wolfbirder
Well-known member
A brief report - by my standards - of a family holiday in the Algarve, highlighting 3 of the best coastal spots west of FARO along the Algarve coast, as well as the obligatory day out to the Lower Alentejo around Castro Verde. Overall I saw 92 species, including both bustards, many birds of prey including 3 Black Vultures, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Lesser Kestrels, as well as Rollers, Bee-eaters, Calandra Larks etc, but my only 2 lifers were introduced species in Common Waxbill and Black-headed Weaver.
LOGISTICS
As usual we take or main family holiday to coincide with Easter school holidays, we were pleased to get an All Inclusive holiday 9-night holiday at "BeLive Palmeiras Family Village" hotel for the 4 of us for £1400 through HolidaysOnTheBeach.com, including Ryan Air flights from Birmingham. A good price I think.
The night before departure, the evening of the 7th April, we received a simple text from Ryan Air saying our flight the next morning was cancelled - this was due to the French Air Traffic Controllers strike though the text did not tell us that. They said they could look to put us on the next available flight but did not know when, or refund us. I was totally unaware of this strike that lasted 3 days and was due to start on the morning of the 8th. I chose the 2nd option & Ryan Air refunded us £250 for the 4 outward flight tickets, and that same evening I managed to book on line with Monarch from Birmingham but that cost me an extra £527 - so all in all I had to shoulder an extra £258 cost. When I got there I learnt that the next proposed strike period was 16-18 April, with us being due home on 17th! Thankfully this was called off, so the return Ryan Air flight was unaffected. I hoped I would be able to reclaim on my Insurance but strike action is an exception in my policy. The reason Monarch was not affected on the outward leg was that they are prepared to fly a longer route outside French airspace.
Upon arrival at FARO AIRPORT on 8th, we struggled for an hour to find the kiosk where 'Luz Marine Car Hire' was situated - away to the left at a small kiosk shared by other small car hire firms, on the extreme Car Park 4, whilst all the main Car Hire firms are just to your right as you pass through customs, and they are all clearly signposted. A cleaner eventually told us where to go for the lesser known (cheaper:-O) car hire companies.
A rattling Ford Focus with limited boot space was duly provided, costing me £78 for the 9 days, and after inspecting several scratches in the rain, we set off the 40 miles to the hotel with suitcases on kids laps - not the delightful start overall to the concept of a relaxing holiday.
I won't go into detail, people can study maps of the Algarve coast west of Faro, but basically the N125 is the old coastal road that runs adjacent to the more modern A22 motorway that is partially a toll road.
The hotel was lovely in fairness, located between PORCHES and the somewhat unattractive overly built-up resort of Armacao de Pera.
Investigating tracks on unused land between the N125 and our hotel I found a Bee-eater colony, where Azure-winged Magpies and 4 Jays were seen. Yellow-Legged Gulls frequently sailed over the hotel, and around 15 Alpine Swifts were seen well over a pretty little cove and beach 100 metres from our hotel, immediately to the left of the Pestana Viking Hotel. Other than that sighting there was little to see around my hotel, as I downed the San Miguels. Blackbirds sang loudly, and several Sardinian Warblers were in the scrubby patch next to the hotel. A few Swallows, House Martins and Swifts passed through but there was nothing to set the pulse racing.
I did not investigate the popular birding areas at Quinta de Lago nor Ludo Farm, near the Rio Formosa near the Airport. Many of the coastal areas are fairly similar with the same species being seen anyway.
THE BIRDING
The nearest birding spot to Porches was PERA MARSH, and the adjacent LAGOA DA SALGADOS. It seems pointless trying to give directions, as John Hardacre admirably tries to do in his book on Birding in The Algarve. Get a map and work it out for yourself. They are often accessed via series of roundabouts which makes giving directions difficult - if you go wrong just try again.
Attached are a map and aerial image of Pera Marsh and the adjacent lagoon. Please excuse the appalling screen shots.
On the approach I saw a few White Storks, Cattle Egrets and a Turtle Dove briefly. The lagoon appears to your left, and there is a small screen to view the birds along the western edge of the lagoon, as well as a sort of metal hide on the southern edge. A few Coot, Moorhen, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard, Great and Little Grebe were present when I visited in extremely windy conditions, but the best birds were several Black-winged Stilts, 4 Kentish Plovers, a group of 8 Spoonbills, several Sandwich Terns, and 6 Black Terns passing through. I also checked out the southern reedbed of the lagoon along with the adjacent, undulating, scrubby beach area, finding a Whimbrel and 6 Short-toed Larks. There were no flamingo's present on this visit though a lot of gulls were present including Yellow-legged, Lesser Black-backed, Black-headed and Mediterranean. A few Goldfinches, Linnets and Greenfinches were also in the scrubby areas, and 6 Bee-eaters showed very well by the car park, down at the SW edge of the lagoon.
On another visit it appeared much quieter, but birding activity at this site varies especially, according to time of year and water levels.
LOGISTICS
As usual we take or main family holiday to coincide with Easter school holidays, we were pleased to get an All Inclusive holiday 9-night holiday at "BeLive Palmeiras Family Village" hotel for the 4 of us for £1400 through HolidaysOnTheBeach.com, including Ryan Air flights from Birmingham. A good price I think.
The night before departure, the evening of the 7th April, we received a simple text from Ryan Air saying our flight the next morning was cancelled - this was due to the French Air Traffic Controllers strike though the text did not tell us that. They said they could look to put us on the next available flight but did not know when, or refund us. I was totally unaware of this strike that lasted 3 days and was due to start on the morning of the 8th. I chose the 2nd option & Ryan Air refunded us £250 for the 4 outward flight tickets, and that same evening I managed to book on line with Monarch from Birmingham but that cost me an extra £527 - so all in all I had to shoulder an extra £258 cost. When I got there I learnt that the next proposed strike period was 16-18 April, with us being due home on 17th! Thankfully this was called off, so the return Ryan Air flight was unaffected. I hoped I would be able to reclaim on my Insurance but strike action is an exception in my policy. The reason Monarch was not affected on the outward leg was that they are prepared to fly a longer route outside French airspace.
Upon arrival at FARO AIRPORT on 8th, we struggled for an hour to find the kiosk where 'Luz Marine Car Hire' was situated - away to the left at a small kiosk shared by other small car hire firms, on the extreme Car Park 4, whilst all the main Car Hire firms are just to your right as you pass through customs, and they are all clearly signposted. A cleaner eventually told us where to go for the lesser known (cheaper:-O) car hire companies.
A rattling Ford Focus with limited boot space was duly provided, costing me £78 for the 9 days, and after inspecting several scratches in the rain, we set off the 40 miles to the hotel with suitcases on kids laps - not the delightful start overall to the concept of a relaxing holiday.
I won't go into detail, people can study maps of the Algarve coast west of Faro, but basically the N125 is the old coastal road that runs adjacent to the more modern A22 motorway that is partially a toll road.
The hotel was lovely in fairness, located between PORCHES and the somewhat unattractive overly built-up resort of Armacao de Pera.
Investigating tracks on unused land between the N125 and our hotel I found a Bee-eater colony, where Azure-winged Magpies and 4 Jays were seen. Yellow-Legged Gulls frequently sailed over the hotel, and around 15 Alpine Swifts were seen well over a pretty little cove and beach 100 metres from our hotel, immediately to the left of the Pestana Viking Hotel. Other than that sighting there was little to see around my hotel, as I downed the San Miguels. Blackbirds sang loudly, and several Sardinian Warblers were in the scrubby patch next to the hotel. A few Swallows, House Martins and Swifts passed through but there was nothing to set the pulse racing.
I did not investigate the popular birding areas at Quinta de Lago nor Ludo Farm, near the Rio Formosa near the Airport. Many of the coastal areas are fairly similar with the same species being seen anyway.
THE BIRDING
The nearest birding spot to Porches was PERA MARSH, and the adjacent LAGOA DA SALGADOS. It seems pointless trying to give directions, as John Hardacre admirably tries to do in his book on Birding in The Algarve. Get a map and work it out for yourself. They are often accessed via series of roundabouts which makes giving directions difficult - if you go wrong just try again.
Attached are a map and aerial image of Pera Marsh and the adjacent lagoon. Please excuse the appalling screen shots.
On the approach I saw a few White Storks, Cattle Egrets and a Turtle Dove briefly. The lagoon appears to your left, and there is a small screen to view the birds along the western edge of the lagoon, as well as a sort of metal hide on the southern edge. A few Coot, Moorhen, Gadwall, Shoveler, Pochard, Great and Little Grebe were present when I visited in extremely windy conditions, but the best birds were several Black-winged Stilts, 4 Kentish Plovers, a group of 8 Spoonbills, several Sandwich Terns, and 6 Black Terns passing through. I also checked out the southern reedbed of the lagoon along with the adjacent, undulating, scrubby beach area, finding a Whimbrel and 6 Short-toed Larks. There were no flamingo's present on this visit though a lot of gulls were present including Yellow-legged, Lesser Black-backed, Black-headed and Mediterranean. A few Goldfinches, Linnets and Greenfinches were also in the scrubby areas, and 6 Bee-eaters showed very well by the car park, down at the SW edge of the lagoon.
On another visit it appeared much quieter, but birding activity at this site varies especially, according to time of year and water levels.
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