Castro Marim - Little Bustards and Stone-curlews (1 Viewer)

We had excellent sightings of many Little Bustards and Stone-curlews in early November 2017 at two sites. They may well be reliable sites in future:-

1) Near the entrance to the saltworks. Go up the well-surfaced track from the N125-6 road between Castro Marim and Sao Bartolomeu (just south of the bridge (Pont de Este Veira)) and, about 200m before the gate to the saltworks, scan the area behind the fence to the right of the track. We saw 9 Little Bustards here and 10 Stone-curlews, despite the presence of half a dozen large guard dogs prowling inside the fence. The saltpans just west of the gate to the saltworks had many waders, including our only Avocet of the week. Also, at the entrance to the track, we had Red-legged Partridges and Dartford Warblers on a previous visit.

2) Just east of Castro Marim town - the stony / bushy area viewed from top of the slip road at the end of the road bridge that crosses the N125. We saw only one Little Bustard here, but there were at least 20 Stone-curlews. The disused saltpans down a tarmac track to the north are also worth exploring, with a few waders and our only Woodchat Shrike of the trip.

Dave Riley

DaveRi6 said:

and our only Woodchat Shrike of the trip.

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Nice sightings :t:, though this stands out as being a very late one indeed. If you don't mind me asking, what was the date and was it a first winter bird?

Simon Wates said:

Nice sightings :t:, though this stands out as being a very late one indeed. If you don't mind me asking, what was the date and was it a first winter bird?

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10th November. It was an adult, in the same area as one seen by us in late February 2017.

DaveRi6 said:

10th November. It was an adult, in the same area as one seen by us in late February 2017.

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Thanks, Although there are rare winter records your's looks like its the latest autumn record in Portugal according to this: http://chegadas.avesdeportugal.info/cheg-lansen.html

If Gonçalo Elias sees this I'm sure he'll add your record

Your February record is early too - though much more "normal".

...and a Great Spotted Cuckoo

3 Little Bustards and 5 Stone-curlews on 6 March 2018 near saltworks entrance, same site as my post on 26 Nov 2017. No LBs seen at site 2, but 4 Stone-curlews there. Best bird of our trip though was a superb Great Spotted Cuckoo on 12 March - good close views for at least 10 minutes as it fed on caterpillars next to the eastbound motorway slip road north of Castro Marim.

Dave Riley