Birds we added to our land list in 2024

2024 has been once again a fantastic year for birding on our land. We have seen 103 bird species in total, and had so many great highlights. Here is the list of the 13 new birds we have spotted on our land in Alentejo in 2024:

• Western Barn Owl : on January 4 we saw a Wester Barn Owl in flight at the very top of the land. What a way to start the year!

• Osprey : the next day, on January 5, an Osprey flew over the land!

• Hen Harrier : a male Hen Harrier passed by our land in January.

• Mistle Thrush : on a winter day, we heard the call of the Mistle Thrush on the East side of our land, in a wild area full of brambles, bushes, and several kinds of trees. We then saw 2 taking off but there may have been more.

• Great Egret : on February 10, a Great Egret landed by the edge of our pond for the first time!

• Lesser Black-backed Gull : 32 Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew over the land on a gray day in February.

• Spanish Sparrow : at the end of March we noticed a male Spanish Sparrow amongst the flock of House Sparrows that live by our house.

• Little Grebe : on June 8 we saw a juvenile Little Grebe on the pond! As we have never seen any adult Little Grebe on the pond before, we think this juvenile was not born on our pond, but maybe on the neighbour’s pond. We saw it again three days later and then it was gone.

• Egyptian Goose : 6 Egyptian Geese flew over the land in October.

• Western Subalpine Warbler : we saw a Western Subalpine Warbler flew by us not far from the house, in an area with bushed and young oak trees. It was in fall, so we assume it was migrating through our land.

• Tree Pipit : we have heard the call of the Tree Pipit at the very top of the land, and then saw it on a small oak tree before it left. Also a migrating species for us.

• Common Redstart : we spotted a female in the south east corner of the land

• Northern Lapwing : one individual flew over our land in October.

If you are a birdwatcher as well and are interested to see the birds of our area here in Alentejo, feel free to contact us!