Jump to content

Pedro´s Rookie Year


pedro maia

Recommended Posts

pedro maia
3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Ah, you found the Bishop.:)

 

Friday afternoon at the Leziria I had several sightings of Bishops, also a female with a male but couldn’t take a decent picture.

 

But Saturday at 9:30 the owlet was nowhere to be seen, it’s going to be difficult to arrive there early enough to have more chances.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

At last me and my wife we manage to go out for 2 days, we went to Alentejo and not only we were able to rest but there was plenty of time to look for birds and got some interesting additions to my BY.

 

For starters an EBC:

 

#120, 8/6, Black Vulture, Avis312915301_BYAbutreNegro1.jpg.51027b90d97cfc688f1236ed86bd50d9.jpg

 

29801462_BYAbutreNegro2.jpg.99fab5f1cfc7c87d58a55034e7030a32.jpgis

Edited by pedro maia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

#121, 8/6, Western Jackdaw, Santa Eulália

1015930371_BYGralhaNC.jpg.96fc0aa1d23aee34c1815626d8dbc9c8.jpg

Edited by pedro maia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This one was quite far from the road, my wife spotted it but I didn´t get a good picture of it while on the ground, and when I got out of the car just took off, but then I got nicer pictures:

 

#122, 8/6, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Arronches

1727772671_BYCobreira1.jpg.2e4535a7c503453a0a33c7e06c3c599a.jpg

 

1237114292_BYCobreira2.jpg.6f63c6cad5133a62247320e97b277d38.jpg

 

1021554185_BYCobreira3.jpg.1626e8662127f306d00963cc7647c239.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Early morning Sunday produce a couple of

 

#123, 8/6, Thekla´s Lark, Arronches Area

2028807567_BYCotovia1.jpg.0132449ebe2b776d003604d94cd2c7ba.jpg

 

439080623_BYCotovia2.jpg.59b806b38bd6a713b346d4c891a1483a.jpg

Edited by pedro maia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We left Alentejo and entered another region. Beira Baixa, made a small detour to Rodão and went up to the castle, there were the griffons but there was also this one

 

#124, 9/6, Black-eared Wheatear, Castelo de Rodão

1036289362_BYChasco2.jpg.5df2bbc4e22088878215782acc31c5b6.jpg

 

I get the feeling that this is an area that has lots of species besides the vultures, have to go there with more time.

 

Edited by pedro maia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We didn´t stay long in the Rodão area because we had a program scheduled in Malpica do Tejo, in a corner of Portugal where I had never been before, we would have lunch there and then we would have a boat tour in the Tejo Internacional to try and see something special, the Black Storks, it´s one of the very few places in Portugal where they breed and it´s a very scarcely populated area and with very few tourism, it wasn´t easy to contact the company that runs the boat tours, you have to call the restaurant where we had lunch, Tasca Maria Faia, but the nobody answered the phone for days (it was not working) but somehow I found the phone of one of the tour company owners and the tour was scheduled for Sunday after lunch.

 

I was told that the boat´s capacity was around 15 people but during lunch they told us the other group went during the morning, we would leave after they returned to have lunch, but we would be the only persons on our tour, you can imagine how sad we were to hear that...

 

Finally we met our boatman, not really a guide, a local fisherman, since the road ends at Malpica do Tejo we had to go with him on his 4x4, which is needed for the forest gravel road that leads to the river, some parts are really steep.

 

He told us that it wasn´t the best time to see the storks (they didn´t see them in the morning tour), not the best news for us but he told us that the end of April/beginning of May is better because the parents stay close to the nests when the chicks are newly born and August is also better because by then the chicks are learning to fly, right now the parents spend most of the day away to get food, but at least we would see the nest with the chick and, anyway, the river is beautiful and Every Chick Counts…

 

Arriving to the pier where the boat was waiting for us, first thing we noticed was it only has 9 seats, for 2 persons that´s pure luxury but if we were in a tour with 15 persons I don´t think we would have liked it:

 

1183795252_BYBarco1.jpg.0716cb18fb62c65d26cb38057de154f3.jpg

 

In this place the river is the border, the right bank is Portugal and the left bank is Spain, in this area this is the only tourism boat operating (there´s another one, much bigger, that operates from Spain but further down the river), there are also 6 fishermen with licences, one of them our boatman, but we had this stretch of the river all to ourselves, really beautiful ang pleasantly lonely.

 

1930743168_BYBarco2.jpg.fea288a7bc527ce341a1f04793ca32f9.jpg

 

We saw quite a few griffons and a couple of raptors I still have to try to ID but didn´t take long to have a great sighting, an Egyptian Vulture, the only one we saw:

 

#125, 9/6, Egyptian Vulture, Tejo Internacional

388415566_BYAbutreEgipto1.jpg.9a766ce31285651400fbaff6eb4b01e9.jpg

 

870802565_BYAbutreEgipto2.jpg.51ccc2e053fbd1e198f659532f136ff5.jpg

 

And then we arrived to the Black Stork nest, there are a few others up stream but are off limits and also you can´t get too close to the nest, we kept a distance of about 10m, but still we were able to see the chick:

 

1516551667_BYNinho.jpg.f90694ac29f221b3487634e4575175fe.jpg

 

But the best was yet to come when one of the parents showed up and flew over us for a while, really a magnificent bird and the perfect ending for the tour, which lasted a bit  under 2 hours and was totally worth it.

 

#126, 9/6, Black Stork, Tejo Internacional

589921121_BYCegonhaPreta1.jpg.6bdcc8e83cd5ad8b7a92d0ae90e5df67.jpg

 

1750134225_BYCegonhaPreta4.jpg.513df11428c3c44dce0f66f9b2b54037.jpg

 

1466201671_BYCegonhaPreta5.jpg.623cc524b13ccbd76895be79cc226cfb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to see your boat tour paid off, beautiful Black Storks!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

how awesome to have the boat all to yourselves, the river all to yourselves and the black stork all to yourselves!

 

the black stork is stunning. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave Williams

Looks like a really nice place to take a holiday. Some excellent birds!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another good day not at the office...

 

Last Tuesday I had to go to the Algarve, around 11:00 am what I had to do there was finished so I could be in Lisbon in time for a full afternoon of work, or...

 

I could also not go to the office, take the motorway to Lisboa but make a small detour to Castro Verde, in the area where a couple of months ago I saw the great bustards and spend a few hours birding.

 

It´s clear what I chose to do...

 

I had 3 main goals in that area, the only one I didn´t get was the little bustard, maybe it was not the right time of the day since I also didn´t see any great bustard, but this one I got, it was just a pity that it was on the wrong side of the light and that I wasn´t able to catch in flight (I saw another one but couldn´t even take any photo of it):

 

#127, 11/6, European Roller, Castro Verde area

1218671698_Rolieiro1.jpg.caafbeb952933be471cf408297f10767.jpg

 

1640616438_Rolieiro5.jpg.60a7d9994e0275fcf41376c78b898b41.jpg

Edited by pedro maia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew where to look for the other bird that was on my plan, the abandoned railway station of Casével:

 

272170861_Casvel.jpg.bccc960f7867fbefbcb9922754c5bd6f.jpg

 

In this building lives a colony of Lesser Kestrels, and they are plenty, I must have seen 20+.

 

#128, 11/6, Lesser Kestrel, Estação de Casével

780102415_Francelho1.jpg.3c0f74363b0a8b28d70023f835869ab4.jpg

 

2046908029_Francelho2.jpg.37b0a9b1999a321697c64fcad761274d.jpg

 

And I´m really happy with these two shots:

 

1973549717_Francelho3.jpg.46c0589b38af2ffc125c0b698823fee4.jpg

 

1557482457_Francelho4.jpg.1cea1e8ce194cc52432a56742faa60fa.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

michael-ibk

Some awesome birds you got there Pedro. And it's just amazing how quickly you have become that good with the camera - super BIFs. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, michael-ibk said:

Some awesome birds you got there Pedro. And it's just amazing how quickly you have become that good with the camera - super BIFs. 

 

Thanks Michael, I’m trying to improve and sometimes it comes out right for me, but I still have a lot to learn.

 

Today I saw the owlet, as soon as I came out of the roundabout it was there but I was greedy, the gate of the property was opened so I tried to get closer but it flew away, I should have taken a couple of pictures first, I came out empty handed and things are getting personal :D.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

michael-ibk

Pedro vs. Little Owl - this could get ugly, please don´t hurt it! ;)

 

Important lesson I also learnt - always take a safety shot first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

#129, 13/6, Little Tern, Ribeira das Enguias

2070672151_Chilreta1.jpg.92d0614d757bad500802b0066197ae1f.jpg

 

836848439_Chilreta2.jpg.f23ab90fe54d4383582760e341a5588f.jpg

 

1928469938_Chilreta3.jpg.025fe7a633be0c413a3c9159a656983f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Checking the Little Tern pictures I found an EBC with 2 Whiskered Terns, like a bonus track...

 

#130, 13/6, Whiskered Tern, Ribeira das Enguias

1990609157_Gaivinasdospauis.jpg.918fbdcf29ba438a6a99f7891f2d40cc.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This one wasn´t easy, it was calling very loudly but always inside the reed, we found a good spot to park the car and waited, finally came out a few times 

 

#131, 16/6, Great Reed Warbler, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

1793279012_BYIMG_7477.JPG.ba5d6f9938d7158fad4b2cf09015d45b.JPG

first time

 

290157044_BYIMG_7504.JPG.b05bbe2d8981355f0f83abb114359ede.JPG

second time

 

38173389_BYIMG_75092.jpg.bd9db5db8a648efe1a89706aed4947d0.jpg

third time

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is always good to have a day away from the office and the pay is better!

Nice use of your camera.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

#132, 18/6, Eurasian Crag Martin, Vila Velha de Rodão

1900006980_BYAndorinhadasRochas1.jpg.2c2b167bdae4d6d5e699f455958998cb.jpg

 

1073706225_BYAndorinhadasRochas2.jpg.6bb04aadae98a94a96dc54e79e76ac08.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are great things to see in (another) day not at the office...

 

#133, 18/6, Golden Eagle, Northern Alentejo

1684902039_CIMG_4844.jpg.bc09a89844cb0cffe5ee7742241ff889.jpg

 

318459812_CIMG_4842.jpg.5bc93d5da953d6225329849ac52f8208.jpg

 

Edited by pedro maia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Owlet down...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

michael-ibk

Did you kill it? :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, michael-ibk said:

Did you kill it? :ph34r:

 

I shot it, thanks to you :lol::lol:.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In spite of knowing where it lives (thanks @michael-ibk) it wasn´t easy, I had seen it once but without picture, missed it half a dozen times but today I finally got it and now I can sleep again :D, the solution was, of course, to wake up very early. The light was terrible so I did what I could.

 

#134, 20/6, Little Owl, Barroca d´Alva road

1870194948_BYMocho1.jpg.0e18ff9d7eba2ce931ccec65f4979434.jpg

 

955715398_BYMocho3.jpg.f64e9a1e1e0b3e719da903b1324a904a.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy