White Storks at Lagos : 17th January 2017

White Stork Lagos

The sad loss of a very good friend took us to Portugal for her funeral. We were in Lagos between 15th – 19th January. The unhappiness of the occasion was soothed a little by the odd couple of hours birding that I managed to fit it. It was a bit of relief from the intense emotions raised by the reason for our presence.

Lagos has a river that leads out through the Marina de Lagos out to the Atlantic and on the embankment there we saw Turnstones and Common Sandpiper. Most of the interest lay further up-river, though – and particularly at the first road bridge that crosses the river at the marina. From here to the next road bridge is rough scrub and mudflat. Perhaps the most stunning feature of the scrub land are the resident White Storks that feed on the rough grass that is partially enclosed for their protection but roost on their huge nests on atop the chimney stacks of old abandoned clay firing factories. The buildings are largely gone but the chimneys remain and it seems that even when the area has been modernised and the kilns demolished, they still leave the chimney stacks up for the benefit of the Storks. There is a derelict block of flats opposite two of these chimneys and numerous Stork nests are occupied there as well creating a substantial urban population.

Among the rough grassland there are Stonechats, Grey Wagtails, Blackbirds and Robins but the main attraction is the mud on the banks of the river which attracts waders and afforded me really close views of a Whimbrel, Green and Red Shanks, Little Egret, Sommon Sandpiper and even a Black-winged Stilt. So I got a really nice little collection of birds and was pretty sure I also got a Curlew Sandpiper.

Bird Sightings : Lagos