A week in Portugal part 1

An invitation from the family to spend a week in portugal at the end of march was gladly accepted, having visited the same place 3 years ago, when i had just started out birding. My last visit had given me a taste for Portuguese birding, and I was eager to go back out with my greater knowledge of birds to experience it all again.

Sunday 25th March

We arrived into Faro airport at about 11am and i instantly got my bins out. House sparrows and goldfinches were all over the place, and a scan of the horizon while waiting for our hire car revealed several small flocks of Common Swift, not due in the UK for another month, but here already in reasonalby good numbers. Once we left the airport we made our way to the house we were staying in in Salema. There were loads of birds apparent from the car, but sightings were either too brief or distant to get many IDs, however several White Stork and Little Egrets were seen in the skies just outside of Faro. A stop at a petrol station resulted in the first Crested Lark of the trip too.

The scenery soon became more familiar as we approached Salema. The village lies at the bottom of a valley lined with scrubby vegetation and a mix of pungent herbs and wildflowers, before opening up to a glorious sandy beach and the Atlantic ocean. This valley still holds good numbers of typical birds of the region, even in the face of encroaching development. Getting out of the car, the first sound that hit was the jangling song of a Serin, a bird which was commonly heard from around the house itself. A quick scan of the valley revealed a few birds, including numerous House Martins feeding overhead, and a Blackcap and Stonechat in the vegetation.

The view from the villa.

In the afternoon we spent some time down at the beach where i picked up the first Sardinian Warbler of the trip, flitting amongst some scrub on the cliff above the Atlantico beach cafe. I then spent the next hour sat gazing out to sea, where there were small numbers of Sandwich Tern, diving into the surf periodically. A raft of gulls were far out to sea, mostly Yellow Legged Gulls but also several Lesser Black Backs too. A Gannet flew in to see what was going on and then lazily went on its way before disappearing over the horizon.

Sandwich Tern

After a while I made my way back up to the villa, seeing another Sardinian Warbler and a Chiffchaff in someones garden on the way. Another scan of the valley from the roof terrace revealed a few Azure Winged Magpie and some Barn Swallows had joined the House Martins in the skies above.

The only Sardinian Warbler shot I managed - bad effort!

Monday 26th March - Boca do Rio

A short walk over the cliffs from Salema lies the Boca do Rio, an area of wet grassland, with a river running through it which opens up to the sea at a small beach, all surrounded by coastal scrubland on the cliffs. The walk over was dominated by the sound of Stonechat and Sardinian Warbler, and along with Blackbirds, there really was little else about, although these were in abundance. On almost every path you could guarantee seeing a Stonechat sitting prominently, singing away. A couple of Linnet were noted too, a relatively common bird to see, and almost always encountered in pairs.

One of many Stonechats

Once over the cliffs, more birds were to be seen. A Blue Rock Thrush flew across the path but couldn't be relocated. On the path down to the valley, there were countless Thekla Lark, singing loudly, and these were very approachable. I got some nice photos of one which simply sat there singing away as i passed within a couple of metres.

Thekla Lark

Down in the valley, the sound of Corn Buntings dominated over anything else, a wonderful song to hear as it is so rarely encountered back in Nottinghamshire and it is such a familiar sound from previous trips to Iberia. As i was following one of these birds with my bins, i clocked onto a Woodchat Shrike, which gave good views as it sat in the grassland, despite being earlier flushed by myself as I got a little closer as it sat on a telephone wire. This area seemed to be crawling with birds, mainly Sardinian Warblers, but with a good scattering of Zitting Cisticola, zitting away in their erratic song flight. In the distance, 5 Cattle egret were feeding in the fields, and several Meadow Pipit were also noted.

Zitting Cisticola... or Fan-tailed Warbler!!!

Tuesday 27th March - Castelejo

My first Spotless Starlings of the trip were noted on a morning scan from the roof terrace, along with the other usual birds I'd been seeing as well as several Sand Martins joining the other hirundines. We set off later to the west coast, to Castelejo beach. From the car more White Storks were seen, as well as frequent sightings of Cattle Egret in the fields. A small flock of hirundines contained a couple of Alpine Swifts too.

The dark rocks of Castelejo

The road into Castelejo runs through an environment of rocky terrain and open scrubland which looked like good Bustard habitat, although it actually seemed pretty quiet. The landscape then opened out into a beautiful valley lined with vegetation, offering breathtaking views as we drove down the single track road towards the beach. The beach is surrounded by dark rocky cliffs which loom menacingly over the golden sands. A Black Redstart was seen atop these rocks while we had coffee along with several Crested Lark. The beach itself was reasonably quiet apart from a couple of Yellow Legged Gulls and 6 Black Winged Stilt that were resting in the surf at the waters edge. These were being chased all over the place by dogs, but once left alone seemed quite content and were happy for me to get reasonably close to get some photos. The wind soon picked up, and after exploring the rock pools and seeing a couple more Black Redstart, we decided to go, but not before seeing the first Buzzard of the trip.

Some of my billions of Black-winged Stilt photos.

In the evening i went for a walk round the top of the valley on a short loop which takes you round into the village and back up to the villa. I saw all the usual birds of the area, but got some great views of another Woodchat Shrike, as well as lots of Sardinian Warblers, Azure Winged Magpies and Stonechats.