Michael´s Sixth Year

[Atravelynn]

"Sorry, no fancy title, just sticking to the basics."

 

That basic title seems unbelievable.  Six years of birding and posting ALREADY???  It is not only the birds that fly.  Time flies!

Edited October 23, 2021 by Atravelynn

[Kitsafari]

Congrats on speeding through 200 and what an adorable owl to do it with. 

 

Portugal looks scenic and beautiful through Andreas and your eyes. 

looking forward to more (and checking those we wanna see too...)

[xelas]

Congratulations on (passing by) #200, Michael! Lovely birds in lovely country. And Andreas landscapes are also beautiful.

[Soukous]

Thanks for such lovely photos @michael-ibkand so many species I've yet to see as well. 

Although late September is not very fruitful for birding here it looks to have been excellent in Portugal. I'll just have to go and have a look.

[TonyQ]

Well done on reaching 200, and with some beautiful birds from Portugal! It looks lovely.

[Zim Girl]

Congratulations on getting past 200 with a lovely collection of birds from Portugal!

[Dave Williams]

Well done Michael, 200 is no mean feat this year!

I love the terrace in the place you were staying. You weren't at too much risk sharing an outdoor space at meal times. Eating outdoors is what we most crave when we go on holiday. Doesn't happen too often in the UK!

 

[michael-ibk]

On 10/23/2021 at 4:10 PM, pedro maia said:

Congrats on the second ton Michael, you really nailed alll our steppe´s species, even the most difficults, and I´m glad you got your Bonelli´s Eagle, which means that the one we diddn´t get to see wasn´t needed .

 

Wouldn´t say I "got" it Pedro - the hunt is still on. Next time?

 

On 10/23/2021 at 4:35 PM, Kalaharikind said:

Wow! What a lovely collection! From 192 to 220 in what - three hours? Good accelaration there!

 

(But please, next time, take a nap after #200 so that we can all get together to applaud?)

 

Sorry about that, will be a better boy when I reach the next 100 mark. A promise I can easily make this year.

 

On 10/24/2021 at 1:28 AM, Atravelynn said:

"Sorry, no fancy title, just sticking to the basics."

 

That basic title seems unbelievable.  Six years of birding and posting ALREADY???  It is not only the birds that fly.  Time flies!

 

Indeed it does. Still remember our first interaction here on ST so many years ago Lynn. Something about cold pools.

 

On 10/24/2021 at 4:05 AM, Kitsafari said:

looking forward to more (and checking those we wanna see too...)

 

Well, apart from the few late migrants (Purple Heron, Lesser Kestrel, Woodchat Shrike) I think you should be able to find most of these birds in Catalonia. I´m curious since us Europeans take our birds for granted and tend to overlook some species foreigners really like - like Blue Tit I´ve been told. What would be your most important target birds Kit?

 

On 10/27/2021 at 10:11 AM, Dave Williams said:

I love the terrace in the place you were staying. You weren't at too much risk sharing an outdoor space at meal times. Eating outdoors is what we most crave when we go on holiday. Doesn't happen too often in the UK!

 

 

I agree Dave, same here in the mountains, gets chilly very quickly, not many evenings when it´s really pleasant dining outside. I love that about holiday as well.

 

And many thanks everybody for the kind words!

[michael-ibk]

221/E221.) Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus) / Dunkler Wassserläufer

 

Alcochete. Already out of their more attractive dark breeding plumage but still a very nice wader. The all black upper mandible and the slight downcurve at the tip help separate it from the Common Redshank.

 

 

 

Alcochete is a village (or town?) just South of Lisbon, at the opposite side of the Tejo river. Why not go into the city?  As great as Lissabon is we´ve both been there multiple times, and did not really fancy the crowds there. We stayed at a new resort there, well done for what it is. But I chose it because it´s right next to some salines and the river, and I knew from past visits this is a great place for birding. And it was, just one minute out of the resort we had hundreds, probably thousands of waders there.

 

 

Not really visible here, but a huge number of waders assembles here when the tide is high. (At low tide they venture out to the Tejo estuary to feed.)

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

222/E222.) Sanderling (Calidris alba) / Sanderling

 

Alcochete. A wader I´m very fond of, and one of the few which actually looks better in its non-breeding state IMO. Very rarely seen in Austria, and so I was very excited when I saw the first few at the Tejo shore. Need not have worried, they are really very common in Portugal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

223/E223.) Dunlin (Calidris alpina) / Alpenstrandläufer

 

Alcochete (and other places). Easily topping Sanderling in abundance. Plentiful everywhere in salines and along shorelines, and often surprisingly approachable.

 

 

 

 

 

BFFs:

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

224/E224.) Cetti´s Warbler (Cettia cetti) / Seidensänger

 

Alcochete. The ultimate skulker, and often incredibly annoying. Its surprisingly loud song gives away its presence easily but then to find it! I was lucky this one came out for a few seconds at least.

 

 

And some more Plover since they posed so nicely here:

 

 

 

 

 

[Galana]

A great choice of site and some worthy photos.

I actually like the Sanderling double shot with Dunlin under BFF. It shows well in the sunshine.

[elefromoz]

ohh the accomodation looks just so nice, I can just imagine lazy breakfasts sitting out there. congrats on 200

[PeterHG]

Beautiful shots of the waders, Michael and very well done on the Cetti’s. We heard it everywhere, too, but not a single chance at a photo.

[Kitsafari]

@michael-ibk

 

Not worried about purple herons as they're happily breeding in one of our parks. 

 

Given that european birds are all new to us as birders, I don't think we'll be bored by whatever we see. but we are targeting Lammergeiers, cinerous vulture (we can dream), wallcreeper, bluethroat, all raptors (all are new to us), great/little bustard, pin tailed sandgrouse, collared pratincole,  dupont's lark

[Galana]

28 minutes ago, Kitsafari said:

but we are targeting Lammergeiers, cinerous vulture (we can dream), wallcreeper, bluethroat, all raptors (all are new to us), great/little bustard, pin tailed sandgrouse, collared pratincole,  dupont's lark

Nothing like having a good plan. Good luck.

[michael-ibk]

2 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

Given that european birds are all new to us as birders, I don't think we'll be bored by whatever we see. but we are targeting Lammergeiers, cinerous vulture (we can dream), wallcreeper, bluethroat, all raptors (all are new to us), great/little bustard, pin tailed sandgrouse, collared pratincole,  dupont's lark

 

Nothing better than an ambitious plan! Even though you might not find everything you´ll definitely have fun trying to.

[michael-ibk]

225/E225.) Black-Winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) / Gleitaar

 

Reserva Natural do Estuário do Tejo. A really fun day - we met@pedro maiawho was kind enough to take us out for a full day to a very rewarding area not far from Lissabon. We´ve been there before during one of my previous Portugal trips, and I had been looking forward to going again. And meeting Pedro again! Which was such a pleasure, thank you very much for your generosity!

 

Black-Winged Kite was one of the main targets, and we saw six or seven of them. We had seen a few in the Alentejo too but too far away for even trying. Here we were able to approach a bit more closely. Still a heavy crop though.

 

 

[pedro maia]

2 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

@michael-ibk

 

Not worried about purple herons as they're happily breeding in one of our parks. 

 

Given that european birds are all new to us as birders, I don't think we'll be bored by whatever we see. but we are targeting Lammergeiers, cinerous vulture (we can dream), wallcreeper, bluethroat, all raptors (all are new to us), great/little bustard, pin tailed sandgrouse, collared pratincole,  dupont's lark

I don’t want to hijack Michael’s topic but now I’m curious, what’s going to be your itinerary?

[michael-ibk]

226/E226.) Western Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) / Purpurhuhn

 

Reserva Natural do Estuário do Tejo. Another important target bird. This one is quite big but shy, so surprisingly difficult despite its size. But we had really good views from one of the hides. This was formerly just the Purple Swamphen but this species has since been split in no less than 5!

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2021 by michael-ibk

[michael-ibk]

3 minutes ago, pedro maia said:

I don’t want to hijack Michael’s topic but now I’m curious, what’s going to be your itinerary?

 Normally I´d kick you out of my thread instantly but since I just said what a nice guy you are I´ll allow it.

[michael-ibk]

227/E277.) Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) / Sichler

 

Reserva Natural do Estuário do Tejo. Very, very common here, some flying flocks looked a bit like Starling murmurations.

 

If you think the black stuff in the middle is mud look again:

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

228/E228.) Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus) / Zwergadler

 

Reserva Natural do Estuário do Tejo. My award-winning "Best of very bad Birds of Prey photos" series continues.

 

 

This Marsh Harrier was a bit better:

 

 

We also enjoyed the incredible number of Storks in the area:

 

 

 

And it was really, really cool to see an Egyptian Mongoose - my very first one! Totally unexpected, and at first I thought it was a stray dog. (They are quite big.)

 

 

The highlight of the day was a very cooperative Osprey though:

 

[michael-ibk]

229/E229.) Yellow-Crowned Bishop (Euplectes afer) / Tahaweber

 

Reserva Natural do Estuário do Tejo. Great seeing them - a little bit like being in Africa. Portugal has several self-sustaining populations since the 90ies apparently, although I´m not quite sure how they got here. Any idea, Pedro?

 

 

This one went for a more fluffy look: