The lighthouse at Cape St. Vincent marks the S.W. tip of Portugal and jutting out into the Atlantic, it holds many migratory birds at this time of year. Beginning my day just after sunrise, I took a quick look on the sea although I'm not geared up for prolonged sea-watching. Many Gannets, mainly juvs were passing and I managed to make out a couple of Cory's Shearwaters going South. Excuse the long-distance, wind-blowing attempt at a Cory's shot! Two smaller shearwaters passed South, possibly Balearics but not sure and a pod of dolphins made a nice appearance too. Around the lighthouse walls, Black Redstarts can always be found and these SW European males are absolutely stunning. 3 in total were seen, this male and two females. From the lighthouse, a walk along the cliffs should find Blue Rock Thrush and this is a typical rocky site. I was content with having found some of the residents and turned my attention to the nearby fields, where I hoped to find Tawny Pipits. There was a good scattering of Wheatears in the fields but I was pleased to find my Tawny Pipits by call, as they flew into the fields. Difficult to photograph with much heat haze at ground level by this time, but they were stunning birds. There are always Crested Larks present in this area. At a nearby farmhouse requiring some maintenance, a Little Owl appears to live in the roof and a Southern Grey Shrike was close by. It was late morning now and raptors were beginning to assemble in the sky. Booted Eagles numbered around 40 within half an hour, light and dark variants together. In the next hour a further group of raptors appeared, comprising 23 Black Kites and accompanied by 2 Short-toed Eagles and several more Booted Eagles. The local Common Buzzards were out too! Slightly inland from Sagres, I came across a field of corvids and was amazed to find they were all Choughs, 46 in all and the most I have seen here ever. An excellent day's birding with many more species found - Woodlark, Red-rumped Swallow, Pallid Swift, Pied Flys and Redstarts to name a few.
Comments are closed.
|
|