Birding in Urban Porugal

Just winding up two amazing weeks in Portugal! Though the main aim was to see as much as possible in terms of architecture and culture of the country I did manage a few pauses to catch up with some feathered friends...

Here's some photos - Starting with some landscape images from Arouca - it is a beautiful little town set in a stunning landscape; surround by mountains which in this season is mostly covered in flowers.

Sadly I didn't have the time to figure out what these flowers were.. Though the yellow flower predominantly covered the hills there were quiet a few other species as well (like the purple flowers in the photo below)

The next bunch of photos are from Lisbon (the capital city) -

Starting with a few images of the serene gardens behind the Modern Art Center of the city

I'm guessing this would be a good spot to find some garden birds - but I was there during mid afternoon when there was a whole bunch of noisy kids..

Starting with some birds ...

Firstly, heres a Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) that I saw in the part of the city called Belem. It is from here that Vasco da Gama took off on his epic journey to India.

And a couple of snaps of the female -

the next few snaps are of a Lifer - Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)

In the below photo you can see the characteristic yellow-tipped black bill

The next series of photos from the city of Sintra in the out skirts of Lisbon where I went to see the country's Moorish past.

Once here I went to see the Castle of the Moors which I think falls in the domain of the Parque Natural de Sintra - a protect forest area that surrounds this beautiful small town.

Here's a few photos of the castle itself

I was hardly here for an hour so all I couldn't manage to see any birds only some butterflies

A Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)

And another Wall

And a pair of Large White (Pieris brassicae)

And finally I managed to take a photo of the Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum), I have seen this species many many times in Europe and in India but I never managed a photo .. [not that this is a great one : ) ]

The rest of the photos in this post are from the city of Porto where I spend quiet a few days..

All across Portugal you see small abandoned pieces of land which in this season is whole of wild flowers... which attracts insects .. which in turn attracts birds..
Another lifer - European Serin (Serinus serinus)

A pair of Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis)

A female Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)


A juvenile Blackbird (Turdus merula)

The rest of the photos are from the Parque da Cidade, which I understand is the largest park of the city:

A male Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)



the common European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
Another lifer, a very very far away Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), the bird's id was concluded based on wing pattern and overall body shape.
A treecreeper, which I believe is a Short-toed Treecreeper (Certhia brachydactyla), you can see the supercilium does not show in front of the eye - a characteristic over the Common Treecreeper - besides I understand that this is the only species of Treecrrper found in Portugal!
A female Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)


A European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
A tiny warbler - most likely a Chiffchaff - but not sure..
And I'll end this post with a bunch of European Serin (Serinus serinus) photos..



Adeus Portugal!

Urban birding in USA

Just ending a two week visit to the USA. Here's some photos of some urban birds I managed to click while here :

First set is from New York City -

Mostly clicked at the Central Park in Manhattan.

Here's a beautiful Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

Here's another Common Grackle

An European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

A view of the famous Guggenheim museum from the park with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis reservoir in front of it. Here's a few photos from the reservoir -

This one was a lifer - Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

A diving Bufflehead

Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)

Another diving Bufflehead

Some more Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)

A female Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) about to land

Some more Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola)

Another lifer - the cute Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)

A bathing Common Grackle

Some more Grackle snaps:

And another lifer - White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) - you can clearly see the yellow between the eye and the bill!!!

And the most numerous resident of Central Park - Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

The next few snaps are from Boston

Some Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) at MIT

And some Brant Goose (Branta bernicla) near the Bay area

And a fleeting glimpse of a pair of Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser)

And the rest of the photos are from Washington DC

Here's a Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

An American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

Another Lifer - Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)

Purple Finch (Carpodacus purpureus)

Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)

Another lifer - Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

another Dark-eyed Junco

And the last lifer for this trip - Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

It was also the beginning of the Cherry Blossom season, sadly I leave a few days before the Cherry blossom festival!

And to end a few snaps from the Tidal Basin in front of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

And the last snap from this trip is of a Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)