Birds

Blue Rock Thrush In The Garden!

1st March 20201st March 2020Craig RogersLeave a comment

This morning, I could hear a call that was familiar, but couldn’t quite place it. On taking a look, it all came back to me, there was a male Blue Rock Thrush calling in the garden. I grabbed the binoculars and waited. I wanted to see where it was going. Near to the house there are 2 ruins and I suspected it would head to the larger of the 2. I wasn’t wrong!

I didn’t want to get close as it’s obviously choosing a new nest site and didn’t want to destroy any chances of it being so close. Today is a terrible day for bird photography with heavy grey wet skies.

I did manage to get a a couple of shots of him from a distance. I didn’t spot the female, but in this terrible light, she would be quite difficult to spot as she is much more like a female Blackbird in appearance so would blend in with the trees and bushes. I really hope that they will remain here, the perfect nest site for them and I will bring you some amazing shots of them.

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4K Video Of A Young Female Kingfisher (Video)

29th February 202029th February 2020Craig RogersLeave a comment

Yesterday morning whilst walking the dogs, I spotted a pair of Kingfishers already playing “Kiss Chase” up and down the river. This is a ritual that a mating pair carry out at the start of the breeding season. It’s not even March yet!

As a reminder,you can View All My Kingfishers From The 2019 Project.

Coincidentally, whilst going through some of my photo storage today, I stumbled across a short video I took during a session where I took these 2 shots.

The Stare (Common Kingfisher) : 📷 Nikon D850, AF-S 500mm f/4 @ 1/800sec, f/11, ISO640
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White Storks Of Silves!

9th February 20209th February 2020Craig RogersLeave a comment

Rain was a possibility, however, when I arrived at the meeting point at 7:45am in Silves, there was a broken cloudy sunrise and the day was looking promising.

It was a cold start and at our first stop the White Storks looked very uninterested in waking up.

The “Well” Swallows Are Back!

1st February 20201st February 2020Craig RogersLeave a comment

This morning as I walked the dogs I recognised a familiar bird call followed by a silhouette against the white canvas of the morning hill mist. A pair of Barn Swallows, these are always the first pair to arrive in this area (even though in the Algarve, Barn Swallows can be seen in December) and they are the “Well” Swallows, named because they have their nest down inside a water well.

I was able to hide inside the Well’s pump house to get some great close up shots. I say this everytime, but please don’t approach live bird nests when the young are there, I’m lucky that I can hide away in the pump house completely hidden.

These are the shots I got last year, but I was struggling with light deep down in the well with overhanging trees.

Common Linnets Feeding In The Garden (including Competition Winner!)

24th January 202024th January 2020Craig RogersLeave a comment

A few days ago I was photographing the Serins that have flocked around the Quinta and a surprising couple turned up. I say surprising as I’ve never seen them this close to the house before. There are certainly not a rare bird and often see them along the river banks.

The female arrived first and it wasn’t until the male followed soon after that it was obviously a pair of Common Linnets. The male has a pinkish-red breast that really makes him stand out. This will further become saturated as the breeding season starts. They are ground feeders which is why they are currently mixed in with the Serins, this is common behaviour to see mixed Finches in flocks during the winter.

With the scientific name of Linaria cannabina, the Linnet has 6 sub-species, the one found locally in the Iberia, Mediterranean and North West Africa is the Linaria cannabina mediterranea. Like most finches, they are a small bird at around 14cm in length and their diet consists of mainly seeds and buds.

Here is the impressive male….

This Week’s Featured Print – White Stork Attack

23rd January 202023rd January 2020Craig RogersLeave a comment

With my Morning With The White Storks Of Silves Field Trip coming up in just a few weeks I thought I’d get in the mood for these amazing birds.

This week’s featured print is a shot from February 2018 of a White Stork coming into to attack another already on a nest. It was trying to battle for the rights of this nest, it failed!

For me, it has become an icon of these amazing birds and really shows that they are not always the gentle giants they look. Take a look at the Blog Post from this encounter as it also has many other fighting photographs from this day.

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February's Algarve Resident Article Now Available To Read Online

Mar 5 2020

Last month's article is now available to read online. This time, it's all [...]