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Bird watching Algarve Portugal CASA ROSA Villa Apartment Holidays

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John Callion; Peter Blinco; Pete Davies November 22^nd- 26^th 2004

Monday 22 November.

Traveled from Cumbria down to East Midlands airport for 9.15am flight to Faro airport. Journey gave no problems-flight on time, collected hire car from airport Ok.

Birds seen on arrival at Airport and Montenegro where we stopped to pick up lunch:

White wagtail. House sparrow. Robin Chaffinch. Collared dove. Starling. Black redstart. Feral pigeons. Chiffchaffs.

Our first ‘proper’ bird watching venue was the waterworks and salinas area adjacent to Faro airport

Coot-- numerous. Grey heron. Little egret. Gadwall. Common sandpiper. Snipe. Yellow legged gull. Black winged stilts. Stonechat. Serin. Meadow pipit. Teal. Shoveler. Kingfisher. Crested lark. Moorhen. Cormorant. Greenfinch. Sardinian warbler. Osprey x 1 Goldfinch. Black headed gull. Mallard. White stork. Kentish plover. Zitting cisticola. Redshank. Little grebe. Grey plover. Golden plover. Dunlin. Ringed plover. Kestrel. Blackbird.

We then moved on to Quinta de Lago. The tide was in and we walked past the hide and along to the salinas.

Azure winged magpie. Hoopoe. Cettis warbler. Zitting cisticola. Stonechat. Gadwall. Coot. Moorhen. Pochard. Tufted duck. Purple gallinule. Lesser black backed gull. Great tit. Waxbill. Water pipit. Pintail. Wigeon. Avocet. Greater flamingo. Great crested grebe. Blackcap. Marsh harrier. Black shouldered kite (superb views-1 being mobbed repeatedly by kestrel) Sanderling. Little stint. Ruff. Black tailed godwit. Greenshank. Spotted redshank. Lapwing. Buzzard. Curlew sandpiper. Spoonbills. Grey wagtail. Cattle egret. Turnstone. Bar tailed godwit. Whimbrel. Curlew. Shoveler- numerous. Serin. Osprey eating fish. Kestrel. Little egret. Grey heron—60+. Coot. Gadwall-numerous.

Leaving Q de Lago our next stop was our accommodation at Casa Rosa

Willow warbler—singing! Nightjar x 2. Little owl. Blackcap. Chiffchaff. Black redstart. House sparrow. Blackbird.

Tuesday 23^rd November. Song thrush at Casa Rosa before we left

Our destination today was Cap de Vicente. However we stopped on the way towards the Cap as we spotted many raptors in the sky.

Spotless starling. Corn bunting. Great grey shrike. Hoopoe at Casa Rosa. Stonechat. Osprey. Buzzard. Kestrel. Short toed eagle (24 seen at one location along with 2 booted-still crossing to Africa?) Booted eagle. Jackdaw. Linnet. Lesser short toed lark. Black Wheatear x 1. Rock dove. Crag martin. Thekla lark. Red rumped swallow x 1. Blue rock thrush. Subalpine warbler x 1. Shag x 2. Calandra lark. Gannets - numerous. Black redstart. Jackdaw. Sardinian warbler. Chiffchaff. Red rumped swallow. Black redstart. Rock dove. Kestrel. Marsh harrier. Buzzard.

Moved North of Cap de Vicente and motored to Aljezur and on to Monchique

A few new species when we stopped in woodland area near to Monchique

Blue tit. Jay. Short toed tree creeper. Nuthatch. Great spotted woodpecker. Lapwing. Larks. Starling. Cattle egret. Kestrel. Stonechat. White wagtails.

Wednesday 24^th November

Destination today was Donana. On the way we stopped at Castro Marim

Reed bunting Swallow x 1. Yellow legged gulls. White wagtail. Kestrel. House sparrow. Redshank. Snipe. Grey heron. Crag martins. Egrets. Goldfinch. Stonechat. Black winged stilt. Chiffchaff. Spoonbill x 3. Godwits. Little grebes. Avocet. Gadwall. White stork. Cormorants. Shrike. Corn bunting x 50+. Caspian tern x 1 as we crossed the Border bridge.

Visited the rice fields and Valverde first.

Red kite. Black stork x 8. Hen harrier x 1 (male). Greyleg geese – numerous. Night heron x 1. Red knobbed coot at Valverde. Green sandpiper x 1. Imperial eagle x 1 . Collared dove. Serins. Buzzard. Grey heron. Cattle egrets. Corn bunting. Larks. Booted eagle x 2. Marsh harriers. Purple gallinule. White stork. Snipe. Lapwing. Black redstart. Kestrel.

Moved to El Rocio and La Rocina

Glossy ibis x 3. Magpie. Red legged partridge. Coal tit. Red kites. Greater flamingos-numerous. Black shouldered Kite x 1. Marsh harriers. Teal. Night heron. Grey heron. Mallard. Pochard. Godwits. Greylag geese. Little grebe. Coot. Moorhen. Cettis warbler. Chiffchaff. Robin. Azure winged magpies. Shoveler. Gadwall.

Unfortunately the paths past the hides at La Rocina were closed off due to repair works to boardwalks so we were unable to catch up with the lesser spotted eagle reported to be on site

We drove on towards Huelva and Odiel. On the way we stopped at Palos y Madres where the only new species was

Squacco heron. Wigeon. Pochard. Coot. Buzzard. Gadwall. Mallard. Grey heron. Yellow l gull. Lesser b b gull. Chiffchaff. Little grebe. Shoveler. Purple gallinule.

Thursday 25^th November

Today’s trip was Northwards to Castro Verde and then east to Mertola. In between the 2 we visited Pulo de Lobo, as we hadn’t seen this site on previous visits, although we knew it is a site during the breeding season.

Peregrine x 1. Crow. Raven. Little bustard x 8 & then a further 120 seen in one flock. Stone curlew x 8. Great bustards x 5 and then a further 19 seen. Red kites-numerous. Buzzard. Lapwing. Golden plover. Corn bunting. Swallow. Azure winged magpies. Stonechats. Snipe. Little grebe. Little owl. Shrikes. Blue rock thrush. Stonechats. Black redstart. Egret. Chiffchaff. Robin. Sardinian warbler. Buzzard. Grey wagtail. Linnet. Red legged partridges.

Long tailed tit at Pulo de Lobo.

1 Little grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 71 Yellow legged gull Larus cachinnans

2 Great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus 72 Caspian tern Sterna caspia

3 Black necked grebe Podiceps nigricollis 73 Rock dove Columbia livia

4 Northern Gannet Morus bassanus 74 Feral pigeon Columbia livia (domest)

5 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 75 Collared dove Streptopelia decaocta

6 European Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis 76 Little owl Athene noctua

7 Night heron Nycticorax nycticorax 77 European nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus

8 Squacco heron Ardeola ralloides 78 Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis

9 Cattle egret Bubulcus ibis 79 Hoopoe Upopa epops

10 Little egret Egretta garzetta 80 Great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major

11 Grey heron Ardea cinerea 81 Calandra lark Melanocorypha calandra

12 Black stork Ciconia nigra 82 Lesser short toed lark Calandrella rufescens

13 White stork Ciconia ciconia 83 Crested lark Galerida cristata

14 Glossy ibis Plegadis falcinellus 84 Thekla lark Galerida theklae

15 Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucoradia 85 Crag martin Ptyonoprogne rupestris

16 Greater flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus 86 Barn swallow Hirundo rustica

17 Greylag goose Anser anser 87 Red rumped swallow Hirundo daurica

18 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope 88 Meadow pipit Anthus pratensis

19 Gadwall Anas strepera 89 Water pipit Anthus spinoletta

20 Eurasian teal Anas crecca 90 Grey wagtail Motacilla cinerea

21 Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 91 White/pied wagtail Motacilla alba

22 Pintail Anas acuta 92 Robin Erithracus rubecula

23 Shoveler Anas clypeata 93 Black redstart Phoenicurus ochruros

24 Common Pochard Aythya ferina 94 Common stonechat Saxicola torquatus

25 Tufted duck Aythya fuligula 95 Black Wheatear Oenanthe leucura

26 Black winged kite Elanus caeruleus 96 Blue rock thrush Monticola solitarius

27 Red kite Milvus milvus 97 Blackbird Turdus merula

28 Short-toed eagle Circaetus gallicus 98 Song thrush Turdus philomelos

29 Marsh harrier Circus aeruginosus 99 Cetti’s warbler Cettia cetti

30 Hen harrier Circus cyaneus 100 Zitting cisticola Cisticola juncidis

31 Common buzzard Buteo buteo 101 Subalpine warbler Sylvia cantillans

32 Spanish imperial eagle Aquila adalberti 102 Sardinian warbler Sylvia melanocephala

33 Booted eagle Hieraaetus pennatus 103 Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla

34 Osprey Pandion haliaetus 104 Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita

35 Common kestrel Falco tinnunculus 105 Willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus

36 Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus 106 Long tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus

37 Red-legged partridge Alectoris rufa 107 Coal tit Parus ater

38 Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 108 Blue tit Parus caeruleus

39 Purple gallinule Porphyrio porphyrio 109 Great tit Parus major

40 Common coot Fulica atra 110 Eurasian nuthatch Sitta europaea

41 Red knobbed coot Fulica cristata 111 Short-toed Treecreeper Certhia brachydactyla

42 Little bustard Tetrax tetrax 112 Great grey shrike Lanius excubitor

43 Great bustard Otis tarda 113 Eurasian jay Garrulus glandarius

44 Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus 114 Azure winged magpie Cyanopica cyanus

45 Black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus 115 Magpie Pica pica

46 Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta 116 Western jackdaw Corvus monedula

47 Stone curlew Burhinus oedicnemus 117 Carrion crow Corvus corone

48 Ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula 118 Common raven Corvus corax

49 Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus 119 Common starling Sturnus vulgaris

50 European golden plover Pluvialis apricaria 120 Spotless starling Sturnus unicolor

51 Grey plover Pluvialis squatarola 121 House sparrow Passer domesticus

52 Northern lapwing Vanellus vanellus 122 Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild

53 Sanderling Calidris canutus 123 Common chaffinch Fringilla coelebs

54 Little stint Calidris minuta 124 European Serin Serinus serinus

55 Curlew sandpiper Calidris ferruginea 125 Greenfinch Carduelis chloris

56 Dunlin Calidris alpina 126 Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis

57 Ruff Philomachus pugnax 127 Linnet Carduelis cannabina

58 Common snipe Gallinago gallinago 128 Reed bunting Emberiza schoeniclus

59 Bar-tailed godwit Limosa lapponica 129 Corn bunting Emberiza calandra

60 Black tailed godwit Limosa limosa 130

61 Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus 131

62 Curlew Numenius arquata 132

63 Spotted redshank Tringa erythropus 133

64 Redshank Tringa totanus 134

65 Greenshank Tringa nebularia 135

66 Green sandpiper Tringa ochropus 136

67 Common sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos 137

68 Turnstone Arenaria interpres 138

69 Black headed gull Larus ridibundus 139

70 Lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus 140

hoopoe