We have regularly been to Portugal for a week, probably now for the last 12 years, although work often prevents me from going, our week has always been utilised by friends or family. We stay in an apartment embedded within a nice resort about 30 minutes West of Faro on the coast, we do have a choice of weeks although generally we have opted for a week within the Easter break this was the first time we have been away for Easter Sunday. Frequently we have just taken a taxi to and from the airport and made do with on-foot for the week. This time there were 5 of us and I decided to hire a car which if nothing else would let me explore whilst the girls opted for other activities. I didn't want to spend a fortune on a large estate so decided that a small category of a 5 door hatchback would suffice. It was laughable as trying to squash 5 plus bags into this car , the girls had to virtually chew on the cases for the journey to the hotel last night. The other feature has been that I have rarely ventured anywhere for birding when I've been here, although typically have picked up a few local species, the resort is mainly covered in pines, but increasing development means green spaces are shrinking, this time I wanted to schedule in some mornings out to find some birds elsewhere.
The weather here is so much better than the UK at this time , a pleasant 17C with occasional sun, there will be a little rain this week but it is still an escape from what we had at home.
This morning I went to a place called Parque Ambiental near Vilamoura. A couple of
Cattle Egrets were on the grass next to the car before I left. I found an entrance to the area after a little driving around and a brief stop for a
White Stork on a nest. The track was a clear and wide dirt track that went through a range of scrubby growth until it eventually went past the equestrian centre and a few reedy pools came into view. There was a fair amount of bird activity as I started walking, with a surprising number of
Corn Bunting, plenty of
Serin, a good number of
Crested Lark, Zitting Cisticola were plentiful with their distinctive calls,
Iberian Magpies were frequent as were
Sardinian Warblers . A
Hoopoe was seen in flight before alighting on a distant wire to start its bubbling call. As the track passed into a vast open area with low thorny scrub a
Marsh Harrier flew over and a
Common Buzzard was on the fence, I
berian Green Woodpeckers were heard rather than seen, as were many
Cetti's Warbler. Another couple of local specialities, both
Black-headed Weaver and
Common Waxbill were present, the Waxbills in particular in good numbers.
As I moved alongside the golf course a
Snipe was flushed form the ditch and the first reedy pool held
Purple Swamphen, Coot, Moorhen, Little Grebe and
Pochard, along with a number of
Barn Swallow. using the reeds as resting places, presumably newly arrived from Africa.
2 Black-winged Stilts looked out of place on the golf course and
Meadow Pipits and
White Wagtails were flitting along the path. I could hear what was probably Great Reed Warblers from a patch of reed but I couldn't get close enough to get a view. A single
Common Swift would have been an early migrant and other than a few
Blackcap and a
Common Chiffchaff there was no great influx of summer migrants. The site had more pools to view, but I had Easter Bunny duties to get back to so hopefully I can visit here again during the week.
Back at the hotel, several
Red-rumped Swallows were hawking over the pines, and more
Serin, Iberian Magpie, Sardinian Warbler and another
Hoopoe were seen.
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| White Stork on an occupied nest. |
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| Corn Bunting |
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| Black-winged Stilt on the 11th Green |
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| Western Purple Swamphen |
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| Crested Lark |
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| Zitting Cisticola (or Fan-tailed Warbler) - with nesting material |
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