Birds and Culture in Southern Portugal
Greater Bustard by Pedro Marques
Located in the southwest of Europe and sharing a border with Spain, Portugal boasts over 93 reserves to show off its 360 different bird species. It offers a fantastic diversity of habitats and birds in a small area. So during 12 days of birding, we’ll visit several species-rich areas without traveling long distances.
We’ll start within half an hour’s drive from Lisbon city centre at the Tagus and Sado Estuary Nature Reserves where you’ll see Greater Flamingo, White Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Little Bustard, and an excellent selection of ducks, waders, gulls and terns.
Next we’ll visit the rolling plains of Castro Verde and the Guadiana Valley Natural Park. We’ll spend four nights in this area, staying in the historic city of Mértola. We’ll conclude the trip in the Algarve region where we’ll bird in a wide range of habitats: dunes, salt marshes, lagoons, and pine woods.
Combined with birding activities, we’ll visit some of the most interesting historical and cultural sites of Portugal in Evora, Mertola, Sagres and Lisbon. We’ll wander along winding streets, historic plazas and squares en route to an array of castles, cathedrals, museums, Roman ruins and promenades. We’ll sample Portugal’s many culinary delights and great wines, including one wine tasting event.
We first ran this trip in spring 2023 and it was a huge success. Wonderful hotels, excellent meals and great birds. If you’d like to see the eBird trip report, click here.
Check out the itinerary below. For questions or to sign up, contact Eric Schroeder at TRAVELPROGRAM@GOLDENGATEAUDBON.ORG.
He will put you in touch with João Jara. Please do not contact the trip vendor first.
To preview the places you’ll visit on the trip and the birds you’ll see, watch this great video here.
To convert the local currency to USD, click here.
In addition to the specific itinerary below, click here to view logistical information.
(Landing page photo: Greater Bustard with photo credit to João Jara)
systems to search for specialized avifauna and other wildlife adapted to thrive in arid conditions PLUS the wildly scenic and wonderfully eccentric Salton Sea. Travel as a small group with desert-experienced nature & bird guides from Nature Trip to visit San Andreas fault Geothermal zones; High Desert, Joshua Tree habitats; Native Washington Palm Desert Oasis; the ultra-rich delta of the Imperial Valley, the incomparable Salton Sea; and Anza Borrego, California’s largest state park.
Our focus will be birding as well as wildlife watching (moose, bears, whales, muskox!), with some geology and ecology in the mix. We’ll explore several major ecosystems across Alaska, including rugged coastlines, boreal forests, and subarctic tundra. The tour begins in Fairbanks, then we head to Denali National Park. Next, we visit the Kenai Peninsula, where we’ll take a day-long boat ride into beautiful Kenai Fjords National Park. The final few days are an exciting exploration of Nome in the far west. We’ll venture out on backroads to experience the subarctic tundra ecosystem. This tour will be an exciting, educational adventure all around!
Rufous-capped Warbler by Ken Blankenship