South Western Algarve - family holiday Aug 2006 (1 Viewer)

South Western Algarve - Aug 2006

South Western Algarve – August 5th-19th, 2006

This year’s family summer holiday destination saw the four of us heading off to the village of Praia da Luz in the South Western corner of Portugal. It was to be a relaxing family holiday first and foremost with a few birding trips thrown in (especially early mornings). We landed at Faro airport, picked up or hire car and drove the hour or so to our villa. Praia da Luz is around 10km further west than the town of Lagos in the western end of the Algarve region of Portugal.
What a pleasant surprise when we arrived! A leafy garden with lovely views over the countryside and sea, I immediately knew that a lot of my birding could be done from the poolside. Perfect!

Over the next fortnight pool-side highlights included daily flocks of 50+ Azure-winged Magpies (I don’t think I’ve ever seen birds with such a character), Common Waxbills, Hoopoes, many Bee-Eaters, Spotless Starlings, Red-rumped Swallows, Melodious Warblers, Alpine Swifts, Pallid Swifts and a daily sighting of a fine Short-toed Eagle. From the upstairs veranda, Cory’s Sheawaters (and Common Dolphins) could be scoped each morning and evening and Blue Rock Thrushes could be seen on the nearby cliffs.

Highlight of the holiday for me was the pelagic trips; these were a birthday present from my wife. Aled (my son) and I booked ourselves onto a Shark fishing trip (an environmentally friendly one where all sharks were tagged and returned to the sea) and set off from the marina at Lagos sailing into the Atlantic for eight hours. Before the chum (the smelly bait put out to attract sharks) was put down I had already seen several very close Cory’s Shearwaters and a few Storm Petrels. It wasn’t long before I started seeing my target species – Wilson’s Petrel. As the chum’s slick started attracting birds, these little petrels started appearing from nowhere. At one time I counted an incredible 28 around the boat, some as close as 5 yards. It was an amazing feeling to think that these little birds are Southern Hemisphere birds and until recently a very rare bird in European waters. I had hoped to see a few, but could not believe that there was that many. Two Pomarine Skuas flew over head and a number of Sooty and Balearic Shearwaters went by. We also caught three amazing Blue Sharks which were lovely to see so close (this was the highlight for Aled!). A week later we repeated the trip and had a further 25+ Wilson’s Petrels, but this time also rewarded with two Caspian Terns and a very close Great Shearwater!

While staying at Luz, I made the nature reserve at Quinta da Rocha on the Alvor Estuary my local patch with several early morning and evening visits. The reserve centre is open to visitors on a Thursday morning and is well worth the visit then just for the home made Lemon cake!. 100+ Greater Flamingos were a wonderful sight there, while Black winged Stilts, Avocets, Kentish Plovers, 'Iberian' Yellow Wagtail, Green Sandpipers, Little Terns and Cattle Egrets were seen on every visit along with Woodchat Shrikes and Southern Grey Shrikes. One evening 2 Caspian Terns were amongst the Yellow legged Gull flock. Further down the coast were Pera marshes, to which I also visited a few times (it is conveniently situated behind a nice family beach!). Highlights here included many Purple Gallinules, 20+ Spoonbills, Purple Heron, Short toed Larks, 200+ Greater Flamingo and most of the species also seen at Quinta. In the Monchique Mountains, the mountain range that runs along the spine of the Algarve, I had great views of Rock Bunting, Cetti’s Warblers, Crested Lark, Short toed Eagles, many Southern Grey Shrikes and Cetti’s Warblers.

I had three target species while on holiday and I scored with two and a half. Black shouldered Kite is a bird I’ve always wanted to see and I was extremely lucky to see two. Both birds were found completely accidentally while driving. Luckily they have a habit of perching on telegraph poles so I managed to stop and watch them from my mobile hide. One bird was on the coast road between Odiexerre and Alvor, while the other was in the vicinity of Lagos zoo (around 20km north of Lagos). I was not really expecting to see this species, but on chatting to a local birder, he said many had been displaced by forest fires over recent years and more were being seen in the Algarve. The second target species was Great Spotted Cuckoo, a species apparently quite common in the area. I was lucky to find one fantastic juvenile bird behind Amodo beach on the western Portuguese coast; a superb area that is not at all over developed and must be very under watched I also came across Dartford Warbler, Thekla Larks and Corn Buntings in this part . The third bird I had hoped to see was Red necked Nightjar. A friend had given me some good site information and I spent several evenings trying to see this bird. Unfortunately the area was now fenced off, and what was frustrating was that I could hear their amazing call but only every now and then caught a shadow of something moving above the pines. Oh well, pehaps next time!

All in all I saw 102 species of bird during the fortnight and was thrilled with the quality of birds on offer in such accessible places. For a combined family / birders holiday it must be a near perfect destination. If anyone wants more information about birding in the area, places to stay or the area in general, I’d be happy to help.

Marc Hughes
One of the Wilson's Petrels taken with a hand held digi-camera off the back of the boat.

A great report Marc. My family and I have visited the Algarve several times and have always enjoyed our holidays there. I have just today booked a 2 week holiday for the end of this month into October. We will be staying at Vale De Parra and the villa we will be staying in has Salgados golf course behind it, handy for a few Hoopoes and Common waxbills! Pera Marshes is a favourite of ours, we saw 3 Spoonbills there when we went in June,I would love to see the 20+ when we go! As I am mainly a garden Birdwatcher I have a tremendous amount to learn with recognising species of waders etc, but the main thing is the pleasure of seeing the birds, and I am learning all the time.

Thanks again for your holiday report, it was a joy to read. :t:

Nice report Marc, thanks.

Great report, Marc, brought the memories back. I had a family holiday in April 1999 in Praia de Vau, between Praia de Rocha and Alvor and within walking distance of both. My total number of bird species was 100, without your great pelagics but with 2 paid-for trips to the marshes just west of Faro Airport and Castro Marim one day and from Lagos to Cabo Sao Vicente another afternoon. Some of the storm petrels from the Algarve coast have been mistnetted at Ponta de Almadena, west of Lagos, and there have been recoveries of storm petrels from there on the Calf of Man, and vice versa. Walking round Ponta de Almadena I saw a peregrine falcon and a stonechat, home from home, as well as striking blue rock thrush and iberian form of black redstart.

Re Pera Marshes

My wife Tina and I are off to Vale de Perra 6th Oct.
Can you assist with any directions for Perra Marsh ?
We'll be staying somewhere in the Golf Course vacinity.
Thanks
Mick Sway

Pam_m said:

A great report Marc. My family and I have visited the Algarve several times and have always enjoyed our holidays there. I have just today booked a 2 week holiday for the end of this month into October. We will be staying at Vale De Parra and the villa we will be staying in has Salgados golf course behind it, handy for a few Hoopoes and Common waxbills! Pera Marshes is a favourite of ours, we saw 3 Spoonbills there when we went in June,I would love to see the 20+ when we go! As I am mainly a garden Birdwatcher I have a tremendous amount to learn with recognising species of waders etc, but the main thing is the pleasure of seeing the birds, and I am learning all the time.

Thanks again for your holiday report, it was a joy to read. :t:

Click to expand...

Mick Sway said:

My wife Tina and I are off to Vale de Perra 6th Oct.
Can you assist with any directions for Perra Marsh ?
We'll be staying somewhere in the Golf Course vacinity.
Thanks
Mick Sway

Click to expand...

There are two ways to get to Pera Marsh, the easiest way is to head for Salgados beach and the car park is along side the Marshes. When you leave your car head for the beach and bear right, walking past the edge of the water to the marshes. There is an information sign at the top of the beach which tells you about the marsh and the walking route over/past the dunes. You can walk around the marsh and eventually you will reach a hide for spectacular views.

There is a second route to the marshes where you can park the other side nearer the hide, I will try and find more information out as to the directions for you, but if you are going along a road and see a sign for 'Carlos Beach Bar' on an island follow the sign for the bar and the road will take you to the farside of the marshes.

This link is to the freemaps that are available for the Algarve, Salgados is located in the bottom left of the map.

http://www.freemaps.net/en/downloads/gale.pdf

Hope this is of some help!

Thanks everybody for your kind feedback.
Mick, if your staying in the vicinity of the Golf course at Vale de Pera you will be very close to the Pera marshes. In fact the western edge of the golf course skirts the lagoon, and often holds good numbers of Purple Gallinules on the greens and tees. As Pam has mentioned, there are two beach car parks, one at the end of the Vale de Pera road (eastern end), and the other on the western side of the lagoon, near Salgados beach. Whichever car park you park in, you will see the lagoon and the hide. I should imagine you are staying in easy walking distance of the lagoon, and if your staying near the golf course could easily walk from your villa, around the whole marsh and back in a couple of hours! I'm sure you'll have a great time-enjoy!

Mick Sway said:

My wife Tina and I are off to Vale de Perra 6th Oct.
Can you assist with any directions for Perra Marsh ?
We'll be staying somewhere in the Golf Course vacinity.
Thanks
Mick Sway

Click to expand...

Hi Mick,
Following on from Pam's directions, and her excellent map link. Drive past the entrance road to Salgados Golf Course heading towards Armacao de Pera, at the first roundabout you come to take the third exit, signed Carlos's Beach Bar, and follow this to the marsh, don't take the right turn part way down this only leads to Carlos's.

Have a great holiday and let us know how you get on - I'm going in November so any info will be gratefully received.

regards

John

Welcome to Birdforum by the way Mick, it is a brilliant site.

Thanks Marc and John for helping me out with information, there are so many new roads in that area it is hard to pinpoint sometimes a clear direction. Besides I am always sightseeing when we are in the car, so I do not take a lot of notice, I am a passenger by the way not the driver

I hope you have a great holiday Mick, as Marc has said Pera Marsh is easy to walk around, have a safe journey and enjoy.

marcbuzzard said:

Thanks everybody for your kind feedback.
Mick, if your staying in the vicinity of the Golf course at Vale de Pera you will be very close to the Pera marshes. In fact the western edge of the golf course skirts the lagoon, and often holds good numbers of Purple Gallinules on the greens and tees. As Pam has mentioned, there are two beach car parks, one at the end of the Vale de Pera road (eastern end), and the other on the western side of the lagoon, near Salgados beach. Whichever car park you park in, you will see the lagoon and the hide. I should imagine you are staying in easy walking distance of the lagoon, and if your staying near the golf course could easily walk from your villa, around the whole marsh and back in a couple of hours! I'm sure you'll have a great time-enjoy!

Click to expand...

It's worth waqlking West from the marsh through the sand dunes. Depending upon the time of year you will pick up a few interesting birds in the shrubs (shrikes, warblers etc.) as well as good sightings of little owl. The main benefit is from carrying on to the river mouth oppositeAracao de Pera which can be very good for waders. I find the best concentrations are found just around the bend heading inland.

HTH

Re Dierections

:clap:

Hi Pam
Thanks for the directions and map link.
We will be staying at the Quinta Terruta Apts, which overlook the Golf Course
however I'm not exactly sure where that is in terms of the map.
We have stayed in Vale Parra before at Sesmarias, near Coelho Beach and have always found the birding on the Cliff walks there good for the time year, however have never quite got around to locating Pera Marsh.
By the way have you ever eaten at O Marinheiro at Sesamarias ?
Can't tell you how much we are both looking forward to it.
Regards
Mick S

Thanks for the info Alf.
Much appretciated.
Mick S

Thanks John

Mick Sway said:

:clap:

Hi Pam
Thanks for the directions and map link.
We will be staying at the Quinta Terruta Apts, which overlook the Golf Course
however I'm not exactly sure where that is in terms of the map.
We have stayed in Vale Parra before at Sesmarias, near Coelho Beach and have always found the birding on the Cliff walks there good for the time year, however have never quite got around to locating Pera Marsh.
By the way have you ever eaten at O Marinheiro at Sesamarias ?
Can't tell you how much we are both looking forward to it.
Regards
Mick S

Click to expand...

Hi Mick,
Hope the map will be useful for you, the paper 'Freemaps' are normally available in most of the bigger towns (Supermarkets and newsagents) and are very useful to keep by you.

I don't recognise the name of O Marinheiro but will certainly make a note of it in case we go to Sesmarias, try Margem Sul in Sáo Rafael and Restaurante Sáo Domingos in Vale Parra, we had some great meals at these restaurants in June!

Won't be long for you to wait, we are off next Thursday morning (5.20am to be precise, gonna be a long day )

Enjoy your holiday and I am sure there will be plenty of good birds at Pera Marsh!! Let us know when you return.

Best Wishes

Algarve Holiday

Pam_m said:

Hi Mick,
Hope the map will be useful for you, the paper 'Freemaps' are normally available in most of the bigger towns (Supermarkets and newsagents) and are very useful to keep by you.

I don't recognise the name of O Marinheiro but will certainly make a note of it in case we go to Sesmarias, try Margem Sul in Sáo Rafael and Restaurante Sáo Domingos in Vale Parra, we had some great meals at these restaurants in June!

Won't be long for you to wait, we are off next Thursday morning (5.20am to be precise, gonna be a long day )

Enjoy your holiday and I am sure there will be plenty of good birds at Pera Marsh!! Let us know when you return.

Best Wishes

Click to expand...

AN AUTUMN TWITCH UP THE ALGARVE.
PORTUGAL 7th to 13th OCTOBER 2006
SAT 7th OCT 2006

Arrival :
This is our sixth visit to the Algarve in the autumn, although our first staying at the villa Quinta Terruta, which lies on the Vale de Pera to Armacao de Pera road, overlooking both Salgodos golf course and Pera Marsh.
Arriving in brilliant sunshine at about noon on Saturday 7th October and greeted by fluttering Swallowtails, how could we be anything but pleased with Tina's choice of accommodation. Quickly unloading the bins, the view from the balcony revealed a southern grey shrike, hawking dragon flies from an old almond tree , further a field flamingos, white stork, stilts, little and cattle egrets could clearly be seen in large numbers on the salt marsh and golf course. In the vegetation surrounding the villa were willow warbler, singing black caps and Sardinian warbler.

After a quick lunch of sardines at the Coelha Beach hut cafe it was off to Pera Marsh for a twitch, on the water in large numbers were :
white stork, grey heron, little egret, cattle egret, black winged stilt, spoonbill, greater flamingo, little and a single black necked grebe, moorhen, coot, gadwall, northern shoveller, mallard, black headed gull, yellow legged gull, lesser black backed gull, kentish plover and cormorant.



In the surrounding fields , brush and fig trees :
Willow warbler, sardinian and fan tailed warbler, spotted flycatcher, feral pigeons, collared dove and gold finch. Two kestrels and hoopoe’s flew over. My only disappointment was that as I lifted the camera to photo a spotted flycatcher, it refused to make an exposure, reducing me to digiscoping only, which for me is a bit hit and miss.

Back at the apartment after completing the unpacking and taking a beer on the balcony, a small flight of yellow wagtails flew over.
Stonechat, blackbird, crested lark, spotless starling and house sparrow were in the surrounding scrub. A pied flycatcher was in the apartment trees. A single meadow pipit was on the golf course as waders also made their way down to forage on the green in the evening, including common sandpiper. Two white storks made a noisy entrance as they flew on to their nest , high up on the electricity pylons, for the night (as they did every subsequent evening) , banging and rubbing their bills together in a show of affection. A single yellow wagtail was at the water treatment plant.

Butterflies seen to day included:
Swallowtail, Southern Small White, Speckled Wood, Clouded Yellow and Common Blue
Dragonflies included : Emperor, large red and blue damsel fly and brown aeshna.







SUNDAY 8th OCT

am - From balcony Black Cap, Chiff Chaff and a Fantailed Warbler which posed for some time taking the sun on the overhead cables.
2 Hoopoe flew in to the cork oaks to the right of the villa.
pm - In the evening 6 Red Legged Partridge foraged in the scrub and a short visit to the Marsh revealed several Little Terns and Sandwich Terns, plus all the marsh birds previously.



MONDAY 9th OCT

am - From the balcony we could see that a large party of Avocet had joined the birds on the marsh, the 2 Hoopoe were again seen in the cork trees and the Grey Shrike on an almond tree with stonechats. In the early morning a Kestrel alighted on a street light near the Golf Course. We decided to visit Quinta da Lago on a warm sunny day with temperatures at about 28c.


The tide was out on the estuary with large numbers of men cockling. Birds seen included Kentish and Grey Plover, Black Tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Green and Red Shank, Dunlin, Turnstone, Sanderling, Yellow and Lesser Black Headed Gull. A visit to the lake surrounded by the Golf Course, pleasantly surprised us with a party of 6 Glossy Ibis, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Purple Gallinule, Mallard, Shoveller, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Pochard, Red Crested Pochard, Little Grebe and Kingfisher. Reed Warbler and Cettis Warbler were also present.

A walk down the track through the woods revealed Goldfinch, Pied and Spotted Flycatcher, Azure Winged Magpie, Short Toed Treecreeper, Crested Lark. On the salt pans there were large numbers of Black Winged Stilt, Black Headed Gull, Greater Flamingo, Spoonbill, ducks, coot and moorhen.



MONDAY 9th OCT ( Quinta continued)

On the walk back a nice couple stopped us to query the identity of a couple of waders, during the conversation they mentioned having seen a Bluethroat, across the footbridge on the opposite side of the estuary which we decided to twitch without any real expectation of seeing. Taking the short walk across the bridge and scanning the scrub, after about 15 minutes we were able to spot male and female birds through the scope someway off, however we were quite pleased as this made the journey worthwhile.


MONDAY 9th OCT ( Quinta continued)
Birds seen at the Quinta today :


TUESDAY 10th OCT
AM Vale de Parra
Awaking early at the sound of a Hoopoe calling outside, I took a short walk in the fields surrounding the villa, again having good views of hoopoe, fan tailed, willow and sardinian warbler, female black cap, spotted flycatcher, both egrets, common sand at the water treatment plant, crested lark, spotless starling, greenfinch, goldfinch, pigeon, collared dove, grey shrike and a kestrel flew over.
A large fall of northern wheatear had also occurred overnight.
Whilst on my walk I met a couple from the Wirral who said that I was the only birder that they had met on their travels. They said that they had been up to Cape St Vincent the previous day and had seen several booted and short toed eagle but little else, although they understood it was good for passage raptors. They said although they were pleased with the birding, they had seen nothing exceptional.

La Rocha
The weather remained fine and warm , with a temperature of 26C.
We decided to visit Quinta da Rocha at Alvor, taking a left off the 125 opposite the Maxilhoeira Grande turning, arriving at about 11.30.
Quinta de Rocha means "Farm on the Rock" and hosts a nature reserve supported by the international "A Rocha" conservation movement.
If you've never been its worth visiting their centre on Thursday mornings, when the public is invited to attend ringing demonstrations, of birds netted on the reserve. They also offer a reasonably priced guide/bird checklist for Alvor and a cuppa. This weeks edition of Portugal news (English edition) made reference to the fact that the EC was pressing the government to ratify the areas protected status.

Following the track down to the coast , a kestrel hovered over an orchard, willow warblers flew out of the road side scrub and we pulled up to view five azure winged magpies cavorting in the trees also flushing a wood pigeon. A number of great tits were also active amongst the almond and fig trees. On the fencing surrounding the car park stonechats, wheatear and crested lark were prominent.
The marsh areas are cut off from the estuary and sea by a series of clay dykes, the main one of which forms a circular walk, following the sea on the west , the Alvor Estuary in the north and back to the car park by the eastern track. The whole walk takes about two hours if you are birding. Since the tide was out for a couple of miles and the only thing that one could see would be a large number of "cocklers", we opted for a straight walk on the eastern dyke passing the brackish tanks either side. A number of shrubs by the car park, act as good cover
for warblers including willow, sardinian, fan tailed, whitethroat, a female blackcap and a single orphean warbler, which proved less skittish than his sardinian cousins. As we approached the path a hoopoe broke cover and flew into the stony field to the right. A mixed flock of waxbills and goldfinch was active amongst the seed baring scrubby plants. To the left of the path there were numbers of
black winged stilts , red shank, dunlin, two kentish plover a single greenshank and about twenty roosting herons. On the eastern pools two curlew sandpiper were wading and on the path wheatear and crested larks. Single oyster catcher and whimbrel flew overhead towards the estuary. All the time we were scanning for Bluethroat which we had seen very briefly last year. Reaching the junction with the northern path our attention was drawn to a number of seed feeding birds on shrubs at the side of the path, initially these proved to be Spanish and house sparrows along with a single highly streaked light coloured finch , which we reluctantly put down as a linnet, for want off another description. Suddenly out popped a male bluethroat followed by a female, both rapidly disappearing. Unfortunately half an hours twitching rewarded us only with brief views of flicking tails. Having given up on the bird as we turned for the walk back. there it was, a singing male out on a bush not five yards away directly in front of us, after a minute or so it flew down onto the mud bank, hopping about along side a dunlin and a ringed plover.
Quite a number of swallow tailed butterflies were about as well as dragon flies.
Its true to say that this little display made the day as we headed off to Praia Da Luz to walk the coastal path to Burgau.

TUESDAY 10th OCT
PM RAIA DA LUZ to BURGAU
The coastal path between Luz (which is about 4 km west of Lagos) and the former fishing village of Burgau , is one of our favourite walks, not least of all because the outward leg culminates with "monkfish with rice" at the Barraca restaurant, overlooking the bay at Burgau. If you like sea food visit and try this delightful fish stew, served up in a clay pot crammed with Monkfish, Prawns, Clams and rice.
Be aware though that building development is ever increasing and spoiling this coastal habitat. Over recent years , in addition to the usual , on this walk we have seen :
Grey and Woodchat Shrike, Kingfisher, Dartford Warbler, Lesser Kestrel, Peregrine, Whimbrel, Grey Wagtail, Serin , Azure Winged Magpie and Waxbill so the prospect always excites us.

Erosion of the coastal sandstone can make the walk a little bit tricky in places however we find it rewarding.
Parking in west end of Luz we follow the main rd down to the sea and follow it right at the English pub at the bottom, it is then straight forward just following the well worn path between the two villages. Just out of Luz there are a number of small pits dug into the sandstone bed rock, these are normally good for Grey Wagtail and Grey Shrike, our catching only a brief glimpse of the wagtail as it flew on over the low hills on the right. Wheatear, Crested Larks and Stonechat accompany you for most of the way until the path eventually begins to climb a little, where new build villa's encroach nearer the coast, the area is good for black redstart, which along with blue rock thrush can and did pop up almost anywhere. Sea watching didn't deliver very much other than Tunstone, Shags, Yellow and Lesser Black Backed Gull.
At about half way the path traverses a fenced off farm plot, check the buildings for the resident little owl, under the cliffs at the same point on the way back sat a blue rock thrush. Just before this point a skylark and several fan tailed warblers rose from the side of the large hill with its westward side slipping into the sea( check out for Dartford Warbler in the spring). After about an hour and a half we reached Burgau, where to our disappointment ( it was now 15.30) , the village eateries had stopped serving food - moral, ensure you arrive before 3.00 pm - after a quick beer we were off back again on the return leg. Skirting the gardens of the villas, half a km from Luz, garnered Black bird, blackcap and solitary Monarch butterfly. At this point there is a deep channel which hosts a spring , hidden by pampas grass and reeds . Making my way toward it a flight of waxbills, willow and Sardinian warblers scattered and to my surprise amongst the reeds a great reed warbler flitted about.
Butterflies seen during the walk were Wall and Large Wall Brown, Southern Small White, Clouded Yellow, Swallowtail and Monarch.
WEDNESDAY 11th OCT

Deciding that today was hardly likely to be a sunbathing day, since we woke up to a thick mist which had descended on Vale Da Parra, we decided to head further up west, to Cape St Vincent. The mist extended for most of the journey only starting to clear at Vale Do Bispo. On reaching the Cape we decided to take a sandy track leading to the Raptor Watch Point, surrounded by pines active with Blue Tits and Greenfinch. Getting out of the car our attention was immediately drawn to a raptor skimming the sierra. A quick spy with the bins showed this to be a female hen harrier. No sooner had we put the bins down than a booted eagle flew out from above the pines as it headed north a massive grey cloud overshadowed our standpoint and started it to rain heavily as a further large dark , but unidentified ,raptor flew out from the trees rapidly disappearing around the other side. Not wishing to get stuck in the mud we decided to head off to the lighthouse at the Cape.
On the telegraph wires running parallel to the cape road were stonechat, spotless starling, southern grey shrike and stonechat.
By the time we arrived at the lighthouse the rain cleared, giving way to sunshine. The cape was as usual busy with tourists, since it is a visiting point for most coach trips. It's spectacular cliffs play hosts to the Portuguese rock fishing anglers who cast their lines from the most precarious and spectacular places, high up on the cliffs. On our last two visits the public have not been allowed access to the Lighthouse courtyard , which is disappointing since it offers the best sea views. After taking a quick cuppa, we scanned the sea , however the only birds visible were gannet, yellow legged and lesser black backed gull. A stork circled overhead, whilst we were hoping for alpine accentor, the surrounding area offered only black redstart, blue rock thrush , sardinian warbler and house sparrows. Taking the first left track off the
Sagres road, heading towards Vila do Bispo, the rain came on again both heavy and persistent We stopped briefly to watch three kestrel
hovering over the stony plain, while in the distance a raptor scudded anonymously across the grey sky. In the pine trees to the right two ravens roosted in the rain. Further on past the desolate farm straddling both sides of the track ( in other years we've had yellow and white wagtail, tawny pipit and dotterel here), foraging amongst the rough grasses that prevail , were a large flock of corn bunting , linnet and northern wheatear. A little further on a number of lapwing and spotless starling were feeding together. Half way to Vila do Bispo, farm ruins appear on the left a little stood guard as the rain began to ease off. Nearby on a telegraph pole mobbed by greenfinch, corn bunting and a kestrel , a bedraggled buzzard was shaking itself dry. At the next habited building on the right is well kept small holding , as the sun came we took a short walk and a spotted a nightingale, briefly taking the sun on top of a dense shrub. Deciding to take the tarmac ked turning on the right (marked "50") more wheatears and buntings were about, turning off left at the next cross roads we came across the
couple that I mentioned earlier who were scoping two black winged kites as we opened the car door, a peregrine swooped down from a near bye telegraph pole and swept off into the distance. Disappointingly there was no repeat of last years 20+ Egyptian Vultures on the hill side and at that we headed back to the villa.

WEDNESDAY 11th OCT cont
PERA MARSH
I managed to convince Tina that the day hadn't finished yet so we stopped off at Pera Marsh.
Here there were good views of all the previously mentioned marsh birds including large numbers of flamingo, spoonbill and avocet.
Scoping the golf course side of the lake , we picked out a total of three female marsh harriers that had gone to ground, whilst a little gull flew over.
THURSDAY 12th OCTOBER
In the morning birds visible from the villa and seen on the Marsh included lapwing, pochard, both green, common and spotted redshanks.
In late afternoon stonechat and wheatear were seen.

Deciding on a further visit to Alvor we were soon deterred since we could see a party of about 15 twitching the Bluethroat's residence, so we decided on leaving him alone for now and trying again later.

To day turned out a little cooler at 22C, and one way or another our plans failed to materialise . Silves is a lovely old Moorish Castled town. We enjoy walking the path by the river, which can give good views of stork, sandpiper, egret, wagtails, pipits, warblers, heron, kingfisher, waxbill and the occasional marsh harrier, however on this occasion the ancient footbridge, footpaths and main car park were all fenced off for major renovation work - and so we drove on for the lunch that we missed at Burgau the other day , monkfish with rice.
We gave the birding a bit of a rest to enjoy the food, noticing gannets out at see ( including one poor creature with a fishing line attached) and what looked like a single scaup.

Our decision to check out the plains up at Bispo also proved an error , with Tina (driving) being erroneously directed by me over a extremely rough track, the next stop for which looked like a 200 foot drop into the Atlantic. Backtracking we headed for the town reaching a cross roads , where as we got out for a quick scan a short toed eagle glided not more than 10 metres above us, a couple of lesser kestrels patrolled and again in the distance two large raptors spiralled in the warm afternoon sunshine.
THURSDAY 12th OCTOBER (continued)

Alvor
Checking out Alvor in late afternoon, we saw little owl in the orchard and on the farm ruins by the car park. Waders were still thin on the ground, this time only black winged stilt, redshank and dunlin putting in an appearance. A large roost on lesser black backed and yellow legged gulls was out on a sandbank in the estuary along with a single whimbrel. We were very pleased to see two Caspian terns put in appearance , settling in one the low tide salena' s . A few Spanish sparrows were feeding in the same place as before and the bluethroat popped out on the path , briefly cocked his tail as if to say goodbye and disappeared into the veg1tation. As we walked back the usual numbers of stonechat, crested lark, wheatear, fantail and Sardinians, and finches were easily seen. We then headed off back "home" as the evening sun illuminated thousands of gossamer like damsel flies.



FRIDAY 13th OCTOBER ( nothing bad happened !)
At the apartment in the morning a hoopoe was back in the cork oak , wheatear and stonechat were on the scrub and single Winchat was on the fence. A few warblers flitted about in the trees and fan tails onto the overhead wires. Early on the storks were rubbing their bills on the pylon nest.

Being packing day to day we opted for a further visit to Quinta do Lago.
On our arrival the tide was half out on another beautiful day.
All the previously listed birds were there, both on the estuary and the golf course reserve. New sightings included two little bittern’s that flew into the reedy islands , a single black necked grebe, a cirl bunting that briefly appeared on the reeds and a single spoonbill that had joined all the throng visible from the hide on the golf course lake. We were kept entertained in there for an hour or so by a couple of half birders/golfers from Macclesfield. Occasionally joined by curious folk , not one bit impressed with the ibis, but bowled over by the “funny ducks with red bills” that they wanted to be able to put a moniker on.



IN CONCLUSION
(safe and sound back home on Saturday 14th October 2006)
Well there is was , at a guess that something like 100 species seen, but more than that we enjoy the Algarve since English is widely spoken
the food and the wine are great, and the birds are the icing on the cake. The sad side is that more and more retirement villas, holiday homes and golf courses are encroaching on habitats, therefore if you have never been , try it now before it is too late.
I think that its is fair to say that the weather was more consistently warm and fine than we have previously experienced, which is perhaps not the best for bird watching. I have to say this is the first year in trips to the Algarve that we have never seen a single Hirundines. Other years there have still been swallows, martins - house, sand and crag as well as Alpine and Common swift. What happened there I don’t know, since there were still one or two about when we left home, but not on our return. We also decided to give Castro Verde a miss this year, since in October, we have only ever seen Great Bustards from distance and its virtually a full day out with little else to show for it, since we’ve never caught up with sandgrouse of either species. Whilst one year we saw so many stone curlew we thought that they might be common, subsequent years we have not seen any. It is practically the same with black shouldered kite which we saw for three years on the trot, but not for the last two. The most obscure sighting that we ever had in Portugal ,was an African red billed quelea bird grazing with some house sparrows down on the green at the Quinta golf course.
Every year we consider doing this in the spring, however Lesbos has so far won out every time - roll on May !
Oh and finally if you do nothing else, try the monkfish with rice at the Barraca in Burgau.

Thanks for an excellent report Mick.
Like you say forever building along the coast, make the most of it before it's spoilt.

regards

John

In agreeance with John an excellent report Mick.

We saw most of the birds you mention, but the icing on the cake was a Bluethroat at Pera Marsh!! We had just been in conversation with a friendly couple from Yorkshire and they told us a Bluethroat had been seen at Pera Marsh. We had a good chat and then they returned to their car and as we walked back to ours we saw a Bluethroat in a small pool area by the sand dunes. They were just driving off as we spotted it! Pity they missed it, but glad we didn't!

Regards

Pam_m said:

There are two ways to get to Pera Marsh, the easiest way is to head for Salgados beach and the car park is along side the Marshes. When you leave your car head for the beach and bear right, walking past the edge of the water to the marshes. There is an information sign at the top of the beach which tells you about the marsh and the walking route over/past the dunes. You can walk around the marsh and eventually you will reach a hide for spectacular views.

There is a second route to the marshes where you can park the other side nearer the hide, I will try and find more information out as to the directions for you, but if you are going along a road and see a sign for 'Carlos Beach Bar' on an island follow the sign for the bar and the road will take you to the farside of the marshes.

This link is to the freemaps that are available for the Algarve, Salgados is located in the bottom left of the map.

http://www.freemaps.net/en/downloads/gale.pdf

Hope this is of some help!

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Your bringing back some memories for me Pam. We stayed at Vale de Perra in both 95 & 99.

I don't know if it has changed but on the way to Carlos' bar you pass an orange grove on your right (on a sharpish left hand bend if my memorty serves me right). At the end of that grove is a dirt track on your right (which runs alongside the grove). There is a derelect building on the left hand side just inside the track which tells you if you are in the right place. Drive down there and you come to a river system & park up facing the way you came. We got there about half an hour before dusk but it wasn't long before we heard the Kutock-kutock call and then we had Red-necked Nightjars come within 10 feet of me there.

We actually also had one fly over the apartments we were staying at in Vale de Perra (Quinto de Terruta apartment's) on 08/05/1999. I also found one in the grasses at Alvor but that was sheer luck as I was searching for a calling Quail and came across the R N Nightjar by accident.

It is a brilliant area and one where I had one of my most major birds from the beach by Carlos's Bar. A Black-browed Albatross on 13/05/1999.

I am envious of the B S Kite as that is my most wanted bird in Europe, having failed in every attempt (and there have been many of them) to find one.

John

Glad we have bought back some happy memories for you John, sounds as though it is time for you to pay a return visit!!!

All the best

Pam_m said:

Glad we have bought back some happy memories for you John, sounds as though it is time for you to pay a return visit!!!

All the best

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There's too many other places I want to visit first. I have just come back from an incredible trip to Turkey with Steve Lister. I am also hoping to do a return visit to Lesvos next may (went at the end of August last time). The balkan states appeal to me as does Extramadura and even a return trip to Turkey in the Spring.

I think the Algarve will have to wait awhile but I would like to return there again in the spring sometime. At that time of the year everywhere is green and fresh, the birds are arriving in numbers and the Castro Verde is a fabulous place to visit.

John