Bird Bonanza

BY SIMON WATES

Sagres Birdwatching & Nature Activities Festival, 11 th edition.

Between 2 and 5 October, Sagres hosts the country’s largest nature event, the 11 th edition of the Sagres Birdwatching & Nature Activities Festival this year having a supporting online component.

Alongside the usual field trips, there are walks and workshops suitable for all ages, including activities especially for children. Online activities will enable people from all over the world to attend talks, workshops and more.

The field trips and walks will cover much of the approximately 60 square kilometres of the triangular-shaped Sagres peninsula, which is bathed on two sides by the Atlantic. The area’s deserved claim to fame among nature watchers is its remarkably strategic position as an autumn migration watchpoint.

Every autumn tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of seabirds fly past the headlands. Somewhere in the order of 5000 raptors circle the skies and major falls of thousands of southbound European summering songbirds occur. The Sagres peninsula holds many high natural values apart from its birdlife, its flora being world-famous among field botanists. The area holds a collection of species and habitats found nowhere else in the world.

All of these are sights to behold, though often missed by visitors uninitiated in nature observation. During the festival, an abundance of highly experienced nature guides will be on hand, running plentiful field trips, mostly free of charge. The guides, all well known and experts in their field, are there to assist attendees in seeing unforgettable species and migration events. Some will be stationed at fixed places that can be visited.

Apart from the birdlife, there will be guides conducting tours to observe the unique flora and habitats of the peninsula, activities as diverse as exploring sustainable ways of obtaining food in nature, e.g. a workshop showing how to make the most of a vegetable patch by the sea, or a guided tour of Sagres. As is traditional during this festival, there will be guided boat trips every day to see pelagic marine life, including species of dolphins and many different seabirds difficult to see at all from land, at close quarters. These trips are very popular, especially with photographers.

In this 11th edition of the festival, activities don’t stop at sunset. In the hours of darkness, there’s the challenge of discovering sound with experts and their equipment; both of migrating birds and of bats. Or you can get a close look at some of Portugal’s 3000 species of moths.

ONLINE FESTIVAL This year there will also be online sessions, which will enable people from all around the world to join this celebration of nature and migration. Every day of the festival, from 9 to 10 pm, you can watch the "Women Saving the World" talks remotely. Other webinars include topics as varied as Ria Formosa’s seahorses, the fight against environmental crime and scientific illustration workshops.

SAFETY The Festival’s sites and activities will be adapted according to health authorities’ recommendations in light of the COVID19 pandemic.

The Birdwatching & Nature Activities Festival is organised by the Câmara Municipal de Vila do Bispo, in partnership with the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA, BirdLife Portugal) and Almargem Association.

To make a booking for any number of the festival’s mostly free activities, simply visit www.birdwatchingsagres.com. Look at the schedule and enrol for whatever interests you.. (Note the English language button on the top right).

Simon is an experienced bird guide with foreign visitors and has led many field trips voluntarily for the Portuguese Birdlife International partner, SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves) & the LPN (Liga de Proteção de Natureza) since the late 1990’s.

+INFO:

www.birdwatchingsagres.com

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