Algarve trip Nov 7-23rd 2009 (3 Viewers)

[jtwood]

Great Trip report John and a super species list, I would have loved to be at Cabo De Sao Vincente to see these Raptors, Great to get a shot of the Penduline Tit I managed a record shot at JV Centre. Quinto Do Lago was a fantastic place for Photograph and it was good to meet up with you, Thanks again for all your help, Hope to see you next Year

 

[john-henry]

Great Trip report John and a super species list, I would have loved to be at Cabo De Sao Vincente to see these Raptors, Great to get a shot of the Penduline Tit I managed a record shot at JV Centre. Quinto Do Lago was a fantastic place for Photograph and it was good to meet up with you, Thanks again for all your help, Hope to see you next Year

Thanks Jim, it was good to meet you too, hopefully we can repeat it next November.

Mery Christmas to you and your wife.

John

 

[Twite]

John, thanks for the link, it's a nice site. My dilemma is, every time I start to plan a trip I end up opting for Donana and Tarifa. It's a bit of a comfort zone for me, home from home and all that, mind you, the birds are pretty good too.
It's good to see you're still getting away though, looking forward to future trip reports.

Have a great 2010 with lots of good birding.

Twite.

 

[john-henry]

Yes I know what you mean Twite, when I think of spring I think of Spain first.

Have a great Christmas and an even better New Year.

John

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Hi John.

I left Portugal on the day you arrived after a week staying in Tavira.

I'm interested to see that you were put onto some slender-billed gulls there. I saw one a couple of kilometers north-east of the town on the 4th November and got a few photos.

I didn't think about it again until a couple of hours ago when I looked on the rare birds in Portugal website and saw one of their rarity records concerned a slender-billed gull at Tavira on 20th November.

http://raridades.avesdeportugal.info/en-obsdata.html

I've seen them at other places (in Spain), including Bonanza on the Rio Guadalquivir, so I didn't realise they are considered uncommon only a comparitively short distance away.

I've sent them an email anyway and a couple of my pics.

Did you see any sign of the reef heron/little egret hybrid at Tavira? We saw it twice in the same place at the salinas on the western side of town on the outskirts of Santa Luzia.

 

[john-henry]

Hi BW,

It was Castro Marim not Tavira where I saw the S-B Gulls, apparently they are fairly regular here.
It also seems they are not so rare in the Eastern Algarve as the rest of it. Have a look at this site by a couple of regular birders who live in Tavira.
http://www.jupiterbirding.blogspot.com/

I've yet to see one of the 'blue' egrets, never seem to be in the right place at the right time!

Cheers

John

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Thanks for that John.

I wonder if the colour-ringed black-tailed godwit that they mention in their report on 27th October is the one I saw there at Fuseta station when I called in on my trip back to the airport on 7th November.

The egret was in exactly the same place on the 4th and the 7th on the saltpans between Tavira and Santa Luzia. I found the way in by accident when I drove down a likely-looking residential road that turned into a track in Tavira (it's my first trip to Portugal, so I had to explore a bit). It's probably easier to find from the Santa Luzia end. Just on the outskirts of Sta L there is an anchor by the side of the road. Opposite it is a track that runs down to the saltings. Following the track through brings you into Tavira on the road I found.

Not far down the track from the Sta Luzia end there is a right turn between saltpans that leads to a gate to some saltworks and a "keep out" sign. The Egret was loitering on the fence and in the ditch just next to the gate.

(Google Earth says it's at 37°06'14"N, 7°38'48"W)

 

[john-henry]

Thanks for that John.

I wonder if the colour-ringed black-tailed godwit that they mention in their report on 27th October is the one I saw there at Fuseta station when I called in on my trip back to the airport on 7th November.

I suppose you could contact them to check the ring colours BW, shouldn't think there were too many ringed godwits about at the time.

That 'grey egret' seems to have a fair old driller on it, bit more than your normal Little Egret.

 

[Ruby]

Hi BW,

It was Castro Marim not Tavira where I saw the S-B Gulls, apparently they are fairly regular here.

Cheers

John

Hi Guys,

I did once see 2 Slender-billed Gulls on the 4-aguas salinas in Tavira, but only the once out of quite a fair number of trips...

Thanks for the report and photographs John - always nice to hear what's going on in the Algarve....

Happy Xmas.... Ray

 

[john-henry]

Thanks Ray.

and a Merry Xmas to you and your wife.

 

[carpentera]

Hi all
The 'grey' egret at Santa Luzia can usually be found at low tide in the channel by the gate to the saltpans. It has been favouring that spot for at least the last four years. We, too, have photographs of it standing on the fence there.

A colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit has been seen between Tavira and Santa Luzia in December 2006, 2007 and 2008. If details are available of the bird seen recently, we would be pleased to have them. It would be nice if it were the same bird, ringed in Iceland in 2002.

We see Slender-billed Gulls pretty regularly at Castro Marim, Tavira and Santa Luzia. Until this year the species was treated as a rarity by SPEA and it still is rare in the rest of Portugal.

Hope that helps

Peter & June
http://jupiterbirding.blogspot.com

 

[john-henry]

Evening Peter and June,

Many thanks for the information, I'm sure it will be helpful to many Algarve visitors.

I'd also like to thank you for your company at Castro Marim and putting me on to the Slender-billed Gulls there.

Regards

John

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Hi all
The 'grey' egret at Santa Luzia can usually be found at low tide in the channel by the gate to the saltpans. It has been favouring that spot for at least the last four years. We, too, have photographs of it standing on the fence there.

A colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwit has been seen between Tavira and Santa Luzia in December 2006, 2007 and 2008. If details are available of the bird seen recently, we would be pleased to have them. It would be nice if it were the same bird, ringed in Iceland in 2002.

We see Slender-billed Gulls pretty regularly at Castro Marim, Tavira and Santa Luzia. Until this year the species was treated as a rarity by SPEA and it still is rare in the rest of Portugal.

Hope that helps

Peter & June
http://jupiterbirding.blogspot.com

Hi Peter & June.

The colour-ringed black-tailed godwit I saw is the one shown in the photo above, feeding on the mud next to the road at Fuseta station on 7th November.

The bird's left leg had rings of green over orange and the right leg was yellow over orange.

Hope this helps.

Alan

 

[carpentera]

Hi Alan
No, your Fuseta bird is not the one that has spent past winters in Tavira but we'll see what we can find out about it and let you know.

Peter & June

 

[Andrew]

As a matter of interest, do you happen to know whether the Bald Ibises have now gone from Salgados, and if so, where they may have re-located?

I am freshly back from a Xmas break in the Algarve and two of the Bald Ibises are still on the Herdade dos Salgados golf course. They roost on the top of the high net fence surrounding the target range. They also feed on the golf course especially when it is raining (fair weather golfers). They are also sometimes seen on the lamp posts in the eastern car park for Lagoa dos Salgados.

Cheers,
Andrew.

 

[Andrew]

Boa tarde John!

I saw your eagerly awaited report whilst in-situ but the hotel's internet was not so well oiled as I hoped it would be so I have now read it properly this evening and enjoyed it.

Sadly my 17 days was not the best winter I have had but it was most enjoyable as usual. I can now not imagine a winter without visiting the Algarve. This time it was wet nearly all the time and there were floods abound.

With so many Algarvean reports I thought of not doing one this time but having seen a caravan park blown over on the news, a railway destroying flood in Castro Verde, felt an earthquake at 5am, seen some fair birds, met some characters, drunk some fine stuff I think I might do a small one.

I am even thinking of returning in spring. It is now addicitive. Looking for new places where I can get one or two lifers now does not seem to matter to me. I still fancy Tenerife for those Chaffinches that happen to be blue though!

Cheers and feliz ano nuovo,
Andrew.

 

[MKinHK]

Really enjoyed your description of the raptor movement - it s great to stumble on something like this - never seen more than one Short-toed Eagle at a time, so 8 really blows my mind!

Cheers
Mike

 

[Barred Wobbler]

Boa tarde John!

I saw your eagerly awaited report whilst in-situ but the hotel's internet was not so well oiled as I hoped it would be so I have now read it properly this evening and enjoyed it.

Sadly my 17 days was not the best winter I have had but it was most enjoyable as usual. I can now not imagine a winter without visiting the Algarve. This time it was wet nearly all the time and there were floods abound.

With so many Algarvean reports I thought of not doing one this time but having seen a caravan park blown over on the news, a railway destroying flood in Castro Verde, felt an earthquake at 5am, seen some fair birds, met some characters, drunk some fine stuff I think I might do a small one.

I am even thinking of returning in spring. It is now addicitive. Looking for new places where I can get one or two lifers now does not seem to matter to me. I still fancy Tenerife for those Chaffinches that happen to be blue though!

Cheers and feliz ano nuovo,
Andrew.

I'm off there in a couple of weeks time for those. It'll probably be the smallest trip list of any I'll make (I hope) but what the hell - I won't have to go twice.

I read about your earthquake (centred of Cape St Vincent). I miss all the good stuff. A couple of years ago I was in southern Spain when I got a text from my son who was house-sitting our home in England to say he'd been woken up by an earth tremor.

 

[Andrew]

Looking forward to hearing how you get on in Tenerife. Hope both pigeons oblige easily.

I saw this link in an Algarvean magazine and thought it might be worth posting here..... www.amazighostel.com

 

[Stranger]

Boa tarde John!

I saw your eagerly awaited report whilst in-situ but the hotel's internet was not so well oiled as I hoped it would be so I have now read it properly this evening and enjoyed it.

Sadly my 17 days was not the best winter I have had but it was most enjoyable as usual. I can now not imagine a winter without visiting the Algarve. This time it was wet nearly all the time and there were floods abound.

With so many Algarvean reports I thought of not doing one this time but having seen a caravan park blown over on the news, a railway destroying flood in Castro Verde, felt an earthquake at 5am, seen some fair birds, met some characters, drunk some fine stuff I think I might do a small one.

I am even thinking of returning in spring. It is now addicitive. Looking for new places where I can get one or two lifers now does not seem to matter to me. I still fancy Tenerife for those Chaffinches that happen to be blue though!

Cheers and feliz ano nuovo,
Andrew.

Please do a report as I find something new in each one I read.
Places to visit etc for particular species.