Sunday 28 May 2023

Faro 23.05.23 - 27.05.23

 Quick trip for 3 day's birding. All 3 days were spent walking the Ria Formosa wetlands. Day 1: Quinta da Lago to Faro airport (10 miles) whilst day 2 was all around Fuseta and then the salt pans outside Faro (9 miles) and the last day a train to Tavira and again, the salt pans before a ferry over to Ilha de Tavira and back (8 miles)

The weather was hot with clear blue skies for most of the time so heat haze was a real problem. I tried to overcome this by a.) getting out on to the first train at 7am and b.) setting the camera to very fast speeds, up to 6400th of a second. To compensate for these speeds I had to increase the ISO which meant a rather grainy image when cropped, or a darker image. 

Photos here are 2nds as the really sharp ones will be included in my Portuguese presentation for Nat Hist societies and RSPB groups. Plus, I am planning on writing a pamphlet on birding in The Algarve and I shall use these better ones for that, as well.

Species:

  1. Mute swan
  2. Shelduck
  3. Mallard
  4. Great crested grebe
  5. Cormorant
  6. Cattle egret
  7. Little egret
  8. Glossy Ibis
  9. Spoonbill
  10. White stork
  11. Greater flamingo
  12. Coot
  13. Avocet
  14. Black winged stilt
  15. Ringed plover
  16. Kentish plover
  17. Sanderling
  18. Turnstone
  19. Dunlin
  20. Curlew sandpiper
  21. Common sandpiper
  22. Redshank
  23. Black tailed godwit
  24. Whimbrel
  25. Slender billed gull
  26. Yellow legged gull
  27. Audouin's gull
  28. Gull billed tern
  29. Little tern
  30. Wood pigeon
  31. Collared dove
  32. Scops owl (heard)
  33. Swift
  34. Pallid swift
  35. Hoopoe
  36. Bee eater (heard)
  37. Great spotted woodpecker (heard)
  38. Skylark
  39. Crested Lark
  40. Swallow
  41. House martin
  42. Pied wagtail
  43. Yellow wagtail ssp iberiae
  44. Robin
  45. Stonechat
  46. Song thrush
  47. Blackbird
  48. Sardinian warbler
  49. Whitethroat (heard)
  50. Zitting Cisticola
  51. Cetti's warbler
  52. Wren
  53. Great tit
  54. Blue tit
  55. Azure winged magpie
  56. Magpie
  57. Jay
  58. Jackdaw
  59. Starling
  60. House sparrow
  61. Chaffinch
  62. Goldfinch
  63. Linnet
  64. Greenfinch
  65. Serin
  66. Common waxbill
Cactus coming into flower

Serin

Hoopoes

Hoopoes

White stork

Azure winged magpie

Little egret with lunch

Crested Lark

Path over the Ria Formosa to the airport

Black tailed godwit

Black winged stilt

Greater flamingo

Ringed plover chasing a Kentish plover

Spoonbill

Little egret

Little tern

Record shot of Audouin's gull

Shelduck with Sanderling, Dunlin and Redshank

Upper wings of Swallowtail butterfly

Underwings of same insect

Serin

Nesting Black winged stilt

Pleasant reflection

Black winged stilt eggs and nest

Another reflection

Crested Lark

Early morning flamingoes

Flamingoes

Azure winged magpie

Another flowering cactus

Stonechat

Goldfinch

Fuseta landscape

Redshank

Asking me to move on as too near his nest.

Fuseta flamingoes

Slender billed gull

Sardinian warbler

Kentish plover

White stork

Kentish plover

Sanderling

Avocets and a BW Stilt

Greater flamingo

Dunlin

Plenty of Dunlin

One legged dunlin

Linnet

Recently hatched Black winged stilt

Ringed plover

Sanderling

Curlew sandpiper

Fiddler crab

Collared dove

Little egret

Avocet

Curlew sandpiper

Pair of dunlin with 2 Curlew sandpipers


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This is me

This is me
At the end of another Norfolk Coastal footpath walk. 47 miles, 3 days 99 species of bird. September 2009

Caley Wood view

Caley Wood view
sunshine through the canopy 29.05.08

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007

A walk along the Warta Valley, Poznan, Poland. Feb 2007
Best birds on this walk: black and middle spotted woodpecker and short toed treecreeper

About Me

My photo
A primary school teacher for 30 years, I retired from teaching in July 2009 to set up my own science enhancement and communication company. The Primary Works offers science clubs, workshops and staged science shows nationwide. I have always been interested in bird watching since my early years. Apparently my first tick was after inquiring about a chaffinch and then receiving the Observer book of birds. By the age of 9 I had moved on to Tory Peterson's collins guide and was now involved on YOC birding holidays to Northumbria, Essex coast, Slimbridge and Yorkshire. My twitching rule is that I will willingly travel 1km for each gram the bird weighs. However, I have had many rarities just by being in the right place. I have travelled widely throughout Europe and also visited Australia and Sri Lanka. In 2016 I spent time at Portland Bird Obs and two trips to Aviero, Portugal. 2017 found me back in Sri Lanka in Feb/March, then July and back for New Year's Eve celebrations in December. Also returned to The Camargue in May for a 4 day trip. Few plans for 2018, but nothing yet booked apart from a trip to the IOW.

Grey heron

Grey heron
Over the allotment 28.09.08

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker
Ridge footpath 27.08.08

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)

Juvenile green woodpecker (17.08.08)
Note the stripes, denoting a bird fledged this year.

common blue

common blue
Ash Valley G.C. 15.08.08

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)

Indian balsam (impatiens glandulifera)
River Ash

azure damselfly

azure damselfly
River Ash 28.07.08

marbled white

marbled white
Discovered at Westland Green 22.07.08

ruddy darter

ruddy darter
Bush Wood 21.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08

honeysuckle 19.07.08
growing in hedgerow in Chapel Lane

cinnabar moth caterpillar

cinnabar moth caterpillar
Photographed on ragwort 19.07.08

Bittersweet

Bittersweet
Study of petals 11.06.08

male yellowhammer

male yellowhammer
08.06.08

common blue butterfly

common blue butterfly
06.06.08

River Ash

River Ash
looking south from the bridge at Hadham Ford

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)

Common poppy (papaver rhoeas)
in rape field 29.05.08

Caley Wood sunshine

Caley Wood sunshine
29.05.08

Millenium Wood fox

Millenium Wood fox
24.05.08

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)

common comfrey (symphytum officinale)
06.05.08 banks of the River Ash

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)

Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge,(Alliara petiolata)
flowers, leaves and fruit edible . Good in salad and pesto

April showers

April showers
Double rainbow 30.04.08

Caley Wood bluebells

Caley Wood bluebells
22.04.08

Yellow Archangel

Yellow Archangel
Chapel Lane (20.04.08)

sunlight 16.04.08

sunlight 16.04.08
looking south west from Bush Wood

snowy buds

snowy buds
06.04.08 in Bush Wood

Looking north west

Looking north west
05.04.08 evening shower approaching

Back Garden

Back Garden
Easter Sunday (23.03.08)

Brick Kiln Hill

Brick Kiln Hill
Looking east (23.03.08)

No play today

No play today
The 2nd hole at Ash Valley golf course

Teasel head

Teasel head
Bush Wood (21.03.08)

Reflections

Reflections
daffodils at Bush Wood pond (21.03.08)

Swollen River Ash

Swollen River Ash
The river at the bottom of Winding Hill 16.03.08

Daybreak over the chapel

Daybreak over the chapel
Thursday 13th March

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)

Wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus)
growing in Bush Wood

January snowdrops

January snowdrops
Banks of River Ash, north of Much Hadham

Good Moon

Good Moon
From garden 24.01.08

Village Green

Village Green
Looking east towards Acremore Street

Looking south before Hadham Ford

Looking south before Hadham Ford
rare January blue sky

Useful sites

The following are some useful websites that may interest readers of this blog.
Firstly, Bishop's Stortford Natural History Society http://bsnhs.webplus.net/

Fellow birder, Gary Whelan's blog. Gives reports from our trips out together plus reports from his trips abroad. http://hairybirders.blogspot.co.uk
http://www.hertsbirdclub.org.uk/ The official herts bird club website. Frequently updated, listing bird sightings around the county. Offers links to many other websites. Both of these sites also offer links to yahoo discussion groups.
http://www.birdforum.net/ An international site. You can enter as a guest but become a member( free) to post comments, bird sightings and just about anything to do with wild birds. Good news updates, classified section for binoculars, cameras etc.
http://www.guidedbirdwatching.com/ A new site set up where you can contact people worldwide who will help you find good birds in their country. UK section being set up presently.
http://www.britainsbirder.co.uk/
Fellow birders blog. Strtford resident, Graeme Smith regulary birds the area south of Stortford as well as around Spellbrook and the River Stort from Spellbrook to Twyford Locks. Some superb bird photography: Graeme uses a digital camera attached to his powerful telescope to get detailled images of the birds he sees. Well worth a browse.
Two local sites that may be of interest can be found at
http://www.thehadhams.com/ www.thepelhams.net/content/section/12/139/

South Easterly walk

South Easterly walk
black, normal, red extended walk

South Westerly route.

South Westerly route.
Black usual, red extended

North Easterly walk

North Easterly walk
black short, walk. Red, extended

North West Patch

North West Patch
black route regular. Red route the extended wander