I got up early and had a walk up the beach to Rabil Lagoon. As anticipated the numbers of birds are dwindling, but it’s a lovely walk up the beach when it’s deserted and still not that hot. A Sandwich Tern briefly inspected the site before leaving again.
In the afternoon Jane and I went to Sal Rei with the idea being that Jane would wait on the beach and I’d check the salinas for waders, before we walked into the main town to check the harbour. It was a pleasant couple of hours.
The salinas is quite a large expense of water to cover but there were a few waders dotted about. There was nothing I hadn’t already seen at Rabli Lagoon, but the views of Little Stints in particular were better than I’d managed previously this holiday.
Any kind of seabirds had been conspicuous by their absence from the hotel beach. Last year Brown Boobies had been more or less regular. When we reached the harbour there was no such issue, with three actively fishing and another three resting on a shipwreck.
There were also a few waders on the shoreline, including several Turnstones and a Whimbrel. I chose not to flush the Whimbrel to see if it had a dark rump (American) or white one (European) but the head pattern being relatively subdued would point towards the latter.
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