Sagres Birdwatching Festival, 4th-7th October, 2018 (1 Viewer)

The ninth Sagres Birdwatching Festival runs this autumn from 4th-7th October. The programme for booking activities will be online from the beginning of August. Its a great opportunity to take part in pelagic trips from Sagres at a budget cost and for seeing a large variety of raptors and passerines on migration, as well as some of our rather nice resident birds. There is no need to book any guided trips (many of them free of charge - or nearly!), and of course visitors are free to explore the area as usual during the festival but they are an excellent way to get to know this beautiful area and see the best birding spots.

Here's the festival's website, at the moment just showing the festival's poster with Bonelli's Eagle - soon to be working for bookings in Portuguese and English: http://www.birdwatchingsagres.com/en/

Also, the facebook page (in English and Portuguese: https://www.facebook.com/birdwatchingfestivalofsagres/

Autumn around the Sagres peninsular and its surrounding sea can bring fabulous birding and its always worth a visit; here's a quick oversee of some typical and some of the more unusual visitors seen during the last few autumns:

Typical/regular raptors; Eur. Griffon Vulture, Rüppell's Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Spanish Imperial, Bonelli's, Booted and Short-toed Eagles, Black and Red Kites, Black-winged Kite, Honey Buzzard, Montagu's, Hen and Marsh Harriers, Goshawk, Eur. Sparrowhawk, Eleonora's Falcon, Hobby. Black Storks regularly appear amongst the raptor movements. Rarities in the last 3/4 years have included Pallid Harriers, Lesser Spotted Eagles, Lanner and Red-footed Falcon. On a decent day, upwards of 15 raptor species are seen.

Seabirds; Arguably the easiest way to see Wilson's Storm Petrels in Europe is on the short distance 2-3 hour pelagics from Sagres. The regular, usually easy seabirds are; Balearic, Cory's, Sooty and Great Shearwaters, Wilson's and Eur. Storm Petrels, Pomarine, Arctic and Great Skuas, N. Gannet and less common but regular are Sabine's Gulls, Grey Phalarope, Manx Shearwater and Audouin's Gulls. Last year at the festival an adult Brown Booby was watched well from Cabo de São Vicente.

Passerines: The area is often packed with the commoner passage migrants, like Willow Warbler, Northern Wheatear and Pied and Spotted Flycatchers but also including many others, like; (Wryneck), Short-toed Lark, Tree and Tawny Pipits, Common Redstart, Nightingale, Whinchat, Whitethroat, Reed, Melodious, Garden and W. Bonelli's Warblers, Iberian Chiffchaff, Ortolan Bunting, and Woodchat Shrike. More unusual autumn visitors in the last couple of autumns have included; Blyth's Pipit (with the regular Richard's Pipits that occur), Olive-backed Pipit, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Hume's Leaf Warbler and Booted Warbler. Yellow-browed Warblers have been quite frequent recently too.

Some of the resident/breeding species present in the autumn of interest to visitors from afar include a large population of Red-billed Chough, good numbers of Spectacled Warblers, Alpine Swift, Blue Rock Thrush, Sothern (Iberian) Grey Shrike, Little Bustard, Hoopoe (many migrants too), Azure-winged Magpie and abundant Thekla's Larks.

Hi Simon, I am planning on going to the festival this year for the first time and have a couple of questions:

Do i need a car when in Sagres?
If not is there a train/bus to get me from Faro to Sagres?
Do i need to sign up anywhere or do i just turn up at Sagres?
Is there a meeting point?

Many thanks
Roger

A car is useful on a quick visit, say for a day because it means you can get to other areas than those close to Sagres around the wider peninsula. If one is based in Sagres, its only approx. (depending where you stay) 2kms to Cabranosa, the main raptor watchpoint - and the walk up is good birding all the way and should be taken slowly.

From Faro you could get the train to Lagos and then take a bus for the last 30kms to Sagres. I think that would be the simplest. I don't think public transport from Faro to Sagres for a day trip birding would be ideal though, you would only have a few hours.

From 1st August, the festival website will have the programme in English and the forms for signing up to free and paid (pelagics for eg.) activities, field trips, presentations etc. The festival's reception centre is at the historical clifftop Forte de Beliche (1km before Cabo de São Vicente) and there will be signposts from Sagres.

Of course everybody can visit on spec and do their own thing but a visit to Forte de Beliche, Cabranosa and the cape should be a must. At the fort there will be a large sightings board to let everybody know what is being seen and where.

So, bottom line from Faro for one day it would be better to have a car so that one may have a long day out (travelling time approx 1hr 30 mins each way).

A little update

Some of the new activities for this year's festival include;

• Treks on the "Via Algarviana" (the Grand Pedestrian Route along the Algarve's highlands).

• Botanical mini-walks.

• Sessions on bird identification by sound using specialised antennas.

These are new additions to the programme, which will once again include our popular (and free) birdwatching tours for all, whether beginners or experienced, and of course the excellent pelagics.

The booking pages for the festival's activities (including the free ones) will be operating from the beginning of August on the festival's website.http://www.birdwatchingsagres.com/en/

I was out around the Sagres peninsula yesterday, enjoying watching the juveniles of some of the local breeders, like Short-toed Larks, Thekla's Larks and Tawny Pipits - no migrants yet but now deep into the dry season the area is beckoning the first migrant passerines and raptors. On a quick look from Cabo de São Vicente, Cory's Shearwaters - a few tens, were reasonably close. Numbers should build up through the summer. Fin Whales have also been seen a few times recently, not so far out beyond the islands of Martinhal near Sagres harbour. Also of note was a Bulwer's Petrel photographed west of the cape on a dolphin trip - first documented record for the Algarve!

Just a remminder that the festival's website is now taking bookings for all the activities - I notice that already some of the pelagic trips are getting full quickly!

http://www.birdwatchingsagres.com/en/

Its only a little over 2 weeks to go the start of the Sagres Birdwatching Festival, so I thought I'd mention some of the recent sightings:

Bonelli's Eagles have been showing very well every day recently, both immatures and adults. Eleonora's Falcons, at least 2 inds, have been popping in most days too. The first Booted Eagles are just arriving now and Honey Buzzards in single figures, Montagu's, Hen and Marsh Harriers, Hobby, Goshawks, Ospreys, Short-toed Eagles and Egyptian Vulture all appearing too as well as the first Black Stork. The sea around the peninsula is holding 100's if not a 1,000 Cory's Shearwaters and Balearic is passing in good numbers, both easy from the cape (Cabo de São Vicente). Other migrant landbirds include; a Roller and a Great Spotted Cuckoo in late August, Wrynecks, Hoopoes, Black-eared Wheatear, numbers of Northern Wheatear just building up now as are Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroat. Iberian Chiffchaff, Garden, Subalpine, Reed, Grasshopper Warblers all about too. Tawny Pipits, Short-toed Larks and Yellow Wagtails in the most arid parts. Woodchat Shrikes and Red-rumped Swallows are numerous at the moment too and its still possible to see the almost resident Spectacled Warblers. The abundant resident Thekla's Larks and the c.150 strong population of Red-billed Choughs are two of the most vocal birds at the moment, their sounds typical to the area.

I'll try and keep this updated in the days leading up to the festival.

16 species of raptors yesterday at the raptor watch-point; Cabranosa. Today was less interesting but still some nice sightings; unusual was a passing flock of c.140 Glossy Ibis inland.