Hi all,
I'm considering a family holiday in the Algarve this Summer at a resort called Praia Da Rocha. Does anyone have information regarding birding around the resort pref within walking distance for early morning visits. Also can anyone recommend a guide for the area as I would like to do a day out during the holiday & see local specialities, not having visited Portugal before.
Cheers,
John.
John,
I stayed in Praia da Vau, which is the next resort west of Praia da Rocha, in early April 1999. Indeed, the distance between the 2 resorts is such that we could walk between them, despite my family being quite young at the time (13 and 9). There was an open area between the part of Praia da Vau by the sea and the resort where I stayed just a bit inland. Being migration time I saw the likes of woodchat shrike and red-rumped swallow in that open area. Such birds as fan-tailed warbler and little owl lived along the inland edge of where we stayed. Along the rocky coast just west of Praia da Vau was a greater selection of Iberian birds, the highlight for me being a pair of white storks on a sea stack. I saw several "lifers" in that area, such as bee-eater, crested lark and spotless starling.
Just east of Praia da Rocha, which was very high rise, by the way, is the town and estuary of Portimao. Boats run from there along the fine cliffs east, good for a family trip. In the estuary were greenshank and grey plover, on a sea stack just east was a colony of little egrets and cattle egrets, while further east were alpine swifts.
A little bit further west of Praia da Vau is the resort of Alvor, which had a pleasant enough older quarter down by the estuary. There were one or two bars or tascas down there with seats outside and views of the estuary. There is a bird observatory run by A Rocha Foundation at Cruzinha, just across the estuary from Alvor, where I saw my first ever caspian tern. That place is well worth a visit, as are other, more distant, bird sites in the Algarve.
Have a good holiday when the time comes around.
Allen
