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Mike and Angie Raven, with two-year old daughter Laura (Mundford, Norfolk) and Bill and Helen Whybrow (Lowestoft, Suffolk).

I had a short list of species that were new for me in Portugal, including Great and Little Bustards, Red-necked Nightjar, Pallid Swift, Waxbill, Black-shouldered Kite and Calandra Lark. On top of this were possible Black Vulture, Black Wheatear and Audouin’s Gull, but all of these would be very difficult to see.

Virtually everything is cheep in Portugal, leading us to the belief that we are seriously ripped off in England. Diesel (c60 pence per litre), return flights from Luton to Faro (only £67, including tax!). However, we decided to splash out on a very expensive hire car, a 7-seater people-carrier.

The weather can be unreliable in Portugal at this time of year, thankfully not in 2005. Daytime maximum temperatures ranged from 20 to 30 Celsius, with bright sunshine on most days. It was T-Shirt and shorts weather every day, and warmer clothing was only need later in the evening, and for one trip up to Mount Foia.

The road system in southern Portugal is reasonably good, with quiet, good quality motorways running along much of the length of the Algarve coast and northwards through Alentejo towards Lisbon. However, the junction numbers on some of the roads have recently been changed, and the maps are generally, poor and out of date; so beware. Junction number changes particularly apply to the coastal motorway (A22). Sign posting is poor along sometimes poorly surfaced minor roads, and the driving a little mad at times, although it is nothing particularly to worry about, especially if you are used to the some of the driving habits on the busy English roads.

We left the house just after 8am, and drove for nearly two hours to Luton Airport. Our flight to Faro did not leave until 12:30, and was listed as a 3-hour flight, although in fact it took just over 2 hours, 30 minutes of flying time. By the time we had picked up the hire car and drove the 30 minutes to the accommodation it was nearly 5pm. We had a dip in the pool and took note of the local bird-life. Red-rumped Swallows were flying low over the pool, several Bee-eaters were nesting nearby in some mounds of sand, plus calling Hoopoe, several Sardinian Warblers, two Woodchat Shrikes, a juvenile Serin, plus the occasional Azure-winged Magpie, in all, a very good start. As the evening drew close, Little Owls called from the distant groves, and then from the apartment window, a male Red-necked Nightjar began to churr, followed shortly by a brief fly-by of two birds.

We decided after all the travelling done the previous day to take it easy. We started the day with a walk around Casa Rosa, which produced a brief view of a Nightingale, Willow Warbler, plus the usual species seen the day before. We took a trip into nearby Olhao to stock-up on food at the local Modelo supermarket. On the N125, just west of Olhao we saw a colony of Collared Pratincoles, with at least a dozen birds being seen. In the supermarket car park, I saw another Willow Warbler.

After lunch we drove along the N125 into Fuseta, and then walked along the seafront. The saltmarshes and shoreline produced a good range of waders, including Curlew, good numbers of Dunlin and Knot, Kentish Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Grey Plover. A couple of Iberian race Yellow Wagtails were also of interest, plus more expected Little Tern, White Stork, Little Egret and Yellow-legged Gull.

We decided to be a bit more adventurous today, with a planned trip north into Alentejo. We drove along the coastal motorway and took the toll motorway north to Castro Verde. The whole trip should have taken about 1 hour 15 minutes, although we did manage to get lost twice.

We then continued along the N123 towards Mertola, taking the second right hand turning towards Rolao. The lack of rainfall (apparently none since the Autumn) had left the land parched dry, with much of the grassland dead, and the crops struggling to survive. We soon logged several Montagu’s Harrier, Corn Bunting and Cattle Egret, plus Southern Grey Shrike, Stonechat, Short-toed Eagle and a number of fly-over Gull-billed Tern. We decided to stop for lunch, and soon saw Black Kite, Short-toed Lark and Calandra Lark. We then continued eastwards towards Guerreiro, logging a single Raven and three Little Bustard. We then headed south towards Penhilos, recording Crag Martin and Kingfisher at one of the bridges, and a single singing Dartford Warbler. Eventually we reached and then stopped for a break in the attractive hilltop town of Mertola, located along the Guadiana valley. The only Lesser Kestrels of the trip were recorded here, these forming a small breeding colony in the town castle.

First thing, we took a trip to the Olhao fish and vegetable market, followed by another visit to the Modelo supermarket, where we recorded the trip’s first Fan-tailed Warbler. After lunch we made a further attempt to find the Rio Formosa reserve headquarters (Quinta de Marim), just east of Olhao. This time we were successful. The reserve produced many new birds for the trip, including Spoonbill, Turtle Dove, a brief singing Iberian Chiffchaff, Little Stint, Pintail, Little Grebe, Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Common Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Gadwall and Grey Heron. However, the highlight of the visit was a single Purple Gallinule, hidden amongst the waterside vegetation in the freshwater pool. Laura however, particularly enjoyed the visit to the Portuguese water dogs.

An early morning singing Golden Oriole from our apartment window almost woke me up, and this got the day off to a good start. We spent the morning at the nearby Moncarapacho market with its many clothes stalls selling just about everything for the bargain price of 5 Euros. We then took the half hour trip towards the Spanish border to Castro Marim, arriving there about 11am.

The track towards the centre was fringed by a number of brackish lagoons, backed by large areas of saltmarsh. The pools soon yielded the trip’s first Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit and a flock of superb summer-plumaged Curlew Sandpiper. The centre was shut (it was May 1^st), but we took the short circular route up to the house on the hill, from where a good view of the surrounding saltpans and saltmarsh could be obtained. From here we saw Marsh Harrier, a female Montagu’s Harrier, but more surprisingly a male Hen Harrier. The saltpans held Shelduck, a single Greenshank, many Avocets, and good numbers of Spoonbill. Back down to the bottom of the hill, Bill spotted a migrant Whitethroat, a good find in the Algarve. To top this, he then picked up a distant Great Spotted Cuckoo, which was later seen by all, sitting in a bush.

We then headed back towards the town of Castro Marim and onto the saltworks located to the west of the town. The dirt track towards the saltworks was fringed by saltpan lagoons, the first of which held a small flock of Greater Flamingos. However, the more distant lagoons held much greater numbers, probably 200+ birds. This area was also very productive, with at least two Collared Pratincoles, Spoonbill, Avocets and much more.

The Golden Oriole was heard again, plus the accommodations first Fan-tailed Warbler. Today we headed west along the A22, taking the junction north to Silves. I recorded the trip’s only Alpine Swift over the coastal motorway. After Silves we headed west on the N124, then northwards on the N266 towards Monchique. We followed the signs out of Monchique towards Foia, and drove along a windy, but well surfaced road towards the 900m summit. The summit consisted of a ‘less-than-sightly’ assortment of radio masts, and a ‘not-that-ugly’ building containing a block of gift shops/restaurant. This area proved to be very interesting, with singing male Blue Rock Thrush and Rock Bunting, numerous Melodious Warbler, our first Wren and White Wagtail of the trip, and a single singing Woodlark.

After leaving Foia and heading back into Monchique, taking time to search for Pallid Swift, this time being successful with at least two birds being seen. Much of the woodland around Foia and Monchique appeared to have been badly damaged by previous forest fires. However, a number of stops down from Foia, through Monchique, and then taking a right turn through Casais on the N267 proved interesting. Just south of Monchique, a strange looking mammal with a very long bristle-tipped tail crossed the road in front of us, which was later identified as an Egyptian Mongoose. Numerous Serin and Nightingale could be heard singing from the scrub, and Blue Tit, Jay, Chaffinch, Wren, Robin, Nuthatch, Blackcap and Iberian Chiffchaff were all of interest of new for the trip. In fact, many of the bird species were much more reminiscent of northern Europe. More time spent in this area would have probably yielded more species, including Short-toed Treecreeper.

Heading south down the N266 we stopped off at a pottery near Barracao. This stop proved useful, with the trip’s only Grey Wagtail and Great Spotted Woodpecker being recorded. Back onto the N124 towards Silves, we stopped by the road to look over the northern end of the Ribeira de Arade estuary. On the tidal mud were Spoonbill, Black-winged Stilt and several Whimbrel. A quick stop along the N124 near Silves at another Modelo supermarket yielded Monarch butterfly to my surprise. Bill and Angie saw a brief Barn Owl flying near the new Olhao to A22 road later that afternoon.

Initially, we planned to visit the Quinta da Lago reserve, just west of Faro. However, after hearing that one of the Casa Rosa guests had seen several Great Bustards near Castro Verde the previous day, a change of plan was in order. Within less than 1 hour and 30 minutes we were heading out of Castro Verde towards Mertola again. Just west of Sao Marcus on the N123, Angie picked up two Great Bustards against the skyline. We then stopped by the roadside for lunch at Sao Marcus, seeing our first Carrion Crow along the way. Numerous Spanish Sparrows were residing in the stork nests that lined the roadside. Raptors were numerous, with several Black Kite, Montagu’s Harrier, Kestrel and Buzzard, and a single Short-toed Eagle being seen. Then a distant flock of some 30 Black-bellied Sandgrouse was seen flying quickly over a distant hilltop.

After lunch we headed back to the coast to pay a second visit to Quinta de Marim (Laura wanted to say hello to the Portuguese water-dogs again). The only new bird for the trip was at least two singing Cetti’s Warblers, a species which I expected to be more common. A single singing Golden Oriole also proved elusive. Trip total now 112 species.

We made a quick visit to Fuseta seafront first thing, but it did not yield anything new, although we did manage to see another two Pallid Swifts on the way back to Casa Rosa through Estoi. Midday we left the apartments and drove back to the airport for a 4pm flight home.

A total of 112 species of bird were seen by myself, plus Barn Owl, Tawny Owl and Kingfisher logged by other members of the trip.

A great trip, and the area is very good for birds, although you definitely need more than a week in the area to visit all of the best sites. More time in Alentejo and visits to Quinta do Lago, Pera marshes, the west coast and the Guadiana valley would have certainly produced many more species.