Natural Selection

I don’t know if it was the start of the hunting season today, but it certainly stepped up a pace. The hillsides on the way up to the golf course were littered with men and dogs taking partridges and rabbits so I made sure I didn’t wander off the road.

There was a good showing of waders on and around the golf course pools including the first two Greenshank of the trip, a couple of Dunlin and presumably the same three Bar-tailed Godwit. The Glossy Ibis and Spoonbill were also both in situ.

Walking round the perimeter in the hope of passerine migrants a couple of Wheatear were a good sign. Sure enough a Whinchat was soon found in the same area. Unfortunately it never came the right side of the golf course fence. Astonishingly it’s the first I’ve seen anywhere this year.

I finally worked out the way to cover the Ribeira Salgado today and I was rewarded with views of a Kingfisher. It was flying off before I saw it, so here is a habitat shot to show where it’s feeding. It’s presumably the one seen here last month.

In the same area Common Waxbill and Skylark also kept the trip list ticking along. The afternoon was spent on or near the beach in different ways. We cycled to the port, and the Sandwich Tern was still about. We then walked a stretch of beach near the hotel, where the Sanderling at the top of the blog were captured. Unfortunately another individual that looked to have a broken wing couldn’t be caught, but checking a picture later it was sadly tangled in fishing line.