Pedro does it again, 2nd Year!!

[michael-ibk]

Great bird and photos - high on my list, have never seen one! Bravo Pedro!

[pedro maia]

#171, 19/5, Reed warbler, Paul da Barroca

 

 

 

[pedro maia]

#172, 21/5, Audouin's gull, Cabo Raso, Cascais

 

[pedro maia]

Yesterday I went back to Alentejo but it wasn´t the most successful trip, only one species to my BY.

 

#173, 22/5, Western black-eared wheatear, São João dos Caldeireiros, Mértola

 

A beautifel bird which isn´t very common, only saw it once last year, this one is a dark morph male.

[pedro maia]

And a few duplicates:

 

 

 

[pedro maia]

I have a few species "marinating" in my hard disk while waiting for better pictures but when that doesn´t happen it´s time to add them to the count and focus on other targets.

 

#174, 30/4,  Cirl bunting, Almoinhas Velhas, Cascais

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by pedro maia

[pedro maia]

#175, 12/5, Melodious warbler, Pancas area

 

 

[pedro maia]

#176, 20/5, Greater short-toed lark, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

[pedro maia]

These guys are worth as many points as the biggest of rarities so at some point one has to add them tom the count:

 

#177, 26/5, Rock dove, Jamor

[pedro maia]

Things are pretty quiet in my area and since I don´t have too much work I now take the fridays off and go somewhere in the country side, mostly to Alentejo, but yesterday I ventured a bit further, spring is the best time to go birding in in our highest mountains (in the mainland), Serra da Estrela, it reaches nearly the 2.000m mark and it´s a 3 hour drive from home, something I do often for work so why not do it for fun?

 

I left home before 5:30 am and at 8:30 I was getting my first tick of the day:

 

#178, 29/5, Rock bunting, Serra da Estrela

 

Edited May 30, 2020 by pedro maia

[pedro maia]

It didn´t take long for me to realise that my plans were going to be partly frustrated because the road that goes to the top of Serra da Estrela was closed for maintenance, which meant that I wouldn´t be able to go higher than 1.600m and the spot to look for rock thrush was out of reach, I wasn´t going to get one of my top target species for the day. Still, there were a few spots to explore, one of them is a good spot to look for Dipper, but even if I went there I didn´t see any, it´s not easy and I don´t know the best "strategy" to find them.

 

What I could do was to drive in a limited area between 1.400m and 1.600m and check for silhouetes on poles and boulders, which is something I like more than look for birds in trees due to my poor results, and truth is I got a few additions to my count. I was also hoping for some raptors but it wasn´t meant to be.

 

#179, 29/5, Tawny pipit, Serra da Estrela

Edited May 30, 2020 by pedro maia

[pedro maia]

#180, 29/5, Northern wheatear, Serra da Estrela

Edited May 30, 2020 by pedro maia

[pedro maia]

#181, 29/5, Common whitethroat, Serra da Estrela

Edited May 30, 2020 by pedro maia

[pedro maia]

I had a third species on my top 3 wish list for the day and soon before leaving the area (and the mountains, because I tried to go to another area and failed also because of road maintneance works) I found it, it doesn´t occur in many areas in Portugal and mostly above 1.000m, so even if I couldn´t go to most of my planned spots the outcome of the day wasn´t too bad.

 

#182, 29/5 (N24), Ortolan bunting, Serra da Estrela

 

Edited May 30, 2020 by pedro maia

[PeterHG]

It's a pity you could not go all the way up to the desired altitude, but even so you managed to get some very good species! I've only ever seen an Ortolan Bunting once, in the north of Spain.

[Galana]

A good day out indeed after all.

 

I feel the best strategy for Dipper is to go where they are normally to be found. A nice rocky river/stream with broken water among suitable rocks for perches.

Sit quietly and sooner or later one should appear. They are quite territorial especially when nesting.

Good luck.

[pedro maia]

Yesterday I went looking for an individual bird, which is always difficult and even more when it´s a species that lives in trees, I don´t know how most of you take such good pictures of small birds in trees, I always have branches, twiggs and leaves between me and the bird, and that´s when I´m able to see it.

 

Anyway, it was 15m to home so it was worth to try and I was successful, even if the pictures aren´t great:

 

#183, 30/5 (N25), Western Bonelli´s warbler, Rio de Mouro

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by pedro maia

[Soukous]

well done

[Galana]

6 hours ago, Soukous said:

well done

Twice!

[michael-ibk]

Agree, Bonelli´s are difficult, they are easier though early in spring when they start singing and care about nothing but attracting a female.

[PeterHG]

3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

when they start singing and care about nothing but attracting a female

This sounds like me many years ago...

[pedro maia]

3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Agree, Bonelli´s are difficult, they are easier though early in spring when they start singing and care about nothing but attracting a female.

 

That’s how I got it, he just didn’t stop singing.

[pedro maia]

Very early wake up call yesterday, at 4:30am I hit the road for a 2 and a half hour drive to get to my destination around 7:00am in order to try to find a rarity, a rare summer migrant from sub-Saharan Africa that breeds in only a couple of places in Portugal and one has to get there early otherwise it´s hard to see it because when the temperature rises it goes higher in the skies where it spends the day feedind, two weeks ago I´ve been to the same +place but arrived at 9:00am and didn´t get to see it.

 

My destination was the place where it´s more likely to find this bird in Portugal, the abandoned mining ruins of Mina de São Domingos in southern Alentejo, close to the town of Mértola, one of the areas in Portugal where the iberian linx occurs after beeing reintroduced and also one of the areas where Iberian imperial eagle occurs, but both are sacarce and I wasn´t hoping to see them.

 

A couple of shots of the ruins:

 

 

 

A strange place to go at 7:00am but it paid off, this species takes over Red-rumped swallows nests and I think this is the entrance to their nest, but they were flying so fast that I can´t be sure:

 

 

Their speed and small size didn´t make things easy for me but even if pictures aren´t great I´m very happy with these I chose from a few hundreds .

 

#184, 5/6 (N26), White-rumped swift, Mina de São Domingos, Mértola

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by pedro maia

[michael-ibk]

Well done, Pedro - really good Swifts in flight! Didn´t know this bird is even around in Europe - Portugal is such a good birding country!

[PeterHG]

12 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Didn´t know this bird is even around in Europe -

Neither did I !
That is a very special one, indeed, @pedro maia