The North American vagrant wader, namely the Long-billed Dowitcher has now been found at a new location to the West of the Quinta da Rocha marshes. Having been located back in November of last year on the marsh, the dowitcher has remained throughout the winter and it is fairly safe to assume that the bird now at Paul de Lagos, will most likely be the same bird. Whilst on the marsh, the dowitcher fed among the Black-tailed Godwits and in a location where observers were invariably looking towards bright sunlight. Obtaining good views of this rare wader was therefore extremely difficult and, having the bird relocate now to the old pools at the aerodrome means the dowitcher is much easier to observe. Until now, we had seen the long stout bill and with luck, the white supercilium extending over the eye. The plumage is of a first winter bird with a mostly grey breast colour, the upperparts heavily scalloped in a neat pattern (reminds me of juv Ruff). The legs are an olive green colour as is the bill, nearer the head. Towards the tail the belly is white with almost black spotting on it, ending with a barred tail. So that was probably my best views of a Long-billed Dowitcher, having only seen several of this species anyway. Out of curiosity this afternoon, I checked all the locations where we had previously seen the dowitcher at Quinta da Rocha. There was no sign of it among the Godwits, Ruff, Redshank and Snipe at all. A nice show of Greater Flamingos are staying at Quinta da Rocha. Also, the Ospreys continue to show well here. This bird had been disturbed on the ground by another Osprey, which accounts for why it's 'catch' is not 'head first' as it took off in a hurry! Nearer our home, the Stone Curlews are showing daily:- The fields here are full of Song Thrushes too. There seem to be more around this Winter than I've seen before.
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