Donana and Algarve Nov.07 (1 Viewer)

[john-henry]

Donana and Algarve 13th -27th November 2007 Part 1.

November again, time for another trip to the Algarve in Portugal, fast becoming my favourite area for some winter birding and photography. This time I also wanted to include a few days around the Donańa area of Spain to broaden the species of birds likely to be seen.
I finally settled on 4 nights in Hinojos, Spain, a good centre for easy access to the best birding spots in the area e.g. El Rocio, Corredor Verde, Isla Mayor rice fields and the Northern Marshes, 5 nights at Bayside Apartments, Salgados a few kms west of Albufeira - Pera Marsh on the doorstep and a shorter drive to Quinta da Rocha and Cabo de Sao Vicente with the last 5 nights at the Parque Mourabel Hotel, Vilamoura – handy for Quinta do Lago, Tavira, the Parque Natural de Ria Formosa at Olhao and the quickest route to the Alentejo.
As it worked out I found this an excellent way to cover the areas I wanted to visit and certainly cut down on the driving, especially with petrol at £1/litre in Portugal (70pence in Spain).
All three places I stayed were excellent value for money, all were kept very clean, beds made daily etc. Bayside and Parque Mourabel Hotel had the advantage of being self catering with a restaurant on site if needed. All were booked via the internet with no problems.
Having sorted out where to stay I booked a cheap flight from Bristol to Faro with Easyjet, a hire-car from Carjet Iberia and was ready to go.

Flying out from Bristol at 8am on the 13th to land at Faro at 10.30am gave the rest of the day for birding, the weather was warm and sunny, to good to waste driving into Spain, so I stopped off at Castro Marim Nature Reserve on the Spanish border and spent until dusk (5.30pm) here, mind you as soon as I crossed the border into Spain the time became 6.30pm crazy isn’t it!
Although there didn’t seem to be the amount of water in the pools and some of the better saltpans had been drained in preparation for refilling for another cycle there were still plenty of birds present even if wader numbers seemed lower than last year. A couple of hours around the reserve and the saltpans opposite the town gave a good start to the holiday with:-
3 Caspian Terns, Sandwich Terns, Black-headed, Mediterranean, Lesser Black-back and Yellow- legged Gulls, Little and Cattle Egrets, White Stork, Grey Herons, Cormorants, Shoveler, Mallard, Teal, 3 Marsh Harriers, Kestrels, an Osprey albeit on the Spanish side of the river, Little Owl, Dunlin, Little Stint, Ringed, Kentish and Grey Plovers, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Black-winged Stilts, Lapwings, Crested Larks, Skylarks, Black Redstarts, Stonechats, Corn and Reed Buntings, Meadow Pipits, White Wagtails, Sardinian and Fan-tailed Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Southern Grey Shrikes, Black-billed Magpie and a single Swallow.
The salt-works track on the opposite side of Castro Marim held 60+ Flamingos, Shoveler, Pintail, Little Grebes, Black-tailed Godwits and Black-winged Stilts in the saltpans, Snipe, Redshank, 3 Hoopoes, House, Tree and Spanish Sparrows, Yellow Wagtail, more of the same larks, pipits, wagtails, warblers and Black Redstarts, with a flock of about 200 Mediterranean Gulls suddenly appearing overhead from somewhere.

The light was beginning to go now so it was time to head into Spain, an hour later and I was in Hinojos looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully Black-shouldered Kites.

Wed. 14th Nov – The Corredor Verde area, Dehesa de Abajo and surrounding rice fields was the agenda for today.
Along the first part of the track, as far as the Laguna de Mancho Zurillo passerines seemed everywhere, several flocks of mixed Goldfinch’s and Serins, Meadow Pipits, White Wagtails, House and Tree Sparrows, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Stonechats, Black Redstarts, Corn Buntings, Sardinian and Fan-tailed Warblers, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Robins, Hoopoes, Great Spotted and Iberian Green Woodpecker, Crested Larks, Woodlark and Skylarks, Spotless Starlings, Southern Grey Shrikes, 7 Waxbills, Red-legged Partridge and good numbers of Azure-winged Magpies.
The laguna itself was quiet with only a few Coot, Grey Herons and a Little Owl sitting on one of the dead trees. Ravens croaked overhead and raptors were represented with Buzzards, Kestrels, Red Kites, Marsh Harrier and the one I really came to see, Black-shouldered Kite, this one was a juvenile bird, presumably one of the local pair’s young and put on a good show being in the air hunting for quite some time and sitting on top of small trees, excellent bird.
After some time I carried on down the track to where I spent hours watching a breeding pair of Black-shouldered Kites in Feb.06, it didn’t take long to find them sitting in a favourite tree together. Before long the male was off hunting and soon returned with a small mammal which he gave to the female, this happened a couple of times over the next hour so their breeding cycle has started already. Delighted to see they were still here and obviously doing well I headed further down the track to the Night Heron roost, the vegetation has grown a lot since my last visit making it difficult to count how many were present but certainly well over 100.
Coming out onto the Isla Mayor road I turned left after 3 or 4kms, crossed the Entremuros and parked to look down at the reedbeds and rice fields.The reedbed area was short of water this year and only a handful of Purple Gallinules were seen instead of the usual dozens, several Marsh Harriers quartered the area and a few Reed Buntings and Waxbills were all I could find. Turning around to view the rice fields most had already been harvested so no masses of feeding birds to be seen, however Black Storks were certainly present, I counted 52 on a scan along with White Storks, hundreds of gulls, Little and Cattle Egrets, Lapwings, Snipe, Green Sandpiper, a flock of Spanish Sparrows and the usual Sardinian and Fan-tailed Warblers.

Leaving here a short drive along the road brought me to the Canada de Rianzuela. What a difference, lots of water and full of birds, pink of Flamingos, black and white of Stilts and Avocets in their masses, white of egrets and Spoonbills etc. with a dozen or so Cattle Egrets on the bank by the sluice gate. I decided to visit a couple of places further along the road and come back to here for the last couple of hours of daylight. It wasn’t long before I returned however, the pools I wanted to see were more or less dry with very few birds on them.
A rough count of what was before me gave 2000 Flamingos, 2000 Black-winged Stilts, 1000+ avocets, 100+ Spoonbills, hundreds of Cormorants, there was no way of counting the duck present but were in 1000’s rather than 100’s, mainly Shoveler, dozens of Grey Herons and Little Egrets, 200 Glossy Ibis, 3 Great White Egrets, Green and Common Sandpipers, Snipe, Great Crested and Little Grebes, Spanish Sparrows, Kingfisher, Jackdaws – the only colony in the area, Marsh Harrier, Red Kite, Buzzard and as dusk was falling 3 Night Herons and a Squacco Heron appeared out of the tamarisks alongside the road. What a spectacle all this made, it’s sights like this that keep drawing people back to Spain.
Final treat of the day was driving back between the Entremuros and the Corredor Verde turn, huge numbers of Cattle and Little Egrets were coming in to roost in the tamarisks alongside the road making the trees almost invisible by their numbers.

 

[john-henry]

Donana and Algarve Nov.07 Part 2.

Thurs. 15th Nov. – Today was a round trip along the Jose Valverde track and back via the Casa de Bombas. Up early for this and got to the track at first light. Things were looking a bit dry on the marismas side and the water in the channel on the other side of the road looked polluted so this could be a mixed bag today.
Larks were certainly evident and it wasn’t long before Crested, Skylark and Calandra were seen with some good sized flocks of the Calandras. Marsh and Hen Harriers were out on patrol as were several Kestrels from the Bombas colony and a Black-shouldered Kite. Grey Herons and Little Egrets were the only birds to be seen in the channel. I stopped for what I assumed to be a Kestrel sitting on the bank of the channel 30-40 yards away to find it was a ringtail Hen Harrier sitting in the sun preening itself, what a photo opportunity, as slowly as I could I got the scope on it, focused carefully, and this bloody van came zooming along the track rattling and banging and put it up, I couldn’t believe it I’m out in the middle of nowhere and it comes along at that very moment, I can’t repeat the things I called the driver. However my luck was still in, it flew about 100 yards down the track and settled on the bank again, this time everything went OK and I got a few nice shots, phew, this will give me a heart attack one day.
Carrying on to reach the Casa de Bombas I found a Griffon Vulture just standing in the middle of the track, well you couldn’t very well miss it! As I drove closer it spread it’s wings fully at me but didn’t fly, magnificent bird.
My plans changed 100 yards further along the track due to several huge pot-holes eighteen inches deep strung across the track, so reversing back to the Bombas I took this track instead, the griffon was nowhere to be seen now. It worked to my advantage as I found out later as there was hardly any water along the marismas side of the Valverde track and very few birds to be seen.
The Bombas track is in pretty good condition so didn’t require one eye on the road and one birding most of the time. More Marsh (about 20 during the day) and Hen Harriers were seen along with Buzzards, Red Kites a Booted Eagle and 3 more Griffon Vultures. Larks seemed exceptionally numerous and widespread seeing good numbers of Crested, Skylarks, Calandra and Lesser Short-toed Larks. Great White Egret, Black Stork, White Storks, Spoonbills, Little and Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons, huge numbers of Greylags were seen in flight and about 200 Common Cranes in a field close to the track plus larger numbers away in the distance. Ravens, 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, Spotless Starlings, Black Redstarts, Fan-tailed Warblers, Lapwings, Snipe, Green Sandpipers and a Spotted Redshank were seen before reaching the Valverde Centre. Here birds really tailed off, due to lack of water presumably, a drive back to Bombas along the Valverde track confirmed this, most of it was dry with no duck or waders seen at all.
With great hesitation I did manage to negotiate the huge pot-holes successfully, and there were several others apart from the first ones I saw, but I would recommend anyone going in the near future to avoid this track unless you’ve got a 4 wheel drive, I was lucky, it was dry.

There were still a few hours of daylight left so drove down to El Rocio. Plenty of water here and plenty of birds, especially duck, huge numbers of Shoveler with Pintail, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard and Pochard with them, Greylags,100+ Flamingos, 30+ Spoonbills, 50+ Glossy Ibis, Little and Cattle Egrets, Purple Gallinule, 100’s Coot, Moorhens, 2 Squacco Herons, Grey Herons, Red Kites, Marsh Harriers, Wood Pigeons and Jays. I reckoned it was worth a morning’s birding so decided to have a look in at La Rocina and come back here tomorrow.
Plenty of water in La Rocina but very few birds to be seen, only a handful of Shoveler, Mallard and Little Grebes on the water, a Water Rail was heard as were several Cetti’s Warblers. Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Song Thrush, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Wren, Sardinian and Dartford Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Goldcrest, Black Redstart, Azure-winged Magpies, Short-toed Treecreeper and a Marsh Harrier finished the day – well not quite, on driving back to Hinojos a Black-shouldered Kite flew over the road about 1km or so past the Villamanrique turning, a nice finish to a good day.

Fri.16th Nov. – I managed to arrive at El Rocio about 8am to get in a full days birding on my last day in Spain. As I was arriving large numbers of Cattle Egrets were leaving, presumably having roosted here overnight. The Flamingos, Spoonbills, etc were still here, Glossy Ibis numbers had risen to over 100, ducks were everywhere, Purple Gallinule, Water Rail, Coot in huge numbers, Moorhens, Great Crested and Little Grebes, not many waders seen though, a few Snipe, c.50 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Black-winged Stilts and 4 Spotted Redshank. The 2 Squacco Herons put in a brief appearance as did a Great White Egret. Water Pipit, Cetti’s and Fan-tailed Warblers, Black Redstarts, Spotless Starlings, Serin, Azure-winged Magpies and Kingfisher were added to the list. Scanning the trees on the opposite side of the lake revealed 3 Black-shouldered Kites.
Two Swedish birders, a father and son, joined me on the promenade and during 2 hours watching the area to the east of the lake we had 2 Spanish Imperial Eagles, an adult and an immature, a Spotted Eagle, identified with great certainty by the Swedish birders, I only knew it wasn’t an eagle I had seen before, Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, several Red Kites, Buzzards, Kestrels, Marsh Harriers and 30 Griffon Vultures. Birding doesn’t get much better than this.

To finish off the day I went back to the Corredor Verde for another look at the Black-shouldered Kites, the juvenile was showing well again as were the adult pair and were a lot closer today thanks to a Buzzard sitting in their favourite tree. The male was hunting regularly and giving most of his kills to the female so it won’t be long before mating and nest building takes place. Eventually I had to head back to Hinojos to pack etc as I wanted to leave early in the morning for Portugal so said my farewells to the Kites and this excellent area of Spain.

 

[Andrew]

Great start John.

You have waved the match sized flame with a king sized bedspread to make it a bonfire! Really eager to get going now!

Wot, no Little Bustards at Castro Marim?

 

[john-henry]

Donana and Algarve Nov.07 Part 3.

Donana and Algarve Nov.07 Part 3.

Sat. 17th Nov. – Up at 5am and left at 6am for Portugal, strange really because I drove for 1 hour to reach the border and got into Portugal at 6am.

Tavira saltpans first, along the 4 Aguas road, as it started to get light herons and gulls started to become active and I could see several Audouin’s Gulls sitting on the banks of the pans. These were soon joined by Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls so I slowly drove out on another bank opposite them to get a few photos.
Unfortunately most of the larger saltpans along the road had very little water in them which limited the number and variety of birds, no Flamingos, Spoonbills and very few waders. However I did find a few Flamingos and Spoonbills along the 'ToMe Mariscos' track further along the road, plus Black-winged Stilt, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Whimbrel and Curlew, Bluethroat, Sardinian and Fan-tailed Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Corn Bunting, Black Redstart and Stonechats.
Coming back for a good look at the pans along the road I counted over 70 Audouin’s Gulls, perhaps this is becoming a regular wintering area for them? Sandwich Terns, Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls, Dunlin, Sanderling, Kentish, Ringed and Grey Plovers were also present in small numbers. Perhaps I should have tried the saltpans behind the town market but it was going to be a long day so moved on to the Ria Formosa Reserve at Olhao, about 15km away.

Still only 1.5 euro entrance fee to the reserve. First birds seen on arrival were several Waxbills in the car park, soon followed by Sardinian, Fan-tailed Warblers, Chiffchaffs and singing Blackcaps. Along the woodland trail Azure-winged Magpies, Collared Doves, Hoopoe, Crested Lark, more of the warblers and a few Siskins were present – first time I’ve recorded Siskin in Portugal.
Coming to the lake in the reedbeds it was absolutely packed with birds, Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Mallard, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, 2 Purple Gallinules and scores of Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls bathing.
The two shallow water/saltmarsh areas opposite held another 200+ Mediterranean Gulls plus a few Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls, 6 Caspian Terns (4 adult, 2 juv.), 12 Flamingo, Little Egrets, Coot, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Ringed, Kentish and Grey Plovers, all giving great views.

Time to move on again towards Salgados and my accommodation for the next 5 nights but still time for a quick look at Pera Marsh before it gets dark.
Damn, it’s empty again, drained dry and surveyors are out in the middle of it with their theodolite, don’t like the look of this at all. Talking to an English couple who’ve been here for 4 weeks it was empty when they arrived.

Sun. 18th Nov. – Up at 7 but felt like a lazy day so just stayed local today. As I stepped on to the balcony on my room to see what the weather was like a female Peregrine flew past carrying a dead Coot, presumably one from the large numbers on the golf course.
At Pera marsh the only water I could see was small channel of rank water close to the western shoreline and an area on the golf course side where 20+ Herons, 3 Spoonbills and a few Mallard were sitting around doing nothing. The only waders present were a flock of Lapwings and Golden Plovers, which prefer the grassy areas anyway.
The surrounding area and the track leading to Carlos’s Bar was quite good though and I spent a few hours here seeing Little Owl, Marsh Harrier, Kestrels, Little and Cattle Egrets, Stonechats, Spotless Starlings, Crested and Skylarks, Northern Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, Richard’s Pipit – a first for me in Portugal, must be prime time for them as I saw another 3 individuals in different places over the next few days. White Wagtails, Hoopoes, Red-legged Partridge, the usual 4 warbler species, Corn Buntings, Southern Grey Shrike, 7 Crag Martins, 4 Swallows ‘coasting’ and 20+ Curlews.

Back at Salgados Golf Course, from the club-house side – it was surprising how many birds use the golf course for feeding and/or bathing in the lakes scattered throughout its area.
A small water channel with reeds etc around it right beside the road had a Bluethroat, several Waxbills, Chiffchaffs, Little Egret, Black-winged Stilt and Moorhens feeding in it, White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits strolled all over the greens, 100+ Coot helped keep the grass short as did 3 Purple Gallinules. Good numbers of Shoveler and Mallard lounged around the larger lake a short distance away while Little Grebes dived in it. Common Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts and a Greenshank put in appearances but best of all an adult and juvenile Caspian Tern over-flew the area on and off all the time I was there.

After a trip to the supermarket in Gale I decided to try one of the small roads leading into more rural surroundings so turned off at the first most likely-looking one, it turned out to be an excellent little area, only about a km or so long but plenty of birds – Waxbills, Serins, Linnets, Goldfinches, Greenfinches, Chaffinches, Spotless Starlings, Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, White Wagtails, Collared Doves, Hoopoes, Azure-winged Magpies, Crested and Skylarks, Cattle Egrets, Kestrel, Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap and Chiffchaffs.
I was pleasantly surprised to find so many birds so close to the touristy area, it gives an idea what wildlife there must have been before the mass building that’s gone on over the last few years.

 

[ColinD]

...Two Swedish birders, a father and son, joined me on the promenade and during 2 hours watching the area to the east of the lake we had 2 Spanish Imperial Eagles, an adult and an immature, a Spotted Eagle, identified with great certainty by the Swedish birders, I only knew it wasn’t an eagle I had seen before, ....

Great report John. We also met the two Swedish birders, in fact they were the two who showed us the American Golden Plover. They told us they had seen the Spotted Eagle. You can see one of their reports (in Swedish) at http://www.sofnet.org/index.asp?lev=4825&typ=1

I just exchanged emails with one of them tonight. Apart from everything you saw and we saw, they also had a flock of 4200 Glossy Ibis not far from Casa de Bombas!

Amazing place.

 

[john-henry]

Great report John. We also met the two Swedish birders, in fact they were the two who showed us the American Golden Plover. They told us they had seen the Spotted Eagle. You can see one of their reports (in Swedish) at http://www.sofnet.org/index.asp?lev=4825&typ=1

I just exchanged emails with one of them tonight. Apart from everything you saw and we saw, they also had a flock of 4200 Glossy Ibis not far from Casa de Bombas!

Amazing place.

Thanks Bobby,
the two Swedish birders obviously had a great time too!!

Totally agree about the area, it is amazing, never know what you'll see from one minute to the next, makes you keep going back for more doesn't it?

Regards

John

 

[john-henry]

Andrew, tried to PM you just now, your inbox is full, I'll try again later.

John

 

[john-henry]

Donana and Algarve Nov.07 Part 4.

Mon. 19th Nov. – A change in the weather today, cloudy and windy with occasional showers, reminded me of home – ugh!
A trip to Quinta da Rocha today. A stiff onshore wind kept many small birds in cover but there’s always a few sheltered places where you get little pockets of them.
From the car park a flock of 60+ Flamingos could be seen, 12 Avocet, Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank, Redshank, Black-winged Stilts, Ringed, Kentish and Grey Plovers and a few Dunlin. A walk along the raised bank looking seaward showed a flock of 50+ Sanderling sheltering behind a sandbank, a small group of gulls, mainly Lesser Black-backed but with 6 Caspian Terns amongst them, a few Sandwich Terns battled against the winds trying to fish.
Looking inland, groups of small waders sheltered in the saltmarsh.
Carrying along the bank to reach the old saltpans was a bit of a surprise, they aren’t old saltpans anymore, all the area has been levelled and new working saltpans made. Last year they were covered in vegetation, good for a variety of wildlife as well as waders roosting, this year there were still plenty of waders but no passerines. On the bright side waders were much easier to see than before and good numbers were present, Dunlin, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpipers, Common Sandpipers, Knot, Turnstone, Sanderling, Lapwing, Golden, Grey, Little and Kentish Plovers, Black and Bar-tailed Godwits, Greenshank, Redshank, Spotted Redshank and Black-winged Stilts.
On the river side several Whimbrel, Little Egrets, Grey Herons, Black-headed, Mediterranean, Lesser Black-backed and Yellow-legged Gulls and a single White Stork could be seen.
Continuing along the track to complete the round trip Kestrels, Southern Grey Shrike, Crested and Skylarks, Meadow, Water and a Richards Pipit, White Wagtails, Stonechats, Serin, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Linnets, Sardinian and Fan-tailed Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcap, Spanish Sparrow, Corn Bunting, Wheatear, Kingfisher, Azure-winged Magpie and Cattle Egret were all recorded.

Back in the car park and after a bite to eat it was where to go next. I’d never been along the Alvor estuary so it seemed like a good time to do so.
The light was fading and a few showers were developing but from a vantage point overlooking the estuary it showed great potential. Marsh Harriers quartered the area, Kestrel, Buzzard and 2 Black-shouldered Kites were also out hunting. 7 White Storks, 15 Spoonbill, Little and Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons, good numbers of duck including Shoveler, Teal and Mallard, Black-winged Stilts, Black-tailed Godwits etc were soon seen. Azure-winged Magpies, Hoopoe and the usual warblers were also present.

Tues. 20th Nov. – Quite a storm overnight, thunder, lightning, gales and heavy rain, the rain and wind carrying on until about 2pm. Didn’t bother to go out until 9am then went to Salgados beach, not much in the way of birds but it was interesting to see a new raised wooden walkway being built from ‘my’ side across the sand-bar to the footpath into Pera Marsh, could be a useful access for anyone on foot staying in the area.
I then moved on to the Salgados golf course road and sat in the car watching the greens and lakes, Northern Wheatear, Water Pipit, Pochard and Cattle Egrets were new from my last visit.
An adult Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern and about 100 mixed Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were sheltering from the weather when suddenly there was a terrific blast of wind, it seems to ‘lift’ the water on the lake, all the birds took off in panic and a palm tree nearby was knocked out of the ground by its force, it was gone again as quick as it came. On looking around the course I could see over a dozen palm trees lying on the ground and many others leaning to one side, behind me a 4” branch had been ripped off a tree and dumped in the road. I can only think it must have been a mini-tornado or similar. Soon after this the weather cleared to sunny and warm with light winds!
The birds re-appeared on the golf course including the adult and juv. Caspian Terns from a couple of days ago, Waxbills, a Cetti’s Warbler started singing, 2 Purple Gallinules and loads of Coot had a stroll around, everything was back to normal except they had a lot more small pools to investigate caused by the heavy rainfall.
On to Pera Marsh, the rain had also created several wet areas here and a few small waders, Ringed and Kentish Plovers, Dunlin and Sanderling, were feeding in them. The Spoonbill count had gone up to eight, 2 Marsh Harriers were quartering the area and a female Peregrine was sitting on a rock watching. Passerines were pretty much as before but several Hares were out and about.

 

[Twite]

Hi John.

Great report and great pics too. How did you find your way around? Did you have a guide book or maps or both?

Twite.

 

[john-henry]

Hi John.

Great report and great pics too. How did you find your way around? Did you have a guide book or maps or both?

Twite.

Neither Twite,
I've been several times and know the area fairly well, most of this is down to having a day out with John Butler a few years ago.

Anytime you're planning to go and need some info on the area give me a shout.

Regards

John

 

[Twite]

Neither Twite,
I've been several times and know the area fairly well, most of this is down to having a day out with John Butler a few years ago.

Anytime you're planning to go and need some info on the area give me a shout.

Regards

John

Thanks John.

I'll take you up on your offer closer to the time, heading there in April for a short visit. I had 2 days with JB in February, but was much too busy enjoying the birds to notice the roads, JB's book should be out before I go and that will be a great help. I don't suppose you know anything about Tarifa and surrounding hills, do you?
Thanks again.

Twite.

 

[Mick Sway]

Hi John
Great report and lovely pics.
Havn't seen a BS Kite for years.
Great stuff.
Merry Christmas
Mick
B

 

[john-henry]

Thanks Mick, a merry Christmas and New Year to you.

Regards

John

 

[john-henry]

Thanks John.

I'll take you up on your offer closer to the time, heading there in April for a short visit. I had 2 days with JB in February, but was much too busy enjoying the birds to notice the roads, JB's book should be out before I go and that will be a great help. I don't suppose you know anything about Tarifa and surrounding hills, do you?
Thanks again.

Twite.

Just give me a shout when you're ready.

Don't know much about Tarifa area but there are lots of info in various trip reports available so I'm sure you'll do OK.

Regards

John

 

[Andrew]

Cleared my inbox John.

Glad to know there has been some decent rain to put some life back into Pera Marsh and I will be more than happy to get half the number of decent photographs you have had so far! The best pictures I had last time was one Bluethroat and one Fan-tailed Warbler!

 

[john-henry]

Donana and Algarve Nov.07 Part 5.

Wed. 21st Nov. – Back to good weather today, warm, sunny and light winds. Up at 6.30 and left at 7.20 for Cabo de Sao Vicente just under an hours drive away. A small area of trees with allotments behind that I usually look at was fenced off this year with no access to it, shame because it was good for passerines at this time of year and probably even better at migration times.
4 Red-billed Chough were feeding on the rough slopes to the right as you approach the car park while another 2 plus some Jackdaws were feeding alongside the road, the Choughs were sitting on overhead wires waiting for ‘road-kill’ insects, anyone heard of or seen this before?.
Thekla Larks were quite obliging sitting on bushes and rocks giving good views, Several Black Redstarts also showed very well with some handsome males of the Iberian race, a Richard’s Pipit dropped in and disappeared into the rough grass, Siskins, Serins, Goldfinches, Linnets and Chaffinches passed overhead, 4 Blue Rock Thrushes, Southern Grey Shrike, Northern Wheatear, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, White Wagtails, Stonechats, lots of Sardinian Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Dunnock, Robins, Corn Buntings and Spotless Starlings were all seen around the headland area.
A short sea-watch didn’t produce much, Gannets, 2 Mediterranean and a few Black-headed Gulls. A drive along a track heading inland that was good for birds last year didn’t give much this year, the best being 20+ Red-billed Chough, Crested Larks and Cattle Egrets.

I dropped in to Quinta da Rocha on the way back, it had turned windy with a few showers so I didn’t stay long, things seemed much as my last visit but on the way out a pair of Little Owls showed well at close range on a ruined building, I've included a pic of the male and the female as they're such entertaining birds, the female especially, she's the one sitting on the rafters.

Thurs, 22nd Nov. - Packed and left Bayside Apartments for the Hotel Parque Mourabel at Vilamoura for my last 5 nights.
Had an hour or so at Pera Marsh, quite an area of the marsh now had water over it, although very shallow, and birds are returning, Black-winged Stilts, small waders, Shoveler, Water Pipit etc. most of them from the golf course I should think.

I left here about 11am and headed for Quinta do Lago, my favourite spot on the Algarve.
On arriving the tide was full in and higher than I’d seen it before, I had to walk along the golf course to get to the lake and hide area along the left hand track.
There’s always been a good selection of birds in the area and today was no different:
4 Purple Gallinules, Coot, Moorhen, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler, Gadwall, Pochard, Red-crested Pochard, Tufted Duck, Little and Great Crested Grebes, Snipe, Cormorants, Little Egrets, 2 Glossy Ibis, Black-headed, Mediterranean, Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, several White Storks circling on a thermal, a dark ph. Booted Eagle showing really well, Sardinian, Fan-tailed and Cetti’s Warblers, Blackcaps, Chiffchaff, Serins, Goldfinches, Crested Larks, Azure-winged Magpies, Dunlin, Ringed, Kentish and Grey Plovers, Redshank, Greenshank, Curlew, Whimbrel, Sandwich Terns and several Kingfishers.

 

[Julian Sykes Wildlife]

Simple awesome my friend, simply awesome.

Photos to die for as always John, plus an evocatively written piece. You are in the wrong job.

Anyway Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you and Mrs J. from myself, Amanda, Stan & Harry.

 

[john-henry]

Great to hear from you Jules, hope you, Amanda and the boys are all well, I expect they're getting wound up for Christmas by now, are you going to be Santa Claus? Ho Ho Ho!

Wish you all a great Christmas and an even better new year.

Best wishes

John

 

[Andrew]

The quality of the photographs blow me away as you get them on a consistent basis whereas I usually come away with just about five or ten 'fuzzy stunners' out of my lot. Going to try to modify my adaptor in time to have a removable cable release on it which I hope will help a lot.

 

[Ruby]

Hi John,

What a great trip - a good read through the report and some fantastic photographs. This was all the more enjoyable for me, since I have been to many of the places that you mention, so I can really visualise the experience that you describe.

...You've done it to me again with your pics.... Fan-tailed Warbler being another bogey bird which I have only got rubbish pics of....

This has really whetted my appetite for our next Iberian trip - as you know, we are going to the Valencia area with Jules before heading off to Extremadura in May, and we have a slot in our diary for Feb half-term - a couple of options being considered are Andalucia and Donana..... In light of previous experiences, I think we're going to wait until the last minute and hopefully get some decent weather - the complete wash-out we had in the Algarve last Winter still rankles!


All the best.... Ray