Algarve Birder

2011-08-04T13:32:00.000+01:00

BREEDING SEASON

I am starting to write this post on the 1st of August and the weather is horrendous - lead-grey skies with continuous thunder and lightning and very heavy downpours all day. In fifteen years here I have never seen a drop of rain during August. I would not be surprised to hear that July was the coldest on record; we have had lots of sunshine but the constant strong NW winds, almost gale-force at times, have kept temperatures well below the seasonal average. This time last year it was a scorching 40+℃.

The breeding season is virtually over and on my local "patch" (Ria de Alvor and Quinta da Rocha) the only species still feeding unfledged young are a few pairs of Little Terns which are probably on second broods.

Little Tern

This has been the worst breeding season I can recall here. The early breeders, Black-winged Stilts and Kentish Plover, had their nests destroyed by an artificial raising of the water level on "the flood" (a mixture of shallow waterways, expanses of mud and littoral vegetation which becomes tidal if the local fishermen illegally open the sluice gate).

Black-winged Stilt

Kentish Plover nest which failed due to flooding

Equally worrying is the lack in numbers of what were formerly common birds in this area, something which has been commented on by other resident and visiting birders. Species which "buck" this trend are Bee-Eaters and hirundines (Red-rumped Swallows seem to be doing especially well), but although Woodchat Shrikes arrived in good numbers, and three or four pairs nested around my land, they have now disappeared and there is no sign of any juveniles which are normally very obvious and vocal in their demands for food even after fledging. Many resident species have also decreased dramatically. As an example, Sardinian Warblers could be seen and heard throughout the day around the house and several pairs nested in my garden. It is two years since I have seen or heard one locally.

Male Sardinian Warbler

Other species which come to mind are Serin and Blackcap, both of which were garden nesters and now absent; the Blackcaps song is especially missed. Common Waxbill nested all year round here, in fact the local bird observatory and ringing station used to send visitors in the direction of my garden as being the best locality to see this species in sometimes large (30+) flocks, but they also have disappeared.

Adult and juvenile Common Waxbills

The reasons for these declines could be many-fold and complex but I doubt whether climate or availability of food are factors. There is, however, a COMMON ENEMY to all other bird species from the diminutive Waxbills to raptors the size of Short-toed Eagles: this is the Azure-winged Magpie. 20 years ago when I came on holiday here for three weeks every year this was a scarce bird and I was lucky to see half a dozen during my stay. Now, this species has increased exponentially; they are in and around my garden every day with their annoying "squawking" calls and it is not uncommon to see post-breeding winter flocks of several hundred birds. Although they are attractive birds they are 'corvids' and have the typically malicious behaviour.

Azure-winged Magpies

Although BWPi states that their main diet is fruit, seeds and insects (and yes, they do eat the Leather-jackets off my lawn), they are omnivorous; I have witnessed them taking eggs and young from Blackbird nests, and also pulling down House Sparrow nests from my Yuccas and Palm trees and devouring either eggs or young. Apart from this predatory nature it is the fact that they exhibit antisocial behaviour to any other species which enters their territory, driving other birds away by their attacking behaviour. Last year, a pair of Golden Oriole built a nest in my mature Pepper Tree but were ousted by the magpies and never laid eggs.

Maybe time for a local "cull"?

2011-05-24T19:50:00.002+01:00

SWALLOW TALES

In the Spring of 2005 (see post "Garden Breeders 2005" - September 11th 2005) a swallow's nest began being constructed in the passageway between the house and the garage/workshop. Both Barn Swallows and Red-rumped Swallows had been observed investigating this site but when we realised that it was the latter which were building we were 'over the moon'. Twenty years ago the only reliable breeding site for Red-rumped Swallows in this area was beneath the lip of the dam at "Barragem da Bravura" north of Odiáxere, but with the building of the A22 "Via do Infante" motorway and all its viaducts in this undulating terrain this species seems to have increased in numbers due to suitable nest sites.

The "Rumpies" have nested every year since then, in some years producing three broods and an estimated seventeen chicks in a single year - the "crooning" sound of these birds (two metres from one of our bedroom windows) has been magic to the ear.

Last year the ubiquitous House Sparrows (I have several dozen nesting around the house) took over the nest and broke off the "entrance tube" (this has happened to several neighbours who also had Red-rumped Swallows nesting at their properties); I "evicted" several broods (eggs as well as young) but these tenacious blighters are irrepressible.

Eventually the nest crumbled (helped, I think, by Azure-winged Magpies attacking the sparrows) and fell to the ground.

This year the nest site was again investigated by both Red-rumped and Barn Swallows but it was the latter that began to reconstruct the nest. Four adults (presumably non-breeding siblings of the breeding pair) built the half-cup nest in a few days (actually adding mud while the female was laying and sitting) and although we had one mortality (just fell out of the nest) the pair have produced three healthy offspring which have just fledged and flown.

So, they are only Barn Swallows instead of "Posh Swallows", but it has been nice to observe and I hope they produce another brood.

As a post-script, the Blackbirds which have nested in the Brugmansia just by my front door seem to have produced two healthy, fast-growing chicks; I fear that some of them might have fallen prey to the Azure-winged Magpies when they were much younger.

"POSH SWALLOW"

2011-05-02T18:29:00.000+01:00

"THE SPRING TRIO"

Despite the vile weather, the three bird species which for me characterise the Algarve and herald the onset of Spring and early Summer have arrived here from their wintering grounds in Africa.

Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) first seen on 11th March

Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) heard on 29th March and seen the following day in large numbers

Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) - the unmistakable song first heard on 13th April

The order of appearance of these three "jewels" is always the same but this year the dates were about one week to ten days later than normal. There is a huge supporting cast of other species such as Iberian Yellow Wagtail, Melodious Warbler, Little Tern and many rarer species, but these "three" are not only beautiful birds but so typical of the Algarve - when they leave their breeding ground here in the autumn to return to Africa I feel a real sense of sadness.

2011-05-01T18:29:00.000+01:00

ETERNAL WINTER

Today is the first day of May, supposedly the beginning of summer in Algarve; we have thunderstorms, torrential rain and it is cold (we have had the wood-burning stove on for the past two days). Maximum daytime temperature today was 15℃. Last weekend (Easter weekend) London was 27℃, the hottest capital in Europe. What is going on?

Storm clouds over Ria de Alvor

The winter of 2009/10 was the wettest on record (i.e. for 160 years) with almost three times the average annual rainfall. The past winter (2010/11) has not had the same volume of rain but there have been more rainy days - in fact, with the exception of a fine spell of weather at the end of February when temperatures reached 25℃, we have had precipitation almost every day since last October.

The reservoirs ("Barragem da Bravura" at Odiáxere) are full........

..... to overflowing

The land cannot take any more water - my gardener José João tells me that most of the spring crops (beans, peas, garlic and onions) have failed because they have just rotted in the ground.

Birding and photography have been "off the menu" for the past six months - I lose interest when the weather is like this and the light has been abysmal for photography. I believe that the end of this horrendous weather is in sight - let us hope so.

2010-10-28T19:16:00.001+01:00

Black Vulture

On Saturday 23rd October I was on my daily afternoon walk around the Ria when I became aware of a huge commotion amongst the several hundred roosting gulls on the 'salinas'. These birds were in the air and savagely attacking a huge raptor which I immediately recognised as a Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus). I have seen many before in the Alentejo and on the Portugal/Spain border but always soaring effortlessly at a height with no hint of a wing-beat.

Why this bird was here I do not know; it was a juvenile/1st winter bird well away from its normal territory and may have just become disorientated. Whether it had descended after seeing a carcass I do not know but the gulls were giving it a really hard time and the vulture was having to perform extreme aerobatics to evade them. The vulture eventually landed on the Ria about 100 metres off-shore and was a rather pathetic sight - flapping its wings which were getting more and more waterlogged to the extent that I thought it was going to drown.

I took my dog home and quickly returned with the camera to find that the vulture had made it to the shore and was spread-winged drying itself in the afternoon sunshine:

Whilst I had been away a small group of onlookers had assembled and someone had had the sense to actually call a vet. My concern was that the bird might have eaten some poisened animal, but I think that the "fight" with the gulls had simply rendered it exhausted (it might also have been starving and weak as a novice youngster).

It dried off very quickly and was obviously "perking up" by the minute and was seen to fly off before the vet arrived.

To be this close to such a magnificent bird (and it really is HUGE!) is both frightening and humbling.

2010-10-21T20:50:00.000+01:00

Autumn Migration

The Spring migration in SW Iberia is always very poor except for birds which are arriving to breed here. Those moving into central and northern Europe tend to cross the Straits of Gibraltar at Tarifa and move on immediately propelled by hormones and the urge to breed. The autumn migration is normally much better with huge numbers of both passerines and raptors drifting more slowly down the west coast of Spain and Portugal towards Cabo de São Vicente (the most south-westerly tip of Europe) where they tend to linger and feed before moving east to Tarifa for the final "jump" to N Africa. In previous years the raptor movement (from the traditional watch-point at Cabranosa) has been fantastic - I recall being there one day in October a few years ago and seeing 1,900 Griffon Vultures in one flock with a supporting cast of flocks of Short-toed Eagles, Booted Eagles, Honey Buzzards, etc all in good numbers.

Shots of two juvenile Winchats (taken through the window while sitting at my desk!).

This autumn the migration has been the worst I can recall in fourteen years here. I spent two mornings at "The Cape" searching for the elusive Dotterel which I knew were there (but failed to find) and during that time the only raptors I saw were Common Kestrels (probably resident, although migrants from N Europe do pass through). Closer to home (my garden, and local "patch" at Ria de Alvor) there has been a dearth of passerines. Pied Flycatcher is usually the commonest passerine at this time, but this year there were very few. The low numbers is confirmed by the captures at the ringing station at A Rocha.

Northern Wheatear in agressive posture - I was too close.

Northern Wheatear, probably of the Greenland/Iceland race leucorhoa.

There was a brief "window" at the beginning of October when there was a rush of Pied Flycatchers (I counted about twenty in my garden one morning) and a very large number of Northern Wheatears. Whinchats (mainly juveniles) were present in smaller numbers, and what a delight they are.

This marked reduction in numbers of birds compared to previous years is a cause for concern - I wonder what the cause is?

2010-10-18T19:36:00.000+01:00

Mid-summer Madness

Like many birding Bloggers I am overcome with a sense of apathy with the arrival of summer (late June to end of August here in Algarve). Birdlife has more or less been replaced by human (and often inhuman) activities. The past year has had the most extreme weather conditions since records began 160 years ago; after the wettest winter, with almost three times the average annual rainfall (we had four months when it rained every single day) we then had the hottest summer with temperatures hovering around 40 ℃ for much of July and August (I recorded shade temperatures of 42 ℃ on several days in my garden). To go out birding in these temperatures is crazy, and photography is impossible because of the heat haze.

A Dornier (DO80 - WWII cargo plane), one of the noisiest machines in the world, transporting sky-divers to jump over Ria de Alvor; one of the best "bird scarers" ever invented.

It was anticipated that this year tourism in the Algarve would be much reduced due to the recession. There was a notable decrease in British, German and Dutch visitors but this was more than made up for by a huge invasion of Spaniards as well as larger numbers of people from the north of Portugal who would have holidayed in more exotic places such as Brasil in better times. Congestion on the roads was unbelievable and since most of these people were sun-seekers the beaches looked like Blackpool on a sunny Bank Holiday.

Wind-surfers and Kite-Surfers are O.K. in small numbers but having 100+ racing around the Ria at the same time causes considerable stress to gulls and waders roosting on the sandbanks. Worst of all are the Jet-Skiers who should be shot on sight.

The last weekend in August is blissful relief - all of these human intruders disappear virtually overnight and the Ria de Alvor begins a slow recovery to its tranquil normality.

One of the most recent scourges to the Algarve - "Para-planing". A mindless moron with an inflatable kite and a petrol-engined propeller strapped to his arse enables him about 30 minutes airbourne in which to "buzz" flocks of roosting birds - Greater Flamingos are a favourite target. And speaking of targets....!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-05T20:13:00.003+01:00

Lesser Kestrel (Falco naumanni)

Getting access to the LPN controlled breeding colonies of Lesser Kestrel and Roller (where a ruined farm has been modified and a series of artificial walls with breeding holes has been created) is impossible - the birds are viewable from the Castro Verde - Mertola road (EN123) but they are distant.

I was told a couple of years ago that both species breed in the ruined railway station buildings near Casável, north-west of Castro Verde. On the 24th May we had the possibility of good weather so I put all the "gear" in the Land Rover and decided to go.

The trip along the A22 and then up the A2 (Portagem - "Toll Road") is effortless but the "fine detail" at the other end is another matter as the roads around Castro Verde - Almadovar - Ourique are changing at such at a pace that published maps are useless. Fortunately, I had obtained a grid reference of the locality from Google Earth and entered this into my Tom Tom Satnav - without that I would probably not have arrived (only got lost once at Ourique which is beautiful beyond description).

Casével station appears rather abruptly at the end of a progressively deteriorating metaled road which then becomes a dirt track. It is beautiful but very overgrown and really out of another age.

I went over the railway crossing and slowly approached the station building (together with more outbuildings and some adjacent agricultural buildings) and was simply amazed at the number of birds - I calculated that there were 20+ pairs of Lesser Kestrel nesting and at least six pairs of Roller. Because of the state of the overgrown vegetation (particularly the Fennel) it is very difficult to move around the site and setting up a tripod with a long lens is very difficult. For photography, you need to be on the south side side of the buildings which means standing on the railway track (the only "clear" and horizontal surface) - and, guess what? the line is still in use with local trains (almost silent diesel engines) coming through very fast.

The Rollers are very "spooky" although at first they were more concerned with stealing food from the kestrels (and "rolling" magnificently, something I have never seen before and impossible to photograph). In very harsh light I managed a few shots of the Lesser Kestrels which appeared all to be feeding young and bringing in mainly Cicadas and Scorpions.

Setting up a portable hide here is very difficult, as is shooting from the jeep, but I will go back - it is a special place.

Whilst there is no evidence of active management, the site is clearly monitored and "looked after" (to an extent!!) as there are artificial nest boxes on several of the buildings.

If YOU go on the basis of what I have written here please be careful - this is, I think, a "sensitive" site.

Colin

2010-05-27T14:07:00.003+01:00

Breeding Flamingos in Algarve?

The Algarve is host to large numbers of Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) which are mainly juveniles and sub-adults (Flamingo take four or five years to reach breeding age). Many birds are ringed proving that they come from southern Spain (a lot from Doñana) and the Camargue, and one dead bird from as far away as Iran. These birds are highly mobile depending on water levels and food sources at appropriate Algarve wetlands, with most occurring at Castro Marim in the east, adjacent to the border with Spain, with lesser numbers at Lagoa dos Sagados (1,000+) and Ria de Alvor (300+ in autumn).

In 1987 a Dutch friend of mine and frequent visitor to Algarve, Willem Scheres, found and described two "nearly fledged" chicks on the salinas at Castro Marim; the record, which would have been the first proven breeding of Greater Flamingo in Portugal, was rejected.

A couple of years ago I was told by Joã Ministro (Almargem) that the salt workers at Castro Marim had found a cold, abandoned egg. The vastness of the salinas at Castro Marim and the lack of public access (and therefore disturbance) was always considered to be the prime possible nesting locality of this species.

On 6th May this year I met a visiting birder, Dennis Wilby, who told me that there were two adult Flamingos apparently sitting on nests at Lagoa dos Salgados. I visited Salgados two days later, 8th May, and saw both of these birds clearly sitting on nest mounds - one of the two briefly stood up to reveal a single egg.

A resident birder Rudolf Muller took these two photos (I am posting these without his permission - I hope you do not mind Rudolf, they were forwarded to me in an email by Frank McC.):

Copulation

The two "sitting" adults

Unfortunately, five days later, the nests were abandoned and the egg, or eggs, had disappeared. I do not know the precise cause but I predicted that the number of feral dogs running loose at this site would be a major problem.

This potential first proven breeding of Flamingo in Portugal made headline news in both local and national press as well as on television, but as far as I know no attempts were made to protect these birds. Compare this to the level of protection currently being given to a pair of Purple Heron breeding at Dungeness RSPB reserve in the U.K. - not only are wardens continuously monitoring the site but the Kent Police are giving round the clock protection to keep away egg collectors.

We have a long way to go in Portugal!!!

2010-05-27T12:56:00.000+01:00

Great Northern Diver (Gavia immer)

This spring has given me a "hat trick" of "Loons" (how I hate that word!). Red-throated and Black-throated Divers were present in the tidal lagoon at Ria de Alvor for one day only but too distant to photograph.

On one of my early morning dog walks around the Ria I saw a Great Northern Diver close-in to shore and had good enough views to age it as a 2nd c.y. juvenile. The tide was falling and by the time I had got home and returned with the camera the bird had receded into deeper water - this is a heavy crop of an image taken at about 200 metres.

2010-04-20T18:27:00.000+01:00

SUMMER?!

If Woodchat Shrikes are the indicators that Spring is here (see previous post), the arrival of Bee-eaters to me suggests that Summer is not far behind; the day-long "trilling" call of these gorgeous birds is one of the pleasures of living in the Algarve.

I heard and saw my first Bee-eater on 27th March this year which is rather early for western Algarve (first week in April is more normal).

Many of the established nesting colonies near me have been destroyed by this winter's torrential rain with the low earth banks with nest holes collapsing due to water-logging.

The bird in these photos, and its mate, were photographed on 5th April while they were excavating a new nest hole on the edge of my land (the earth on its bill is clearly visible). Since then the weather has deteriorated again and we have had torrential rain, hail, thunder and strong winds. The birds appear to have abandoned their new home.

This really is the worst winter I can ever remember here.

2010-04-13T19:56:00.002+01:00

A Sign of Spring

The winter of 2009/2010 has been the worst on record here in Algarve. We have had lower temperatures, heavier rain and stronger winds in previous years but this winter we have had a miserable three months of continuous rain.

For me, the indication that "spring is here" is the arrival of the Woodchat Shrikes. I saw my first one this year on 3rd March which is a few days later than usual, and they appear to be present in lower numbers than previous years.

In previous years I have had a pair nesting in a Pomegranate hedge in my garden and one or both birds arrived on 28th February every year except in a "Leap Year" when they arrived on the 29th!!! Regrettably, they have not been here for the past two years.

This female actually perched on my shoulder for a few seconds whilst I was working in the garden - total magic.

2010-04-13T19:20:00.002+01:00

One Good "Tern" Deserves Another!

The very heavy rain in the early part of this year has meant that the water coming down from the mountains via the Odeaxere and Alvor rivers has been the colour of hot-chocolate and made fishing in the Ria de Alvor very difficult for species which hunt on "sight".

An over-wintering Osprey was reduced to running around in shallow water chasing very small fish because he simply could not see his usual prey of Grey Mullet and Sea Bass.

One of a dozen or so Caspian Terns was very resourceful: I saw it hovering over a group of Cormorants which were feeding communally in a loose circle and diving simultaneously to feed on their "corral" of small fish. As the water "boiled" with escaping fish the tern dived in to take advantage.

2010-02-22T19:33:00.001Z

Red-rumped Swallows

Not much "birdy" news at the moment (weather in Algarve is still appalling and looking to get worse for the next ten days - never seen so much rain, and I come from the Lake District in Cumbria!!), except that my Red-rumped Swallows returned on Friday the 19th February (my earliest record for this species).

I do not hold out much hope for their breeding success since an army of House Sparrows have taken over every available nest site.

2010-02-22T18:03:00.003Z

What happened to the Cavalry?

The guy with the red asterisk above his head (no, it is not a halo and he is certainly not Simon Templar - aka "The Saint") is Aidan Lonergan, formerly Regional Director of RSPB Northern Ireland (posing with a bunch of grinning colleagues who are looking very smug for probably not having achieved anything at all).

The "top brass" at RSPB are allowed what is called a "sabbatical" every now and then in which they go off and do something totally different in order to refresh the brain cells and keep them motivated - you and I call it a "holliday".

Aidan Lonergan (formerly involved in RSPB "Overseas Operations") decided to take his sabbatical for a month (May 2008) to visit the Algarve with the intention of "looking" at the problems facing Lagoa dos Salgados. He had been well briefed and managed to make contact with most people involved, including myself. I, and an equally involved friend of mine, received an email from Lonergan requesting an on-site meeting at Salgados. We honestly thought it was a joke: the man cannot write English, his grammar is appalling and use of punctuation and upper and lower case letters non-existent. He came over as an idiot, and when we met him we were not disappointed.

This is the resumé of José Tavares' (RSPB Country Programmes Officer for Portugal) report on Lonergan's visit in his official update published in September 2008 on the SPEA website:

RSPB sabbatical

In May, Aidan Lonergan, the Director of RSPB Northern Ireland, spent one month at
Salgados as part of his RSPB sabbatical, mostly working on two issues

a) Development of a concept for the interpretation centre (target audiences, mains
messages, types of exhibits, etc).

b) Fundraising for Salgados Meeting with several company owners and wealthy
individuals, mostly British expatriates, who are very committed to Salgados, and
discuss and implement with them fundraising plans and strategies to get some
money for SPEA to continue with this campaign.

Aidan has met several of you. He is continuing to work on the issue, has made
connections with Academics from UCC in Ireland who have agreed to provide the
data from their field visits over many years and is currently working on getting more
RSPB staff out to Salgados to help with the work.

Aidan Lonergan stated in subsequent emails that he thought that Lagoa dos Salgados was one of the best birding sites in southern Europe and most certainly worth fighting to preserve (i.e. to try and get SPA status). He vowed to return with a "task force" in the near future to resolve the problems. I could almost hear the trumpet sounding "Boots & Saddles" and expected the cavalry to ride in in a cloud of dust to save the lagoon from all the ills of the world.

That was almost two years ago now. In the meantime Aidan Lonergan has been promoted to "Director of Futurescapes" and is now based at RSPB HQ at The Lodge at Sandy, Bedfordshire. Salgados has been forgotten.

Need I say more?

2010-02-15T18:37:00.000Z

ARISE (DESPISE!) SIR GRAHAM

In November 2009 my wife and I both resigned from the RSPB because of their total incompetence over the Lagoa dos Salgados preservation affair. We had been members for a very long time and retained our membership after moving to Portugal thirteen years ago, even though we no longer partook of any RSPB facilities. There is no doubt that the RSPB has done some sterling work in the past, and may well do so again in the future (if they can stop Boris Johnson building another London airport in the Thames estuary I will applaud them again), but these are all "big ticket" campaigns and I now feel that the RSPB is neglecting more mundane projects.

I was incandescent with rage when I learned that Graham Wynne, RSPB Chief Executive Officer since 1998, was awarded a Knighthood in this year's New Year's Honours List; had I not already resigned, I would have done so immediately.

What has this odious non-entity done to deserve this honour? The "speil" states that it is "for services to conservation" - my arse it is. When he came into post the RSPB was growing (as it has since its formation) and had over 1.3 million members and was boasting of achieving 1.5 million in the near future. The membership now stands at just over one million, so what the grinning Sir Graham has actually achieved is to lose a third of the membership - and Her Majesty gave him a knighthood for it (remember it is the ROYAL Society for the Protection of Birds). What a f*****g disgrace!!

The RSPB do nothing to earn money, they rely on membership subscriptions, special appeals and legacies (the latter has been their largest income in most years). They should be much more accountable to their members but they are not. The society is "top heavy" with Presidents, Vice Presidents, CEO, Directors, Deputy Directors, Regional Directors, etc. all concerned with preserving their posts and final-salary pensions. As someone said recently: "The RSPB and the BBC have similar problems - if they were run as a business, more than 50% of them would get the sack".

The writing is on the wall for them; the legions of "old dears" who had nothing better to do with their money than leave it to the RSPB in their will are quickly dying out and the current membership is rapidly jumping ship.

Do a "Google" for Graham Wynne to see what the general consensus of opinion is on this man.

2010-02-14T19:22:00.004Z

Sociable Lapwing

On 17th December I received an SMS text from Peter Dedicoat and June Taylor saying that they had found a Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarious) amongst a flock of Northern Lapwing close to the village of Benviudo, just south of the EN.123 near Mertola.

I could not go at the time (lack of urgency since the bird was not a "lifer" or even a Portuguese "tick" for me) and following this find the weather in southern Portugal has been absolute crap - we have now had two months of almost continuous rain.

On 28th January we had a sunny but very cold day - I decided to put all my gear in the Land Rover and "go for it" - I had not been out birding or doing any photography for weeks. The 140 km drive was well worth it, and I was onto the bird within minutes of arriving at the location (thanks to Google Earth, SatNav and Peter's directions).

The bird was about 80 metres away down a slope feeding actively with a Norther Lapwing with which it seems to have a close affinity (some interesting speculation there!!). I positioned myself with the sun behind me and, with the rig (Canon 1DMk3 with 500mm f/4 + 1.4TC) on my lap turned off the engine and began to gently roll downhill towards the bird.

Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarious) - 1st winter juvenile

The bird was not too bothered by my presence as I got closer, but was mostly facing away from me. I decided to play the call on my MP3 player and the bird became very interested and not only turned around but actually began walking towards me. The shots I got were at about 35 metres range, but I was confident that at this rate I was going to get some frame-filling shots at 15 metres which would produce stunning images.

I had not reckoned on the local farmer pulling up behind me in his pick-up, tooting the horn and slamming the car door - the birds buggered-off across the main road into a fenced field and disappeared into foot-high crops.

What was ironic is that the farmer had just come to make sure that I had actually seen "his famous bird"!!! What I said to him was not quite what was going through my mind.

2010-02-14T18:29:00.007Z

Year of the Ibis

2009 was something of an outstanding year for the ibis genus; in the U.K. and other parts of Northern Europe the Glossy Ibis was seen in unprecedented numbers and this was reflected in a marked increase in large flocks of this species in Portugal.

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

Lagoa dos Salgados had numbers in the 40+ region, trumped by 400 or so on the rice fields north of Alcantarilha. On 13th December a flock of ca. 1,200 birds was recorded at Ponte do Zambujal in Palmela, near Lisbon.

Early in 2009 a group of nine Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) turned up at the Herdade de Salgados golf course. These birds then vanished and re-emerged at a golf course at Vilamoura, but shortly afterwards six of the birds returned to Salgados where they took up residence with a flock of Common Coot close to the club-house and first "T".

Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita)

It became apparent that these birds were not only ringed but had satellite transmitters attached (notice the patch of ruffled feathers on the 'shoulder' of the bird in the above photo), and that they had been released from the Spanish "Proyecto Eremita" reintroduction programme in Càdiz Province. The birds had been hand-reared and proved to be very approachable, if not tame - I have seen visitors hand feeding the birds with sandwiches and on one occasion several birds actually wandered into the reception area of the golf club-house and crapped all over the floor!

One of the six birds was found dead on the golf course and the long-staying five are now reduced to two birds. The fact that they were so tame and were fed a load of unsuitable food might have been their undoing.

Let us just hope that the two remaining birds are male and female and that they manage to strike up more than just a "friendship" (and also lose their interest in golf!!).

Lagoa dos Salgados has also hosted a Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) during 2009, an un-ringed bird which might be the same as the one seen further north, but undoubtedly an "escape" from a collection.

Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)

This last species, White Ibis (Eudocimus albus), conveniently hiding its ringed left leg, is courtesy of Parque Zoologica de Lagos.

White Ibis (Eudocimus alba)

2009-12-05T11:08:00.007Z

Parque Ambiental de Vilamoura

This giant reed-bed with pools and watercourses fed by the adjacent ETAR (sewage treatment works) is one of the Algarve's best-kept secrets. It is near the horrible marina town of Vilamora and next to the even more horrible golf complexes and I still managed to get lost trying to find the entrance, such is the rate at which new blocks of apartments are being built and new roads and roundabouts installed between my visits. There used to be a visitor centre at the northern end but that is now closed, but there are currently two bird-watching hides and a third elevated hide overlooking the sewage works (a magnet for gull, terns and ducks) is planned.

On 30th November I decided to have a bash at photographing the Penduline Tits which over-winter in quite large numbers (I have seen flocks of a dozen birds or more). I entered on the east side by the ETAR and immediately flushed an adult male Little Bittern and adult Squacco Heron from the old circular tank to the right of the track. A little further along this track and a juvenile Purple Heron flew out of the ditch which seperates the track from the ETAR (very late in the year for this species to be around).

Suddenly every gull and duck roosting on the treatment pools took flight, the result of a low-flying pale-phase Booted Eagle

What happened next was one of the most amazing birding sights I have witnessed: as the eagle skimmed over the top of a row of rather ugly, dense conifers which line the edge of the ETAR a flock of Black-crowned Night Herons erupted from the trees and circled above my head. I counted eleven birds, all apparently adults, and managed to get a few usable shots despite the low, bright sunlight making things rather difficult.

I did not find the Penduline Tits, and the weather rapidly deteriorated from bright, hot sunshine to grey cloud, a strong icy wind and a brief hailstorm so I departed, again pondering on just how long this wild, beautiful place can exist before it becomes engulfed by the shit which surrounds it.

2009-11-30T21:22:00.003Z

Image Quality

I have just noticed that "Blogger" is seriously down-rezzing embedded images. For example, the Black-tailed Godwit image in my previous post has an "on page" (thumbnail) file size of 14.4KB, the enlarged version (after "clicking" on image) is 58.27KB, but the image linked to on my PBase website is actually 329.38KB. This means that even the enlarged image on "Blogspot" is a load of crap!! Why are they so mean with storage space?

To view the PBase image look here:

http://www.pbase.com/accentor/image/79729910/original.jpg

*Click on headless image for full-size photo

2009-11-29T18:43:00.005Z

SERENE REFLECTION

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) at the Salinas da Tavira ("salt pans") - one of my favourite birds in a most tranquil setting.

2009-11-28T12:20:00.010Z

White-rumped Sandpiper

Yet another "Yank" (vagrant bird from America) has turned up in the Algarve; on 22nd November Simon Wates and the "Tavira Gang" (Peter Dedicoat, June Taylor and Ray Tipper) found a White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis) - its Portuguese name is "Pilrito-de-uroprígio-branco" - at a small inlet near the beach at Martinhal, Sagres.

I went the following day (after Peter kindly phoned me to let me know about the bird) and found the bird straight away (it was the only bird there to begin with) and managed to get 200+ photographs. Unfortunately the light was very harsh and the bird was feeding actively and for most of the time faced away from me.

Unfortunately three Common Sandpipers (Actitis hypoleucos), a resident breeding species in the Algarve, turned up and one took exception to the presence of the American bird and began attacking it quite aggressively:

*Postscript: Like all Calidris waders, this small bird breeds in the northern hemisphere (often within the Arctic Circle) and then migrates south for the winter, often into the southern hemisphere (although some will linger in the southern regions of the northern hemisphere if weather conditions are not too harsh). This bird would normally winter in South America but has been blown off-course and carried across the Atlantic by severe westerly winds and cyclonic conditions. That is an amazing journey (more so when you consider that the plumage of this bird shows that it is a juvenile 1st winter bird born this summer) - what is even more amazing is that another bird of the same species turned up at the same locality on the 26th November, making these only the 7th and 8th records for this species in mainland Portugal; there are better 'odds' of winning the lottery than this happening!

2009-11-11T21:18:00.013Z

The Salgados Fiasco

Where do I start with this? I could write an entire book, but am tempted to write nothing at all - perhaps a few poignant words are in order.

It is now almost seven years since Derek Honnor, Michael Benington and myself began the campaign to save Lagoa dos Salgados (“Pêra Marsh”) when we realised the threat it was under. Derek actually visited The Lodge at Sandy, Bedfordshire (RSPB HQ) and did a bit of “table banging”, after which their International Division became involved and José Tavares (RSPB Country Programmes Officer for Portugal, Greece and Turkey) began to liaise with SPEA, “Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves”, the Portuguese “Birdlife” partner.

Hunting dogs on the loose just after the lagoon was drained

View of the drained lagoon from the "Eco-Via"

There were moments of optimism a few years ago when “Finalgarve” (the company who are due to develop a new golf academy and a large amount of residential property on the western side of the lagoon) announced that they would pull back their development from the very edge of lagoon (I believe that their initial intention was to drain it completely), retain the wetland as a part of their development (in much the same way as the lagoon at Qta do Lago is an integral part of the São Laurenço golf complex), and they even offered the ruined farm buildings at the NE corner of the lagoon as a potential “Visitor/Interpretation Centre” (for which the RSPB actually commissioned architectural plans).

This is now all history and with so many different “parties” involved nothing, as is usual in Portugal, has been achieved. This year has been the worst for breeding birds at Salgados, mainly due to the frequent draining of the lagoon in the spring by Herdade de Salgados Golfe. The installation of the “Ecovia” (the walkway - cycle track funded by the E.U. and planned to run from Vila Real on the Spanish border to Cabo de São Vicente) has brought in a mass of undesirable tourists and dog walkers from the eastern side, and other human disturbance has been jet skiers, para-planers, quad bikers and horse riders in addition to the usual “Sunday afternoon riff-raff”. A fund-raising charity to specifically pay for a controlled outflow sluice which would negate the “all or nothing” method of draining the lagoon has failed miserably, despite accumulating more than the target figure - the money, collected by the “Just Giving” organisation over twelve months ago has still not been passed on to the RSPB. The whole business has degenerated into a circus and shown all the parties involved to be totally incompetent at planning, implementing and completing a business proposition.

In short, they are totally f*****g useless at what they are supposed to be doing. As a result I have cancelled my long-standing membership of RSPB and will take no further part in supporting or campaigning for the preservation of Lagoa dos Salgados. The RSPB should be deeply ashamed of their dilatory performance in this matter.

Three views of how the "lagoon" looks now (Nov 2009)

It has taken almost seven years for this bunch of incompetents to achieve absolutely nothing - this superb birding locality is now worse-off, and in greater danger from human disturbance, than it was when the campaign to save it began.

2009-11-05T20:22:00.012Z

Lunch with the Bustards

I spent a couple of hours at Cabranoso, the raptor watch-point near Sagres, one morning hoping to see hundreds if not thousands of birds - nothing. Despite perfect conditions and a northerly breeze the birds were just not coming through. So, I decided to "trawl" around the tracks near Vale Santo in search of Dotterel and Red-throated Pipit which had been recently reported. I was slowly edging my way along dirt tracks which no other vehicle than my Land Rover Defender would be able to cope with, with my 1DMk3 and 500mm lens cradled on my lap. Not much doing so I stopped to have my lunch (cheese butty with crisps and a banana and apple) and just reveled in the warmth of the autumn sunshine and the spectacular scenery of this beautiful but harsh landscape. Something moving amidst the low vegetation caught my eye - a Little Bustard, about 50 metres away.

Then more, and more - I counted twenty birds on the ground. The light was harsh and rather against me so I started up the Land Rover and in ultra-low gear slowly crept around this grazing flock. I took many shots with the lens resting on the lowered window, but had to keep turning the engine off (the vibration causes a lot of blur). I tried to get closer, starting the engine and inching further forward, but they knew I was there and for every metre I gained the birds slowly idled a similar distance away. In the end I pressed it too much and they took flight - I counted 28 birds in total which I believe is a record for a single flock here. A magnificent sight.

2009-11-04T18:52:00.007Z

"BODI"

My beloved dog Bodi has just turned twelve years old. She, and her sister, were rescued by a friend of mine from the beach at Alvor; we later discovered that their mother was a fisherman's dog which had had a litter of seven, five dogs and two bitches. The two female pups were abandoned because these ignorant peasants do not want any more females producing litters and refuse to pay to have them spayed. The Algarve is full of abandoned dogs - it is a disgrace and very distressing.

However, Bodi has had a good home for the past twelve years and is not doing badly for her age; she has arthritis in her front paws (as do I) and also a touch of spinal spondylosis. She has a fair bit of Border Collie in her genes which makes her intelligent, athletic and very obedient to her master. She has the best personality of any dog I have ever known.

As a youngster she would take me out for my morning walk at the crack of dawn (8 kms), and then again in the afternoon for a more leisurely stroll around the "Ria". In between she would also have a shorter "pee-wee" walk at midday and then again just before bedtime - goodness only knows how many kilometres we have walked together.

I love her dearly, and dread the day when she is not with me - she is the second greatest love in my life.

2009-11-01T20:44:00.004Z

SPRING TRAPS

Perhaps mis-named since these evil devices are used during autumn at the peak migration time of passerines through southern Europe.

Whenever I see the locals digging with their "enchadas" out in the countryside it means only one thing - they are looking for the adults and larvae of flying ants which are just emerging from their underground nests. These are used to bait the spring traps (tiny versions of pole or gin traps) which are either laid on the ground under bushes or hung in the bushes themselves. The bird goes for the bait and triggers the trap and has its neck broken. These traps are available in bundles of 50 or 100 at local markets and at government-funded "Co-operativas". It is not illegal to manufacturer these (most are made by the gypsies), to own them or to sell them but it is illegal to use them (how is that for sensible Portuguese bureaucracy?).

(Photo taken by a German resident near Lagos)

One man with a hundred traps can catch several hundred birds a day and, since they are not mutilated like shot birds, they are currently worth €2 per head on the open market as the ingredient of "Empadas de Passarinhos" (Songbird Pie) or simple plucked and grilled and eaten whole (innards and all) - a local delicacy.

2009-10-31T17:38:00.008Z

A Taste of Summer

Today is the 31st of October and the temperature in the shade just after midday was 30℃. It is like summer here and this morning I heard (but did not see) a Bee-eater calling; my friend Roger saw nine here just over a week ago. This is very late for this species to be here, they normally leave before the end of August. Perhaps the northern expansion into Britain as a breeding bird might mean that in future years these most northern birds might over-winter in the Algarve? For me, the arrival of these birds is the start of summer (end April or early May) so I thought a "medley" of Bee-eater photos was in order:

This last image is "junior" in the nest hole waiting for lunch. He left the following day.

2009-10-30T20:48:00.006Z

Yanks at Salgados

For about a week, from 23rd to 30th September, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher were residing at Lagoa dos Salgados; both birds were originally found and photographed by a local Dutch birder Thijs Valkenberg.

I manged to connect with the sandpiper and got some reasonable shots (from the Land Rover) in rather harsh lighting, but no sign of the dowitcher:

*(Click on image for larger view)

It is quite amazing that this little vagrant from N. America (hence the term "Yank") has been blown off-course on its southerly migration and ended up in western Europe - what a journey!!

2009-10-30T20:15:00.002Z

UPDATE!!!

It is now over twelve months since I have made a new entry here. The reason is that information on Lagoa dos Salgados (for which I began this blog) has "dried up", rather like the lagoon itself! There will be more information (together with vitriolic criticism of the RSPB) in the near future.

I decided to change the format of the blog with a new background and colour-scheme which has unfortunately resulted in some text now being illegible - this will also be sorted out soon, and at the same time I intend to remove a lot of the long text sections relating to Salgados since the updates from RSPB in English are all now available on the SPEA website as PDF documents; I will link to these in due course.

Quinta do Lago

2008-10-16T13:36:00.002+01:00

Most visiting birders to the Algarve will be aware of the presence of the lagoon at the edge of the São Lourenço golf course on the Qta do Lago development. The 'orrible (and way out of date) "Gosney Guide" gives directions as to how to find this 'little gem' amidst the disgusting opulence of this up-market estate (all of the many traffic round-abouts play piped music, and the mobile telecommunications masts have been diguised as trees!!).

No matter, this quite large lagoon with its numerous reedbeds is well maintained and, being at the edge of the Ria Formosa natural park attracts a large number of resident and migrant birds. There has been a raised hide there for many years but this fell into dis-repair but has now been replaced by a super (and very well constructed) two tier hide. Well worth a visit - you will meet many of the "upper crust" but in fact most of them are very nice people and always worth talking to and explaining your birding hobby.

One good thing from the point of view of photography is that many birds are very used to human presence (I have watched golfers "shooing-off" Purple Swamp Hens from the greens in the early morning so that they can proceed with their game).

Rarities and scarcities do turn up here (seven Black-crowned Night Heron this summer, almost certainly breeding), and in September an adult and juvenile Little Crake (Porzana parva) were found. I spent two mornings there trying to photograph these birds - it is on the "Rarities" list in Portugal and would be a "lifer" for me. I did manage to see the adult bird but it was feeding within the reed beds and photographs were impossible; the Portuguese name for this species is Franga-d'água-bastarda, and certainly was being a real "bastarda" for not coming out into the open which it apparently had the day before!

A consolation prize was being able to photograph a female Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus); I counted at least eight birds, adult males, females and juveniles (this species also breeds here), but this bird landed in a reedbed just in front of the hide and then emerged to feed on the abundant dragonflies.

Female Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus)

(click on photos for larger images)

Salgados Appeal

2008-10-16T10:05:00.007+01:00

Good news and bad news!!

First the bad: the lagoon has again been drained in late September and remains dry. Despite rumours to the contrary, it does look like this was a natural event due to very heavy rain over-filling the lagoon combined with high tides and strong southerly winds. The retaining sand bar simply gave way and resulting outflow has destroyed it completely. Aguas Algarve are currently laying underground pipes from the new Etar (sewage treatment works) to discharge primary treated water directly into the sea; they might take advantage of the recent drainage to dig the proposed conduit across the bed of the lagoon to bury this pipe.

A few birds remain in the puddles and damp reed beds at the southern edge of the lagoon. Of note have been eight Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita), all ringed and radio-tagged and presumed to be from the reintroduction programme in Spain and driven west by the horrendous easterly gales and torrential rain which southern Spain has experienced recently. Of a more "natural" occurrence is a sub-adult Spotted Crake (Porzana porzana) which is still present and showing well at the edge of the juncus vegetation 200 metres west of the hide:

Spotted Crake

(click on photos for larger image)

The good news: I received an interim update from José Tavares very recently saying that "they" (I presume he means RSPB and SPEA) have agreed to pay for a future supply of tertiary treated water from Aguas Algarve which will keep the lagoon "topped up" during the summer months. This is great news since without this supply (and there has been much debate on who, if anyone, was going to pay for it) the lagoon would simply disappear. He also said that further urgent talks are going on with ICNB (the government environmental department) regarding SPA status for this site. More information will come in an official bulletin in due course.

On the 26th October José is going to run in the Istanbul Intercontinental Marathon and is asking for sponsorship to raise money for an engineering project to build a manageable sluice-gate at the outflow point of the lagoon so that in future the water level can be more accurately controlled. This will negate the current "all or nothing" method where the sandbar is mechanically breached (as happened several times during the breeding season this year) and the lagoon runs dry.

*If you have enjoyed visiting Salgados in the past and want to help retain it for the future please consider making an on-line donation:

http://www.justgiving.com/josetavares-rspb-salgados

Many thanks to all, and especially to José for this enormous personal effort.

Colin

Lagoa dos Salgados update September 2008

2008-09-06T10:17:00.003+01:00

The following long-awaited update from Jose Tavares (RSPB) was released on 4th September. It was distributed via email as a Wordpad Document, so my apologies for the format - I am simply "copying & pasting" what I received.

Given the hints recently that there was going to be some "good news" I find the content very disappointing. There appears to be little or no progress on the conferal of SPA status on this site, and no mention of the discussions which have been taking place with Aguas Algarve about suppling the lagoon with water from the new ETAR (sewage treatment plant). I am left with the feeling that we are no further forward than we were twelve months or more ago.

The final part of the update requesting donations (of "several hundred pounds" per person!!) to raise £20,000 to fund a full-time officer seems rather an admission of defeat that with current RSPB/SPEA staffing they are unable to effectively win this campaign.

Lagoa dos Salgados – Situation Update (September 2008)

This briefing follows the one from last March, and aims to summarise the latest developments with the efforts being undertaken by Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA – BirdLife in Portugal) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB – BirdLife in the UK) to secure the long-term conservation of the Lagoa dos Salgados, an unprotected Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Algarve Coast.

The last few months have witnessed a roller coaster of events and advocacy actions – unfortunately the wetland opened to the sea three times in the last few months (April, July and August), and almost every other week there were actions, news, and rumours on the efforts being undertaken to secure the legal protection of the site

Protection of the site as a Special Protected Area (SPA) under the Birds Directive

As you all know, the first and immediate objective of our advocacy campaign is to protect the Salgados wetland as a SPA. During the last few months both SPEA and the RSPB have been rather active to try to secure this designation - the first step, albeit a significant one, on the effective protection and management of the lagoon. Here is the chronology of events and actions that happened in the last few months:

During March-April, SPEA and RSPB staff heavily lobbied the Portuguese ministry of environment for the designation of the site as an SPA. Meetings were held, documents submitted, lots of emails exchanged. We finally secured from the deputy minister of environment a positive opinion, and indeed a request on these lines was sent from the ministry to ICNB (the statutory conservation agency) to start the process.
On the 14th of May a SPEA staff member guided one staff member from DG Environment (the EU Commission Environmental Directorate) around the site and lobbied for EU authorities to act. The DG Environment has written to the Portuguese government enquiring about progress with the designation of Salgados. SPEA and the RSPB have been providing information to DG Env. on Salgados for some time.
Later in July 10th SPEA Director and staff member attended a meeting in Lisboa with the European Commission’s director of the Division of Infringements and again the issue was raised. There was clear indication that the EC will increase their pressure on Portuguese government for a quick designation of a SPA.
Unexpectedly, in May technical staff from ICNB gave a negative opinion on the request from the ministry to designate the area as an SPA, because the site allegedly “did not fulfil SPA criteria or even the IBA criteria”. This is completely baseless, as Salgados is recognised as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International – therefore fulfilling SPA criteria. This technical reasoned opinion came at a time when ICNB appointed a new director (Eng. Tito Rosa), and he upheld his staff opinion.
When SPEA and the RSPB got to know this (end of May), we then moved to meet the new president of ICNB to explain our position and show him the site. A careful briefing was prepared (document in Portuguese available upon request), meetings were held in Lisbon (in June) with the new ICNB director, and eventually a visit to the site organized by SPEA (held on the 17 July). The briefing that was delivered included an update of the IBA Data Form and technical justification for the designation of a SPA. After these meetings and visit, the new director of ICNB confirmed to us he was convinced about the designation of the site as an SPA, and promised he would start the process.
This is the stage we are in – in the meantime Summer set in, so SPEA and the RSPB are now trying to ascertain progress. SPEA will start the writing of the Natura 2000 Data Form in order to assist ICNB and the Portuguese authorities in designating the site and speeding up the process.

Drainage of the wetland

In 2005 SPEA and the RSPB have produced a technical report suggesting that a proper water management system should be installed in Salgados - a sluice that would allow for any overflow into the sea but would maintain a critical amount of water within the marsh at all times. This is a perfectly tested and practical system that could solve most of the chronic water level problems (the water level periodically peaks up and floods the nearby Herdade dos Salgados golf course, built a few years ago at a low level). This report has been widely distributed among all Salgados stakeholders, and SPEA and the RSPB have many times insisted this would need to be installed to avert further water level problems, but to date no competent authority, government agency or organisation showed any interest to pay for its construction.

As a temporary measure, and to avoid the drainage of the wetland during the breeding season, a basic agreement had been made with CCDR-A (the land planning agency, who has competence about any operation to open the wetland to the sea), that allowed for regular drainages of the wetland when needed during the fall-winter, up until the end of March, but prohibited the opening of the lagoon to the sea during the critical spring months when waders and terns breed on the islands in the middle of the lagoon. During those few months, if the water level went up, the nearby Golf course should pump out any excess water with an electrical pump, rather than breach the sand bar and open the wetland to the sea. Last year (2007) this plan was upheld and things worked well.

Unfortunately in the last few months we recorded three openings of the lagoon during the critical breeding season, which had dramatic consequences for the breeding birds

first, on 12 April 2008, a bulldozer from the Salgados golf course opened the sand barrier, under a permit from CCDRA. SPEA and the RSPB acted immediately and stirred quite a lot of media attention, and this issue made the national news for a couple of days, and eventually culminated in a parliamentary question directed at the ministry of environment. Basically, there was a comedy of errors that unfortunately resulted in this event, which had dramatic consequences for the breeding birds. Here’s the chronology of events

Salgados wetland was indeed quite full in early April, and was starting to flood the greens of the Herdade dos Salgados golf, as it always does when the water level goes up, as this golf course is constructed at a lower level than it should be.
The golf course asked for a permit from CCDRA to open the wetland
The relevant staff member in CCDR was on holiday, and another staff member gave the permit without any consultation with other stakeholders.
The wetland was opened on the 12th April.
SPEA and the RSPB complained publicly about this gross negligence, that put in jeopardy the breeding season in Salgados (see enclosed press release, press release I). The media response was tremendous – the draining of Salgados made first page in Público (Portugal best daily – see enclosed file - Publico), and was featured in the main news on all TV channels, dozens of newspapers and websites. Most news items picked up SPEA’s press release and interviewed SPEA staff. The whole event was reported as “an environmental disaster”.
CCDR claimed this was natural and necessary, a “lesser evil”.
Opposition MPs questioned the government on the issue.
The Portuguese ministry of environment finally admitted there had been “a mistake”.
The wetland drained to the sea for several days, and became very dry (see enclosed photo – Lagoa vazia Abril 2008). In the meantime, local people were seen to drive cars on the dry lake bed (see enclosed photo Car Abril 2008), and some went to search for nests in the dry reedbeds.
Inspectors from the ministry have visited the site and took information with them to evaluate the possibility to open a file.
Finally, SPEA sent a file to the Portuguese chief justice office, following their contact, and their suggestion that there may be sufficient material to start a criminal case. In spite of several tries to see what progress has been made on this front, no news have been forwarded.

The only positive thing that came out of this tragedy was that Salgados jumped to the first page of the newspapers, and became a hot political issue.

Following this drainage, the water level recovered quickly due to the unusual wet spring (May was the wettest May on record in Portugal), and soon (end of May) the wetland was full again – in fact several egg clutches were lost due to flooding (see enclosed photo – Lagoa cheia May 2008). Inevitably, mosquitoes and stagnant water became a problem, so in early June visitors reported a tractor spraying insecticide around the margins of the lagoon. Some dead birds were also detected.

iii) Then, around the 25th June, the sand bar separating the wetland from the sea was again breached. This time, however, and following all the public outcry after the April opening, the culprits were much smarter and slicker in their actions
a. The sand bar was breached during the night
b. Two tractors were then working on the beach the day after, supposedly re-establishing the sand bar – the area was fenced off and all evidence quickly covered.
c. The authorities claimed that the wetland was opened by a chance by a “mini-tsunami”, a casual wave that opened the sand channel, and the tractors were immediately called to close the sand bar again.
d. SPEA put out another press release (see enclosed press release II), suggesting there was a cover-up, and the “mini-tsunami” happened during low tide and when the waves were weak. There was again extensive press coverage.

iv) Finally, on the 31st August the lagoon was opened again, when the water level of the wetland was again quite high, this time due to the discharges of the sewage treatment plant. This time the authorities claimed it was again a natural event, caused by the (real) peak tides at the time. However, this is unlikely, as in the last few years the sea hasn’t opened the lagoon, even during the worst winter storms. It is also suspicious that the wetland is always open when it is really full (therefore flooding the Salgados golf course), and only then.

So in short – a comedy of errors, cover-ups, excuses and ineptitude have caused the worst breeding season in years at Salgados – all this because no agency with legal competence on the site does want to commit to pay for the suggested water management system suggested more than 3 years ago by SPEA and the RSPB. We are tired of broken promises and no action, so we are now costing in detail the system, and will launch a public campaign to fund the it’s instalment. We hope that the generosity of the public will help overcome what officials, laws and competences have so far failed to provide.
3. Construction of the new tourism complex
After securing all the permits to build a new tourism complex and golf course on the west side of the wetland, the land owners (Finalgarve) are now preparing the financial package to allow for the development of their project in the Western shore of the lagoon. We have been told that construction will not start soon, certainly not earlier than 2009, possibly even after that.

4. Disturbance

Over the last few months several people have reported that disturbance at the site seems to be increasing – from walkers, joggers, horse riders, camper vans, quad-bikers, etc. This is no doubt partly due to the rampant expansion of the development on the eastern side of the lagoon, and the recent ease of access due to the construction of the bridge over the south end of the wetland. Also, it was reported to us that a flock of sheep and cows grazing on the west of the wetland often caused substantial disturbance during the breeding season. We have contacted the owners of the land, and were told that grazing is not allowed there, and that measures had been taken in the past against it, and that they would take again charge of the matter.

Last April SPEA sent a letter alerting to the problem of overflying small planes carrying commercial banners over the wetland. This letter was sent to all companies operating from the Aeródromo Municipal de Portimão, origin of most of the small aircraft that fly along the central Algarve coast (see http://www.observatoriodoalgarve.com/cna/noticias_ver.asp?noticia=21288 and http://www.barlavento.online.pt/index.php/noticia?id=23720)

In May Rui Eufrasia, SPEA’s local IBA caretaker, has approached a team of people who were flying ultra light parachutes over the lagoon, and informed them about the importance of the site.

I would like to encourage all members of the public that witness any disturbance episode or any illegal activity to report it to CCDR (CCDR Algarve (Ambiente e Ordenamento), Rua Dr. José Matos, 13, 8000-503 Faro, Telefone: +351 289 889 000), and in particular SEPNA – the environmental police (808200520).

5. RSPB sabbatical

In May, Aidan Lonergan, the Director of RSPB Northern Ireland, spent one month at Salgados as part of his RSPB sabbatical, mostly working on two issues

a) Development of a concept for the interpretation centre (target audiences, mains messages, types of exhibits, etc).

b) Fundraising for Salgados Meeting with several company owners and wealthy individuals, mostly British expatriates, who are very committed to Salgados, and discuss and implement with them fundraising plans and strategies to get some money for SPEA to continue with this campaign.

Aidan has met several of you. He is continuing to work on the issue, has made connections with Academics from UCC in Ireland who have agreed to provide the data from their field visits over many years and is currently working on getting more RSPB staff out to Salgados to help with the work.

6. SPEA events

On the 19th April SPEA organised a fieldtrip to Salgados, led by Rui Eufrasia (see details at http://www.spea.pt/index.php?op=act_2008/ssalgados).

Following the success of last year’s event, SPEA organised again a DONA event (similar to the RSPB’s own Aren’t Bird Brilliant project) at the Praia Grande car park on the 16th-17th August, to show beachgoers the spectacular birds that use this wetland.

On the 13th September SPEA will again organise a fieldtrip to Lagoa dos Salgados (see http://www.spea.pt/index.php?op=act_2008/ssalgados for more details).

7. Articles on Salgados in the English press

Last April Len Port published another article on Salgados on three English language magazines widely distributed in the Algarve: Algarve Property, Algarve Goodlife and Algarve Golf Guide. This describes very well some of the issues we are facing in the moment. The article is enclosed (Len Port Salgados)

Last August an article on Salgados penned by Michael Benington was published in Birds Illustrated.

8. Birds

This year’s breeding season has been heavily affected by the April drainage of the wetland, and many nests have been lost. On the plus side, a colony of whiskered terns (6 pairs) attempted to breed in the wetland for the first time, but their efforts were hampered by the drainage of the wetland in late June. Five pairs of little terns also settled to breed in Salgados, but again failed. Two pairs of purple heron bred successfully though. The wader breeding success was also very low – only 3 or 4 pairs pf black-winged stilt fledged young (around 40 pairs last year), and no breeding avocets had any success this Spring (about 45 pairs bred there successfully last year). Ducks also suffered – shoveler did not breed there this year (there were 3 pairs in 2007), while only one pair of pochard raised young there this year (3-4 pairs in 2007).

In spite of all the draining events, birds still flocked to the wetland, and at times Salgados showed us all its splendour (see enclosed photo Birds Abril 2008)

In terms of rarities, a white winged black tern, a mute swan and a white-headed duck have been observed in May.

9. Save Salgados Fund – Donations required

In the last few months both SPEA and myself have been struggling with a problem of capacity – there is nobody who can work on Lagoa dos Salgados on a fulltime basis, not even on a half-time basis, despite the tremendous inputs and dedication of our IBA caretaker Rui Eufrásia. Capacity is indeed a crucial point in the speed of progress in this Salgados policy campaign – if only we had a full time staff member dealing with this issue, things would progress more swiftly. Both SPEA and the RSPB fully recognize this. However, in the real world, this is simply not possible – there are no resources in SPEA for this. The RSPB has actually increased its financial support to SPEA this year in view of the excellent work and results that SPEA is achieving, and the huge challenges that SPEA faces in-country. Given the scale, scope and timing of the multiple threats affecting most of the 93 Portuguese Important Bird Areas, our support is clearly not enough, and unfortunately SPEA’s (growing but small) membership or corporate fundraising hasn’t been able to provide the core budget they need.

We therefore are directly requesting you – friend of Salgados, regular visitor – for direct help.

We need £20,000 to secure a one year salary and expenses for a fulltime Salgados officer – see enclosed draft Terms of Reference specifications. Can you please provide any help to fulfil this? This is the time to act. Please donate – we need you to get a full time Salgados officer, and secure swifter progress – eventually to save this site from further destruction.

Please send your donation to the following SPEA bank account, and mark it “Salgados”. If each birdwatcher that regularly visits Salgados donated a few hundred pounds, we would reach the target soon.

Bank: Millennium BCP
Bank Address: Av. 5 de Outubro, 60-68 1050-059 Lisboa
Account Number: 260345382
Swift Code: BCOMPTPL
IBAN Code: PT 5000330026034538205

We have hold out until this late moment to ask you directly for money – we are now convinced this is the only way out to reach our objectives. It is your time to act - please donate generously. Also, if you have any fundraising idea, want to lead any fundraising activity or want to comment – please get in touch. I will keep you all posted on the level of donations – I am currently trying to set up as donations page on the Just Giving site.

I also emphasize that SPEA needs members to grow its constituency and strength – most of you are not members yet. Please consider joining – it is only 22 € a year! You can receive a bi-monthly email newsletter in English with the latest news (some on Salgados), as well as the membership magazine, a weekly bird observations digest, and many other news. Please find enclosed an English membership form.

10. Thanks

A word of acknowledgement and encouragement to all that have helped us in the last few months.

José Pedro Tavares
Country Programmes Officer for Portugal, Turkey and Greece
International Division
The RSPB
The Lodge
Sandy
Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, UK
E-Mail: jose.tavares@rspb.org.uk

Salgados Meeting

2008-07-24T10:38:00.003+01:00

Greater Flamingos over Salgados

The long-awaited official update from José Tavares (RSPB Country Programmes Officer for Portugal) about the progress on Lagoa dos Salgados has still not appeared.

On the 17th July I attended an on-site meeting at the lagoa together with Luís Costa (President of SPEA), Humberto Rosado (the new President of ICNB - Institute for Conservation of Nature and Biodiversity), João Ministro (Almargem - NGO environmental agency), Rui Eufrásia (Vigilante of Salgados IBA) together with a few other interested parties. The main purpose of this was to portray to ICNB the importance of giving SPA (Special Protection Area) status to this site in order to secure its future. This was the President of ICNB's first visit, he came away very impressed, and Luís Costa told me that he was now very optimistic that the lagoa would be given official protection the near future (at the moment is has none).

The SPEA and ICNB representatives were going on to a further meeting that afternoon with Aguas Algarve to discuss the water requirements which are going to be essential for the future of the wildlife there. The new ETAR (sewage treatment works) is due to be commissioned soon and this will be providing 'grey' water which has undergone tertiary treatment to remove harmful nitrates and phosphates as well as bio-toxins. This is more expensive than the current low level treatment provided by the existing and soon to be defunct ETAR and Aguas Algarve are looking to recover at least some of their costs be selling this water to adjacent golf courses for irrigation. The vital question now is who is going to pay for some of this water to be diverted into the lagoon to keep it topped up during the summer months.

Lagoa dos Salgados 2008

2008-07-05T12:27:00.006+01:00

A huge apology to all those who have visited this site in search of news on progress at Lagoa dos Salgados ("Pêra Marsh"). Although I am still monitoring the situation and am in contact with SPEA and RSPB on a regular basis, my attention and time have been diverted to what is also happening on my own doorstep at Ria de Alvor; I hope to begin a separate sequence of illustrated bulletins on the problems facing this locality (which, as well as being a RAMSAR Site, has become incorporated in the EU "Nature 2000" network since September 2006).

I met Aidan Lonergan (RSPB Director, Northern Ireland) in May this year while he was spending a month-long sabbatical over here with a brief to "look into" the options for the future preservation of the lagoon. Aidan spent his time well, met with most of the parties involved, and is of the firm opinion that this site MUST be saved. I was very impressed at how well he had grasped the many complexities of the situation in such a short space of time. Aidan is in the process of writing up a report on his visit and has vowed to return in the near future to assist with the move to preserve this site.

I have also recently been in contact with José Tavares (RSPB Country Programmes Officer for Portugal) who informs me that there has been a lot happening behind the scenes and that a full update is imminent. I will post that here as soon as it becomes available.

In the meantime, you might find it useful and informative to visit a new Portuguese birding forum "Fórum Aves" http://aves.team-forum.net/ the site is in Portuguese and to access all the sections you need to register (which is free but not easy if you do not understand Portuguese!). Two of the sections, the Galeria (Photo-gallery) and Birds of Portugal in English (for which I act as Moderator) are available to view by visitors, but you cannot post a response unless you are a registered member; if anyone wants a translation of the registration process please let me know. But as a start, from the title page (linked above) select "Início", then select "Birds of Portugal (in English)" and you will find threads on Lagoa dos Salgados as well as Ria de Alvor in which I have linked to various missives, including articles in the local English weekly "The Algarve Resident".

As soon as I have more information I will distribute it.

Best wishes to all supporters,

Colin

Altura Reservoir

2007-01-23T11:36:00.000Z

For anyone visiting Castro Marim or the Tavira saltpans there is another easily accessible locality at a man-made lagoon to the east of the town of Altura.

Leave the A22 motorway at junction 17 (signposted "Monte Gordo") and travel south for 2km. At the T-junction turn right onto the EN125 and travel west for 0.5km to a roundabout and turn left (towards Altura) into the Avenida 24 de Junho - the lagoon is on the left after a couple of hundred metres. The road here is a dual carriageway so you will have to go to the first opening in the central reservation (opposite the entrance to Altura) and do a U-turn. Park with care on the grass verge. This is the west side of the lagoon which can be scanned by 'scope in the afternoon, but in the morning you will need to get onto the east side by going further north to the point where the lagoon meets the road, just after which there is a gap in the fence. Lots of dog-walkers and other "busy bodies" who will come to see what you are doing. I drove through the gap in the fence intending to use the jeep as a hide but was immediately pounced upon by an irate Portuguese man on a motorbike waving his arms and shouting "Privado" - I retreated.

I first visited this locality after learning that a Crested Coot (Fulica cristata) had been seen there in October 2006 with a group of 400 Common Coot. There were also a number of Ferruginous Ducks amongst a variety of other duck species. A more recent visit produced 31 Mediterranean Gulls with large numbers of commoner gull species.

It is probably best to visit at high tide since this lagoon is only a short distance from the sea and is clearly used as a high tide roost. I have the feeling that this could be a very productive site with more frequent observation.

Alpine Accentor 2007

2007-01-23T10:40:00.002Z

For a long time the Alpine Accentor (Prunella collaris) was one of our "bogie" birds. I had had glimpses at Foia (around the horrible cafe complex) and we knew that they occurred overwintering around the cliffs at Cape St Vincent. After many fruitless hours watching the sea cliffs to the north and south of the Cape it was Roger Skan who (in a state of "high excitement") found three birds feeding on the cliff edge in 2004. Since then we have seen them regularly and managed to also get this as a "lifer" for Jim Winsper, but the birds were always distant and moving very quickly making photography impossible.

On 30th December 2006 Peter Dedicoat, June Taylor and Georg Schreier found five birds feeding around the cliff top and Peter managed a good digiscoped shot. On 13th January this year Roger and I found two birds adjacent to the car-park at Cape St Vincent but two huge coach-loads of noisy Spanish tourists disturbed them. Eventually the "Espanols " departed, the birds returned and were very confiding, and I at last managed to get some good shots just before another coach-load of Germans arrived and walked between me and the birds!!

Red-rumped Swallows (2006)

2006-12-01T19:51:00.000Z

The Red-rumped Swallows which set up home and bred in the passage between the house and the garage returned this year. The nest was refurbished and a small extension to the entrance tunnel was added. We had hoped for an additional nest but no luck this year, and we have no idea whether the returning birds were the original pair, off-spring, or other.

Three broods were raised with five, three then two chicks hatched and fledged. In the autumn activity at the nest was intense with all twelve birds feeding over the garden and apparently all roosting in the nest - very crowded! One fledgling was found several times on the ground and manually returned to the nest. He (she, it?) appeared to be unharmed and was seen flying and returning to the nest after his parents and siblings had migrated south.

We look forward to their return in April 2007.

Um Nova "Vigilante" de Salgados IBA

2006-12-01T18:48:00.000Z

Every one of Portugal's IBA's (Important Bird Areas) has a designated "Vigilante", or Caretaker, who's role is to generally oversee the "care" of the site. Until recently the vigilante of Lagoa dos Salgados has been Joao Ministro but the role has now been transferred to a local Portuguese birder called Rui Eufrasia.

Rui looks "mean", and he can be; he does a wonderful job in reprimanding any miscreants (dog walkers, horse riders, quad-bike drivers, etc) who threaten the tranquility of this site and the welfare of the birdlife.

But, he is also a very nice guy and an excellent birder who knows more about the birdlife and everything else which goes on at Salgados than anyone else. His command of English is very good and he knows the names of all the Western Palearctic birds in Portuguese, Latin and English - quite an achievement!

If you meet him there please say "hello" - you will learn a lot from him.

Moussier's Redstart

2006-12-01T18:26:00.000Z

On 16th November a visiting birder, Kevin Wilson (Manager of Gibraltar Point NNR), found a Moussier's Redstart near Fortaleza de Beliche on the road between Sagres and Cape St Vincente. If accepted by the Portuguese Rarities Committee this will be the first record for Portugal. I am grateful to Marcial Felgueiras (Warden of the A Rocha field centre where Kevin was staying) for informing me of this find and to Kevin himself for giving me precise locality details. I went there myself on the 18th November and managed to locate the bird and take some photographs - a cracking adult male in pristine, fresh autumn plumage.

Lagoa dos Salgados update

2006-12-01T18:10:00.001Z

Apologies for the absence of posts for such a long time. This is partly due to the lack of information and the fact that a meeting convened in May (2006) between all parties involved was cancelled. The situation is now looking a little brighter and José Tavares (RSPB) and his counterparts in SPEA have been working very hard. Rather than post the actual document here I would refer you to the SPEA website section on IBA's http://www.spea.pt/IBA/ibas/35.html where the latest information is available in English.

RSPB Report (Salgados)

2005-11-02T18:02:00.000Z

Lagoa dos Salgados

Key Proposals for Management
This document was written by Matt Self
This is an SPEA-RSPB joint project
For more contacts: Jose.tavares@rspb.org.uk Ivan.ramirez@spea.pt Or:http://www.spea.pt/MS2/ibas/35.html

(Notes from site visit 29-31 March 2005)

Introduction

Lagoa dos Salgados, one of few wetlands on the western Algarve coast, is highly important for birds and has been recognised as an IBA by SPEA. Unfortunately, the site has not been designated as a SPA (under the Birds Directive) by the Portuguese government, and lobbying continues at a high level. SPA designation is unpopular, as it is seen as a hindrance to development. There are elections in 2005 and 2006, it is unlikely that this situation will change.
There has been an outcry in recent years over a proposed development on the north and west sides of the lagoon, consisting of a golf course, two hotels and many villas, a total of some 10,500 beds. SPA designation would prevent the project from going ahead. So far, the only obstacle to the developers has been an old planning law that prevents building within the historical flood limits of rivers and other low lying areas. The regional land planning agency have told the developers to work above this elevation. SPEA has also requested flexibility in the project boundaries to work with the ecological sensitivities of the site. Recent meetings have resulted in a sincere compromise from the developers to adapt their project.
Another threat to the lagoon comes from the proposed construction of a new sewage treatment works. The old works currently supplies most of the water to the lagoon, but there is no plan for the new works to include a transfer to the lagoon.
It is clear that the development will go ahead, and that SPEA and the RSPB have to achieve the best outcome within this. The Lagoa de Salgados faces an uncertain future, but there are considerable opportunities to work with the developers, Aguas de Algarve and others to get enhancement and management work carried out.
The role of this report is to consider possibilities for creative management of the site within the constraints of the impending development and potentially restricted water supply.
Summary of constraints:Potentially far less water entering the siteProximity of disturbance in the form of golf, hotels, roads etc.A reduction in the open aspect of the site on the north and west sides
Limitations on the water supply to a site are common in wetlands throughout the world, but in this case the loss of the ETAR supply would be unusually significant, as there is very infrequent flow in the Ribeira de Espiche to compensate. The normal response to water supply issues at wetlands is to maximise usage of the water available throughout the year (particularly if supply is highly seasonal) by storage of winter surplus, and to use compartmentalisation (installation of bunds or banks, and water control structures) to create concentrated areas of ideally managed land.

Key proposals for management

Ensure a supply of water from the new ETAR

This is the most fundamental of the proposals, and cannot be understated. Natural flows in the Ribeira de Espiche (and the Ribeira de Vale Rabelho) are highly intermittent and limited to winter flood events. They are unable to maintain a reasonable area of surface flooding in key periods such as the breeding season. Ideally, a flow could be routed to one of the proposed water storage areas (see below) so that it can be stored and distributed as necessary.
Presumably the new development would use considerable amounts of water, and their should be the potential to direct their discharged golf course water into the lagoon. Ideally this would go into a tertiary treatment reedbed first (see below).

Create a water storage area

A bunded area just to the north of the lagoon could be used to store water from winter rainfall and flood events. The bunds should be relatively low (eg.1.5m high) with gently shelving sides to avoid reducing sight lines, which can deter bird usage. Locating the bunded area (or indeed areas, as there could be more than one compartment) in the dry grassland area to the immediate north of the lagoon would make use of the gentle fall in land levels. Water could gravity feed into the lagoon in winter from the channels running north-south through the grassland, linked into the Ribeira de Espiche by a cross ditch at the north end (where the old farmhouse is). The storage area could also be filled or topped up by pumping from the lagoon. Soils are less sandy farther away from the dunes, and more able to retain surface water there.
Material for the bunds can come from excavation within the bunded area, to increase capacity, and also from excavation work in the core lagoon area (see below) as part of work to enhance features there.

It would not be possible for a water storage area to maintain a large area of surface water without supplementation from the new ETAR. However, the tens of thousands of cubic metres of water stored can be trickle fed to offset evaporational losses in spring, and because of the non-ETAR source, can improve water quality. The value of the water would be maximised if enhancement work was undertaken in the core lagoon area (see below).
The bunded water storage area has the potential to be a rich area for wildlife in itself. Some of the area could be planted as a reedbed, ideally if this was in a separate unit. This would be valuable marginal cover, as well as providing some screening from the new development. If suitably engineered, the reedbed would have the potential to improve water quality and be an attractive edge for the new golf course and hotel development. There could be opportunities here for the developers to create this as part of their work, to the benefit of both their project and wildlife. If the bunded area is a reasonable size (more than 2ha), it would be attractive to wildfowl when full, and to waders when the water level recedes leaving areas of newly exposed mud. The slope from the north down to the lagoon would be ideal for this, ensuring some open water and mud at a wide range of water levels. Ditch enhancement and some low ridges (c 0.5m high) would further increase the interest at a wide range of water levels.
In an ideal situation, a pipe from the new ETAR could be installed directly into the reedbed compartment for final treatment (‘polishing’), before feeding it into the main water storage area.

A valve or sluice would allow water to be gravity fed into the main lagoon, using ditches that are still present from the old rice fields. The sluice can be a very simple structure. Ideally the flows would be concentrated into a core area with enhanced features.
Enhance water features within the lagoon area
This would consist largely of enhancement of former ditches from the old rice fields, both by deepening and also reprofiling to ensure gently-shelving sides. Low bunding (less than 0.5m) would ensure that water is retained for longer, and would provide a place for the excavated spoil. Bunds of this size are almost imperceptible when viewed, and are a standard feature in many created and restored wetlands.
Water levels were high (4.00m) at the time of my visit, so it was not possible to examine features within the core lagoon area. However, the most suitable area is likely to be relatively low in the system and not adjacent to tracks and paths.

Install a pipe through the sand bar, linking lagoon and sea
At present the management of the outlet is ‘all or nothing’, based on sporadic opening of a channel using an excavator. This will still need to be done, to allow flushing of accumulated silt and debris, and to ensure an adequate discharge capacity for very large, infrequent flood events. The ingress of sea water also maintains brackish conditions in the lower lagoon, and increases overall water quality when the majority comes directly from the old, poorly-functioning ETAR.
However, a pipe will allow a more steady, small scale ingress and egress through the sand bar. This will maintain more stability of salinity, avoiding sudden changes from fresh to sea-water. It will allow outflow of small floods, a far more regular occurrence than large flood events, and a valve on the end will allow some degree of control. This is important in the current situation where the golf course people are not allowed to open the sand bar outside winter, and should be welcomed by them (and hopefully installed by them).
The water quality at the time of the visit was very poor, with a strong odour and noticeable algal growth.
Further work needed
A detailed topographical survey of the core lagoon area will be needed, to ensure suitable placement of the bunds and sluices. This will need to be done when the lagoon is drained down, and related to local datum.

Matt Self 5.5.05

Proposals for a water management system at Lagoa dos Salgados
SummaryThe area of the lagoon declines greatly when water levels fall from 4.0m to 3.75m - reinstatement of field ditches and some pool creation would maintain the interest of this area into spring and summerStorage of winter surplus rainfall would reduce dependence on water from the ETAR, improve water quality and permit larger areas to be kept wet through the springA shallow storage area with a low bund (<1m high) in the northern part of the area would increase wet habitat and allow gravity feed into lower areasA 2ha area in the northern half flooded to a maximum depth of 0.50m (mean depth 0.25m) would be able to retain lagoon levels at 3.75m into July in a typical year.
Currently, water levels in the Lagoa vary from around 4.2m in winter, down to 3.6m in mid summer. However, within these periods the levels can change rapidly due to opening of the sand bar at the lowest point, or storm events in the catchment. The effects of these water level changes are magnified by the very flat ground between the elevations of 3.75 to 4.0m. At present, when water levels drop from 4.0m to 3.75m, around 5.4ha of wetland dries out. The benefit of this area would be maintained if the current derelict ditches were reinstated (fig.1), to a bed depth of about 2.6m (above the existing gauge board), with gently shelving margins (a slope of around 30%). In addition, the junctions of ditches could be opened up into shallow pools. As water levels recede in spring, these features would retain approximately 1 metre depth of open water, and muddy edges.
There is very little water available in the Espiche catchment, and a high dependence on water from the water treatment plant nearby. This has led to some water quality problems. A solution to this is to make more use of surplus winter rainfall, which tends to be concentrated in relatively few days, leading to flash flooding of the catchment and lagoon area. Rapid rises in water levels tend to lead to the outlet channel being opened, and much of this water being lost to sea.

Storage of some winter surplus rainfall would reduce the severity of flood events and may result in less necessity to open the outlet channel. However, the primary benefit of the water would be to offset the evapotranspiration losses in and around the lagoon by a controlled gravity feed during the spring, and on into the summer if feasible. This would maintain more water in and around the lagoon in the breeding season than would otherwise be the case. The quality of the water will also be considerably better than that from the ETAR.

A water storage area would increase the wetness of the slightly higher northern part of the lagoon area during the spring, and create additional areas of wet habitat. Enhancement of ditches would not only improve water distribution (especially during low water periods), but also increase the availability of wet areas in the northern part of the lagoon area. The water storage area would not have the appearance of a reservoir (figure 1). A low bund would follow the approximate line of the 4.0m contour. The bund would only be 1.0m high, with a broad crest and gently sloping sides (less than 30%). The 400m length indicated would retain up to 50,000m3 if held to a depth of 0.5m at the bund, allowing a freeboard of 0.5m to avoid wave damage to the bund crest.

The additional features between the lagoon and the bund would create an additional 1.20ha of open water on top of the 0.93ha of the lagoon (at 3.75m). The area faces a severe water deficit for much of the year, starting in late February and increasing cululatively to 560mm by the end of June in a typical year. The 2.13ha of open water would lose 11,900m3 of water by the end of June. The bunded water storage body would lose a similar quantity over the same period. So given a full storage area in February, the water levels could be maintained at 3.75m in the lagoon and new features to the end of June using the stored water, whilst leaving 25,000m3 available for further supplementation into July and August, or as a contingency for an unusually dry year. Some of this will be lost to seepage, both to groundwater and to the sea.
The storage water calculations assume no contribution from the ETAR. Small quantities would be able to supplement the lagoon, and any quality problems would be diluted by the storage water. There is also the potential for sea water contribution through the outlet channel when it is opened in winter.

SALGADOS (October 2005 Update)

2005-10-22T18:46:00.000+01:00

The following update arrived via email to all interested parties in mid October. It is lengthy, but well worth reading. The retraction of the submission of Lagoa dos Salgados as a proposed RAMSAR site is unfortunate, but probably not critical. The final part of this document (highlighted in red text) is significant. Apart from the developers having reduced the scale of their proposal by almost 50% (in terms of volume of new accomodation), they have shown a willingness to collaborate with SPEA and the RSPB in maintaining the viability of the lagoon as a natural resource. The overall situation is much more complex than any of us thought just over one year ago and both the RSPB and SPEA must be congratulated for clarifying this, disseminating the information and doing a splendid job in bringing together, and negotiating with, all interested parties; given the obscure way in which the "Portuguese machinery" works, this is no small triumph! There is some way to go yet before we have any sign of victory, but I think that we have some cause for optimism.

Lagoa dos Salgados – Situation Update (October 2005)

This briefing follows the one from last April, and aims to summarise the latest developments with the efforts being undertaken by Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA – BirdLife in Portugal) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB – BirdLife in the UK) to secure the long-term conservation of the Lagoa dos Salgados, an unprotected Important Bird Area (IBA) in the Algarve Coast.

This briefing was due to be sent during the summer, but the many recent developments (see below) have turned the situation rather volatile, with information coming in and follow-up meetings set up throughout the summer, so we have waited until the situation became clearer before sending you all the present up-date

Summary of the situation in April 2005 (see previous briefings for further detail)

+ We were facing a big tourism development project (10,000 beds, 18-hole golf course) planned for the area immediately to the west and north of the lagoon, that would occupy significant parts of the western and northern margins of the wetland. This project did not have planning permission due to a negative evaluation by the local land planning agency (CCDR), but there was intensive pressure to deconstruct and reverse this binding opinion.
+ We were facing the impending construction of a new sewage treatment plant that will substitute the current one, and therefore remove the main current source of water feeding the wetland. The original plans for the new sewage treatment plant did not include any outflow to the wetland.
+ The site was not protected, and the Portuguese government was unwilling to declare it as an Special Protected Area (SPA) under the Birds Directive.

Actions by SPEA and the RSPB between April and September 2005

New sewage treatment plant – definition of the remit of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and development of the EIA proper

The new sewage treatment plan had, by law, to be subjected to an EIA. A critical step in the EIA process was to define and agree on the terms of reference (TOR) of the EIA proper. This is done by an EIA evaluation commission that is established for each project under EIA obligations. The EIA commission has representatives from the land planning and local and central statutory agencies, including the Portuguese government nature conservation agency (ICN), CCDR, etc.

It was clear that the first step would be to make sure that the EIA remit would cover the needs of the lagoon. There was the clear danger that the TOR for this EIA would exclude anything to do with the wetland, as the new sewage treatment plant is several kilometres away from the wetland. It was therefore crucial to lobby and inform all the stakeholders in the EIA commission to introduce the needs of the lagoon in the specific TOR of this EIA. SPEA and the RSPB organised meetings with both ICN and CCDR last April, to convey this point. We are happy to report that we were successful here. This means that the EIA had to consider the needs of the lagoon.

The EIA process then started in earnest, and was contracted out to a environmental impact assessment consultancy (IPA, Inovação de Projectos em Ambiente, lda). Our next steps here were to provide this company with our data and priorities for the lagoon: In early May SPEA and the RSPB met with the directors from this company and exchanged views and data, including Joao Ministro’s general evaluation of the biodiversity importance of the lagoon (see below).

IPA’s team were suggesting that the wetland should be maintained at the 2 metres asl (above sea level), a value far below the average current dimensions of the wetland. We have conveyed to them the need to change that in the final EIA report, and also discussed with them the relevance to propose the establishment of a system and process that would allow for an integrated management of the wetland water requirements.

We can also report that the submarine emissary (600 m long at sea) that will be built as part of the new sewage treatment plant – and that will serve an area with 300,000 summer residents - will cross the southern part of the lagoon from northeast to southwest. The emissary will cross the existing golf-course on the eats side of the lagoon (Golfe dos Salgados).

We conveys to the IPA’s team our concerns and suggestions regarding the issue of minimizing disturbance to the birds and the habitats from the work to install the emissary, namely seasonal restrictions to the construction work, etc.

More, the new sewage treatment plant will produce a substantial amount of water with tertiary treatment that will be provided, at a cost, to the existing and future golf-courses in the area. It is not yet clear where all the infrastructure to transport this water from the plant to the golf courses will be laid. Again, the location of these may have an impact on the wetland, and we conveyed our concerns to the IPA team.

The EIA study has been finished, and has been sent to the customer, but hasn’t been released to the public yet, and we haven’t seen the final draft – usually it takes about 6-9 months in between delivery to the customer and public disclosure for comment. SPEA is waiting for the compulsory public scrutiny window in order to evaluate and comment on this study.

Studies and suggestions on the hydrology and management options for the lagoon, as well as general characterization of the biodiversity importance of the lagoon

It is clear that during 2005-2006 several important decisions regarding the long-term future of the Salgados wetland will be taken (EIA, new sewage treatment plan, planning permission for the tourism development, etc). In the beginning of this year SPEA and the RSPB have thus decided to develop some quick assessment of the biodiversity importance of the lagoon, and about several aspects related to the water management of the site, to inform all these processes and decisions. Two studies were developed:

b.1 – a general study on the biodiversity importance of the lagoon, including some mapping of areas important for birds. This was the responsibility of Joao Ministro, the local IBA caretaker, with abundant local knowledge and many years of experience in monitoring the lagoon

b.2 – some practical considerations about the water management of the lagoon, including some recommendations for future water level management (as one of the main issues affecting the biodiversity of the lagoon had to do with water quality and the regular emptying-out of the lagoon, see previous briefings). This was the responsibility of Matt Self, an RSPB senior ecologist.

Matt Self visited the site in the end of March, and these reports were produced over the following 3 months. Drafts of the reports were in the meantime sent to the company developing the EIA. These reports have also been shared with the main stakeholders (the developers, CCDR, etc).

Both these reports are available to all interested individuals. They are big files (total 4MB), so please contact me if you want to receive them in your e-mail inbox.

Advocacy strategy to protect the site

As mentioned, SPEA and the RSPB feel that the site should be protected as an Special Protected Area (SPA) under the Birds Directive. However, the Portuguese government had clearly told us that they were not willing to declare new SPAs in the near future, for a number of reasons:
SPAs are still seen a negative hindrance to development by all local and regional bodies, so the central government suffers a political cost in declaring new SPAs
Locals elections (just held last weekend – 9th October) meant mayors were not available to discuss and take forward any “controversial” issue, worried about their re-election prospocts
The Portuguese government is under pressure from the EU Commission to progress on a infringement case following a formal complaint regarding poor implementation of the Birds Directive, in particular regarding the protection of steppe habitats, so they will not dedicate time and effort to any initiative related to SPAs before solving that complaint.

After discussing the issue internally and with several policy and advocacy experts, and given the position of the Portuguese government, SPEA and the RSPB have then developed an alternative advocacy strategy to secure some form of legal protection for this site. The alternative solution devised was to aim for Ramsar designation (under the Ramsar convention) as a first step that would eventually lead to further designation later on. Main reason for this solution:

The site fulfils Ramsar criteria
Ramsar is less politically charged than SPAs
In November there will be a Conference of the Parties of the Ramsar Convention (in Uganda), and the Portuguese Government had announced it would like to declare a few new Ramsar sites for that meeting, so there would be a window of chance here.

Please note that the final aim would always be to declare the site as an SPA, but this would be an interim solution offering us some political leverage and funding opportunities.

SPEA and the RSPB have then developed an advocacy campaign to lobby for this. In April SPEA and the RSPB have formally suggested to the Portuguese Ministry of Environment, in a formal meeting, these intentions. In several follow-up meetings with key staff from the ministry in April and May, the issue was always analysed. SPEA and the RSPB has also done technical preparatory work needed for the designation of the site, including filling in the Ramsar form for the site (available upon request). All this resulted in the inclusion of Salgados in the internal ministry documents being prepared for the designation of new Ramsar sites. SPEA had also started to contact with the other stakeholders regarding their views on this designation, and the response was positive (including from the developers).

In early September, SPEA and the RSPB met again formally with the Portuguese ministry of environment to secure a final decision on the matter – please see enclosed briefing produced for that meeting (in Portuguese). It was then that we were told of new and unexpected developments that changed completely the picture.

Unknown to us, in September 2004 a British citizen sent a petition to the European Parliament (EP) about Salgados. This petition was accepted by the EP and triggered some correspondence between the EP, the EU Commission and the Portuguese Government. Last March the EU Commission wrote to the Portuguese government asking why the area was not classified as an SPA, as was identified as an IBA by SPEA (please see enclosed petition and correspondence).

Faced with a contentious case with the Commission about steppe SPAs, and afraid that Brussels would start infringement procedures again if indeed the Portuguese authorities recognised now that Salgados was important, the Portuguese government then decided to freeze any form of protection of the site. In that meeting in September SPEA and the RSPB were then told that Salgados would be taken out of the candidate new Ramsar sites list that the Portuguese government will announce November.

So the situation now is that we have an all-or-nothing situation regarding the protection of the site. Either we can convince the Portuguese government and the local authorities to protect it as an SPA, or nothing at all. Obviously, that is what SPEA and the RSPB are now going to try. The local mayors (the wetlands borders both Silves and Albufeira councils) were both re-elected on Sunday, so SPEA and the RSPB will now address this issue with them, taking in consideration the new developments with the tourism development reported below.

The petition to the EP also illustrates how a well-meaning action by a concerned citizen has spoiled the legal protection of the site as a Ramsar site, and the advocacy strategy being developed by SPEA and the RSPB.

Meetings with developers (Irmaos Cavaco)

In the meantime, very positive developments have occurred in this area. In August SPEA and the RSPB have been sent a new plan for the tourism development, which considerably reduces the area it occupies. Faced with the negative evaluation by CCDR, and also with the pressure and lobbying that both SPEA and the RSPB have been doing over the last year, the developers have halved the number of beds (from 10,000 to 5,500) and have consequently “pulled” their golf course a few metres higher, so that it now is above the 4,5 metre asl line in the west of the lagoon, thus complying with the CCDRs technical opinion. In the north of the wetland the golf academy goes beyond the 4,5 m asl contour, but they the developers are not intending to do any alteration of the soil profile there, just plant a golfing green for a golf academy. Further, in the new plan the developers leave an area of original habitat (abandoned farm fields and maquis) of around 15ha in the centre of their property, in between the two streams.

SPEA and the RSPB studied carefully the new plan for the area, and eventually met the developers in mid September to discuss it further. The Cavaco brothers have then offered SPEA and the RSPB the possibility of active collaboration in the landscaping of the area around their development, to enhance biodiversity. They have also offered SPEA and the RSPB the old farmhouse located to the north of the wetland to establish an eventual interpretation and visitor centre, and were open to negotiate technical details about the work to be done. In the meantime, the Cavaco brothers have resubmitted their new plan to the CCDR, which is now evaluating it. SPEA and the RSPB are in close contact with CCDR: their first, informal reaction was positive, since the new plan complies with the main reason for the initial negative opinion (overlap between the golf-course and the historical flood limit)

SPEA then sought endorsement from their board about this new development – the possibility of engaging with the developers in an active collaboration. The response was positive.

Next steps:

SPEA and the RSPB will meet with CCDR in the end of October to follow this up, and get information about any planning permission, as well as the designation of the site as an SPA, etc.
SPEA and the RSPB will submit to the developers a proposal regarding further actions that can happen to enhance the habitat and biodiversity value of the site, taking in consideration the new development plan.
SPEA and the RSPB will meet with Aguas do Algarve in the end of October to evaluate latest developments with the EIA and the construction of the new sewage treatment plant. Please note that even if the authorities require a compulsory outflow from the new sewage treatment plan to the lagoon, the important issue of who will pay for this water (that needs to have tertiary treatment according to EU legislation) is still outstanding.
SPEA and the RSPB will meet with the local councils in the end of October to discuss their approach towards declaration the site as an SPA

The next briefing is planned for the beginning of 2006, give or take one or two months to accommodate new developments.

If any of these points require clarification, please contact us directly.

Yours sincerely,

José Pedro Tavares
Country Programmes Officer for Portugal, Turkey and Greece
International Division
The RSPB
The Lodge
Sandy
Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, UK
E-Mail: jose.tavares@rspb.org.uk

Luis Costa
Director
SPEA
Rua da Vitória, 53 -3º Esq
1100-618 Lisboa, Portugal
E-Mail: luis.costa@spea.pt

"Super-Dog"

2005-10-08T17:43:00.007+01:00

Everyone who has ever met me on my twice-daily tour of the Ria da Alvor will also have met my dog "BODI". She was found as a stray puppy, together with her sister, on the beach at Alvor apparently (we understand) having been abandoned by her owner, a local fisherman, who's bitch had had a litter of seven - five dogs and two bitches. It is common for Portuguese peasants to abandon female puppies because they do not want more pups and thay cannot afford to have them spayed. Bodi was originally christened "Boadicea" and her sister "Cleopatra" by my friend Gail who found them. Gail re-named Cleopatra as "Petal" (no comment!!) and we decided that Boadicea, being a bit of a mouthfull, should become "Bodi".

"ALERT"

She was eight years old this September and during those years this dog has become my next-but-one best friend and constant companion. As she grew it became apparent that a large portion of her genetic make-up was Border Collie, and she shows many of the characteristics typical of that breed: super intelligent, very active, extremely good-natured with other dogs, cats (we have seven who all think that Bodi is a very large, friendly cat) and children and just about anybody else but particularly birders - to Bodi human being plus binoculars and/or telescope = friend.

"INTELLIGENT"

Bodi takes me out for walkies twice a day for a total of about four hours; in mid-summer it is a 5.30 am start as I am pulled out of bed and told it is "time to go". When she was younger I would walk a total of about 12km a day with her, and for every kilometre I walked she would run (chasing rabbits, hares and foxes) at least 4 km. I once calculated that we had walked to Johannesburgh and back (twice)!!

"COY"

She loves people, and is not at all choosy as to whom she speaks, so if you see her before you see me please say "HELLO", and if by chance you have a doggie biscuit (or any sort of biscuit) in your pocket, you will have made a friend for life.

Garden Breeders 2005

2005-09-11T18:47:00.000+01:00

This year the list of birds breeding in the garden is:

Common Quail
Littel Owl
Eurasian Collared Dove
Crested Lark
*Red-rumped Swallow
Eurasian Blackbird
Blackcap
Garden Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Great Tit
Woodchat Shrike
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
European Serin
European Greenfinch
European Goldfinch

For the past two years the passageway between the house and the garage/workshop has been "investigated" by Barn Swallows which we hoped might nest. This year, in the last week of June, the beginnings of a nest appeared just above the door to my officina (workshop) but the first attempts ended in small piles of dried mud on the floor. When I realised that the "builders" were not Barn, but Red-rumped, Swallows I immediately created a mud-bath in a corner of the garden to provide them with raw material. After ten days the nest was completed.

The birds were very active and furnishing the nest with feathers of chickens and Helmeted Guineafowl (very posh!) from the small farm along the track. After four days the birds disappeared and I feared that they had deserted because of disturbance (we have seven cats) or had just found an alternative site. One morning, a close inspection of the nest revealed a Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolphpus ferrumequinum) roosting attached to the outside of the nest. After careful removal (and rehoming) of the bat the swallows returned within a few hours and, to cut a long story short, proceeded to rear a brood of four young. Most interesting was that at one point four adults were feeding the young - perhaps Aunt and Uncle, or just an immature pair which had not bred?

Adults and young continued to use the nest as a roost but after two weeks it became apparent that a second brood had been produced and by the end of August another two (possibly three) fledgelings appeared. At the time of writing (11th September) the birds have left the nest, one or two occasionally returning at night, but they are clearly preparing for a long journey south. I feel very privileged to have had these swallows nesting in "my back passage" and look forward, hopefully, to their return next spring.

MY GARDEN LIST

2005-08-13T18:11:00.000+01:00

My home is on the Quinta da Rocha peninsula which is bordered by the Ribeira (River) Alvor and Ribeira Odeaxere and is adjacent to the tidal lagoon of the Ria da Alvor. The great mixture of habitats in a relatively small area results in a large and varied list of resident birds and the location near the southwestern-most point of mainland Europe also produces large numbers of migrants. The bird observatory and field study centre (Cruzinha, the home of the now worldwide A Rocha organization - www.arocha.org) close by have recorded, in their trapping and ringing programme, a large number of scarcities and rarities.

My own "garden list" includes all species observed either perched within my land (an area of 4,000 square metres) or species of which I can be confidently certain have flown over my "air space" since March 1997; it does not include species just seen from my garden:

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
Black Stork (Ciconia nigra)
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)
Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)
Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus)
Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus)
Eurasian Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)
Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus)
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Booted Eagle (Hieraaetus pennatus)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
Red-legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa)
Common Quail (Coturnix coturnix)
Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)
Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)
Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)
Stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus)
European Golden Plover (Pluvialis apricaria)
Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula)
Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)
Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa)
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus graellsi)
Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)
Rock Dove (Columba livia)
European Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur)
Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)
Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus)
Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)
Little Owl (Athene noctua)
Red-necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis)
Alpine Swift (Tachymarptis melba)
Common Swift (Apus apus)
Pallid Swift (Apus pallidus)
Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
European Bee-eater (Merops apiasterUpupa epops)
Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla)
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)
Crested Lark (Galerida cristata)
Thekla Lark (Galerida theklae)
Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis)
Sand Martin (Riparia riparia)
Eurasian Crag-martin (Hirundo rupestris)
Eurasian Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica rufula)
House Martin (Delichon urbica)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
Spanish Yellow-wagtail (Motacilla flava iberiae)
Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
Common Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)
Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)
Black-eared Wheatear (Oenanthe hispanica)
Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
Zitting Cisticola (Cisticola juncidis)
Western Olivaceous Warbler (Hippolais opaca)
Melodious Warbler (Hippolais polyglotta)
Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin)
Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala)
Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Iberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus ibericus)
Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata)
Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca)
Great Tit (Parus major)
Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)
Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla)
Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus)
Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis)
Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator)
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyana)
Eurasian Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis)
Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild)
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
European Serin (Serinus serinus)
European Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris)
European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Eurasian Linnet (Carduelis cannabina)
Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus)
Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)

Total Species on list 114

Salgados Update

2005-07-16T11:10:00.000+01:00

Lagoa dos Salgados – Situation Update (April 2005)

SPEA / RSPB Algarve visit – March 2005

From 29 March - 1 April a joint delegation from SPEA (BirdLife Portugal) and the RSPB (BirdLife International in the UK) visited the Algarve. The joint delegation undertook a series of meetings with the President and other technical staff of Comissão de Coordenação de Desenvolvimento Regional (CCDR Algarve, the land planning agency) and with the CEO and technical staff from Águas do Algarve SA (the regional water company). The delegation was comprised of Luis Costa (Executive Director, SPEA) and Jose Tavares (RSPB Country Programmes Officer for Portugal, Greece and Turkey), João Ministro (local IBA Caretaker), and Matt Self (senior RSPB Reserves Ecologist).

SPEA / RSPB study on the land-use zonation & hydrology of the lagoon

As confirmed to all stakeholders late last year, SPEA and the RSPB are now jointly undertaking this study. The resulting report will be made available in May, and will inform the debate and decisions being taken on Lagoa dos Salgados. João Ministro is currently writing up the zonation analysis that will map in detail the relevance of the margins of the lagoon for the various wintering and breeding bird species. Matt Self undertook fieldwork over a period of several days at the site last week to complete the site hydrological assessment. This will cover issues including the annual cycle of flooding and drying, water volume and quality, water budget to determine supply requirements, and water inputs and outputs.

Environmental Impact Assessment of the proposed Water treatment plant

At the meetings held in October 2004 with key stakeholders, one of the main concerns identified regarding this site was that the new water treatment plant, to be constructed a few miles away, would not provide any water to the lagoon. The wetland is currently extensively fed by water from an old treatment plant close to the lagoon that will be decommissioned once the new one is ready. The original plans for the new treatment plant, drawn up many years ago, did not include any outflow to the wetland. Therefore, in recent months SPEA / RSPB have written and lobbied both the CCDR and Águas do Algarve to ensure that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for the new plant would consider the water needs of the lagoon. A crucial step in this procedure is the establishment of the terms of reference for the EIA study, which are set by an EIA Follow-up Commission that is established for each specific EIA. It is encouraging that because of the recent discussions both the CCDR and Águas do Algarve have confirmed that in the Water Treatment Plant EIA Follow-up Commission defined that the EIA must analyze the water needs of Lagoa dos Salgados. A private consultancy company is currently undertaking the EIA study, so the results are not yet public. The study currently being completed by SPEA and the RSPB aims to inform and contribute to this EIA. As soon as the EIA report is released to the public SPEA and the RSPB will jointly analyze its findings.

CCDR position on proposed development

CCDR confirmed to SPEA / RSPB that they are maintaining their previous binding opinion that the proposed golf course and large-scale tourism resort planned for the west of the lagoon can only be built above the 4 m above sea level height contour (deemed to be the historical flooding height). They have maintained their position in spite of the recent legal, but non-binding opinions from the Instituto da Agua, and the Camara Municipal de Silves, dismissing the 4m criteria. This is good news as it means at present the development still has not been approved. The emphasis is now on the developers, who will have to resubmit a counter-proposal to CCDR.

December 2004 Lagoon opening

It has been confirmed that the most recent opening of the lagoon to the sea in December 2004, was legal and officially sanctioned. As mentioned previously, the CCDR can give permission for the dunes to be breached between December and February (inclusive). The existing golf course company on the east side of the marsh is usually the company that request authorization, because their facility is periodically flooded by high water during the winter. It was confirmed that late in 2004, the golf course company applied, and received permission to open the wetland to the sea. The marsh dried out considerably because of creating the channel to the sea. However, barely two months later, the water levels had recovered to the initial level. A good range of bird species were seen in good numbers, including hundreds of flamingos. However, the water quality was extremely poor as winter 2004/5 has been very dry, with almost no rain throughout. As a result, the wetland’s water predominantly originates from the current sewage treatment plant that is not working effectively. It is highly probable that this coming summer will witness another botulism eruption that would be expected to cause the now familiar summer mortality of birds.

Lagoa de Salgados – Siltation problem identified

In the lengthy technical discussions held with engineers and technicians from both CCDR and Águas do Algarve different alternatives to correctly manage the water level and quality of this wetland have been analyzed and discussed. These alternatives will be listed in the SPEA / RSPB report. A new issue regarding the water management at this site has also been identified. The opening of the lagoon to the sea during the winter months is currently necessary for two reasons. Firstly, this releases the polluted water, but additionally to purge the considerable volume of silt that accumulates rapidly in the wetland. This siltation comes in part from the vast amounts of treated sludge emanating from the old water treatment plant. It is clear that without regularly opening the lagoon to the sea, Lagoa dos Salgados would rapidly then silt up.

Kite-surfing problem emerges

Finally, a local SPEA member has recently informed SPEA of a new threat to Lagoa dos Salgados from people kite-surfing on the lagoon. It is inconceivable that anyone would want to pursue this sport in such polluted waters, especially as such good conditions for this sport exist out at sea in Praia Grande nearby, but this has happened on more than one occasion. Each time this has caused an enormous amount of disturbance to the birds foraging in the area. SPEA have already alerted CCDR and the local police force about this problem, and asked what can be done to prevent this being repeated, especially through any legal instrument, taking into consideration the Birds Directive.

SPEA to meet Ministry of Environment

SPEA will be meeting the new Deputy Environment Minister of the new Portuguese government in April. Among a number of national and site-based issues on the agenda, SPEA will raise the plight of the Lagoa dos Salgados, and the need for some legal protection of the lagoon as a Special Protected Area under the Birds Directive.

If any of these points require clarification, please contact me directly. I will circulate a further update on developments in July 2005.

Yours sincerely,

José Pedro Tavares
Country Programmes Officer for Portugal, Turkey and Greece
International Division
The RSPB
The Lodge
Sandy
Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, UK
E-Mail: jose.tavares@rspb.org.uk

Luis Costa
Director
SPEA
Rua da Vitória, 53 -3º Esq
1100-618 Lisboa, Portugal
E-Mail: luis.costa@spea.pt

This update, produced jointly by the RSPB and SPEA, was circulated on 7th April 2005. It has some very positive points and in repsonse to this I wrote (via email on 10th April) directly to Jose Tavares (RSPB Country Operations Officer for Portugal).

This was my response:

Dear Jose,

Thank you for your email of 7th April and the update on the situation with Lagoa dos Salgados. I am sure I speak on behalf of many people, in addition to those to whom the update was copied, in saying that I am very pleased with the progress that has been made to date and I congratulate you and your colleagues at SPEA and Almargem for your hard work. I am pleased not just because there are now some concrete results and some cause for optimism, but also because you have made the debate public. This was the cause of much frustration, if not anger, in the past - no-one actually knew what the situation was. The very large number of birdwatchers visiting this site each year, many of them having done so for several years, could only base their opinions on what they saw for themselves: constantly encroaching development, badly polluted water and periodic draining of the lagoon at apparently inappropriate times when birds were nesting. I myself was totally unaware of most of the information which you have released over the past six months regarding the large number of interested parties involved and the overall complexity of the situation.

The two most positive notes are that the EIA Follow-up Commission is requiring the Environmental Impact Assessment to include the water needs of Lagoa dos Salgados, and that the CCDR are maintaining their stance that development to the west of Salgados should be above the 4 metre sea height flooding contour. I do not yet see victory in these matters; I have lived in the Algarve long enough to know that the Portuguese "machinery" moves in mysterious ways and where developers and local government politics are concerned there is no such thing as "an insurmountable hurdle". Let us hope that things proceed for the benefit of the lagoon and its birdlife.

Regarding your statement on the December 2004 Lagoon opening being legal and officially sanctioned, I remain unconvinced about some aspects of this. Clearly the Salgados Golf Club is the prime activator in this, but I am not sure about their motives. I have never seen (or heard) any evidence of the golf course being flooded, even when the water level in the lagoon was very high two winters ago. The water level certainly was not high enough to be a flooding risk when the lagoon was drained in December last year. I happened to meet four golfers recently at Salgados who were regular players on this course. They told me that when the water in the lagoon becomes unpleasantly smelly, and players complain to the club, they arrange to have the lagoon drained regardless of timing and deleterious effect on the birds. We must accept the necessity for period draining until such time as (hopefully) a cleaner source of water feeds the lagoon, but I think that in the past it has been done (e.g. in late March 2004) at an inappropriate time. Also, I do not accept the golf club's denial that they are taking water from the lagoon (or at least the stream which feeds the lagoon); I, and others, have witnessed this first hand.

The kite-surfing problem which you mention is worrying. This is not something I have witnessed at Salgados but it is becoming a very popular nuisance across the Algarve and I see the effect it has on the thousands of roosting birds in the Ria da Alvor, where I live. I am not sure whether the local police are the people to cope with this; they have been alerted to the illegal shooting of ducks, etc (from the birdwatching hide!) and equally illegal mist-netting to trap birds coming in to roost in the evening, but have failed to take any action. I have a contact (Capt. Rui Moreira) within the SEPNA (Equipa de Proteccao da Natureza) branch of the GNR in Portimao who could be more effective. [contactable on Tel: 282 420750 TM: 96 1193296 Linha Azul: 808200520] They are over-worked and under-staffed but are very keen to tackle any "crime against nature" - I will try to contact them about this but it might be useful if a more "official" approach could be made by SPEA and Almargem. Otherwise, let us hope that the lagoon becomes strewn with the half-commatose bodies of people in wetsuits suffering from surfer's botulism.

The forthcoming meeting of SPEA with the new Portuguese Deputy Environment Minister sounds encouraging. If, at the end of the day, Lagoa dos Salgados can be elevated from an IBA to an SPA then I think that the future of this very special site might become more secure. It really is worth preserving; it might rank lower than other deserving Portuguese sites in terms of total area and actual numbers of birds, but for its size it has an incredible number of birds and variety of species, including many rarities, and it also has the very special quality of easy accessabilty, and that is of prime importance in terms of educating Portuguese schoolchildren (and possibly even their parents) and at the same time attracting eco-tourism.

I look forward to hearing news, hopefully good news, of further developments.

My very best wishes,

Colin Key

I did not receive either an acknowledgement or reply, and we are now awaiting the promised further update due this month (July).

Here are some photographic reminders of some of the threats which we are fighting against:

A view to the east of Lagoa dos Salgados where five 5-star hotels and accompanying recreational support is being constructed - this will complete the development of the coastal strip between Albufeira (the "Blackpool" of the Algarve) and the Lagoa dos Slagados golf course. At the moment there are proposals to continue development on the west side of the Lagoa as far as Armacao da Pera and current plans indicate that this development will touch the western edge of the flood - the consequences of this are probably that the current expanse of water will cease to exist (together with the supported population of birds).

This is the pump-house which both SPEA and the RSPB deny exists - it is taking water from the stream which supplies the Lagoa to provide irrigation for the Salgados golf course.

The beach at Praia Grande, the south-east corner of the Lagoa, where the dunes are periodically breached by bulldozer to allow the heavily polluted water to escape to the sea. RSPB and SPEA claim that this is done to "simulate natural processes" and that it is done "sensitively" so as not to disturb the birds. I have evidence that this is done indiscriminately at the bequest of the golf club, not (as has been said) to prevent flooding of the greens, but because the smell of the sewage-polluted water is offensive to the golfers. Last year draining took place in late March when most birds had already nested and were sitting on eggs.

SOME GOOD NEWS

In recent weeks there has been an attempt to revive the lagoon as an environmetal asset. The local Camara Municipal (District Council) of Silves had erected a birdwatching hide, nature trail and numerous information boards. The hide went into disrepair, part of the trail was closed off and all the information boards were removed eighteen months ago in what many thought was a prelude to obliterating the lagoon completely. In recent weeks the hide has been repaired and several new, informative boards in both English and Portuguese have been erected.

We are still a long way from achieving a victory but the actions of the RSPB and SPEA are now more positive, there is an information-flow, and an attempt is being made to co-ordinate the views and wishes of all parties involved. I have heard recently that an application is being made to have Lagoa dos Salgados given the status of a RAMSAR Site which might be another step in raising the site's level of protection from IBA (Important Bird Area) to SPA (Special Protection Area); the latter would almost certainly guarantee the site's future preservation. I would like to thank everyone who has written to the RSPB and/or SPEA to express their concerns and offer support for this crusade and to especially thank Derek Honnor, without who's initial protestations to the RSPB at their headquarters in Sandy, the progress seen in recent months would not have taken place.

RECENT RARITIES

2005-07-08T16:42:00.000+01:00

Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea)

A single sub-adult male bird found by C H Key at Ria da Alvor, Quinta da Rocha, on 22nd April 2005

Slender-billed Gull (Larus genei)

Single bird found by Les and Margaret Jamieson at Ria da Alvor, Quinta da Rocha, on 9th March 2005

Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus)

One of a group of four birds (probably all juveniles) found by Roger Skan at Vale Santos, Cape St. Vincent, on 22nd August 2004.

Lagoa dos Salgados

2005-07-07T17:46:00.000+01:00

LAGOA dos SALGADOS
(Pera Marsh)
Lagoa dos Salgados (meaning “salty lake”) is inaptly named since it is one of the few areas of fresh water within the Algarve area. However, the adjective “fresh” must be qualified; during the rainy season the lagoon is fed by a small stream which flows in from the north but this is supplemented by discharge from the local ETAR, a sewage treatment works which is unable to cope with the volume of waste, especially during the tourist season, and is now contaminating the lagoon to such an extent that avian botulism is killing many hundreds of birds annually. A new, higher capacity, ETAR is planned to cope with the increasing number of hotels, houses and apartments being built immediately adjacent to the lagoon but at this time no-one knows what effect this will have; it might result in the release of cleaner water into the lagoon but it might also mean the release of no water at all. The adjacent Salgados Golf course might pose an additional threat. They claim that they are not drawing water from the lagoon for irrigation but this has been challenged by other observers. It is also possible that any run-off from the golf course will add nitrates (derived from fertilizers) and other toxins to the water as has happened near other courses in the Algarve.
In recent years there has been a practice of breaching the natural retaining dam (I.e. bulldozing away the sand-dunes) at the south-east corner of the lagoon to allow the polluted water to escape. This would be commendable if done at the appropriate time but there is evidence that it has recently been done when the water was not seriously polluted or when birds were just about to start breeding. The most recent occurrence was in December 2004 when the water quality was relatively clean, the water level was just about perfect, but apparently the Salgados Golf course requested this draining (carried out by the local council) in order to prevent flooding of their greens. The effect on the birdlife of this very rapid drop in water level is devastating.
Anyone who has visited this site recently (or, like many, is a regular visitor) will realise that the threats to its future existence are immense. Massive development to the east is well under way and there are proposals for even greater development on the western side which could result in building up to the present edge of the lagoon. The lagoon straddles the boundary between two councils or municipalities (Camara Municipal), C.M. Silves and C.M. Albufeira. Both of these municipalities are supportive of any development which will increase tourism and hence jobs within their domains, irrespective of cost to the environment.
There is a fight to preserve Lagoa dos Salgados but it is very much David v Goliath. The site has no national or international protection status; it is not an SPA (Special Protection Area), RAMSAR Site or part of the Nature 2000 network. It is an IBA (Important Bird Area) but this is notional and has no legal status. Portugal is being urged (by the EU) to create more SPA’s but is defiant because such legislation would severely impede tourist development, construction of dams, etc.
SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves) is Portugal’s BirdLife International partner working with, and receiving funding from, the RSPB. Compared to the RSPB it has a tiny membership (just over 1,000) and very few staff. In a country with such a rich diversity of habitats and so many environmental and ecological problems it simply cannot cope.
The RSPB has an International Operations Director and also a Country Programmes Officer; the latter has responsibility not just for Portugal but also for Greece and Turkey.
There is a Portuguese Governmental body, the ICN (Instituto da Conservacao da Natureza), which appears to be both impotent and totally uninterested in matters such as this. The present dire state of the Castro Marim Nature Reserve, one of Portugal’s prime RAMSAR Sites which has received a large amount of EU funding for its new Interpretation Centre, bears witness to this.
ALMARGEM (The Association for the Protection of the Environments of the Algarve) is an NGO based in Loule which has a staff member appointed as “caretaker” for the Lagoa dos Salgados IBA; his brief, we believe, is to observe the progress (or otherwise) of events at this site and report back to interested parties.
Over the past few months we have had dialogue with the RSPB and SPEA expressing our concerns over the future of this site. The situation is extremely complex because so many different parties, with different objectives, are involved and in Portugal the administrative and legal machinery moves very slowly and in very mysterious ways. Our concern is that Lagoa dos Salgados seems to be a very low priority in the Portuguese scheme of conservation (a fact admitted by the RSPB). We are not sure whether SPEA and the RSPB realise just how important this site is. It does not have the large area or sheer numbers of birds of, for example, the Ria Formosa or Castro Marim but Lagoa dos Salgados does, square metre for square metre, have an incredible number and variety of birds (over 160 species recorded, including many scarcities and rarities). Moreover, it is very easily accessible to the large number of visiting birdwatchers from overseas many of whom come here year after year. In short, it is a unique gem which the Algarve cannot afford to lose. Hotels can be demolished and replaced with bigger and better ones, but this is not so with this Lagoa; if or when it is lost it will be irretrievable - it cannot be rebuilt and the birds will not return.
So, the purpose of this missive is two-fold: firstly, we have tried to explain and simplify a complex situation; we meet many visitors at this site who want information as to what is happening and ask how they might help. Secondly, we urge you to contact any or all of the organisations involved to let them know the strength of feeling about what is happening at Pera so that they can see the level of concern. Please write, telephone, email or even visit them in person, but please do something - or it may soon be too late.
RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL Tel: 01767 680551 http://www.rspb.org.uk/
Alistair Gammell, Director, International Operations amailto:Alistair.gammell@rspb.org.uk
Mark Day, International Office Mark.Day@rspb.org.uk
Jose Tavares, Country Programmes Officer for Portugal jose.tavares@rspb.org.uk
Professor Ian Newton, Chairman of RSPB Council c/o Sue.Steptoe@rspb.org.uk
SPEA, Rua da Vitoria, 53 - 3.° Esq., 1100-618 Lisboa, PORTUGAL http://www.spea.pt/
Ivan Ramirez, IBA Co-ordinator for Portugal ivan.ramirez@spea.pt
ALMARGEM, Apartado 251, 8100 Loule, PORTUGAL http://www.almargem.org/
Joao Ministro, IBA “Caretaker” for Lagoa dos Salgados jministro@yahoo.com
Some useful links:
http://www.birdlife.net/action/science/sites/european_ibas/index.html
http://www.spea.pt/MS2/ibas/35.html * in Portuguese, but has a link to an informative document in English

The officers and employees of these organisations are, inevitably, severely overworked and may not welcome an inundation of letters, emails and telephone calls. This, however, is no excuse for not making your voices heard and opinions known; there will not be a second chance, and time is running out very quickly.
If you are a member of the RSPB you should be aware that part of your subscription is going towards financing BirdLife International partnerships (in this case SPEA), and you have the right to have a say in what is to be done.
If you are a regular or even just an occasional visitor to Portugal and your passion is for the wonderful but ever-diminishing natural environment and its fabulous wealth of resident and migratory birds then please consider supporting SPEA by becoming a member; €22 per year is a very small price to pay to help protect Portugal’s birdlife.

Amigos da Lagoa dos Salgados

“The Friends of Pera Marsh”

The following statement was issued jointly by the RSPB and SPEA

Brief Introduction about the Lagoa IBA

The Lagoa dos Salgados is a well-known coastal lagoon, one of the few wetlands in the western Algarve coast. This site is extremely important for birdlife, including breeding little bittern (4-6 pairs), purple heron (3 to 7 pairs) and ferruginous duck (1-2 pairs, the only breeding site for this species in Portugal), while black-winged stilts and purple gallinule are common (6-10 pairs breeding, up to 85 in winter). In total more than 150 bird species have been seen there. Accordingly, the site as been recognised by SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal) as an Important Bird Area (IBA). However, the lagoa lacks of any legal protection status.
In the last couple of years Lagoa dos Salgados has received a lot of attention in both the Portuguese, the UK and the international press.

Existing Golf Course:

The east side the lagoon is already limited by a golf course, and behind it a massive development (Heredade dos Salgados) is under construction. Contrary to what many people believe, this golf course is not taking it's water from the lagoon. The lake (and incidentally this golf course) receives most of it’s water from a sewage treatment plant upstream - without this plant, the wetland would not exist today as we know it.
West side of the Lagoon
On the west side of the lagoon there is still a vast (> 200 Ha) , idyllic expanse of fields and shrubs, just behind the protected coastal dunes, rich in bird life, particularly migrant and wintering passerines. It is on this greenfield site that a company wants to build a rather big tourism project, comprising 2 hotels, dozens of villas, and a surrounding new golf course. They had bought this land 4 years ago, and are thus seeking to cash on their investment. The planned development totals 10,500 beds – as a comparison, the Silves council has a total of 30,000 inhabitants! This new development would not destroy the lagoon, but would reach right to its edge, and does not plan to include any buffer zone between the open water and the projected golf course.

A planned development threats the site

Plans to build in this pristine site have led to a big outcry in Portugal and elsewhere. Many British birdwatchers, who regularly birdwatch around this site while on holiday in the Algarve, have written to us and to others about the impending threat. Press articles have been written, and regularly we are contacted about this issue.

Our work

During the last 12 months, both SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal) and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) have been very active on the case. Most of this work has involved policy and advocacy actions to try to find a solution that will secure the conservation of all the natural values that make this site so special. Recently SPEA, the RSPB and a local NGO called Almargem have held a series of meetings with all the relevant stakeholders in the Algarve, to get the latest round of information and emphasize SPEA’s and the RSPB’s concerns and position regarding the future of the site. This briefing serves to update and circulate information to all that have expressed in the past some interest about this issue in the past.

Lack of legal protection status

As far as SPEA and the RSPB are concerned, the ideal solution would be to declare and manage the area as a Special Protected Area, under the Birds Directive – the site does not have any dedicated legal protection status now. BirdLife considers that all IBAs qualify as potential SPAs. SPEA has tried to lobby for the protection of this site under the Birds Directive. However, the Portuguese Government has publicly announced they’ve no intention to add new SPAs to the existing network. In Portugal (and elsewhere) SPAs are strongly disliked by mayors, local councils and politicians as they are seen to limit development and progress. Portugal will go through a long and complex electoral period, including three major elections in 2005 and 2006, so there is no political will to take this unpopular measure. We believe this is bad news for nature in Portugal, so we continue to lobby in order to shift this situation.

What do other institutions think about the proposed development?

Silves Council,
They are fully supportive of the new development on the west side of Lagoa dos Salgados. Local council budgets are mostly dependent on taxes levied on construction.
SPEA and RSPB have repeatedly raised their concern on the impacts of the planned development on the biodiversity of the lagoon, and have requested from the developers some flexibility to adapt their project to the ecological needs of the site.
CCDR- Algarve
The main reason why this development is not yet under construction is because the regional land planning agency (CCDR- Algarve) has formally rejected the planned development, not only because there was a problem with an excessive number of beds, but mainly because the new golf course would be below the historical flooding level of the lagoon. CCDR- Algarve has therefore requested the developers to plan the boundaries of the new golf course above this water level, which would reduce considerably the area available for construction, and would secure the survival of important marshland and farmland habitat around the lagoon.
Aguas do Algarve and the new Sewage treatment plant
Another major threat to the site comes from local water politics: the current sewage treatment plant that is feeding the lagoon will soon be substituted by a higher capacity plant already under construction. The current plant does not have capacity and technology to cope with the volume of water needed, and so the water reaching the lagoon is of very poor quality, which often result in severe episodes of botulism that have caused severe bird mortality, particularly in the summer. Also, with the spring rains, the existing golf course is sometimes partly flooded by foul-smelling water, and so for a few years the golf course owners took the initiative to open the lagoon to the sea by themselves. Often they did this in May and June, during the breeding season, with massive impacts on the breeding birds. In the last couple of years this situation was corrected, after many complaints about this state of affairs. The regional land planning agency (CCDR- Algarve) has stepped in and now opens the lagoon to the sea a couple of times every year, during the winter, to mimic a natural process and prevent the accumulation of badly-polluted water in the marsh - a perfectly sensible conservation management action. SPEA and RSPB receive every spring many letters claiming that the marsh is regularly drained - this is not the case!
The main problem is that the original project for the new water treatment plant does not include any structure to send treated water to the lagoon, even though the amount of water to be discharged by the new plant will be much higher – most of it will go to the sea through a submarine outflow, while the nearby golf courses will receive some water after tertiary treatment.
SPEA and the RSPB have met the directors of the company managing all waters in the Algarve (Algarve Waters), and evaluated all possible alternatives. The Environmental Impact Assessment for the new plant is also now starting, will run parallel to it’s construction. Both SPEA and the RSPB will make sure that the needs of the lagoon will be taken in consideration, thus imposing a major change to the original project, and securing that the lagoon will receive the needed water in the future.
Recent meetings with stakeholders
In November 2004 SPEA and RSPB staff have met with all stakeholders (Algarve Waters, Silves Council, CCDR and the developers). It was positive to see that virtually all recognised the ornithological importance of the site, and accepted SPEA’s capacity and position, and all confirmed they would like to see the continuing existence of the Lagoa dos Salgados, including the developers. More importantly, we have also obtained in the latest round of meetings a sincere compromise from the developers to analyse our proposals (see below) and eventually re-formulate their project.
Our next steps
The challenge is to find a compromise solution between differing expectations, since all stakeholders want different things: the Silves council just wants the whole thing to be finally approved, the developers want the lagoon (which they think will add value to their resort) but do not want to reduce the area for construction, the CCDR wants the flooding limit respected, while Aguas do Algarve can send water from the new water treatment plant as far as someone pays for it!
The RSPB and SPEA are now going to do a quick assessment of the biodiversity importance of the immediate surroundings of the lagoon, considering the local hydrological regime. This study will use the vast wealth of information collected so far about the site, as well as the data from a host of competent local Portuguese birdwatchers and scientists that have been studying the lagoon for years. The final report (due by Spring 2005) will be submitted to all stakeholders for consideration.
The future of the Lagoa dos Salgados rest on this complex, intricate and political mire. Both SPEA and the RSPB have got plenty of work ahead, but we hope that the current dialogue will bring a brighter future for the site.
Last, but not least, we would like to thank you again for your support. All the records so far collected about the site (many included in all the letters that British birdwatchers sent in response to the pleas and alerts published in several magazines) have been included in SPEA’s annual assessment of the Portuguese IBAs. Let us assure we are doing all we can on this issue, and please feel free to contact us with any other issues you may have.

Yours Sincerely,

José Pedro Tavares
Country programmes Officer for Portugal, Turkey and Greece
International Division
The RSPB
The Lodge
Sandy
Bedfordshire SG19 2DL, UK
E-Mail: jose.tavares@rspb.org.uk

F. Iván Ramírez
IBAs Programme Coordinator
SPEA
Rua da Vitória, 53 -3º Esq
1100-618 Lisboa, Portugal
E-Mail: ivan.ramirez@spea.pt

2005-07-04T02:36:00.000+01:00

Two views of how the "flood" at Pera (Lagoa dos Salgados) look with and without water. A recent trip (end of June 2005) revealed moderate water level for this time of year, considering the lack of rainfall last winter. The local ETAR (seage treatment works) is currently the only source of water into the lagoon and, surprisingly, the the water quality is fairly good; there is no sign yet of extreme (raw sewage) contamination and the resultant avian botulism. Success rate of breeding birds also appears to have been good with most water birds rearing at least two broods. As of now (3rd July) there are still Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt and LittleTerns sitting on eggs.

On an unhappier note, on my last two visits, I have witnessed stray dogs (reportedly from the fishermens' beach at Armacao de Pera) running amok over the flood and reed-beds and killing stilt chicks, and quad-bikes driving over the dried-out parts of the lagoon and disturbing large flocks of waders and gulls (the latter including a recent count of 35 Slender-billed Gulls).

Alpine Accentor

2005-07-03T20:01:00.000+01:00

Roger, Colin and Jim (in "first-sighting" order), the founder members of the Algarve Alpine Accentor Appreciation Society (AAAAS - pronounced "ARSE").

Lagoa dos Salgados

2005-06-18T20:37:00.000+01:00

Anyone with news of progress (or otherwise!!) at this site at Pera please post here or send me an email. Also, details of sightings of rarities would be welcome,