As you may already know, we have a large colony of Iberian Magpies around the Quinta (remember my Photo Session with them?).
There are now plenty of Juveniles amongst the foraging colony which are easily spotted due to their grey heads.
{Click image(s) to view on Flickr - opens in new tab}You may remember back in February, I spent the morning in Silves photographing the returning White Storks. I watched in amazement at what seemed to be battles for nesting space. The blog post and battle photographs can be seen in This Post.
Today I was in Silves and had a few minutes to spare so went to have a look at the same location (near the prison). In the Tree-Top nest there was a Juvenile sitting on top. It wasn’t the best time to visit as it was almost 4pm and not only was the sun overhead and bright but most of the birds were away feeding. The other nest that was under attack in February had two juveniles sitting on top, however, they flew away soon after I arrived.
Juveniles are easy to spot as their beaks and legs are much greyer in colour, although as you can see they are already turning red. It is believed that the adult’s beaks and legs turn red due to the diet consumed.
Actually, they have been here for many months, however, I hadn’t noticed them. They do return much later in the spring than the Barn Swallows and House Martins. We used to have these nesting in their “tunnel” nests here under one of the terrace roofs at the Quinta, however, at the end of last years breeding season the nest fell off.
They don’t normally like nesting around humans so it was no surprise that this year they decided not to rebuild. They normally build nests under cover in uninhabited structures such as bridges. They had built a nest at the Quinta the year before we moved in as it was not permanently occupied then.
This morning I took a photo of what I thought was Barn Swallows, but when I looked on returning home, I discovered these are indeed Red-rumped Swallows. They are larger than Barn Swallows and almost totally white underneath whereas a Barn Swallow has a rusty coloured chin. As the name suggests, the Red-rumped Swallow has a rusty coloured rump which is difficult to see in flight.
Here is a photo of one chasing a fly, which it did catch.
The Crested Lark spends a lot of time on the ground so it blends in well with the colours of the terrain here in the hills. We also have the Thekla Lark in the area which is extremely similar, however, the beak of the Crested Lark is a little longer with a more pronounced bend and also the first feather in the crest is normally longer than the rest.
I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.
The local Woodchat Shrikes have been very succesful at breeding this year. There are many youngsters flying around chasing their parents begging for food. This morning I sat and watched this youngster learning to dive from an electricity cable and catch its prey. I didn’t see it catch anything, but practice makes perfect! It’s parents were close by watching.
I take a camera along on my Dog Walks to bring you some of the sightings that I see on my morning walks, these photos are rarely going to be great quality as its hard enough keeping an energetic Dog entertained and get close enough to anything. They also help me identify where species are so that I can plan to return.
There are plenty of small birds in amongst the Cork and Holm Oaks, this morning I grabbed a few shots as I walked through with Wally;
First I spotted a small flock of Greenfinch, as you can see from the photo, they are still building nests to breed. Everything seems a little late this year due to the spring rain.
