Sagres Bird Festival, Portugal - 30th Sept - 5th Oct,2016 (1 Viewer)

The 7th edition of the Sagres Bird Festival will run for a whole week this year. As always it will focus on the wonderful autumn migration in the area and provide a multitude of activities for visitors, many of them free.

Very soon the programme will be online - I'll post the link here when it is.

The new festival website is now online - here is the English version:
http://www.birdwatchingsagres.com/EN/

If you are interested in signing up to the festival, here is the registration form:
http://www.birdwatchingsagres.com/en/signup/

Flying to Faro on Wednesday, and have booked a Mar Ilimitado pelagic on Friday afternoon as part of the festival...fingers crossed that it runs! We discussed the festival earlier in the year and at the time I didn't think my wife would be up for a pelagic trip out of Sagres (given we're staying in Santa Luzia and she doesn't normally like small boats...).

kb57 said:

she doesn't normally like small boats...).

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The forecast is showing ideal weather - light winds (though increasing in th afternoon), warm and not much swell. I find the rigid inflatables they use are best for anyone who gets queesy - like me! The don't rock from side to side like a taller boat and when the birds come close - they are really close, sometimes too close for shots.

If you can, get to Cabranosa before the boat trip - there will be raptors. If you don't know where it is, its quite close to the reception centre (at Forte de Beliche) and they will give you directions. Give yourself some time there - a couple of hours if possible and I'm sure you'll be glad you did.

I usually have a problem with smaller boats. I could handle a week in a boat around Galapagos thanks to those patches to put behind your ears preventing motion sickness (scopolamine or something like that).

Niels

njlarsen said:

I usually have a problem with smaller boats. I could handle a week in a boat around Galapagos thanks to those patches to put behind your ears preventing motion sickness (scopolamine or something like that).

Niels

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God - I've tried everything except those patches - interesting. I get terribly and continually ill when a taller boat stops to watch the birds due to the rocking motion, its a hell of a challenge. I usually manage a 2hr boat trip on a rigid inflateable on a calm sea taking nothing. Just the thought of chewing ginger on a boat makes me feel wobbly :-O

Simon Wates said:

The forecast is showing ideal weather - light winds (though increasing in th afternoon), warm and not much swell. I find the rigid inflatables they use are best for anyone who gets queesy - like me! The don't rock from side to side like a taller boat and when the birds come close - they are really close, sometimes too close for shots.

If you can, get to Cabranosa before the boat trip - there will be raptors. If you don't know where it is, its quite close to the reception centre (at Forte de Beliche) and they will give you directions. Give yourself some time there - a couple of hours if possible and I'm sure you'll be glad you did.

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Thanks very much for the advice, I'll use it to reassure Cathy..I've been out in a RIB in the North Sea on a white-beaked dolphin trip with no bother, but she declined to accompany me on that occasion (then regretted it afterwards when she saw the photos)..I've got some cinnarizine which we've both found works fine in the past.

We'll try and get to Cabranosa too, we might as well try and make a day of it as it is a fair hike from Santa Luzia. I was going to try and go to the reception centre anyway.

kb57 said:

We'll try and get to Cabranosa too

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Nice birding there today with good/great views of Golden, Booted, Short-toed and Bonelli's Eagles, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Black Kite, Honey Buzzard, Goshawk...also a Dotterel nearby at Vale Santo and passerines inc. Ortolan and a nice mix of commoner migrants - didn't really look at the sea today.

Simon Wates said:

Nice birding there today with good/great views of Golden, Booted, Short-toed and Bonelli's Eagles, Griffon and Egyptian Vultures, Black Kite, Honey Buzzard, Goshawk...also a Dotterel nearby at Vale Santo and passerines inc. Ortolan and a nice mix of commoner migrants - didn't really look at the sea today.

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We managed to get to Cabranosa but only had 1.5hrs watch before the boat trip, during which time we managed a single kestrel and a black kite! Staff at Beliche very helpful, and it also helped having waymarks along the route when driving in. Quite a few birders up there, a Dutch guy showed us great photos of Egyptian vulture he'd had that morning.

The pelagic was superb...quiet start with a Cory's shearwater and European storm-petrel flypasts to whet the appetite, but no Balearics around a fishing boat, before a grey phalarope on the sea gave great views. After homing in on common dolphin and gannet activity we had up to 3 great shearwaters around the RIB at once, with amazing views of Wilson's and European storm-petrels coming to chum. Flypast sooty shearwater, another Cory's and a great skua rounded off the action, before 'one that got away'...a longer-winged Oceanodroma-type storm-petrel flying across our bows which no-one could be sure of. The all-female crew were great, my wife felt safe, and neither of us were sick - although others didn't fare so well in the quite heavy swell - remembering to take a couple of cinnarizine up at Cabranosa before the trip probably helped us...