Date: 18th May - 24th May 2016
Location: Albufeira - Algarve (Portugal)
Weather: Blue Skies, Light Wind, 26-32 Degrees
Other Species: Red-Rumped Swallow, Sardinian Warbler, Serin, Azure-Winged Magpie, Jay, House Martin, Barn Swallow, Swift, Spotless Starling, Yellow-Legged Gull - Of Note
Observation: After a successful trip to the Algarve in October, we returned to Albufeira on 18th May. We got up early on the first day and went for a short wander around the hotel grounds and weren't disappointed! Within minutes there were plenty of Hirundines including Barn Swallow, Swift, House Martin and even some Red-Rumped Swallow, this was our first tick of the holiday! They were busy flying around in front of us and resting on the wires for a few minutes.
The road leaving the hotel grounds was shrub-land and again proved successful. This stunning Azure-Winged Magpie posing nicely against the local houses.
The oily-looking Spotless Starlings was our second new tick for the holiday, there were plenty of pairs collecting nesting materials on the chimneys, there call evens includes a little wing dance, very cute to watch them!
We couldn't miss out the Jay's, there were a group of 3 who were present most days, they favoured the Conifer tree's, all other birds scarpered when the Jay's were present!
There is always a abundance of these stunning Sardinian Warblers who were in full song on this trip, we heard them everywhere we visited even on the beach.
Sardinian Warbler - Video
On the return to the beach board-walk we heard a unfamiliar bird song, we initially thought Dunnock/Wren, but looked above us and stopped this stunning Serin, unfortunately he was in the shade but our 3rd new tick!
On the beach, the morning roost of Yellow Legged Gulls were still present, this 2nd summer Yellow-Legged Gull was stunning in the morning sun!
On 20th May, we tried our luck with the boat trip to see some Dolphins, our first attempt was unsuccessful in October.There were plenty of fly-past Gannet's who were following our boat for a few minutes, this was taken with a 40mm lens, so it shows how close they were!
After a hour of searching, the skipper found a pod of 15+ dolphins, both Common Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins were swimming under and around the boat, amazing creatures!
Part 2+3 - Lagoa dos Salgados + Vilamoura
Coming Soon!
The road leaving the hotel grounds was shrub-land and again proved successful. This stunning Azure-Winged Magpie posing nicely against the local houses.
The oily-looking Spotless Starlings was our second new tick for the holiday, there were plenty of pairs collecting nesting materials on the chimneys, there call evens includes a little wing dance, very cute to watch them!
We couldn't miss out the Jay's, there were a group of 3 who were present most days, they favoured the Conifer tree's, all other birds scarpered when the Jay's were present!
There is always a abundance of these stunning Sardinian Warblers who were in full song on this trip, we heard them everywhere we visited even on the beach.
Sardinian Warbler - Video
On the return to the beach board-walk we heard a unfamiliar bird song, we initially thought Dunnock/Wren, but looked above us and stopped this stunning Serin, unfortunately he was in the shade but our 3rd new tick!
On the beach, the morning roost of Yellow Legged Gulls were still present, this 2nd summer Yellow-Legged Gull was stunning in the morning sun!
On 20th May, we tried our luck with the boat trip to see some Dolphins, our first attempt was unsuccessful in October.There were plenty of fly-past Gannet's who were following our boat for a few minutes, this was taken with a 40mm lens, so it shows how close they were!
After a hour of searching, the skipper found a pod of 15+ dolphins, both Common Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins were swimming under and around the boat, amazing creatures!
Part 2+3 - Lagoa dos Salgados + Vilamoura
Coming Soon!
Thanks For Looking !
If you enjoy our blog's, why not follow us on our social media:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to leave comments if you have visited Newton St Loe recently, would like to add some sightings or even if you just like the page!
Thanks NSL-Birding...