Please note that the Travellingbirder.com web site has unfortunately been down for over a week.
Best
Mick
Greetings.
Just a short trip report from a recent visit I made to east central Portugal. It was not primarily a birding holiday: I was mostly relaxing with my partner (who is Portuguese) and her family. However, some good birds were seen. I was based in a village called Envendos, about 6 miles east of Mação, where my partner’s family own a house. Fortunately, this backs onto some quite good habitat and was moderately productive for birding. The area is probably best known for the large vulture colony at Portas de Ródão, but the whole area seems productive and is no doubt underwatched. I’m sure a more sustained effort at a more productive time of year would yield a species list far more impressive than mine. However, I wasn’t really going for quantity, my main objective was to see Black, Egyptian and Ruppell’s Vulture, which I had all missed on previous visits to Portugal. The following were among the more interesting things seen:
Black Stork – at least 3 showed well from Portas de Ródão on 27th
White Stork – only 2 seen, at Portas de Ródão on 27th
Booted Eagle – evidently pretty common, seen every day around Envendos
Short-toed Eagle – seemingly rarer, only two birds seen: one near Belver on 25th and over Envendos on 30th
Egyptian Vulture – 1 adult showed well from the Portas de Ródão viewpoint on 27th before drifting off north
Black Vulture – was en route from Evendos to Serra da Malcata on 29th, specifically to see this species, when I jammed in on two circling low above the main road a mile or so north of Castelo Branco. As we were pushed for time we went home and never actually made it to Serra da Malcata.
Griffon Vulture – pretty common. The colony of 40+ at Portas de Ródão is very impressive but small groups were seen at several other spots in the region.
Ruppell’s Vulture – after dipping in 2009, I was delighted to locate the resident adult Ruppell’s among the Griffons at Portas de Ródão on 27th. It remained perched on the rocks throughout my 5 hour visit, save for 2 brief flights.
Bee-eater – seemed fairly common with large groups of about 30+ seen both near Evendos and at Portas de Ródão
Hoopoe – only saw 2 birds briefly, 1 at Envendos on 28th and Vila Velha de Ródão on 27th.
Crag Martin – common in all rocky areas and afforded great views late evening when they would descend to feed low over Envendos
Red-rumped Swallow – common everywhere
Blue Rock Thrush – evidently fairly common as seen at three sites with no effort: 2 on crags NW of Envendos on 26th, 2 around the chapel at Portas de Ródão on 27th, and one near Zimbreira on 29th
Melodious Warbler – 1 seen in Envendos on two different dates
Sardinian Warbler – common everywhere but very elusive
Subalpine Warbler – 1 at Zimbreira on 29th
Dartford Warbler – 1 in scrub by rocky hilltop north of Envendos on 29th
Iberian Chiffchaff – there were lots of phylloscopus warblers in several different locations. The majority seemed to be Willow Warblers but some looked like good candidates for Iberian Chiff. Birds heard giving the “sweeoo” call indicative of Iberian Chiff were present at Portas de Ródão on 27th and in woods north of Envendos on 29th.
Short-toed Treecreeper – pretty common in most wooded areas
Crested Tit – heard several times in wooded areas but difficult to see well
Spotless Starling – seen a number of times but never in big numbers
Had one or two ID quandaries. Saw one Sylvia warbler with reddish tertials in Evendos on 28th which I think was a female Spectacled, but didn’t nail it. The phylloscopus warblers were particularly troublesome as well. Also, at Portas de Ródão on 27th I had a first-summer male kestrel sp thermalling with Bee-eaters. Something about it looked a little unfamiliar, but there was nothing concrete to suggest it was a Lesser (which I haven’t yet seen).
Disappointed not to see either Rock Bunting or Bonelli’s Eagle, which are both present in the area. As said, I’m sure a more sustained effort would turn up more stuff.
I found Rich Bonser's recent trip report on travellingbirder very useful for info re access and stuff. Thanks also to Pedro Ramalho and Simon Wates for their helpful hints on the Portugal section of birdforum.
Here are some photos of variable quality: 2 pics of Griffon Vulture, followed by Black Stork, Egyptian Vulture and awful pic of Griffon and Ruppell’s Vulture together. All taken at Portas de Ródão on 27th
Nice report, I would welcome any of those raptors.
Please note that the Travellingbirder.com web site has unfortunately been down for over a week.
Best
Mick