deeper water attracted an Osprey who spent quite some time fishing, but without a a catch, as far as I could see. With the start of the Autumn migration becoming apparent, I probably spent more time surveying the ground and bushes around the wetland. Yellow Wagtails were in large numbers, twenty or more along the fields. All the Yellow Wagtails were 'Iberiae' race, though I did come across one with pure white underparts and a seemingly, all dark bill which had me a little concerned and I couldn't get it to call at all. Also in the fields were six Northern Wheatears, one Stonechat, a distant Southern Grey Shrike and several Melodious Warblers, as the one below. A couple of the Wheatears. No sign of any Tawny Pipits here though one Tree Pipit flew over calling. Close to the ground, a Fan-tailed Warbler was grubbing about in the low vegetation. I had a really enjoyable couple of hours this morning, it felt good to be out walking open ground again with sheep and goats plodding about in the fields around me. Probably the star bird was back on the lagoon, namely a juvenile Black Tern. This bird is on migration and was having a difficult time feeding, as it was constantly harassed by Yellow-legged Gulls and even a Eurasion Magpie took a dislike to it. Out of interest, back at my apartment, there is a small population of Fischer's Lovebirds as I counted six this morning. This small parrot species is an endemic of Central Tanzania and has been introduced as either an escaped cagebird or similar activity.
It was certainly an interesting start to the day and I may see more of them, during my week in this area.
Margaret Crompton
8/9/2019 04:03:38 pm
Great to see you back in Portugal again, hope it's not too long before we join you though we will miss the migration this time, sadly. 9/9/2019 09:31:39 am
Hope to be back on the hill soon watching raptors. Comments are closed.
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