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Another lovely wet winter leaves Santa Clara a tad damp …

Spring is definitely on the way and the first Barn Swallow chicks have hatched in the Quinta’s Library. The days are appreciably longer and today the sun is shining fit to bust, but the last few days and nights Winter threw at us everything it could possibly fling with the result that we’ve lost Turtle Island, Chicken Island is a mere blip in the ocean that is the lake and Santa Clara has a roaring torrent flowing past its door instead of its usual trickle. The pontoon is a jump away from the garden now, (I honestly can’t pull it up any further and will instead build a bridge to get out to it), and there are just three steps from the Summer House lawn into the water.
Yes, I’ve seen it higher, back in November ’97 when we had the worst storm in living memory and the lake came up 3 mts in a single night, but I honestly haven’t seen it as high as this since then. Back then we were hit hard and then followed a drought that only really lifted eleven years later; I wonder what the next eleven years will bring?
In the meantime we’ll relish the proximity of the water to our door and pray that the Câmara, our local County Council, repair the roads that are all falling apart around here – the potholes are simply everywhere; it’s getting as bad as Costa Rica, so we’re glad we’ve had recent practice !

The picture I’ve dreamed of for years – what a Valentine’s day!

No posts for ages, but there’s been a reason … Daniela and I have been Honeymooning in Costa Rica and only got back a few days ago! We managed to take around 3,500 pictures which’ll take me some time to sort out, but as soon as I manage it I’ll post them up on our Birding site for you to take a look at.
We’ve had a busy time finding our feet again here, but I’ve managed to squeeze in two days birding on the Plains, the second of which was today – and it’s GREAT to be birding on my home patch again, back amongst old friends!
The species count today was only 57 in an eight hour period, but that’s to be expected at this time of year before the migration gets into its stride. However the views we had were stunning as always, and it makes a huge change from birding in the Rain Forest where, although the birds are spectacular, the light for photography is so often “flat” and one has to be constantly changing the ISO and other settings. Back here the ISO is pretty well a constant 200 at f5.6 and this gives excellent results as you can see from this post’s photo.
What was more we had the highest count I’ve ever witnessed for Great Bustards over a similar time period, well over my highest in years past which was 87; today it was 126!
They’re gathering together into droves to prepare for the mating season which normally gets into its stride in a few week’s time, (though we saw a couple displaying well today). This increase in numbers is solely due to the successful hard conservation work put in by the LPN and SPEA and I take my hat off to them; all power to your elbows!
Anyway, I could have posted any number of shots of either of the Bustards as they’re the flagship species for the area, but instead I had to post the picture of these Sandgrouse, as, on top of being the shot I’ve dreamed of taking for years, it goes to show that all that hard work done by those splendid organisations benefits not only those flagship species but also those other species that live in the same habitat, like these gorgeous Black-bellied Sandgrouse.

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Tripadvisor-0318, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.

We got this in the post today and we’re absolutely blown away by it!
We realise of course that we’d never have received it but for all of our guests this year who contributed their time by writing a review on us, so may Daniela and I take this opportunity to thank all of you – and of course all our staff this year who worked so hard to making the Quinta a success, Fatima and Dulce of course, but also those who volunteered their time here, Marcus, Susanna, Des, Shirley, Brian, Steve, Araby, Maria João, Ann, Bronwyn, Elias, Flora and Carolina; this is as much a certificate of excellence for all of you as it is for the Quinta as a whole, so a million thanks to all of you.
We look forward to doing more of the same in 2011!

Core-Party-9715

Core-Party-9715, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.

Well, we had to have a party to celebrate Daniela’s and my marriage so we had a few friends over … the party was actually a run of parties, four days in fact, but these were the core members. This was taken before we sat down for the first night’s dinner; i might post some “during the party” shots but I think I’ll spare you the “after the party” ones ….

And they all lived happily ever after …

Daniela and I were married a couple of days ago down in Gibraltar; we decided to go there as it was just so much simpler and cheaper than being married here in Portugal, where the paperwork alone would have cost us somewhere in the region of 2,000 euros, (as a contrast, in Gibraltar it cost us a tenth of that).

We drove down and spent an afternoon exploring the battlefield of Barrosa, (where the first Peninsula War French Eagle was taken on the afternoon of 5th March 1811). Sadly it’s all built over by one of those ghastly holiday complexes now complete with golf course, but at least the latter has preserved some of the view and one can easily see why the hill was of such tactical importance. Daniela did me proud by appearing to be interested …

Of course we got the time change the wrong way around and nearly didn’t make it to our own wedding – especially when Tom Tom took us on the most direct route, a 40 km dirt track through the mountains; thank goodness we took the Tank with us and had decided not to bike it! On the + side we came across some Nightjars and deer, so every cloud has a silver lining!

Did some birding on the way home too and grabbed a Lifer, a Night Heron. For those of you interested in birds, there’s a couple of pictures on my birding site; for those of you who aren’t here’s a picture of the happy couple signing the book!

We had no witnesses and neither did the next couple in line, so we were theirs and they were ours. Congratulations Ken & Sam!

Marriage-document-9255

Lake-Sunset-8800



Lake-Sunset-8800, originally uploaded by Paradise in Portugal.

One of the most amazing aspects about living here is the contact one has with Nature and the Natural World, and no time is this more apparent than at Sunrise and Sunset – especially at this time of year.

The two pictures above were taken on the same day, 25th September 2010, the sunrise half way towards starting a day’s birding out on the Plains – I just love the way the sun’s rising through the trees – and the sunset in the evening once we got back home again as the sun dipped below the hills and and bounced its light off the underneath of the clouds.

Stunning. There’s no other description …

Are there fish in the lake?

I’m often asked whether there are any fish in the lake; this little clip should provide the answer. I took it this morning while waiting for the Kingfisher to show up, but I think it’s too fat to fly at the moment!

Dawn-over-the-Lagoa-7524

We’re in the middle of re-designing this website, (so watch this space!), and our webmaster has been carefully chosen as living right next door to one of my favourite birding locations, the Lagoa Santo André.
This time of year’s pretty busy at the Quinta, so meetings to discuss the design are invariably held early in the morning so I can be back here before lunch, and it was on one of these early mornings that i got this lovely shot of these traditional fishing boats on the shores of the lagoon.

We’re at the Birdfair again! See you there!

The Birdfair looms – it’s Friday, Saturday and Sunday the 20th, 21st and 22nd of this month at Rutland – and we’re there again promoting Portugal. Stand 93 in Marquee 4, a slightly different position from the last few years but near enough to find us easily again for anyone who wants to come and have a chat, so we’ll look forward to seeing you there.
Oh, yes, before I forget; I, Frank, will be giving a lecture on the best places to watch birds in southern Portugal on the Sunday morning at 9.30, so drag yourselves out of bed for that one as it’ll be worth it for anyone wanting to minimise lost time on a holiday down here.