At first light this morning, I met with Carl Mason who was keen to show me a small colony of Alpine Swifts he has been observing and not far from his home. The Alpine Swifts returned around a week ago at this location. Numbers will certainly increase in the coming weeks but there were enough to give me the daunting task of photographing some of them, as they hurtled around the cliff face which is their breeding ground. We were lucky enough to find one of the swifts less than a metre above our heads, clinging to the rock face in the cave where they breed. (I didn't use a flash as the low morning sun was glaring into cave) Outside the cave, I watched these large swifts (wingspan c. 55 cm) powering around the sky, at times coming past me at shoulder height. They really are a magnificent bird with a clean white belly and white chin gleaming in the bright sky. An excellent opportunity to see Alpine Swifts far closer than I have managed before. During a visit to my dentist in Alvor this afternoon, a quick look on the beach was rewarded with four Northern Wheatears in the dunes. All four birds (males) were in close proximity to each other and with a breeze coming off the sea, I had the impression these birds had not been here long at all. At Salgados, we're still suffering high water levels in the lagoon and my attention turned to the small birds, seeking out any new songs from possible migrants. At times it was difficult to hear anything when two Cetti's Warblers were 'exploding' in the nearby reeds! A new but familiar call emerged as I was leaving, when a Reed Warbler climbed up a reed some way off. Mediterranean Gulls are now achieving their summer plumaged black hoods. After the Winter, the days are definitely showing more migrants to be arriving with reports of Cuckoos, Swifts, Woodchats and more interesting birds to keep us busy in the weeks to come.
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