No, not a problem with the weather at all but, the arrival of a splendid male Snow Bunting at Alvor in the Algarve has caused a stir. The bird was found near the breakwater by Paulo De Sousa Costa who, unsure of the identity, looked up the Snow Bunting in a field guide. Angela, 'Ellie the dog' and myself set off from Sagres, joined by Sue and Chris, Pam and Brian at Alvor harbour and the search for yesterday's sighting began. We searched a wide open area of beach, saltmarsh, dunes and paths for around an hour. We were unsuccessful and returned the one and a half miles back to Alvor. Almost back at Alvor, we met with Lars and Susana who were on their way to look for the Snow Bunting. We were being served a welcome coffee when news came that Lars had found the Snow Bunting - back at the breakwater! What became apparent was that the Snow Bunting seemed reluctant to expose itself to the direct sunshine and was found, under the pipelines which have been used for harbour dredging work. It stayed in this location all the time, feeding well on coarse grass seeds. A dog-walker with a large dog loose, passed close to the pipes and flushed the Snow Bunting on to the rocks of the breakwater. We were able to get exceptional views of this colourful Snow Bunting, before it quickly sought shelter in the shade of the pipes once more. Was the temperature in the sun something the Snow Bunting was unable to tolerate? There have been a few sightings of Snow Bunting in the Algarve over the years and it is difficult to speculate where this bird may have come from - North in Scandinavia or even the Arctic circle.
Kerry Clark
22/10/2019 06:21:30 am
We saw it too! I was really curious as to what it could be and started looking at buntings, then found it. Only to be very surprised to see it in Alvor! Beautiful bird! Comments are closed.
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