Welcome to our September Newsletter 2021

Thank you for supporting us!

End of summer means bird migration! Be aware!

Helen & Filipa

Afonso Henriques was the first King of Portugal, probably born in Guimarães on the 5^th of August 1109 (not known for sure); son of Henrique de Borgonha and Teresa de Leão, was grandson of the Castilian King, Afonso IV of Leão and Castela. His father was made Count of Portucalense County by King Afonso VI as a rewarded due to his success in the battles against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula. After his father died, D. Afonso Henriques, was against his mother politics and defeated her on a Saint Mamede battle (1128), becoming the governor of the County and got political independence from Galicia.

The main aim of D. Afonso Henriques was to make the Portucalense County independent, recognized as a Kingdom and to conquer new lands from the Moors. In 1139 after winning the Ourique battle against the Moors, he proclaimed himself King of Portugal, but the independence of the new County was only recognized in 1143 with the Zamora agreement between D. Afonso Henriques and Afonso VII, his cousin, King of Leão and Castela. Although only in 1179, the Pope Alexander III, officially granted the Portuguese independence and recognized it as a kingdom. During his reign he conquered most parts of the territory from the Moors, including Lisbon and Alcácer do Sal.

In 1146, D. Afonso Henriques got married to D. Mafalda de Sabóia, they had 7 children, including D. Sancho I, future king of Portugal. In 1169, after being hurt during a battle, a regency council was created to reign in the name of the disabled King; this council was made up of two of his children: D. Sancho and D. Teresa. King D. Afonso Henriques died on the 6^th of December 1185 in Coimbra of unknown causes.

• On the 18^th of September A Rocha will take part on the international Coastal Cleaning Day. The meeting point will be at the car park, near the swimming pool in Alvor, at 9h20. Fore more information contact: Isabel.soares@rocha.org

• The Sagres Birdwatching Festival is coming. A Rocha Portugal will take part with Moths Monitoring and Birdwatching tours. The program and bookings are already available here
• A Rocha Portugal will be this month in Fontes de Estômbar, developing some activities together with Lagoa Council. Subscriptions will be available soon.

13^th September – Moths; 14^th September – Bird ringing; 16^th September- Birdwatching

• August was a calm month for birds at our ringing station, although we captured some wonderful birds: : Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), European Kingfisher (Alcedo athis), Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator), Melodious Warbler (Hippolais polyglota), Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia atricapilla), Red-necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis) and Whitethroat (Sylvia communis).

• At Ria de Alvor, Nature 2000, the number and diversity of birds will increase as our winter visitors are arriving. Some of the birds seen: Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) (around 150 individuals), White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) (more than 200 individuals), Audouin’s Gull (Larus audouinii) (more than 100 individuals), Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), Little Tern (Sternula albifrons), Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava), Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola), Dunlin (Calidris alpina) and Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea).

Summer, is a wonderful time to go to the beach! People do their sunbathing or walk up and down and do not realize how the beach is full of life. Close to the dunes, there is some movement… Sometimes it is hard to see wildlife because their colour is an excellent camouflage. A couple of Kentish Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) chose this place to make their nest; a small hole in the sand lined with small pieces of shell, it is almost invisible! If you get close to it, the birds start running on the sand calling for your attention away from the nest, birds are amazing! Sometimes they even pretend they are injured; they think we are predators and so pretend to be easy prey. But as soon as you got to close to them, they just fly away! Further away, it is hard not to notice them, a small colony of Little Tern (Sternula albifrons), their strategy is totally different! As you pass by all the birds are flying around making this amazing noise and flying in your direction almost “attacking” you! These are elegant birds; it is possible to see them flying along the shore and diving for “fish”. Deep inside the dunes, there is another sound, moving between the vegetation, the Crested Larks (Gallerida cristata), hunting insects to feed their chicks! What a lovely beach day 😊

Filipa

Female Kentish Plover in display                                  Nest of Kentish Plover                                        Little Tern in nest

Wels catfish (Silurus glanis, Linnaeus, 1758)

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Family: Siluridae

Origin: Eastern Europe and Western Asia

Size: 1 to 1,5 metres and 15 to 20 kg (up to 3 metres and 150 kg)

The Wels Catfish or Sheatfish is the 3^rd biggest freshwater fish in the world! The main characteristic is the presence of 2 long barbels on the upper jaw and 4 short barbels on the lower jaw; the body is elongated; it has a long anal fin extending to the caudal fin. The colour can vary a lot, normally it is dark on the back and lighter underneath, the skin is very slimy. Like eels they can swim backwards. Feeds at night on the bottom of rivers, annelid worms, crustaceans, insects, molluscs, and fish, but also can eat frogs, rats, and birds, it is a top predator feeding on everything it can catch. Inhabits rivers, dams, and lakes with deep waters, sometimes also occurs in brackish water. The females lay the eggs in shallow waters, around 30,000 per kg of body weight, and the males guard the eggs until they hatch.

The native range of the Wels Catfish extends from Germany to eastern Europe, including Poland and southern Sweden, northern Iran and southern Turkey to the Baltic States and Russia and to the Aral Sea. This species is now established in several countries to the west and south of its native range: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Tunisia, Italy, Syria, Croatia, Turkey, UK, France, The Netherlands, and China. The routes of introduction are mainly recreational angling, aquaculture, and biological control agent. Due to its size and quality, it is a very famous edible fish all over Europe.

The Wels Catfish was introduced illegally in Spain in 1974 in the Ebro River; in 1998 some fisherman introduced illegally in Tagus River in Spain; in 2006 the species was observed for the first time in Portugal but only in 2014 its presence was confirmed. Nowadays it is present along Tagus River and dams along the river and already have been seen in Douro River. In the last years, the population has been increasing. This species is a top predator and negatively affects the biodiversity of the rivers as well as the economic activities.

Portugal and Spain have a project together named Life Invasaqua which aims to stop the invasive species in rivers and lakes in both countries.

2^nd, 9^th, 16^th, 23^rd and 30^th September – Cruzinha Bird ringing display & Moth Talk (10 to 12 am). requires a pre booking. Book here

13^th September – Moth trapping at Sítio das Fontes, Estômbar

14^th September – Bird ringing at Sítio das Fontes, Estômbar

16^th September – Bird watching at Sítio das Fontes, Estômbar

18^th September – International coastal cleaning day. Beach cleaning Alvor, 09:00am, meeting point at the car park next to Alvor swimming pool. For more information email: isabel.soares@arocha.org

22^nd September – Autumn equinox. Beginning of Autumn.

Sagres Bird watching Festival from 1^st to 5^th October. More information here

What a nice Birthday present! A Gift Friendship for the Friends of A Rocha Portugal!!

Let’s be green

Sun cream, one of the worst polluters of the ocean!

• The chemicals in the composition of the most part of sun- creams, contaminate the water and harm the marine ecosystems!
• Annually, 14 thousand tons of sun-cream end up in the oceans!
• Sun creams have more than 20 chemicals in their composition, one of them is oxybenzone (causes cellular damage and hormonal imbalance)
• The toxic chemicals of sun- creams causes virus infections which affects the coral reefs (bleaching)
• Choose sun creams without oxybenzone and other similar chemicals (read carefully the ingredients)
• Choose sun creams with the stamp “Ocean conservancy”

LETS BE GREEN – LETS BE GREEN – LETS BE GREEN

In March 2019 in Portugal the field work for the red list of the terrestrial and freshwater invertebrates started. The field work was done in 61 places of Community Importance, Nature 2000 Sites. This project took place for the first time in Portugal and aims to do a systematic inventory of insects. Portugal is very rich in insect diversity and it is estimated that there are around 30, 000 species, although the diversity in some parts of the country is unknown.

The field work was done by 4 researchers, using specific sampling techniques according to the target species. This project is important to obtain up to date information about the distribution, biology and ecology of insect fauna and their risk of extinction, especially the 11 species listed in the Habitat Directive and protected in national territory.

The project started in June 2018 and is funded by PO SEUR (Sustainability Operational Program and Efficiency of Resources Uses) and by Environmental Funding.

The Red Lists are important for biodiversity Conservation and important tools for environmental conservation management because they are based on scientific knowledge.

All the information about the project is available on the website of the Red List of Terrestrial Invertebrates here (only available in Portuguese).

Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia) – Annex II (species of communitarian interest which need the designation of special conservation areas)

Photo by Filipa Bragança

Turtle-dove hunting suspended this summer

The Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA) applauds the temporary ban on turtle-dove hunting recently announced by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action as a protection measure for the species. The decision banned Turtle-dove hunting in the 2021-2022 season, in an attempt to enable the recovery of this species whose populations in Europe have suffered an 80% decline in the past 40 years, and which also shows evidence of steep decline in Portugal since the beginning of the 90’s.

This temporary ban is the result of years of joint work and discussion between environmental organizations, authorities and hunters’ associations, both in Portugal and internationally. Read more here

Photo by Alberto Garcia

Woodpeckers at Ria de Alvor- part 1

Three species of woodpeckers can be found in Portugal and all 3 can be found in the Ria de Alvor and our centre, Cruzinha.

The Iberian Green Woodpecker (Picus sharpei) is an endemic species present in Iberia and the Pyrenees, including the northern part on the French side (this means it is found nowhere else in the world besides these areas). The adults do not have a black area around the eye, the malar stripe is almost all red and the call is higher than the European Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis). Genetic studies also confirmed that the Iberian Green Woodpecker is different from the birds in the rest of Europe and from the Levaillant’s Woodpecker (Picus vaillantii) from North Africa. However, there is a contact area in the south of France where the two species can interbreed. It is the most widespread of the woodpeckers found in Iberia. In Spain and Portugal, it is a resident species present in all the country but shows a discontinuous distribution in the Alentejo. It is more abundant in the north-western part of the country, and it is present in all the Algarve. There is little difference between the winter and breeding distribution. It shows only small local and seasonal dispersive movements. That is why there are few sightings outside of its distribution area, for instance there are only 6 sightings in Gibraltar. This also can lead to a high mortality during harsh winters. It is associated with woodland habitat (pinewood, oaks, « montado », riparian gallery, chestnut grove). It sometimes uses open farmland to feed on insects on the ground, mostly ants. In the areas affected by fires, it uses the not burnt areas to rest and preen and the burnt areas to look for food. Along the coast, it prefers pinewoods, and it is absent from the tree-less areas of the Alentejo, the Beira-Baixa and the big urban areas. In recent years, the distribution in the lower Alentejo and eastern Algarve has increased, probably linked with new pine plantations associated with the abandonment of agriculture. It breeds from sea level to 2000 m altitude. During the breeding time, it prefers mature woodlands, but it can also nest in areas without trees, where it occupies abandoned Roller or Bee-eater nest.

At Ria de Alvor, most of the sightings occur between March and August but it can be seen all year round. The first Iberian Green Woodpecker caught at Cruzinha was in 2007. Then, we had to wait 10 years to catch the second one, but it has been annual between 2017 and 2019 with 2 birds caught during 2 years (2018 and 2019). In total, 6 birds were caught and ringed at Cruzinha, 5 of them during the last 4 years.

By Guillaume Réthoré

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