birds Archives - Page 6 of 15 - Craig Rogers Photography

Morning Dog Walk: A Small Flock Of Waxbills

4th May 20196th May 2019Craig Rogers

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 Common Waxbill (Portuguese: Bico-de-lacre, Latin: Estrilda astrild) thrives in the Algarve region and actually originates from being “introduced” in the late 1960s, I have read references citing escaped caged birds but also scientific studies carried out, so unsure if “introduced” relates to accidental or release. These are usually very shy of humans (in my experience) but this morning a small flock of around 5 (I have seen them 50 strong!) were happy to continue rummaging through the long wild flowers. These ground nesting birds are usually spotted around a water source. I think they look like a vibrant Zorro! This year I have not seen the numbers I usually witness, hopefully that’s just bad luck on my account.

As you can see below, the look amazing in amongst the vibrant wild flowers.

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Bee-Eaters Visit The Quinta Along With Cirl Buntings

3rd May 20193rd May 2019Craig Rogers

I was sitting enjoying the end of the hot sunny day when a large group of European Bee-Eaters came to hunt in an area next to the Quinta. I grabbed the camera and hid behind a bush, I wasn’t as close as I needed to be, but with a bright purple T-shirt on, it wouldn’t have been a good idea. I did manage to get a male coming into land next to his female partner. The early evening setting sun lit up his wings beautifully.

Morning Dog Walk: Busy Great Tit Parents

25th April 201926th April 2019Craig Rogers

This time of year, if you stop and watch for a few minutes you soon realise how busy life is around you. This morning, I stopped because I could hear 4 or 5 Golden Orioles singing and calling unfortunately they were at a section of the river that I can’t get to when I’m with Wally. The Bee-Eaters were busy building their nest holes and I watched a pair of Great Tits busy feeding their young inside a rotten tree trunk. Incredibly this Pear (I think) Tree is still alive and has some blossom.

The rain clouds are taking a while to clear today, it is forecast to start clearing up now! It was terrible light so although I had to shoot at very high ISOs and the shots are not great, I couldn’t resist such an easy target. I will be revisiting in a few days to take some shots in better light.

As you can see in the photos, not only were the parents bringing food, but they were also removing the Fecal (or Faecal) sacks. These are a membrane sack that most baby birds excrete almost immediately after being fed which ensures the parent will then take it away.

I’ll Have To Wait Until Next Year….Oh Well!

20th April 201920th April 2019Craig Rogers

As you may know, I’ve been monitoring a Barn Swallow Nest inside a local Well (See More…) and was planning on setting up inside the disused Pump House to take some shots of the parents feeding the young.

Well, good news and bad news! The good news is, it seemed that all 6 have fledged, I visited to check on the light levels in the afternoon and the nest is empty. I didn’t think they were ready, but they have all left. The nest is empty and I checked the water below and none were in there. The bad news? It means I have to wait until next year to photograph them!

Morning Dog Walk: A Pair Of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers Making A New Nest Hole

19th April 201919th April 2019Craig Rogers

Wally was happy this morning as we walked up Eagle Ridge. He’s not been up there for ages due to the risk of Processionary Caterpillars. This risk is gone now so we headed up. The ridge lived up to its name as we spotted a large bird (too far away for a photo). It looked more like a Common Buzzard, but as the name in Portuguese is Águia-d’asa-redonda which translates to Round-winged Eagle, I’m claiming another Eagle spot from the ridge!

On the way back down I could hear the tapping of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and in fact there were a pair present with the Female flying back and fore and the Male busy making a hole. I have loads of photos to share and as they didn’t really care I was there, this will be a new spot to hopefully get some feeding shots. Oh and if you were watching my live Instagram feed earlier you may have heard me call it a Lesser Spotted Kingfisher as I ended! Ha ha ha ha!

I will share more the photos soon, but it’s Easter and the party is about to begin in the village’s “Feira do Folar”.

Here is one of the male tapping on the tree, not at the hole, but I think he was on his break looking for insects. Look how he almost grimaces and closes his eyes when he taps.

Red-Rumped Swallows

18th April 201918th April 2019Craig Rogers

To be honest, they have been back a while and it seems that all around the Algarve they appeared much earlier than their usually late Spring arrival.

We’ve been lucky locally as while a lot of the Algarve is having rain, we’ve had a patch of clear blue sky above the Quinta most of the day. The Red-Rumped Swallows are of course out hunting on the wing and I took a break from gardening duties to capture some with the camera.

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