[Stonechat2]

Hi everyone
I got back at 2:30pm today and was shattered so i had to have a sleep.
I'm not going to bore you with a story for everyday. What i saw during the course of the week was; Blue and Great tits, House sparrows, Greenfinch, Collared doves, House Martin, Swallo, Goldfinches and a nest with young in, a Blackbird with one fledgling and lesser black backed gull, now time for the lifers.
lots of Azure winged magpie,
1 Alpine Swift,
A few Yellow legged gulls,
Bee eaters,
Lot's of Sardinian Warblers and three fledglings,
Lot's of Red rumped Swallows,
2 Little Egrets,
7 Turnstone,
1 Hoopoe,
3 Zitting Cristola,
Lot's of Serin.
Overall a thoroughly enjoyable week except for the weather where we only had one days sun.

[pduxon]

If no one minds I'm going to wander into a corner and start drooling over the Sardinian Warblers, Bee eaters, Serin etc

Fine list Stonechat2

[birdman]

Yep... me too Pete.

Great sightings Stonechat... and if, when you get your breath back, you decide you want to fill out some of the details, I'm sure plenty of folks would be happy to read a bit more about your week.

[Stonechat2]

Okay then, but this might not be exactly what happened because i forgot to keep a diary, Here it goes.
Thursday-arrived at hotel at roughly 1:00pm. We all walked around and unpacked till about 6:30pm. I then decided to go on my way, i went into a little bunch of trees and shrubs about 10 minutes away from the hotel and saw my first Azure winged magpie. I then went onto someones frount garden and watched Goldfinches, Swallows, House Martins, Collared doves, Blackbirds, House sparrows and the odd Great tit about. Then the sun was setting and i knew my parents would be worrying so i trodded back off to the hotel.
Friday-I went a walk on the afternoon and went ont to the frount garden again after reading red rumped swallows were in my area i looked fo them and found them, another lifer. I also saw my first greenfinch of the holiday, i also saw most of the other species that i saw on Monday.
Saturday-i went another walk on the evening to the frount garde and as i sat there watching the common species, the sun started to set and on the wire 10m away from me landed my first and only Hoopoe of the holiday, a great looking bird. Also the Bee eaters were very numerous in the area, i only saw them in flight though.
Sunday-I went along the coastal heath about midday and saw my first Sardinian Warbler, but at the time i thought that they were Orphean Warbler, but after 2 hours (no exageration) of watching them i managed to tell the red ring around the eye. I also saw a bee eater perched and it looked like a stunning bird. O n the walk around the town i saw the Goldfinch nest with the young in it, they are little cuties. i'm sure also that i saw yellow legged gull most days but i couldn't really tell because of the similarity to the Lesser black backed gull, i saw that many similar gulls that some had to be Yellow legged Gull.
Monday- as i walked throught the town i saw thee sardinian warbler fledglings in a garden being fed by either the dad or the mother. More than likeley the mother though, the dad had to go off birding. i thought i saw Crag Martin but closer observation revealed they were Swallow, silly me.
Tuesday- i went a walk along the beach in the pouring rain i saw my Turnstone close up, they were quite dull though, they dind't have the orange colour of adult turnstone, i suspect they were juveniles. i went around the corner of the beach after seeing a Little Egret land there and i was not dissapointed, there were two of them searching every nut and cranny for some munchies. i'm also sure that i saw atwo Linnnets but i couldn't see them propaly because my bins had fogged up, i weasn't a very happy chappy. It brightened up in the afternoon and i went a walk through alot of tall grass, i was wearing three quarters and the spikes off the grass were sticking in my socks and they bloody hurt when your trying to walk on. It was worth it though because this is where i saw 3 or 4 Zitting Cristola, they were hard to identify because they kept going low down in the long grass, they can become quite frustrating to identify, especially when you have hayfever and you can feel it coming on but can't move because you have to identify a bird. i also saw 1 Blue tit, they wern't very common in that area at all. My last day on Wednesday, i woke up at 4:00 and went onto the balcony it was still dark and a call wass going on it sounded like this flu-Hute any ideas, i waited until 6:00 and went down to the beach hoping to get some waders while the Tide was out and was it out, Was it Hell! it was in as midday, so i went along thwe coastal vegetaion and i saw my Serin and i saw one solitary Apline Swift no mistaking that, it was a great sight.

By the way, i mangled my story somewhere because one of the days i wasn't allowed my bins or book because my parent thought i was obssesed. I probably was a bit, but i only had one week!!! Mind you, i did carry my bins everywhere i went. i'm sure i also saw another English birder because evertime i saw him he was carrying bins, he had a big beard, if any of you know a birder that went to portugal and has a beard, let me know, i'd like to know whta he saw.

[birdman]

Thanks for that Stonechat..

Can't help you with your bird call I'm afraid - perhaps some sort of owl? - but aren't those Bee-eaters fantastic!!!

[Stonechat2]

I don't think that it was an owl because it called constantly for about a minute and then stopped for a short time and then continued again

[Bill@dwp]

Hi Stonechat2

Looks like you had a really good time with plenty to see. I'm envious of the Bee-eaters and Hoopoe really want to see them.
I went to Skiathos in Greece two years ago and saw very little new, although I did see the red rumped swallows.
Every night we could hear a call from quite nearby the balcony and when I got home I set to finding out what it was. I had the sound captured on my V/C. It turned out to be a Scops Owl. Never did see it and doubt if I would have found it either, but in searching for the sound I found this website http://www.owlpages.com/Default.htm and that has sound files. It could be of some use if its an owl and some of the database files here on BF have sound files as well. I'm not suggestings its a scops but it could be an owl and this could be a start.
hth
Regards
Bill

[Stonechat2]

My computer won't load the sound gallery for some reason, but i willl be soon having a audio cd, come to think of it i will start a thread on here to see which one to get

[Grousemore]

Nice report,Stonechat2.I was in Portugal last week,bins around the neck all the time...but I haven't got a beard (last time I looked!)
As far as your mystery bird sound is concerned,try and elaborate,did it sound like a Wader,or an owl? Anyway,great birding country Portugal,looking forward to my next visit.

[scampo]

My two birding sons are envious of you! You had some super birds there for sure. I bet the alpine swift and warblers were worth it!

[pduxon]

btw stonechat2 - happy birthday