15th May
Arrived in Vilamoura in the western Algarve, knackered after up at 1.00 am and drive to Stansted. A painless flight with Easijet helped a bit though.
Walked round complex, saw little except Purple heron leaving the Villamoura park which now seems unkempt and almost derelict with the pond fenced off and developers signs up. No dragons, no phot'able butterflies
16th
First visit to the Salgados lagoon which was full but had been recently drained (again) so no Purple gallinuless, just 300+ flamingos, 15 Spoonbills, some dunlin, sanderling etc. Dragons included the rare Dark spreadwing (Lestes.macrostigma) mating in the dense, damp sedges, Iberian Bluetails and the odd Emperoer and Scarlet darter.
Next to the Rib de Boina, along the Monchique road. Excellent. Stopped north of the motorway bridge where there were Golden Orioles, 2 RR swallows, Little Ringed Plover, Nightingale, kingfisher, grey wagtail. Insects included 6+ Copper demoiselles, Epaulet Skimmer, Western dappled white and the ubiquitous Lulworth skipper. Further north along the road a left turn by a garden centre also had Western dappled white etc and looks good to explore further.
We visited the Barragem de Algarde en route back where the overflow channel was dry as usual but the pond at the end had Orange featherlegs, Scarce bluetail and Common blue butterfly.
17th
Qinta do Lago
Not many birds, 1-2 pr Purple Gallinules, a showy pair of Lt Bitterns plus Kentish Plover, 30 +Dunlin, 1 Knot, 1 Whimbrel on the Ria Formosa tidal channel.
Dragons included Long Skimmer in the scrub, Black Percher plus Scarlet and Red Veined Darters and Iberian Bluetails along main lagoon plus three Small Reds and several Small Redeyes along channel back towards farm at west end.
The day was getting hotter so we retreated back stopping at the Vilamoura nature reserve for a quick visit to re-find the place amongst the new development. A short walk produced a few nightingales along the track and Small Redeyes and Common Blue damsels on water tank by the entrance.
18th
A mostly butterfly day spent at BWs sites (we think)
Bensafrim
After a couple of false starts with just Lulworth Skippers we found a road with pretty good undisturbed country and amazing displays of wild flowers. One hillside had good nos of Southern Gatekeepers, stacks of Meadow Browns, a few Blues which were probably all Silver studded, all overlooked by Little Owl, Stonechat, Dartford Warblers and Southern Grey Shrike while down the road there were Cleopatras in a stand of bushes and flowers near some beehives.
For lunch we stopped at Rib de Boina again where we found 2/3 Epaulet Skimmers, 2 Copper demoiselles, similar birds to two days previous (plus a gathering of White Storks) and a few whites.
Back toward the Motorway we explored the road/track west toward the new golf course. Two of the 3 species of Skipper, Sage and (on range) False Mallow were new along one track plus Lulworth Spanish Marbled White and Common Blues accompanied by rattling Subalpine Warblers
19th
Salgados
Apparently being ploughed now along the western shore by an earth mover and JCB! So much for the RSPB protection. One day this superb site will either get workable protection or be abandoned to yet another golf course!
The boardwalk was being sprayed with creosote so after a wander round the bushes, seeing Bee eaters, Hoopoes and 4 Iberian Hares we abandoned the place for lunch at Silves. Good choice as a Western Olivaceous was singing from tamarisks between the main car park and the river.
Spent the afternoon in Algarve Shopping.
20th
Spent the day in the Monchique area. Foia itself had Rock bunting, Dartford and Melodioius warblers, Whitethroats, Blue Rock Thrush and Red rumped Swallows as well as lots of Stonechats. Butterflies were mostly Small whites but there were some freshly emerged Spanish Festoons, a couple of bright fritillary sp and a Scarce Swallowtail. The pond by the car park was amazing for dragons with 2 Emperors, 2+ Broad bodied Chasers, a male Epaulet Skimmer, a couple of species of Emerald damsels and 2/3 Dainty damsels plus a good stand of serapias orchids
Acting on info provided by
Teresa Farino of Iberian Wildlife
http://www.iberianwildlife.com/ we stopped twice on the 267 running west, south of Monchique, the first on the bend at N37.18.949, W08.35.554 where the small stream held Beautiful Demoiselle, Brown Argus, Melodious Warbler and our first Chaffinches of the trip. The second was a logging track picked at random at N37.17.956, W08.39341, between Casais and Marmalete, where we saw Long-tailed blue, Langs Short tailed Blue, Spanish Gatekeepers, Western Dappled White, Marsh Fritillary, a newly emerged Keeled skimmer, a couple of Alpine Swifts and several Serins.
21st
With the girls at the beach I went to the two large reservoirs NW of Villamoura. The track below the dam of the Barragen de Funcho at N37.15.445, W08.22.968 was productive with several Rock Buntings, Crag Martins, what was probably a singing Orphean warbler and a Purple Heron as well as Long tailed Blue, Langs Short tailed Blues, Spanish Gatekeepers, Sage Skippers and a distant Violet Dropwing. Leaving the dam behind, a stop on the roadside at N37.15.545, W08.22.768 produced two Two-tailed Pashas round a Strawberry tree. No chance to photo them which is a pity because they are really stunning. Moving on, a hunters track at N37.15.754, W08.21.773 had several Keeled Skimmers round a small pool as well as Spanish Gatekeeper, Sage Skipper and Langs ST Blue again.
My final stop in the hills was in the dried run off channel of the Barragen de Arrade which was quiet apart from several Orange featherlegs and Common blues. Back in Villamoura I did solve the mystery of the track off the Laguna/Millenium Golf Course road near the winter roost site – it leads to a set of water purification lagoons which could be interesting in passage periods, though there were just coot, pochard, gadwall and a few gulls there as best I could see.
22nd
Today we paid our annual trip to Cap St Vincent, which if anything was windier and eventually more overcast than usual. Stacks of Pallid Swifts with the odd Common and Alpine, good numbers of Chough and the occasional Peregrine and Raven were most visible but a bit of scrapping around, especially along the main hedge produced Woodchat, Spectacled W, Thekla and Crested larks (we think) and the fort at Sagres had a Black redstart. There were some smaller bits amazingly, mostly in the sheltered areas with Red veined and Scarlet darters, False Mallow and Lulworth Skippers as well as the ubiquitous Southern Gatekeepers, Clouded Yellows and Meadow Browns.
Ever a glutton for punishment we dropped in to Salgados en route back. No further destruction and a change in weather had brought in stacks of waders like 200+ Dunlin, 30 + Sanderling, 30+ each Knot and Redshank, a few Greenshank and a lone Whimbrel. This is a very special place that needs preserving.
23rd
With overcast and cool conditions we spent R's last morning at Qinta do lago looking at Little Bitterns, Purple Gallinules ands a few Kentish broods. Few dragons but there was another Black Percher and a striking creature which turned out to be a teneral Black-tailed Skimmer and not the hoped for gomphus sp . Hardly any butterflies again though but a water vole was nice as was a small snake and the ever present frogs.
24th
With broken cloud and cooler temperatures we did the walk to Paderne Castle, parking at the old wash station. A few Hoopoes and Woodchats and a calling Golden Oriole were the only birds of interest but there were several interesting insects including two hairstreaks, Blue spot and the new for us False Ilex, Spanish Gatekeepers, Western Willow emeralds in the trees by the river and another, teneral Epaulet Skimmer, while yet another Violet Dropwing disappeared before I could record its image for posterity. Val was stung by a bee which happily only caused her discomfort, but was fatal to the bee
25th
Another grey morning and the delightful sight of a flat back tyre put paid to the early(ish) start. We eventually sorted the thing out and got a new car from Avis which was not as nice as the Peugeot. As we were that way we visited Qinta again in improving weather where there were now several male Black Perchers along the lagoon edge, chasing off Scarlet Darters and ignoring the Iberian Bluetails. Only one male Small Red was in their ditch but a few Small red-eyes showed nicely while back in the scrub by the lagoon there were at least one each of female Epaulet and Long Skimmers.
Just one pair of Purple gallinules showing today, feeding their young but the Great Reed warblers were especially visible and audible. Star bird however was the female Little Bittern motionless by the main hide allowing some great, if slightly reed-interrupted photo opportunities.
26th
Setting off for Monchique we diverted to the road up towards Odelouca dam. After a couple of quiet stops a hunting track at (N 37.13.160, W 08.30.573) was fruitful with Southern Gatekeepers, False Ilex or Ilex Hairstreaks, Cleopatras and a (out of range)Southern Marbled Skipper. A dragon near the entrance proved to be a Blue eyed Hooktail, while on the other side of the road the river itself had Orange featherlegs and an odd darter, which was probably a teneral Red-veined. Birds were good with a cooperative Great Spotted Woodpecker hiding in the shade and a couple of male Golden Orioles giving good flight views.
We made our final visit to the Rib.de Boiba at N 37.12.254, W 08.32.151 where there were no more Copper demoiselles but a couple of male Epaulettes showed well with several Scarlet Darters, while on the track down a couple of newly emerged skippers were probably False Mallow.
27th
A day wandering round the harbour with only a couple of Red rumpeds with other hirundines over the park to show for our efforts.
28th
Last full day, spent at the Rib de Algibre, doing the first part of the walk mentioned in the Sunflower Guide. Dragonflies were active along the shingle banks and tracks, mostly Green-eyed Hooktails ssp unguiculatus but also several Copper demoiselles, a couple of Epaulettes and an Emperor. Butterflies were showing well, mostly common stuff but one False Ilex Hairstreak was nice as was a hornet-sized hoverfly and a couple of small snakes. Birds were the usual mix along Algarve rivers but its still nice to hear Golden Oriole, Bee eater, Iberian Chiff and Nightingale, while Wood Pigeons were unexpected! Pity about the jeep safaris but they have to have their fun, I suppose.
29th
Dropped the car back into Avis and caught our flight back to Stansted from Faro, with just a small delay.
Conclusion and thanks
The weather was generally hot and sunny and the timeshare was its usual impeccable self. Knowing that birds were going to be mostly breeding this trip was always about butterflies and dragons. Thirty species of butterfly was good, with at least eight new for us, as were 24 dragons with six new. Bird highlights were the cooperative Rock Buntings and the singing Western Olivaceous warbler while general frustrations were the lack of the two Baton blue-type butterflies (we were probably in the wrong place) and the apparent ongoing destruction of the Salgados Lagoon.
Thanks go to Teresa Farino at Iberian Wildlife Travel
http://www.iberianwildlife.com/ for generously sharing site information with me and Bernard Watts in Norfolk for butterfly sites in the area. We are also always grateful to the authors of the Sunflower Guide to the walks in the Algarve which is a constant mine of information.
Fen Orchid - left Purple Broomrape - right
