All quiet on the western front - PM 2023

[PeterHG]

I am truly impressed by your flight shots, Pedro! 

[Dave Williams]

I like the idea that you have made flight your priority. Keep on practicing and they will get better and better.

Talking of pelagics in Portugal, can you offer any links to operators and advice on the best months to try?

[pedro maia]

3 hours ago, PeterHG said:

I am truly impressed by your flight shots, Pedro! 

Me too.

[pedro maia]

3 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

I like the idea that you have made flight your priority. Keep on practicing and they will get better and better.

Talking of pelagics in Portugal, can you offer any links to operators and advice on the best months to try?

I know there are operators in Sagres, but I never tried a pelagic there,

 

Here in Lisbon there’s one operator, https://seaeo-tours.pt/observacao-de-aves-pelagicas/?lang=pt-pt, they operate mostly in autum/winter, I think it’s the best time.

 

My best pelagic was last year in November, but those aren’t organized by an operator, it’s one guy that hites a fishing boat with a skipper for some specific dates and asked people he knows, like, if they are interested, and it’s allways depending on weather conditions.

[michael-ibk]

Congrats on your lifer Pedro, you are making great progress with your BIFs. It´s a really cool idea, might do that next year.

[pedro maia]

I´ll do it again next year, a full BIF BY, this (half) year is just for practice.

[pedro maia]

I spent a week in the Algarve, there are a few good birding spots with some species that we don´t see here in the Lisbon area and that´s a good reason to avoid spending too much time in the beach, which is not my favourite place.

 

This one was actually taken here, I was waiting to try and take a nicer picture but it´s not a very exciting species so I´ll count it right now.

 

BIF73 Common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)

[pedro maia]

BIF74 Iberian grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis)

[pedro maia]

BIF75 Eurasian magpie (Pica pica)

 

Very common in the Algarve but not an easy one to photograph in flight, I left it to late and had to settle for this backlight picture from the last morning, just before returning home.

[pedro maia]

BIF76 Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

[pedro maia]

BIF77 Mediterranean short-toed lark (Alaudala rufescens)

 

 

 

This species occurs only in a couple of spots in the Algarve, the best spot to find them is near Castro Marin, where I saw them for my 2020 BY, it´s not easy to tell them apart from the mmore common short-toed lark but the streaked chest and the location are key for ID.

[pedro maia]

BIF78 Common ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula)

 

Bad picture of a juvenile, I think.

[pedro maia]

BIF79 Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)

 

 

I much happier with these one.

[pedro maia]

BIF80 Green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)

[pedro maia]

BIF81 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

[pedro maia]

BIF82 Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

[pedro maia]

BIF83 Gadwall (Mareca strepera)

 

[pedro maia]

BIF84 Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)

[pedro maia]

BIF85 Audouin's gull (Ichthyaetus audouinii)

 

A beautifull gull I think, much easier to see them in salt pans in the Algarve than here.

[pedro maia]

BIF86 Slender-billed gull (Chroicocephalus genei)

 

 

Never saw it here but fairly easy to in our souther coast.

[Galana]

Several good shots there. The last bunch of the Slender-billed Gulls especially so.

[pedro maia]

BIF87 Ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres)

 

 

 

I´m very happy with these pictures.

[pedro maia]

I went twice to the bird hide at Quinta do Lago, I knew I could get some good photo oportunities of some cool species even if in some cases it´s not easy because the background is quite busy, the hide overlooks a lagoon with lot´s of bird life and the golf greens also have some nice birds.

 

Starting with two species I wasn´t able to get BIF pictures, first the Swampheen:

 

 

it was right in front of me, quite close, and I was hopping that it would take off, that happend the very momment I saw some birds flying and lift the camera to check them, the Swampheen took off in front of me and I couldn´t even try to take a shot.

 

The other species was the Wryneck:

 

 

I asked a friend to send me a pin with the spot where we saw it a couple of years ago, went to that spot, used the playback, got an answer a bit far where I took that shot, a few momments later if landed on a pine right by me, in the shade, but when I tried to focus I could only see darkness in the viewfinder and couldn´t take any shots, I think the problem was I had the camera set for raw burst mode and that doesn´t work if it´s dark, or in those conditions I would have tio change otehr settings but I don´t know which ones.

[pedro maia]

BIF88 Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata)

 

 

Not from the hide but near and with nice light, it´s just a pity that it´s not fully focused.

[pedro maia]

BIF89 Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki)

 

Also very common in the Algarve but I wasn´t able to take a better BIF picture. This one posed nicelly though: