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Algarve Black Stork (1 Viewer)

ndsutcliffe

SkyBlue136
Not sure how rare it is to see a Black Stork in the Algarve. Spotted this at the Lake at Abicada hiding amongst a large flock of White Storks. had to take it through the scope so not a bad pic considering.
 

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I would have thought regular on passage?

30 years ago there used to be only very small numbers of White Storks wintering in Iberia. The growth in open landfills with the associated junk food has meant there are now in excess of 15k:eek!: Presumably Black Storks now winter in small numbers.....

All this will probably change in the near future as EU legislation means changes in the way open tips operate and no more ‘organic’ waste. The same EU that made people remove dead farm animals thus depriving the natural dustmen, the scavenging Vultures, of traditional food. Of course this doesn’t affect us here in Blighty. Not because we don’t have either Storks or Vultures - because EU subsidies and the CAP has devastated the UK’s wildlife:C

Laurie:t:
 
I would have thought regular on passage?

30 years ago there used to be only very small numbers of White Storks wintering in Iberia. The growth in open landfills with the associated junk food has meant there are now in excess of 15k:eek!: Presumably Black Storks now winter in small numbers.....

Wintering White Storks in the Algarve have increased in the last decades, true and partly due to (one!) landfill site, but not entirely because of this.

However Black Storks do not normally winter at all in the Algarve, in fact winter records are pretty rare. Nevertheless, some 10s winter in nearby Coto Doñana in Spain.

From an Algarve perspective, Black Stork is only seen regularly among the autumn raptor movements around the Sagres peninsula, in the far west. Numbers are either singles or single figures, with occasional groups in excess of 10 birds on one or two occasions through the whole migration period. Notably, these birds are not with White Storks, in fact WS is rare as a migrant in Sagres. These birds move high inland with the raptors and are rarely seen along the coast at wetlands. The site that the OP saw the bird is part of the Ria de Alvor wetlands, where its barely an annual visitor. The same is true across the Algarve wetlands, which are far from under-watched by the way! In fact most Algarve wetlands don't have Black Stork as even an annual visitor. Black Stork does breed however, albeit a tiny population just north of the Algarve.

Regarding rubbish tips; I think you are behind the times - most of the old open rubbish tips are closed down, though there is a modern one near Silves that attracts White Storks. The main reason for the increase in breeding birds in the last 20 odd years in Portugal (ongoing) is habitat protection and a reduction of nasties in the foodchain.

To regard the the cause of increase of breeding or wintering White Storks is due to rubbish tips, is a misconception ;)
 
Not sure how rare it is to see a Black Stork in the Algarve. Spotted this at the Lake at Abicada hiding amongst a large flock of White Storks. had to take it through the scope so not a bad pic considering.

Nice one, its unusual to see Black Stork "on the deck" down here ;)
 
Saw 7 Black Storks last week in a flooded field not far from Tarifa+where there were many White Storks + Common Cranes.
 
The tip info was anecdotal just gleaned fom a report i read about major increase in Wintering and reasons given. If tip closures mirror ours then there won’t be many left. The ones around where i live have closed making even Winter birding a duller option. For some reason even after one was capped 3 years ago i found a hitherto undiscovered Winter Raven roost of upto 80 birds:eek!:

Those and the odd Iceland in with others brightened up a dull day:C

Laurie:t:
 
Saw 7 Black Storks last week in a flooded field not far from Tarifa+where there were many White Storks + Common Cranes.
Even around Tarifa and the Strait Black Storks don't come down so often to feed considering the numbers that go through. Crane is not quite an annual visitor here in the Algarve, though some 2,000+ birds winter in Holm Oak grazing woodlands in the southern Alentejo not so far away at all.
 
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Regarding White Stork increase in Portugal it should also be mentioned that power line and posts management has been fundamental. Additionally, the super abundant American Crayfish are a mainstay for them in ricefields here. A large part of the breeding population breeds in grassland habitats where they feed on large insects etc. Wintering birds in the Algarve are most numerous in the Silves wider area because of the big regional tip there but also because of the nearby ricefields.
 
Agreed at Tarifa - never seen one land on the deck but they are coming over at height by that stage and will have needed to feed somewhere and roost en-route.

I will try and source the article. The points you make about Crayfish and power line management etc are obviously valid and of interest. The article iirc highlighted the importance of tips ‘at the time’ and i remember noting the numbers using them vis-a-vis the birds traditionally migrating South. The situation re: tips has obviously changed (i hadn’t realised that but i don’t live there) but they would appear to have kick-started the change in a % of the birds migrating South - after all, why bother if you can spend the Winter feeding up and refurbish the nest nice and early:t:

I have visited Marrakesh in November and December and the White Storks there are resident and appear to have a longer breeding season or maybe even double brooded and they use the local tips to forage. Steppe Eagles and other raptors are now regular users of a big tip in the Israeli Negev and do not continue onward to the Arabian peninsula where they would have traditionally spent the Winter months.....

Good birding -

Laurie:t:
 
Yesterday I saw about 600 storks feeding on the harvested rice fields in the old Laguna de La Janda, North of Tarifa. There was a similar number last week. I can't guarantee that they are the same ones, but I would have that they would have left for Africa by now, if they going that far. Crayfish are abundant in this area as well.
 
A Steppe Eagles and other raptors are now regular users of a big tip in the Israeli Negev and do not continue onward to the Arabian peninsula where they would have traditionally spent the Winter months.....

Good birding -

Laurie:t:

Apologies for wandering off the Black Stork topic and onto Steppe Eagles but the following article is well worth a read:
It's by Mischa Keijmel, who was responding to OSMEBirdnet messages regarding satellite-tagged Steppe Eagles. He followed the given co-ordinates and as you will read, he found a globally important important concentration of these eagles.

Here's the link, hope it works: https://www.osme.org/2019/11/globally-important-number-of-steppe-eagles-discovered-in-saudi-arabia/
 
Cheers Richard:t: cripes 4.9k Steppe Eagles - that is some sighting😱 well worth a visit to ‘The Kingdom’ but no more than a week before B :) withdrawal symptoms set in:C Here’s hoping the importance of this is recognised locally and reported to ‘Kingy’. I can’t help thinking that if it was in Kuwait or Lebanon they would be shot to pieces by the brave gun-toting locals.....

La Janda is where i have seen the most White Storks feeding around Tarifa plus the odd Black:t:

Laurie -
 
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