Click here for Notes on General Birding in Southern Portugal.

**Press Release**

www.birdinginportugal.com blends guided and non-guided birdwatching throughout southern Portugal with a centralised location in a sparsely populated region of unique beauty. Your stay in this friendly country is hosted at Quinta do Barranco da Estrada, a small family-run hotel in a stunning lakeside location with the resident owner and Birdwatching guide, Frank McClintock.

The Quinta has an international reputation for good food, company and service, and its size, with a maximum of twenty guests, ensures that all guests feel welcome from the moment they arrive. Moreover, the Quinta is ideally suited to those guests whose numbers include couples of whom only one is a dedicated birder, as there are plenty of facilities for a relaxing holiday away from all the hustle and bustle of a normal destination.

Frank has been guiding in southern Portugal since 1987 and is available to guide either groups or private individuals in his 7 seat air-conditioned car; he can provide optics for those with none and languages spoken are English, French, German and Portuguese. If you just want to know where to go to enjoy yourselves on your own he'll provide written directions, notes and guidance systems.

There is a wide variety of bird life in the Quinta's vicinity, notably Warblers, Stonechats, two species of Shrike, Bee-eaters, Kingfishers, three varieties of Woodpeckers and three of Eagles, (Short toed, Booted and Bonelli's), as well as other raptors, including Black winged Kites. The area also has one of the highest densities in Europe of Nightingales, and during the Spring one is rarely out of earshot of their beautiful song. As well as the wealth of local species surrounding the Quinta, there are four areas within an hour and a half's car journey which are ideal for Birdwatching.

To the north west of the Quinta are the Sado Estuary and the S. Andr?agoon, both areas a haven for marshland birds, notably Squacco Heron, Purple Heron and Spoonbill. Raptors include Marsh Harrier and Black winged Kite. To the south west is the migratory route along Portugal's rocky coast, where, outside the autumn migrating season, the specialities are Blue Rock Thrush, Peregrine Falcon, Rock Bunting and Cattle Egret amongst others. During the Autumn the raptors migrating south along the coast towards Sagres for the onward journey to Africa are a sight that few forget.

To the south east of the Quinta lies the Rio Formosa Estuary, which has extensive salt pans.Subsequently it has a wealth of wading birds, such as Avocet, Spoonbill, Flamingo, Black and Bar-tailed Godwit, Black winged Stilt, Snipe, Redshank and Greenshank, as well as divers and ducks such as Shoveler, Pochard, Red crested Pochard, Teal, Pintail, Widgeon and Gadwall. It is also famed for its population of Purple Galinules, and Little Bitterns are much in evidence.

To the north east of the Quinta are the wide-open Plains of the Alentejo. The bird life here is truly stunning with specialities including Great and Little Bustard, Black Bellied Sandgrouse, Stone Curlew, Lesser Kestrel, Montagu's Harrier, Red rumped Swallow, Callandra, Thekla, Crested, and Wood Larks, Spanish and Tree sparrows, Black eared Wheatear, Roller, Collared Pratincole and Black and Red Kites amongst others.

If you are interested in a birdwatching holiday at the Quinta, full details can be obtained from their web site, www.paradise-in-portugal.com

Birds & Nature Tours is the first and only Portuguese company specifically dedicated to birds and birding field tours. Our guided field tours are designed to offer you the best of Portuguese birding, with a specific emphasis on what you want to see. Tours are adapted to cover a wide range of ability, from novice to expert.

Although focused on birding, our tours cater for the general naturalist and the visitor who wants to see something of the Portuguese countryside as well. The guides are ornithologists and birders with a deep knowledge of the birdlife of Iberia and the kind of local knowledge necessary to find those tricky or difficult species. For those without optics, quality binoculars and telescopes, as well as field guides, are available.

Birds & Nature is based in Lisbon, and most field trips depart from and return to Lisbon. Transport is by air conditioned vehicle (up to 7 participants), but smaller groups and individual clients are also welcome. The prices quoted for the tours include guide, transport (including fuel and tolls) and use of optical equipment, together with participant accident insurance.

Are you planning to visit Lisbon?

Lisbon is the only European capital located near such a rich Bird & Nature hotspot – the Tagus estuary. About 20 minutes from the city, this huge Nature Reserve, with its extensive area of protected wetland, offers excellent conditions for the observation of birds in rich natural surroundings.

The Tagus estuary is the most important wetland in Portugal and one of the most important in Europe. It is fascinating at all times of the year: in winter, it holds over 120.000 waders, waterfowl and other aquatic birds; during migratory periods, the bird diversity is at its maximum, and one can expect to observe more than 100 species in a single day; during the summer, the estuary is alive with breeding species more usually associated with the Mediterranean.

Besides the Tagus estuary, we have tours to other exciting locations, namely the Sado estuary, the Alentejo and the Algarve. Basically the selection of field trips included in the Birds & Nature menu is designed to bring you to the best birding locations in Portugal. Some bird species are so site specific, however, that you might like to consider a tailor-made field tour to other sites (for example, International Douro, Portas do Ródão, International Tagus, Santo André lagoon, Mourão, Moura and Barrancos area, Óbidos lagoon), or even to places outside Portugal, like Doñana or Monfrague Parks, in Spain. Please let us know, as we can then let you have a relevant price list depending on site distance and duration of the trip.

Birds & Nature is owned and managed by João Jara, who also guides the majority of the activities. João was born in Lisbon and studied biology at the Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, from where he developed his professional career in the pharmaceutical industry, as senior manager and director of various multinational companies. With 25 years of field experience, he knows the field of Portuguese birding intimately and is a member of the board of SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves – Birdlife in Portugal), as well as coordinator of the PRC (Portuguese Rarities Committee). Author and co-author of several articles about birds, João has led many field tours (in Portugal and abroad), as well as bird identification courses for SPEA. Besides birds, he has an active special interest in amphibians, reptiles and fishes. João is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

John is a professional local bird guide and author with over 35 years of birding and guiding experience both in England and Doñana, where he now lives.

Quality birding often depends on good local knowledge and experience and John has that in abundance, having operated over 700 day trips and many longer tours. He knows the breeding, feeding and roosting sites of all the more sought after species, he knows about migration patterns and he understands the effects that local climate conditions can have on the birds.

John operates sensibly-priced day tours around the Doñana Natural Park and also organizes inclusive two-centred package holidays for individuals and groups, combining the best sites in Doñana with those in Extremadura, Tarifa and Portugal.

John is now regarded as the most active and experienced guide in the Doñana region and is available for tours throughout the year. Whatever you require, John can arrange it!
Also available to Guide in: Spain