One of the guys who visits Cabranosa, Carl Hawker, had the idea to create a small pool of fresh water below the watchpoint. It is in fact, the only source of drinking water for a considerable distance. The pool was made with a liner, surrounded by stones and filled with water. Around the pool, Carl brought in branches for perches and to give some protection to the pool. The results have been staggering. Within 30 minutes of filling, Carl had 6 Ring Ouzels, a flock of Goldfinches, Chiffchaffs and Meadow Pipits. The image below only shows the surrounding branches as birds were already bathing, as I arrived yesterday. If visitors can bring water when they come up, it may be possible to maintain it. 50+ Azure Magpies stopped off to drink as they passed through the woodland. There are a good number of Ring Ouzels here now and, thanks to Carl's efforts, I was able to enjoy some really close sightings from my car. After the Ring Ouzels had gone, a Song Thrush came in. Then, a flock of around twenty Starlings flew in, these were wintering European Starlings and not the resident Spotless Starlings normally seen. Lastly, a female Black Redstart showed, and all this happened in the space of twenty minutes. There was a short break in proceedings as the farmer drove about 200 sheep over the ground! On the watchpoint, raptors picked up mid-morning. More Short-toed and Booted Eagles passed over, a Black Kite and a juvenile Black Stork showed well overhead again. The 'star' bird arrived after midday and was undoubtedly the juvenile Spanish Imperial Eagle. Keeping its distance from us for more than an hour, it then came within reasonable range to see its warm brown underparts and contrasting dark primaries. A truly magnificent eagle, I hope to see more of these in the Alentejo region this winter.
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