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So ... since our new site went live I don't think I've had a day "at home" when I wasn't taking guests birding and, what with one thing and another, I simply haven't had a second to sit down and just write a few lines here - and it hasn't just been me either as Tony's been hard at it too .... but today, yes, we've a free day so I've had a beautiful lie-in, took the dogs around the block, cleaned out Uncle Harry's quarters, rescued him from a tree - twice! - and am generally soaking up the sunshine and relishing the warmth. It makes a change from the freezing 4º at the top of Foia as the sun rose yesterday ...

It's been a very late Spring and we've had our fair share of damp days to end the drought.

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The mist creeping every morning through the valleys surrounding the Quinta make it all worthwhile though and everything's green with the wildflowers putting on as gorgeous a display as ever.

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The unsettled weather has kept the birds down a good deal. However, we've had our successes too, like the Booted Eagle with its Stone Curlew prey, below.

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A couple of other birds spring to mind too, smaller ones this time ... like this Firecrest,

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or this Dartford Warbler,

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or this Spectacled Warbler singing in the rain,

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or this Eurasian Wryneck.

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Out on the Plains the Little Bustards have been displaying well.

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The same area has also produced great views of Great Spotted Cuckoos, like this mating pair,

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while some species are well advanced like this Eurasian Hoopoe bringing food in to its hungry offspring waiting, beak open, in the nest-hole below.

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Birding in Portugal

Quinta do Barranco da Estrada
7665-880 Santa Clara a Velha
Portugal

Email :
Phone : (+351) 283 933 065
Chamada para rede fixa

Whatsapp : (+351) 938 386 326
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