Birding Highlights of 2022
We moved in in May so we only spent less than 8 months on our land this year, but man there have already been so many incredible bird sightings!
European Stonechat on our land in Alentejo, Portugal
Here are the bests birdwatching moments that happened on our land in Alentejo in 2022:
Eurasian Golden Orioles feeding on fig tree : at the time we moved in, there were 6 fig trees on our land (we are planting more :), including 2 being pretty close to our house. In summer, when fig got ripes, we would see Eurasian Golden Orioles coming to feed on it every day. This extremely beautiful bird probably nests on our land, as we have seen at least 2 almost every day since the day we moved in. But one day, there were 5 Eurasian Golden Orioles feeding in the same fig tree!! On top of that, this tree is at eye level from our house, and I had the chance to just stand there, watching them eat the figs, without disturbing them even though I was at about 15-20 meters from them only. Absolutely magical! Coming from France and Switzerland where seeing an Eurasian Golden Oriole is not easy, and seeing it very well almost never happens as they tend to stay high up in the canopy trees, this day was even more memorable.
Barn swallows dancing at sunset : late summer, before migrating to Africa, up to 160 Barn Swallows would gather at sunset every day, flying over our land for 30 minutes to an hour, as if they were creating a ballet all together. Sunsets in Alentejo being spectacular, adding so many Barn Swallows in such pretty skies was truly magical. When they started, we would stop everything we were doing and just watch. Nature at its best.
Iberian Magpies feeding on marmelos : at the bottom of our land we have a few “Marmelos” trees, ie Quince trees, and birds love it! For weeks, many bird species would come on these trees to feed on the fruits. But one day, as I was walking down the land, I saw about 200 Iberian Magpies taking off from these trees. Incredible!
White wagtails roosting in our “canas”: in fall, after seeing the ballet of Barn Swallows in summer, it was the turn of the White Wagtails to come at sunset, sometimes being about 200, flying over the land before landing in the “canas” where they came to roost. It was really unexpected for me, and it was mind blowing.
Spanigh Eagles flying over the land : the Spanigh Eagle is a very rare eagle breeding only in Spain and Portugal. Moving in Alentejo, we knew we could have a chance to see it. But we did not expect to have 3 sightings the first year! Wow!
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker being friendly : the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is not so easy to see when you live in France or Switzerland like we did before. I have have several sightings, but most where not that great because the bird would either be too high to see it well, or too shy to stay long enough. But here, on our land, we have had several incredible sightings of this great species. When our Barbary Figs were ripe, it would come every day to feed, and one day, a male even came to look for food on the Mimosa tree that is right by our kitchen! I could watch it in awe for several minutes.
Grey Heron preying on a newt on our brand new pond : I was standing behind the kitchen window when I spotted a Grey Heron on our pond. This was truly magical because it was the first sighting of this beautiful bird since we built our pond. Our goal is to make this pond as lively as possible, creating a healthy ecosystem full of aquatic plants, flowers, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and even mammals. So seeing a Grey Heron was already a great small victory for me. I took my binoculars and noticed it was looking for his next meal. Moving very slowly, head down, waiting for a prey to pass close enough to catch it. After a few minutes, it literally dove in the water and caught a newt! It got out of the water and took several minutes before swallowing it on the edge of our pond.
Common Wood-Pigeons filling up the sky : the year ended with another fantastic birding highlight, one that I would have never expected before moving here. The whole month of December, we saw hundreds, even thousands of Common Wood-Pigeons flying South-West over our land, every morning between 7:30am and 8:30am. It was really unbelievable to watch them, often with the most beautiful morning light. They would fly in a succession of flocks of a couple of hundreds to several thousands birds in each flock. On one particular day, December 15, I counted that more or less 20000 Common Wood-Pigeons flew over our land in 45 minutes. 20000!!!!
The list could go on, including the frequent sight of Eurasian Griffons and Cinereous Vultures, the sighting of of a flock of Common Cranes flying over in a dramatic looking sky, the daily sight of the stunning Red Partridges, etc… but here were the most emotional, memorable sightings for me. I cannot wait to see what 2023 has in store for us on our land. As we progressively take care of the land, regenerating what we can and setting up our permaculture project, we expect to see more and more beautiful things, but we already end the year 2022 with 91 bird species being spotted! It is more that we could have ever dreamt of. If you are interested in birding with us in Alentejo, feel free to contact us.
