Birding with João Tiago

We left at 4pm, set out for Monchique directly north of Portimão on the coast. João does Bonnelli's eagle work there and had to mark some GPS points for the project. So we drove. Stopped for sandwiches on the way. When we got there, I felt vaguely at home. The hills were thick with eucalyptus, a smaller spp. than we have in CA, but euckies nonetheless. What was so eerie was how thick they grew.

We arrived at a look-out spot so João could get the lay of the land and plan out our route. We ended up on the road across the way. Apparently these hills (the locals call them mountains) have changed a lot, vegetation wise, but this umbrella pine is one of few remaining natives. Note euckies in the foreground.

The native cork oak (“cropped” every 9 yrs for you know what) and one other Quercus spp. also remain in the area but have largely been replaced by euckies. Not sure why this sign is in English…the views were really beautiful on the drive as we wound through some really traditional looking southern European towns. They satisfied my stereotypes anyway. I am sure there were at least 3 women behind each wall, in head scarves and barefoot, squashing grapes in large wooden ½ barrels while singing a jolly folk tune in harmony. No? Fine.

On the other side, we drove up this incredibly steep dirt road to get to the starting point for João’s coordinates. João needed constant reassurance that it was safe, but I, I was cool. After a short hike to the top, he pulled out a notebook and we got to work. My task was reading off the coordinates along our route…which I tried to make more challenging by reading in Portuguese, ensuring that he will find himself somewhere in Marmelete when he tries to re-trace our steps. At any rate, I think I can pronounce 1, 3 and 9 almost flawlessly. Clearly any future I have in Portugal will not include even numbers and certainly not 7 or anything over 100.

More (ridiculous) than your average hike, we walked down from the top, down some more, then up, then down, then back to the top, then down the other side, then back up to the top and then finally down to the car. The views continued to be fantastic, although not as clear as it can be. Below left shows Portimão in the background.

Our first bird was an alpine swift. There were about 30 and they got pretty close to us overhead. We also spotted purple thistle (native) and the same flower I saw in the pine forest (WARNING: these are my requisite flower shots so get used to them).

We came across this wild boar soak hole (I prefer “swine spa”…”hole” is just so uncivilized, don’t you think?) that they use for a nice post-rain dip. The hoof-prints were obvious.

We finally got back to the car around 9pm as the shadows began to descend. We did manage to see a hawk, no Bonnelli's though, and maybe a Warbler, oh and some kind of partridge (this was clearly approaching bird overload for me, they fly, they have wings).

On our way back, João suggested a nice vegetarian place in Loulé. They were closed when we arrived at 10pm. Instead, we settled for large brazilian steaks and red wine around the corner. Yum. Nothing like a side of beef right before bed. Seriously though, it was some of the tastiest beef I have ever had the privilege of barely digesting.

I think our next birding adventure will be in Quinta do Lago, a large salt marsh, where, João assures me, the birds are much bigger and one is even bright blue. Yay. Birds are cool. Right?