Portugal may 2011

Azure winged magpie common throughout.

Iberian Yellow wagtail.

Male Golden Oriole calling.

A star bird.

Unfortunately not the best light,but a pleasure to watch!

Common resident the Hoopoe.
Early May in the Algarve is a must for any birder with an interest in photography.I`m glad I made the decision to return at that time of year, as many of the birds have returned from Africa
back to their breeding grounds.All the birds are in their best plummage and the woods,valleys and meadows are full of birdsong.

The first day of my weeks stay was spent around the local area trying to photograph some of the more common species that reside.Unfortunately it was raining and opportunities were rather limited but I still enjoyed being out with the camera never the less!A good start was made when I heard Golden Oriole calling around some large Cypress trees,waiting patiently out of sight, they came within a reasonable distance to enable me to grab a few shots.There were two males chasing each other around probably fighting for territory.A few Azure winged magpies were resident and these too came quite close.

I moved down to Salgados lagoons or Pera marsh as it is more commonly known.A Hoopoe was drying itself out on top of one of the signs to the reserve,it was calling constantly trying to attract a mate,its crest being raised then lowered in unison.Iberian Yellow Wagtails were abundant, picking off the flies and insects that were buzzing about the water.The last time I was here in August the lagoon was home to a large flock of Flamingoes but they had all moved further North to breed.A few Spoonbill were sifting through the shallow waters but too distant to photograph.I was well pleased with with my first days stay despite the weather being poor, as tomorrow I knew it was to change to sunshine and high temperatures.Again I`d hired the services of `Algarve birdman` Simon Wates and the next day was to be spent in the Alentejo region of inner Portugal.I`ll tell you how I got on in `day 2 on the Algarve`.