Parque Abiental, Vilamoura

It was still dark at 06:45 when I arrived at Parque Abiental, Vilamoura. The reason for the early start was because I knew that there was a  Bird Ringing Group on site and I was hoping to spend some time with them to see what they caught. In the end I didn't need to be there quite so early but my reward was that I was in the hide at dawn when the egrets and ibis left their roost, and I also managed to see some nice birds at first light, such as two little bitterns flying around chasing each other. A really enjoyable morning.

Nightingale, a new species for me in Portugal.

Western subalpine warbler.

Grasshopper warbler, another new species for me in Portugal.

Garden warbler.

I watched this black-winged kite eating something at the top of this tree before eventually flying off.

Little bittern at dawn. There were two of them flying around chasing each other for a minute before one settled here. I'm always amazed at how tiny they are.

Purple gallinules just after dawn! I've seen a few purple gallinules on this trip, but not as many as I expected based on previous experience.

Egrets and ibis leaving their roost at dawn. I counted about 300 birds, split three ways, glossy ibis, cattle egrets and little egrets.

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