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Black-winged-Kite-5

One of the beauties of living here is that wherever one is or whatever one’s doing there’s bound to be something nearby that lifts one’s spirits …. this morning it was this Black winged Kite above which was hunting just beside the petrol station in Santa Clara when i was filling up ….

Glossy-Ibis-(Plegadis-falcinellus)

Yesterday we had to pop up to Lisbon and on the way decided to spend a quick half hour birding ….. the result is the above! We were lucky enough just to be in the right place at the right time, (again!), as a Marsh Harrier put up a huge flock of Black tailed Godwits and then a succession of flocks of these Glossy Ibis, (– or should it be Glossy Ibii or Glossy Ibis’? Suggestions please!), which totalled about 200 individuals. Exhilarating to see them sail past us, as they’re still not common down here, and we were close enough to get a few good shots.

The-Tank



The-Tank, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.

And the reason why we had to go to Lisbon? To pick up our new Birding Car, quickly christened “The Tank”, which, though with two less seats than our previous one, is still air conditioned and being 4 wheel drive will allow us to get to places and thus see birds that few others do – and that’s got to be a bonus! The photo of the Glossy Ibis above is the first fruits of this improvement …. Watch this space for more!

Meiktila

Meiktila 20090131, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.

We´ve recently had just the weather that you don’t want when you have to take your roof off – which is what we’ve been doing – but it’s nice to see the lake going up and I think it’s risen about a meter during the last two weeks. Anyway, the lack of light hasn’t made me want to take many pictures recently, but I thought I’d share these four.
The above because I’ve had many requests to show how Meiktila is growing up …. you can see he’s full of beans and with the “Cortes Pereiras Nose”!
These next two are of some Green Woodpeckers we found prospecting nest sites down in the Algarve one day. Speaking of nesting, our migration has started with large “flocks” of storks cruising through and last week I saw our first Swallows and House Martins back again.