Find out how the bird population is doing and how climate change is affecting soils

Happy migration!

Helen & Filipa

Luiz Saldanha, was born in Lisbon in 1937: he studied at the French High School and later at the University of Sciences in Lisbon. He finished his PhD in Marine Biology; his thesis was about the marine wild fauna of Arrábida, Setúbal. In 1970 he started to teach at the University of Sciences in Lisbon and in 1979 he became a full time professor at the same University.

During his life he had important leadership jobs; he was the President of the National institute for Fisheries Research and the President of the Nature Protection League (Liga para a Proteção da Natureza – LPN), he founded the Sea Institute and was its first President and he was responsible for the Marine Lab of Guia (Cascais). He published several articles about Sea Biology and had an important role in the development of this science in Portugal. He took part in several projects and marine expeditions around the world and worked in well known marine research labs in France, United Kingdom, USA and Monaco.

In 1965, Luiz Saldanha presented a project to the Marine Ministry, to create a marine protected area in Arrábida, although it was not accepted at the time, after his death in 1998, a protected marine area was created, named after him: Marine Park Professor Luiz Saldanha (visit the website for more information here)

Notes: The larvae is polyphagous and feeds on several herbaceous plants, specially Mallow (Malva sp), Common Marshmallow (Althaea officinallis), Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and others. The colour of the wings resemble bird poop, an interesting camouflage.

• On the 17th of September, A Rocha will celebrate the International Coastal Cleaning Day with a beach clean at Praia de Alvor. It’s the fourth year A Rocha is doing this activity together with Fundação Oceano Azul. Meeting point: 09:20 at the car park near the swimming pool in Alvor. Please book through the email: Isabel.soares@arocha.org
• Bird migration already started!! Richard Dan and Jo Conway, visited Cruzinha again for some bird-ringing at the end of August. The number of birds has not been great, although they managed to catch & ring: Red Necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis), Orphean Warbler (Curruca hortensis), Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus), Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator), Bonelli’s Warbler (Phylloscopus bonneli), Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin), Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) and Willow Wabler (Phylloscopus trochillus).

Photos by Richard Dan

• On the 10th of September, A Rocha will give a guided ‘Walk in Ponta da Piedade’, the guide will be Guillaume Réthoré (9h30 to 11h30). The walk is organized by Lagos Council and requires pre booking. Visit the Lagos Council website for booking here

Nutria (Myocaster coypus, Molina, 1782)

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Rodentia

Family: Echimyidae

Origin: Subtropical and temperate South America

Size: 40 to 60 cm (body), 30 to 45 cm (tail)

The Nutria is a large rodent, rat-like. The pelage is brown-grey-yellowish with a yellow spot under the ear, the belly is white with a cylindrical tail; the incisors are prominent and bright-orange-yellow and it has a white muzzle. The hairs are soft and dense adapted to semi-aquatic life and between the fingers it has interdigital membranes for swimming. The tail is shorter than the body length and the adults can reach 14 to 16 kg, although usually average 4 to 7 kg. Females and males are alike in colour and size.

This species is native to South America, south of 23° latitude (includes Argentina, Bolivia, Southern Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay). Generally are found near the water, in reed beds, swamps, marshes and also in rivers, streams, ponds, lakes and brackish waters, rarely are observed over 100 metres from the water. The diet is mainly herbivorous, feeding of wetland plants and crops, but occasionally of fresh water mussels. Breeding occurs through the year and sexual maturity its reach at 3 to 10 months old. Severe winter cold reduces reproductive success and adult survival. The Nutria is more active at dusk and lives in groups.

Economically, the Nutria are valued as a source of fur and was introduced in many countries for fur exploitation; due to escapes and release from fur farms this species is now naturalized in North America, Europe and Asia. This species is considered one of the 100 world’s worst invaders; they build burrows which penetrate and damage river banks, dykes and irrigation facilities, it’s feeding methods lead to the destruction of large areas of reed swamp, which has impact on plants, insects, birds and fish species. This species was not yet observed in Portugal although is considered invasive in many countries in Europe including Ireland, Italy, France and Spain.

1^st, 8^th, 15^th, 22^rd and 29^th September – Cruzinha Bird ringing display & Moth Talk (10 to 12 am). requires a pre booking. Book here

10^th September – Walk in Ponta da Piedade, Lagos

17^th September – International coastal cleaning day. Beach cleaning Alvor, 09:20am, meeting point at the car park next to Alvor swimming pool. For more information email: isabel.soares@arocha.org

21^st September – Friends Event: Butterfly Walk in Biodiversity Station of Bravura

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

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

What makes a good Birthday present?

Sustainability, Innovation, Discover!

You can find all of that in the Gift Friendship for the Friends of A Rocha Portugal!!

How long does it take to breakdown items that are left in the environment?

• Orange peel  – 6 months
• 100% cotton T-shirt – 6 months
• Non-waxed egg cartons – 5 years
• Cigarette Butts  – 10 years
• Batteries – 100 years
• Spray Cans – 500 years
• Glass – For ever

Reusable is always better, things decompose much slower than you think.

How do we measure biodegradability?

• To make long-term estimates, scientists often use respirometry tests. They place a solid waste sample – like a newspaper, banana peel or plastic bag – in a container with microorganisms and soil, and then they aerate the mixture. Over the course of several days, microorganisms digest the sample bit by bit and produce carbon dioxide – the resulting amount of CO2 serves as an indicator of degradation.

LETS BE GREEN – LETS BE GREEN – LETS BE GREEN

The common bird census is a monitoring program to evaluate the common breeding bird’s populations and provide indictors of the health of the environment. The program is based on listening points in squares of 10×10 km along the continental area, it’s done by volunteers and its part of Citizen Science; this program started in 2004.

Spotless Starling

Between 2004 and 2021, 64 birds were evaluated, and their population tendencies; according to the results, the population of Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) is highly declining. Some of the farmland birds are also showing negative tendencies like the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) and the Serin (Serinus serinus), the same happens with some woodland birds, like the Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) and the Great Tit (Parus major). On the other hand some species are getting more common like the Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor), the Coloured Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) and the common Swift (Apus apus).

In the spring of 2021, the species with the most records was the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) and only 2 species were recorded in all the squares of the study, the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) and the Blackbird (Turdus merula).

Right to a healthy environment is declared a Universal Human Right

Access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment has been declared a Universal Human Right, in a historic vote by the United Nations General Assembly. The decision stems from BirdLife International’s #1Planet1Right petition, which was supported in Portugal by SPEA and signed by over 120 thousand people around the world. More info here

This article is called « my life with the birds” but the picture I’ll share today is not a bird (but a flying living creature though). A group I am interested in, besides the birds are the dragonflies. A colleague of mine introduced me to this world about 15 years ago and I never left it. Most species are visible in summer when there are few birds around so chasing dragonflies is a great alternative to birding during the hottest months.

This species, the Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) is a big dragonfly found near streams in forests and heathlands. It is hard to photograph when flying but if you manage to find where it perches, it stays there for awhile. This one was hunting in heathland and perched to eat the insects it caught, allowing me to photograph it. This species has a wide distribution, from Morocco to Scandinavia and from Portugal to Poland. The pattern of the yellow and black rings varies between regions. This one belongs to the boltonii subspecies, found in most of Europe (including Portugal). It was photographed in the Basque Country in France.

Text and photo by Guillaume Réthoré

Editor: Filipa Bragança

English proof reading: Helen Rodda

Portuguese proof reading: Lena Soares

Production controller: Helen Rodda

Email: friends.arpt@arocha.org

www.arocha.pt

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