Portugal & Douro Valley

May turned out to be a pretty good month as Jackie and I started with a visit to Portugal and a cruise up and down the Douro River from Porto to the Spanish border some 130miles each way.  Though this wasn't a birding trip you can't take the birding out of the Birder and whilst we cruised we spent time on deck looking, not just at the fantastic scenery and all the many vineyards but looking for any birds that could be heard and seen as you do. 

We flew from Gatwick on 30th April landing at Porto a couple or so hours later and taken by coach to our ship the Douro Elegance moored at Vila Nova de Gaia which lies across the Douro from Porto.

Poole Harbour from our plane en-route to Porto

Our ship.

As soon as we were on board we were shown our cabin and went straight to the lounge for a welcome drink and afternoon tea.

Our Cabin

We soon sailed and were on our way and we went up on deck as we left Gaia heading up river to the first lock.  

Porto Riverside

Our first birds as we left were lots of Yellow-legged Gulls resting and bathing out in the middle of the river.

There are five locks along the river which are the highest in Europe a lift of around 75 feet. They were built to make the journey safer for the boats carrying the barrels of Port wine down river to Gaia for processing, by raising the water levels the small boats didn't have to navigate the dangerous rapids of the river.

This is one of the Rabelo Boat - a Portuguese traditional cargo boat

The Rabelo boats were the only transport up and down the river Douro for centuries.  They are flat-bottomed, with a shallow draught, which was necessary to navigate the often shallow fast-flowing waters of the upper Douro prior to the construction of dams and locks from 1968 onwards.

Carrapatelo Lock: approx. 35 meters (115 feet). Known locally
as "Big Mama", this is Europe's tallest river lock.

We found that around each of the five locks there were a number of species that bred on or around the structures.  Swallow, House and Crag Martin, Swift, Black Redstart, White and Grey Wagtail. You also have opportunity to see birds moving around in the trees and bushes that line the banks of the river.

Riverside View 

As we traveled further up river towards Spain we slowly pick up species most by hearing them Blackcap, Cetti's Warbler, Wren, Blackbird and Serin were everywhere singing from the trees and bushes. We recorded Kingfisher and our first of many Black Kite which were a daily occurrence like the others.

Black Kite © Nick Hull

As we cruised further up river the habitat changed to vineyard after vineyard and we would moor up and visit a number of these establishments. It enabled Jackie and myself to add a few species to our list and see the birds that we had only been hearing along the river.

Our ship coming to pick us up from one of our vineyard visits 

The photograph above shows the vineyard covered river banks with Olive and Almond trees that are another specialty of the valley.

The birds tended to be to distant to photograph but I did manage a few ok shots of a few that dared to get closer to the ship during our periods on deck.

Crag Martin on the side of one of the locks © Nick Hull

Egyptian Vulture as we passed through a narrow Gorge © Nick Hull

The halfway point to the cruise was a visited to Castel Rodrigo and a visit to Salamanca. These visits added a number of species to our birding list.  We saw Nightingale, Red-backed Shrike, Serin Spotless Starlings though like the Serin they were common along the river.  We saw a number of White Storks which were nesting in and around the city as were the Serin.

 

White Stork on the Cathedral roof in Salamanca © Nick Hull

the above White Storks mate on there Cathedral nest - Salamanca

male Serin in the Cathedral Square - Salamanca

In the main square where had our lunch amongst all the Portuguese dignitaries that were depicted in carved stone one was British and that was the Duke of Wellington honoured for pushing Napoleon's French army out of Portugal.

Carved plaque of The Duke of Wellington

We were also told that Portugal had the first astronauts as one was depicted on the carved facade that edged one of the entrances to the 900 year old Cathedral and indeed there was.

The carved Astronaut in the stone facade around a 12th  century Cathedral Door

Though it was very much in keeping with the rest of the carving it was part of a restoration project in 1992 to serve as a modern signature representing the 20th century.  Another of these whimsical carvings was a dragon eating an ice cream.

Dragon eating Ice cream on the Ramos Gate Salamanca

On our return journey to the ship, we recorded our only Grey Heron and Montagu's Harrier of the trip.  Our guide mentioned we would have a brief stop at a gorge where there was a chance of seeing some eagles.  When we stopped and started looking around the gorge, Jackie and I realised that it wasn't eagles but a Griffon Vulture roosting site and there were 8 resting on an outcrop of the gorge and we watched as they lifted off with two soaring up past us and then right overhead.

Some of the resting Griffon Vulture © Nick Hull

One of the Griffons that flew over us © Nick Hull

We rejoined our ship and that evening the bridge near the mooring was lit and the reflections was amazing and very picturesque. 

night time reflections of the bridge

Our return to Porto repeated many of the birds we saw on the outward journey Bee-eater, Golden Oriole, Hoopoe, Black Kite, Griffon Vulture, Alpine Swift.  

As we passed the through the gorge on our return the light was much better and I took a shot of the colourful lichens that covered the rock and boulders.

Colourful lichen covered boulders of the gorge © Nick Hull

On our penultimate day we moored up near at Lamego and  Jackie and I opted out of another vineyard tour and instead we had a walk along the river which turn out to be an excellent decision. We had quite a few birds and flowers which we hadn't seen previously. including Sardinian Warbler. 

Male Sardinian Warbler © Nick Hull

We also had White Wagtail collecting a beak full of insects obviously nesting near by and had young to feed.

White Wagtail © Nick Hull

Not sure if this male Stonechat was looking at us or, what was more likely, spotted some insect which he planned to eat or take to its brood.

Male Stonechat © Nick Hull

Though the best birds of our walk were two Pale Booted Eagle which crossed the valley and passed over head.

Booted Eagle © Nick Hull

Hoary Mullein in the UK ia a nationally scarce plant only found in East Anglia, here it was scattered around in the rough grass areas and along the road verges.

Hoary Mullein Verbascum pulverulentum © Nick Hull

The Purple Milk Thistle is very much a Mediterranean species and not really found very much further north that Northern Portugal and is a specialty found on waste ground.

Purple Milk Thistle Galactites tomentosus © Nick Hull

We finished our holiday with a tour of Porto and a visit to the Railway Station with its amazing tiling. Grand Central Station in New York was pretty good but the tiled scenes here were amazingly detailed and well worth a visit if you're ever visiting.

One of the tiled walls of the Porto Railway Station

Just to summarise, our cruise took eight days cruising approximately 260 mile up and back on the Douro from Porto to the Spanish border with coach trips to Castel Rodrigo and Salamanca.  We saw great scenery tasted good wines and great port wine and learnt all about the making processes and history. We saw and heard 54 species of bird during our trip which highlights included Bee-eater, Hoopoe, Golden Oriole, Griffon and Egyptian Vulture, Montagu's Harrier and Booted Eagle.

April

What a month April has been Jackie and I managed to add 21 species of bird to our year list and a few of them have been cracking species not all have been in Dorset.  In fact our first visit out was over the border to Blashford mainly because we missed the Little Ringed Plover on the home patch and there is usually one or two at Blashford plus a Little Gull had been reported.  We met our friends and went to the Tern hide, it didn't take long to find the Little Gull feeding out over the lake and, whilst Jackie was checking through the wildfowl, I started looking for the LRP and found it on the gravel bank out to the right of the hide.  I found it because it made a little short run as it is their habit and the movement attracted my eye.  I pointed it out to Jackie and the others and shortly after we were treated to the male display flighting around its territory. 

Little Gull © Nick Hull

After saying goodbye to to our friends Jackie and I decided to pop just up the road and have our picnic lunch at Ibsley Bridge. Whilst tucking into my sandwich I heard a very brief 'Chee-chee Chee' sound from the reed bed across the road then nothing.  Then I heard it again but this time it was a longer more varied song.  Jackie and I jumped out of the van and had a good listen to a fairly early Sedge Warbler.  Well that was April fools day completed for us.

On the 4th Jackie and I were volunteering for the early shift looking after the Carey Ospreys, it was a little drizzly and damp couple of hours but it had its dry spells and it enabled us to get Osprey onto our list. Since then CJ7 has laid four eggs again and 022 has been his usual good self providing the fish and supplying nesting material and chasing off crows etc.  Though a local Tawny Owl knocked him off his roosting perch the other night.

Osprey 022 doing his bit while CJ7 stretch's her wings and takes a break 
Shot taken from BoPH webcam

A visit to Durlston Country Park on the 7th added a few seabirds to our ever growing list with Razorbill, Guillemot and Fulmar with the added bonus of a Cirl Bunting putting in a brief appearance having a bath in the pond. A slow drive across Hartland Moor on our way home gave us two Wheatear, one of which had the look of a Greenland race but we couldn't be certain as it was little too distant.

Cirl Bunting © Nick Hull

On the 9th we took our Granddaughter up to Garston Wood to see the Bluebells and woodland botany though we heard a Tawny Owl hoot a few times we failed to locate where it was and when leaving we had a couple of Red-legged Partridge in the field opposite.

Red-legged Partridge © Nick Hull

On the 11th saw Jackie and I on the Somerset Levels where we heard a number of Bittern booming but we unfortunately didn't get to see one on this occasion but we added House Martin to Jackie's list as she missed them at Longham last month. We had a visit to Sharpham to see Ring-necked Duck where we found a male tucked up with a few Tufted Duck at the edge of the reedbed.   On the 12th we spent the morning at Ham Wall listening to Bittern and seeing the usual regular species lots of Blackcap and good numbers of Reed Warbler singing.  

We left The Levels after having lunch as the weather turned wet and headed for home, when we were nearing Poole news came our way that the Hoopoe was still at the Hartland Stud so Jackie and I took a little detour and arrived in time to see it feeding under the pine copse which made a nice finish to the days birding.

Hoopoe © Nick Hull (from my archive)

Another bird that had turned up and was showing well was a Red-spot Bluethroat at Swineham Point which we thought we may have missed by going to Somerset but it was still present. So on the 13th Jackie and our daughter Rowena went to take a look at this northern European gem. When we arrived there were around eight birders/photographers present waiting patiently for the bird to reappear.  It wasn't long before it popped out from the hedge and started feeding along the path edge and gave very good views. I managed a few shots but it was a little difficult as I had people in front of me and I only had a small gap to get onto the bird. None-the-less a successful local twitch and well worth seeing this stunning bird.

Red-spot Bluethroat © Nick Hull

Next day we had booked on a Bird of Poole Harbour boat trip around the harbour visiting Brownsea Lagoon before going around the back of Brownsea and across the central harbour and up the Wareham Channel before returning to the quay at Poole.  Common Tern, Spotted Redshank and Bearded Tit were added to our year list and we had good views of two young White-tailed Eagles and one of which flew across the channel and I managed a few shots of the bird in flight which in fact was the first time to have and eagle in flight that wasn't a mile or so up in the sky.

Immature White-tailed Eagle crossing the Wareham Channel © Nick Hull

On the 18th we had a little drive and birding trip in the Lower Frome starting at Stokeford where we had or rather heard our first Cuckoo of the year. From here we went up to the view point on Creech Hill where we had three Red Kite drift by and a Peregrine whoosh by very close and fast as it headed along the ridge.  Whilst all this was happening we were listening to a Whitethroat singing from the roadside hedge.

Very close and passing very fast Peregrine Falcon © Nick Hull

A walk with friends on 20th in Wareham Forest around the Morden Bog area added Tree Pipit to our list and we had good views of two Woodlark which flew in and were searching for food on a recently felled area.  

Our last two species added to our year list in April was Whimbrel on our home patch of Lytchett Bay (25th) and screaming Swift over Rowena's house in Parkstone on the 27th.

Other Wildlife

This month we have been recording as many of the early emerging inverts and many have been in our own  wildlife garden.

Holly Blue have been seen in the garden and around Lytchett Bay more or less daily. They seem to be on a good year.

Holly Blue © Nick Hull

Another, in fact Jackie's favourite butterfly, I caught up with on the Approach Field where I saw two and managed to get a shot of this very fresh individual.

Small Copper © Nick Hull

We have been getting regular visits to the garden of Large Red Damselflies which are usually the first to emerge.

Large Red Damselfly © Nick Hull

I also recorded a two new bee species for the garden a Hairy Yellow-faced Bee Hylaeus hyalinatus. There has been at least two visiting and resting in the sun on the stones of our rockery.

Hylaeus hyalinatus Hairy Yellow-faced Bee © Nick Hull

The other I found feeding on a Dandelion, a Buffish Mining Bee Andrena nigroaenea found in the Lytchett Bay recording area but never in the garden so it was a very nice addition to the garden list.

Andrena nigroaenea - Buffish Mining Bee

Nocturnal Migration

As usual since 22nd March I have been recording nocturnal migration over Lytchett Bay and my home. There hasn't been any major rarities but it started with lots of Redwing and good numbers of Song Thrush with a few Fieldfare moving over heading back to Europe to their breeding grounds. A species that is extremely rare on the Lytchett Bay recording area is Coot but I record them every year flying over the bay and the first one recorded this year was at 21:41hrs on 23rd March.  I had a solitary Little Ringed Plover pass over at 21:21hrs on 25th March.  A bird that doesn't get seen very often on the patch is Barn Owl but I often record one calling at night over the bay and as usual I recorded them this spring. I've also recorded a few small flocks of Avocet leaving the harbour.  I  recorded our first returning Blackcap at 04:57hrs on 1st April. A Grey Plover past over on 2nd April, the first Little Grebe past by on the 7th April followed by another on the 9th.  At 21:03hrs on the 8th I recorded for the first time ever Redshank, Spotted Redshank and Greenshank in a single flock passing right over the house so I've added the recording below.

On the 10th I had a little surprise, though I have recorded them before but they're not at all regular or perhaps they are but have past outside of my recording range a small flock of Common Scoter past by follow shortly after by a noisy flock of Sandwich Tern. Two days later at 21:50 and again at 01:21hrs two more skeins of Common Scoter moved over presumingly north but both were a little distant, now were they high up going over or a couple of kilometres away across the harbour.  On the 9th I recorded the first Common Sandpiper and on the 14th a Lapwing passed by and the first Whimbrel past on 16th at 02:40hrs. On the morning of the 27th not technically nocmig as in was just at the start of the Dawn Chorus I found the signature of a Reed Bunting singing on the sonogram amongst all the other morning songsters.

Jackie · Redshank-Spotted Redshank-Greenshank

Not a bad month wildlife watching ending the month seeing 118 species bringing our year list to 163 species. 

March with Two Rarities and Seven year ticks

March started well with Joe from Birds of Poole Harbour finding the Forster's Tern in Parkstone Bay on the 2nd this is the third year it has returned.  Jackie and I took a quick trip down to Baiter Park and met Ian Ballam and Paul Morton both looking for the bird. We were there for some time, I thought I caught sight of a tern over the far side of the bay but it was Paul that picked it up flying towards the harbour mouth but it was very distant. Over the next few days it commuted between Poole Park and the bay and sometimes Brownsea Lagoon.  I popped down to Poole Park and managed to grab a few shots of it there where it put on a pretty good show for everyone.

Forster's Tern - Poole Park © Nick Hull

Late on the 2nd a Red-rumped Swallow was found in Weymouth and Jackie and I decided to go the next day and hopefully see if it stayed.  By the time we arrived in Weymouth there had been no sign of the swallow, so we headed over to Wyke Regis Bridging Camp to see if we could find the Long-tailed Duck on the Fleet.  

We walk down the footpath to the west end of the camp fence and scoped over Littlesea.  After a few scans across the water I suddenly picked up a white head but it immediately dived as I waited for it to resurface I noticed a Common Scoter  and several Red-breasted Merganser.  The bird surfaced and it turned sideways on to us and you could see the dark brown cheek spot on a very white head of a male Long-tailed Duck but far too distant to get any photographs.  It dived again and it took ten minutes or more to find it again for Jackie to see it.  

Jackie checked her phone and said the swallow has been seen, so we headed back to Radipole parking in a nearby housing estate and walking to the bridge where a handful of birders were looking and was told it had just flown typically out of view.  Anyway it wasn't long before I picked it up hawking for insects over the wood and the houses. It did eventually fly nearer on several occasions giving much closer and pretty good views but with its speed it gave problems with getting any good quality shot.

My best shot of the Red-rumped Swallow - Radipole © nick Hull

Next day we were out with friends at Arne with the idea of trying to get everyone White-tailed Eagle and Crossbill.  It was a dull overcast start but became warm and sunny towards the end of our walk.  We didn't see any eagles but we had all the usual heathland species and a Red Kite put in an appearance.  We were successful with Crossbill seeing several, a male performed well right at the end of our walk but as Jackie had my camera in her scooter box I failed to get any shots but thankfully Phil managed a couple and sent me a copy.

Common Crossbill male & Female - Arne © Phil Allman

On the 11th Jackie and I and friends Fran and David we had a walk at Rempstone.   As I was getting Jackie's scooter off the van there was a harsh 'Kya-kya-kya' sound overhead, Jackie managed to get a view as a Goshawk passed over, which is always a nice species to get on your year list.  This area was our heathland survey area in 2025 and had three Woodlark territories but our walk produced none but we were probably a little late in the morning. A species that was a little surprise was a pair of Grey Wagtail and like Arne we had three singing Crossbill which is always nice to record. As we walked back to the vehicles we were treated to a flock of Redwing which flew over towards the south and when nearly back to the cars a flight of Fieldfare flew towards us going in the other direction making there cackling calls both species would be moving back to their northern breeding ground shortly.

On the 13th Jackie and I went to Studland in the hope that a Red-necked Grebe, which had been seen the day before, would still be around off Middle Beach but we couldn't find it so we had a look over Norden sewage works on the way home and a drive down to Wytch and back up Trashers Lane where we came across a Reeve's Pheasant not a tickle species but there is a small population in the Wytch and Rempstone area though I hadn't seen one for a while and this male was very close to the road, 

Stunning male Reeve's Pheasant © Nick Hull

On our way home we took a little detour around to Holmebridge there was very little there accept a Peregrine which swooped in and took a Black-headed Gull and stayed to have it's meal which added a little entertainment.  Shortly after we were passing Wareham Common on our way home we saw the now three Glossy Ibis feeding out on the still very wet meadow. 

Over the next few days we birded the home patch of Lytchett Bay, popped to Bestwall where the highlight was just a Green Sandpiper.  It wasn't until the end of the month (31st) that we added more species to the year list with Sand and House Martin and Willow Warbler at Longham Lakes. Then later in the afternoon, we saw our next good species when we popped over to Woodsford to see a pair of Garganey which had taken up residence on the gravel pits. 

The 2026 reptile season started early with Adder being seen out in February with the first observation on the patch being on 22nd Feb (Paul Swann) and Ian Ballam saw our first Sand Lizard on the 24th Feb and I recorded a Common Lizard on the 28th Feb.  I didn't see my first Smooth Snake until I did my first survey at Arne on the 18th March when I also had my first Slow Worm so it's just Grass Snake to see now.

male Adder © Lytchett Bay Nick Hull

Common Lizard Lytchett Bay © Nick Hull

male Smooth Snake Arne RSPB © Nick Hull (taken under license)

On the invertebrate side I took Jackie to Hillier Garden for her U3A visit as she needed her scooter and whilst walking the gardens we had a couple of Black Oil Beetle and our first Orange-tip butterfly and Bee-fly, which we have had in the home garden since. We have also seen our first mason bees from our bee hotel with a couple of males buzzing around waiting for the females to emerge which I sure will not be long now.

Black Oil Beetle Hilliers Garden © Nick Hull

Beefly Bombylius major Hilliers Garden © Nick Hull

Moth trapping has been fairly average for the time of year the garden doesn't really get going until end of April but I've caught a few nice regular moth and one new micro moth.

Frosted Green © Nick Hull

Lunar Marbled Brown © Nick Hull

Ash Sprinner (Zelleria hepariella) © Nick Hull 

We ended the month on 141 species of bird seen since 1st January and with more migrants due in April and survey season getting underway can't wait to see what we can see and find.