Images from my holiday in the Algarve, Portugal. 20th-27th June 2011.

I enjoyed a wonderful holiday in the Algarve with an added bonus of being treated by my family to a day's Guided Birding in Baixo Alentejo, Castro Verde, a splendid Birthday surprise! The area is vast and so different to the Algarve region, nevertheless the Algarve does hold some super bird species. Castro Verde to me was the real unspoiled 'Portugal'. Some of the highlight birds seen in the Alentejo were Montagu's Harrier, Black Vulture, Black Kite, Black-winged Kite, Short-toed Eagle, Lesser Kestrel, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Crag Martin, Turtle Dove, Stone Curlew, Thekla Lark, Corn Bunting, Blue Rock Thrush, Spanish Sparrow, Nightingale and Golden Oriole! I managed a few pics of a few other highlight species. Photo's were a bonus as the main focus today was to have good views through bins and scope. I had 19 lifers on this exciting and memorable day in Castro Verde!



Images taken at Lagoa dos Salgados.

Thread Lacewing.
There were several of these Lacewings flitting around in the vegetation but difficult to get a decent shot of them. A pretty and unusual Lacewing to see.
Wild Carrot.
The red central flower was puzzling me! On my return home I read that the function of the single red flower is to attract insects!
Pancratium Maritimum or Sea Daffodil.

Lagoa dos Salgados.
My favourite area, commonly known (by Brits)as Pera Marsh.
Greater Flamingos.
It was delightful watching these enormous birds take flight as they flew to their chosen roosting area at dusk.
Woodchat Shrike (m&f).
Stunning looking birds!
Woodchat Shrike (m).
Little Owl.
Several were seen and heard whilst out hunting at dusk!
Hoopoe.
A favourite species of mine! Eight were viewed closely feeding together on an early morning visit to the Lagoon.
Greater Flamingos.

Goldfinch.
Cattle Egret.
Black-winged Stilt.
Bee-eater.
These birds were a joy to see, so agile. We watched as one bird flew into a nest hole in the ground on sandy scrubland.

Images taken at Silves.

White Stork.

Monarch butterfly.

Images taken at Vale de Parra

Ipomea.
Linnet.



Images taken at Baixo Alentejo, Castro Verde.

Woodchat Shrike.
A stunner!
Swallowtail Butterfly.
There were also a couple of Southern Scarce Swallowtails flitting around but it was so windy at the Raptor point they hardly settled. Both were striking butterflies to see.

Rufous Bush Robin.
A record shot of a super little bird. The parents were feeding young, it was super watching them from a distance taking food to the nest.
Roller.
What can I say...a beautiful bird!
Litte-ringed Plover.
Nice to see a familiar bird.
Little Bustard.
Another record shot. This one was quite happily feeding along the track we were driving down. Later we were to see 2 Great Bustards grazing in a field, great bins and scope views but too distant for a pic!
Iberian Grey Shrike!
An awesome looking bird!

View from Raptor watch point.

View from Raptor watch point.


Griffon Vulture.
It was great watching from the Raptor watch point as numerous Griffon Vultures soared ahead of us and then descended down to the rocks to perch. Again, awesome birds!





Golden Eagle.
Unfortunately we didn't get to see a Golden Eagle from the Raptor point, this would have given eye level views! However we did see one perched and again had great scope and bins views. It eventually took flight but it was hard to judge the size of this enormous bird
Cattle Egrets.
Black kite.


If you have reached this far.........thank you for viewing!

Comments.

I am having problems replying to comments so I am posting them here:


Thanks Ruth! I hope you have enjoyed your weekend on Anglesey, you would be hard pushed not to though!
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Thank you Mike, much appreciated.
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Great minds indeed Rob! I have just viewed your video, well done it is brilliant. A great choice of music as well to compliment the video! You saw 3 Puffins then, I only manged 2!
Keep up the brill work yourself!
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Thank you all for your kind comments.

Fox trot!....11/06/2011

With sunshine and a clear blue sky I set off early for a walk around Brake Lane. Plenty of songs and calls were heard throughout the walk. The usual birds were seen today with the highlights being the Swans with their four cygnets, I was pleased to see the cygnets had stayed safe! Other highlights were Treecreeper, Green Woodpecker Common Whitethroat and a Corn Bunting! The Corn Bunting had been sighted the previous evening so I was thrilled that it was still there and giving good views, my first Corn Bunting in this area! Now the title 'Fox trot' is to do with the sightings I had of foxes, six sightings of definately three or possibly four individual foxes. The first fox was sauntering in the wooded area next to the bridleway and probably after one of the young rabbits that I had been viewing, the fox spotted me and trotted off into the woood. The second sighting made me jump as I was quietly watching an area which has a stream running through it when there was a scrambling sound which made me turn to look and a fox was giving chase to another fox, they both raced up and over a dead tree that crosses the narrow stream. The chaser then spotted me and stopped momentarily, long enough for me to get a shot of it! I then had three sightings of one of the foxes at hunted in the vegetation, no doubt after one of the mallards that were in the stream. The last sighting was in a nearby area and the fox once it had seen me trotted away towards the old tree, so maybe a fourth, I am not sure but they were super to see. I have only ever seen one sighting of a fox in this area before today. In the same area that the last fox was sighted I stood for a few minutes watching a Wren feeding a chick, a lovely sight to see. It is a lovely time of year with so many fledglings being seen and also heard when nagging their parents for foodl.lol!

The Isle Of Anglesey....2nd-5th June 2011.

2nd.
First stop was RSPB Conwy and a bite to eat and a coffee! Viewed from the cafe were House Sparrows on the feeders with a selection of Feral Pigeon hoovering up the dropped seed on the ground, a good sized flock of Oystercatchers and Canada Geese were on the far side of the water and a small flock of Starlings were seen in the grassed area. The reported Curlew Sandpiper was next on the agenda and what a beauty it looked in breeding plumage! This was the best views I have ever had of this wader. It was a dull day so I struggled for a decent photo however it was great to see the Curlew Sandpiper foraging for food with a Dunlin also in breeding plumage following it's every move! The birds looked so small compared to the Canada Geese that had joined them in the water.The usual waterbirds were seen with highlight birds being Little Egret, a lone Golden Eye, Sedge warbler, Reed Bunting and Hirundines. Next stop was Menai Bridge Town where we would be based for the weekend.

3rd.
RSPB South Stack Cliffs on a sunny warm/hot day...wonderful! There were plenty of seabirds on the water and even more on the cliffs! The sight and sounds of the birds were a joy, being landlocked a trip to the coast is always a pleasure whatever the weather though sunshine is an added bonus! Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Fulmars were nesting on the cliffs (well they wouldn't be in a tree I supppose would they.lol)and what a sight to see, especially so the Guillemots which were in huge numbers! A Puffin was viewed on the cliffs through one of the RSPB scopes and one found on the sea! The habitat isn't suitable for Puffins to breed so hopefully the few pairs that do attempt to breed are successful. The heathlands were a delight to walk through. Common Whitethroat were seen several times along with Meadow Pipits, surprisingly a Stonechat was not seen. After refreshments from the spanking new cafe (highly recommended) walking back to the car along the road I spotted a Brown Hare in a field, a lucky find as looking into the adjacent I found a pair of Choughs probing in a muddy area! Several times whilst at South Stack I had spotted small brownish looking butterflies and fortunately managed to find one settled. It has kindly been ID'd for me as being a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary!
On next to Cemlyn Nature Reserve and the sights and sounds of the Terns! A few pairs of Common and Arctic Terns were well outnumbered by the Sandwich Terns! Relentlessly the Terns flew over the shingle ridge to the sea to return to their hungry chicks with freshly caught fish. An amazing sight to see! A few Oystercatchers were seen on the shingle and a couple of sleepy Bar-tailed Godwits woke to have a bathe in the water, a Mediterranean Gull was pointed out to us on one of the islands in the lagoon and good scope views were had of a Black Guillemot on the sea! A great day with some super birds seen and the sun shone all day!

4th.
Today was to be a chill out day! A boat trip around Puffin Island was booked in Beaumaris for a relaxing hour. Though the sun was shining a warm jacket was needed on the boat. The sea was calm....that is until the boat had to turn on the return trip around the island, the two tides meeting gave for a rocky ride for a couple of minutes.lol! Guillemot, Razorbill, Kittiwake, Shag and a large colony of Cormorant nest on the Island. A couple of Puffins did a flypast and the head of a Grey Seal was spotted in the sea. It would have been good if the boat had anchored for a few minutes so as to have had better views of the birds on the Island. Cormorants were numerous but I could not distinguish if I had seen any Shag as we were too far away and moving! Nevertheless it was an enjoyable trip. On terra firma I received a couple of texts informing me that a Common Rosefinch had been reported at Cerrig-man.....what to do? Have a relaxing walk around a Nature Reserve or go for the Finch? Decisions, decisions! It seemed a shame to be on the Island and not 'twitch' the bird! After lunch we set off for Cerrig-man which fortunately was only a twenty minute drive away. It was easy to spot where the area the bird was in as a small group of birdwatchers (sounds better than twitchers.lol)were plain to see lined up along a short service road off the A5025. After waiting in the hot sunshine for around 30 minutes the Rosefinch was heard singing a couple of times and then briefly showing as it perched and sang in a couple of conifers. Not long afterwards it flew to a telegraph wire...brill! Such a striking bird and with a very distinctive and loud song! After having bins and scope views I tried for a photo and managed a ropey photo as the sun was in the wrong place but a record one so I was more than happy with that and happier still to have seen such a stunning Common Rosefinch. Green and Goldfinch were also seen and heard in the area.
Another great day in hot sunshine!

5th.
I was informed at the 'twitch' that a Red-backed Shrike had been reported (4th) at RSPB Conwy so a visit was made enroute to home. We were told that the bird had not been seen today but it was still worth looking'just in case'! It was an enjoyable walk despite no sign of the Shrike. A Grey Wagtail and Raven were nice additions to my weekend sightings.
After a coffee and cake at the cafe it was time to head for home after a busy and enjoyable long weekend.

Several Buzzards and Kestrels were seen over the weekend.

Anglesey is a lovely Island with still many areas to be visited and explored..it is on my 'to do again' list for 2012!


RSPB Conwy. Curlew Sandpiper & Dunlin.

RSPB Conwy.


RSPB Conwy.

RSPB Conwy.

RSPB Conwy.

RSPB South Stack.

Linnet.

RSPB South Stack.

Bell Heather.

Common Valerian.

Honeysuckle.

Sheep's Bit.

Tormentil.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
Cemlyn Lagoon.

Oystercatcher.
Sandwich Tern.
Sandwich Tern.
Sea Kale and Sea Campion.
Sea Kale.
Beaumaris Castle.
Finances and material ran out when King Edward turned his attentions towards Scotland, and the castle was not completed.
Penmon Quarry, Limestone & Marble. Quarries in Penmon have provided stone for many important buildings and structures, including Birmingham Town hall and the two bridges that cross the Menai Strait.


Penmon Lighthouse.
Puffin Island.
Puffin Island.

Menai Strait.
Menai Strait.
Menai Bridge Sunset.