Greater Flamingoes in the Tagus River estuary Photo: Sunbird
Lying at the western side of the Iberian peninsula, Portugal has a remarkably rich birdlife. This short tour will focus on the region’s special birds, and because it coincides with the autumn migration period, we hope to encounter a fine mix of migrants along the way. We’ll begin by exploring the varied habitats around the Tagus Estuary: rice fields, pasture, salt pans, intertidal mudflats, salt marsh, reedbeds, and lush cork oak woodlands. We’ll then move inland to the vast steppe-like habitat around Castro Verde, home to one of the largest flying birds in the world, the Great Bustard, before returning to Lisbonvia the Sado Estuary.
Day 1: The tour begins at midday at the Lisbon airport. From there we’ll travel to the heart of the Tagus Estuary and then begin our exploration of this region. Our first birds in this extensive wetland should include a variety of herons, egrets, waders, gulls, and terns, and highlights could include Greater Flamingo, Glossy Ibis, Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Mediterranean Gull, Crested Lark, and Cetti’s, Fan-tailed, and Sardinian Warblers. Night near Alochete.
Day 2: We’ll devote today to the estuary and the surrounding cork woodland. Species we’ll be looking out for include Woodlark, Hoopoe, Short-toed Treecreeper, Rock Sparrow, Serin, and Cirl Bunting. We should also have our first encounter with Iberian specialties such as Black-shouldered Kite, Azure-winged Magpie, and Spotless Starling. Farmland and salt marshes at the northern end of the estuary could hold groups of Little Bustard as well as Short-toed Lark, Tawny Pipit, and Bluethroat. Night near Alochete.
Days 3–4: Leaving the coast, we’ll travel to the Alentejo region. We’ll spend two days in the wonderful landscape of rolling plains and hills of the great Castro Verde plains and Pulo do Lobo. Our focus here will be Great Bustard, and with a healthy population in the area we should see several of these magnificent creatures. We also have a good chance of finding the secretive Black-bellied Sandgrouse. These open plains are a great place for raptors, and we’ll be looking out for Griffon Vulture, Short-toed Eagle, Hen Harrier, Lesser Kestrel, and Red Kite. Any rocky areas could produce Little Owl or Thekla Lark, while the rocky fields are good places to look for Stone Curlew. Overhead there may be Crag Martins or Red-rumped Swallows hawking for insects, and we may find a Southern Grey Shrike perched on the scattered bushes.
The autumn migration can produce almost anything, and we can expect flocks of Yellow Wagtails feeding among the flocks of sheep and goats, while any stand of trees may contain a Wryneck, Pied Flycatcher, or Melodious Warbler. Nights in the Alentejo Region.
Day 5: We’ll begin our return to Lisbon, visiting the Sado Estuary on the way. We’ll also stop to look for migrants and perhaps find a Dartford or Spectacled Warbler in the process. At the Sado River we’ll take a ferry, and during the crossing we may see small pods of Bottle-nosed Dolphins. The wetland habitats around the river are known for Purple Swamphen and Squacco Heron, and we should have time to search for them before we continue to Lisbon, where the tour ends.
Updated: 23 January 2012
Prices
- 2012 Tour Price : $2,150*
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $280
Notes
Maximum group size 14 with two leader
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.
* This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird. Please review the explanation of our Sunbird pricing here.