river Archives - Page 8 of 10 - Craig Rogers Photography

The Search For An Iberian Midwife Toad

21st January 201821st January 2018Craig Rogers

Back at the end of November, “Herper” Kevin Byrnes from the UK contacted me after seeing my image of an Iberian Midwife Toad I found whilst walking Wally. The term Herper comes from the word Herpetology, the study of Reptiles and Amphibians.

Kevin and his wife Suzanne are on a quest to find and photograph all species of European Reptiles and Amphibians and wanted some advice on locating an Iberian Midwife Toad, suggesting he was planning a trip to the Algarve at the end of January.

Back then I informed him that it was an easy task as throughout the winter the area around São Marcos da Serra is full of the echos of beeps, the calling noise of the Iberian Midwife Toad.

However, over the last few weeks the Toads have been unseasonally quiet due to the dry autumn and winter. A few days ago, Kevin contacted me to say they had arrived in the Algarve and would be planning to meet up at the weekend.

Yesterday was the day and I met up with Kevin and Suzanne just before the end of Civil Dusk at 6pm, still a little early for the Toads to start calling. The day had been very warm and dry with temperatures reaching 24deg C and I was concerned we would be out of luck.

However, as the photo shows, we struck luckly (story continues below the photo).

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Finally, A Substantial Deluge Of Rain

29th November 201729th December 2017Craig Rogers

Last night we finally had the rain that was promised and then some more to make sure.

It rained in almost Ark-building proportions. A persistent, heavy downpour for many hours. Although not enough to get the river flowing, it has had a very welcome change to the riverbed.

As you can see, Princessas´s (our resident Kingfisher) territory has been filled. The two water pools that she has been fishing in has turned into one very large pool. You can see the perch in the centre of the photo, the brown-coloured water shows the outline of the existing pool that was drying up. This is just dust that has washed in and will settle very quickly.

Still No Real Rain, Still No River

27th November 201727th November 2017Craig Rogers

Although we’ve had the promise of a few days heavy rain, they have turned out to be a couple of heavy showers. Nothing to make any difference to the land.

The landscape is starting to turn green where grass is growing due to overnight dew, however, nothing like last year.

The river remains dry, very dry. This time last year we the river was running due to adequate rain as the following comparison photos show. Look at the difference of grass on the left riverbank and the colour of the hills behind.

Even the small river pools formed in deeper sections that provide water and food for the local wildlife (including “Princessa” our resident Kingfisher) are starting to empty. This comparison photo shows the effect just 4 weeks of warm dry autumnal weather has had on the pools.

Only speaking from a totally selfish point of view, the pools on section of river running through our land is becoming extremely dry. However, from a locality point of view, there is still plenty of water and (hopefully) a food source for the local wildlife. There are many Barragems (small man-made reservoirs) which remain at good levels and there are further, larger, river pools. There are many other parts of Portugal that are in desperate need of rain but here in the Hills of the Algarve, although we will be welcoming sustained rainy days, it’s not critical yet. That being said, it’s about time the river started!

As I type, the forecast is showing the next 2 days to be persistent rain, we’ll wait and see.

Meet Eric(a), A Problem For Our Kingfisher

17th November 201717th November 2017Craig Rogers

This morning I was back in the Kingfisher Hide, hoping for more pictures of “Princesa”, yes, she now has a name. Portuguese for Princess which I think suits a young bird with royalty in her name.

Princesa beat me there again, she was already on the perch. I had to wait until she left before I could approach the hide. Once in, I sat for an hour waiting patiently and uncomfortably to see her again. This time it was a high-speed fly by as she whizzed past. I can only assume she was going to the large River Pool where I spotted the Otter a few weeks ago (link here). I waited another 20 minutes when she finally came to the perch.

When I’m concealed like this, I have a rule that I never start firing the camera the second something comes into shot. The reason for this is that I want the animal to get comfortable with its surroundings before making a noise. She dived into the pool, came out empty beaked and then decided to move onto the next river pool where I could see her dive again. She didn’t return again today.

Whilst I was in the hide, Eric(a) came to visit. He/She (very difficult to sex) is a Little Egret that is always present near the pools. This is causing a bit of an issue for Princesa as they need to share the fish. Of course, a Little Egret will eat a lot more than a Kingfisher.

I think there is a problem starting. A couple of weeks ago, these pools were full of small fish. Today, I looked in all 3 pools and struggled to even see one fish. It seems that the pools are starting to empty. This is going to cause a problem for the wildlife that rely on these stocks for food. We are now in desperate need for some heavy rain to start the river flowing. I think it’s Eric(a) that maybe clearing out the pools and of course, the Otter maybe taking a large portion too.

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Is There More Than One Kingfisher At The River Pool?

14th November 201729th December 2017Craig Rogers

I just happened to look at the image I captured on the Bushnell NatureView tonight and noticed something…….

Take a look at these 2 images, what do you see differently?

Apart from the quality differences, there seems to be something very obvious, I don’t think they are the same Kingfisher.

The shot on the left from the Bushnell NatureView seems to clearly show a red lower beak whereas the shot on the right only has a slight colouring as I established this is a young female who’s beak is yet to turn red.

Kingfishers are very territorial so I suspect these photos are of mother and daughter. Only time will tell as I spend more time in the hide.

I’ll keep you updated.

One More Kingfisher Photo From Yesterday

11th November 201729th December 2017Craig Rogers

Ok, one more to share from the morning spent yesterday with this gorgeous lady.

More to come soon once my neck and back has stopped aching from squeezing into the hide!

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