Our final opportunity to enjoy the wonderful birding experience on this trip to the Alentejo. We planned to be away by mid afternoon, which gave us around five more hours in the field. Saying goodbye to our hosts at the Hotel Vila Verde, we left Castro Verde and took the turning to Geraldos, stopping off at a river location. Here we listened to Cetti's Warblers and tried to see two rapidly moving Kingfishers darting along the river. Continuing through Santa Barbara de Padroes, we scanned the fields carefully through the small hamlet of Sete and stopped at a small lake where I had once seen Gull-billed Terns. There was little water present this time and apart from a Little Owl in the vicinity, rather quiet with birds. I haven't travelled the route further than this, but banking on a circular tour at some point, we carried on as far as Tacoes. It was here, while wondering which road to take that I noticed a long tailed bird sitting on a power line. An adult Great Spotted Cuckoo. One of the earliest migrants to return from Africa, our chances of seeing one in the first days of February were very slim indeed. This was a beautiful bird with its grey crest and white spotted wings. Close to where it perched was a copse of pine trees, no doubt containing caterpillars and this may have accounted for its presence here. The cuckoo made its loud 'che-che-che' call several times and suddenly, a second male was seen flying around the pine plantation. We went on to add Calandra Larks to our ever increasing list which finally totalled 82 species.
As I said yesterday, certainly my best trip to the Alentejo over twenty years. Of course, the trip was made all the better having Chris and Sue for company and, a fun-packed trip throughout. Comments are closed.
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