This month you can look  to the sky and find this amazing bird!

May is also the month of the flowers!

Filipa

Sintra-Cascais Natural Park

The Sintra-Cascais Natural Park is located in the North of Sintra Council near the Mouth of Falcão River, within the district of Lisbon and comprises of the parishes of Sintra and Cascais. The total area of the Park is 14 580, 84 hectares with the higher altitude of 528 metres.

The area is rich in geological formations, the oldest from the Jurassic Period, it is also possible to find a big lithological diversity. The climate is tempered Mediterranean with Atlantic influence and rain is abundant on the higher altitudes. This conditions enable the existence of a big variety of habitats some of them prior to conservation, like the coastal dunes, oak woods and Mediterranean shrublands. The flora of the area comprises around 900 species some of them being endemic. There are listed 200 species of vertebrates, including an endemic sweet water fish (Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum). The existence of caves are important for some threatened species of bats, like the Mediterranean Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus euryale) or the Lesser Horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros). The village and Sintra Mountain are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Natural Park was created in 1994 from the need to face the growing and intense touristic and urban pressures which threatened a very sensitive area with natural high values.  The symbol of the Park are the chimneys of the Nacional Palace of Sintra and the Moorish windows.

False Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes abencerragus, Pierret, 1837)

Family: Lycaenidae

Wingspan: 18 to 22 mm

Habitat: Dry, flowery, grassy areas with scrub

Flight period: April to May (one single brood)

Distribution: Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and Middle East.

Notes: This butterfly is not very common and it is hard to spot, due to its small size and its low flight (flies low among rocks and dry grass). The host plants are Cleonia (Cleonia lusitanica), Thyme (Thymus spp), Sage (Salvia sp) and burclover (Medicago spp). This species is easily mistaken with Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes baton).

Common Swift (Apus apus, Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Apodidae

Size: 16 to 18,5 cm Wingspan: 40 to 44 cm

Habitat: Towns and villages, more rarely woodlands and cliffs.

Status: Summer breeder

Distribution: Europe, North Africa and Asia; winters south of Sahara (Africa).

Notes: The scientific name Apus comes from the Greek and means without feet. This species spends the most part of its life inflight (eat, mate and sleep), they never come to ground willingly (they have difficulties to flying from the ground). The nest are built in high places.

• Jasper and Taylor, the directors of A Rocha Portugal Centre, Cruzinha are leaving. They have been with us for the last 4 years, facing the challenges of the pandemic. We are thankful for their work and wish them all the best on their return to home in the USA.

• Spring is always a busy period for birds! But we had a nice visitor in our nets: a Turtle Dove (Streptopelia turtur).

• The higher temperatures bring  lots of moths! Have you seen this species, Heliothis incarnata? Who says moths are not colourful!

• Hi all. My name is Michaël, I am a MSc student from the Wageningen University (Netherlands) and I am studying the Little Owl (Athene noctua), diet and habitat preferences on the Ria de Alvor peninsula. I’ve been staying at Cruzinha, wherefrom I practise my fieldwork. The fieldwork consists of two parts: walking transects in the evenings to count the owls themselves, and setting-up, filling and checking small mammal traps (non-kiling ones) for mice, shrews and voles, as they are an important food source for Little Owls in the breeding season. At the end of my studies I hope to find out what habitat types offer the most amount of food for Little Owls, and if the Owls will occur more in those areas that are rich in food. So far, I’ve enjoyed my time here fully, being part of a community that share my interest and fascination with nature! Cheers, Michaël Duijsens

Ornamental trees

In our parks and gardens it is possible to see amazing trees, although most of them are exotic! Plants native from other parts of the world used as ornamental. Maybe you have seen some of them….

California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera, (Lindl.) H.Wendl.)

Family: Arecaceae

Type of plant: Perennial tree

Size: 55 to 20 metres

Distribution: Native from the Southwestern USA (California) and Northwestern Mexico

Flower bloom time: July – August

Where to see:

Curiosity: Palm trees are not considered “true trees” because they don’t show secondary growing and their trunk is not branched. The name “Fan Palm” comes from the big leaves similar to a fan. The scientific name “Washingtonia” is in honour of the first president of the USA (George Washington) and “filifera” is related to the long filaments of the leaves.

1^st of May – Workers Day (National Holiday)

4^th, 11^th, 18^th, 25^th May – Cruzinha Bird ringing display & Moth Talk (10 am to 12 am). Book here

7^th May – Mothering Sunday

25^th May – Ascension Day/ Stalk Day

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!!

• Butterflies and bees are getting their own transport network as “bee bus stops” start to pop up around UK cities and across Europe.

• Bus shelter roofs are being turned into miniature gardens – full of pollinator-friendly flora such as wild strawberries, poppies and pansies.
• They are already 30 bee bus stops installed since 2021. The average life of a bus shelter is 20 years. Ones have to be specially designed for living roofs because the soil is heavy, especially when it is full of water.
• The aim is to create at least 1,000 bee bus stops in the UK, hopefully more. They are already established in Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, now they are building them in France and Belgium, other countries as far as Canada and Australia, are also interested in building them.

• As well as the wildlife benefits, the roofs also absorb rainwater, and make a small contribution to offsetting urban heat island effect.

LETS BE GREEN – LETS BE GREEN – LETS BE GREEN

It’s time to #RestoreNature! 

80% of European nature is in bad shape. But we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put Europe’s degraded nature on the path of recovery: a law to #RestoreNature! Togethre with over 200 international ogranisations, SPEA is calling on national governments and the European Parliament to adopt the urgent and much-needed law to #RestoreNature. This law is now within reach, but we need your support to make it happen. Let your government and Members of the European Parliament know you care and want to see nature restored now! Send a picture of a landscape you would like to see restored and tell your decision-makers they need to protect our future!

Sign now: www.restorenature.eu

Guillaume Réthoré (Gui)- My life with birds: An old Flamingo

Those who know me or have been birding with me know that I am a “nerd”. As a ringer, I am happy when, I get information from birds I ringed. Also, when I see a ringed bird on the field, I usually try to read it. Flamingos are some of these birds. Of course, they carry a plastic ring which code can be read with a telescope or binoculars and sometimes you get nice surprises. This Flamingo was seen at Lagoa dos Salgados during a tour in March. When I got the life history of this bird I had a nice surprise: this bird had been ringed as a chick in 2002, so it was 21 years old! It was also the 2^nd time I saw it (the last one being in 2017). This bird travelled a bit, being spotted in Algeria and various places in Spain.

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

Thank you for supporting us!
Hope to see you soon!