Towheeblog

Like any other place with a mild climate, central Portugal finds itself hosting exotic bird species once native to distant lands. Of course, the Eurasian Collared-dove is here, having invaded Europe from the Indian subcontinent decades ago. Ditto, the Rock Pigeon, once native to Iraq and Iran. On our birding trip along the Tejo Estuary we ran into several flocks of the tiny, gregarious Common Waxbill, once found only in Africa.
And another bird, familiar after our Uganda trip, popped up on a fence line near Lisbon:


This is a young Black-headed Weaver. Our guide showed us a cou0ple of their globe-shaped nests hanging from phragmytes stems in a nearby creek.


The avocet is the symbol of the nature preserve.
Black-winged Stilt are abundant in these marshy lowlands. So are Northern Lapwings. None of the Lapwings were close enough for a photo. One marshy pasture had dozens of Lapwings. Near them was a flock of Spoonbills and a few egrets. Here’s a pic with one Little Egret and a handful of Spoonbills.