Southern Portugal in Autumn

Great Bustard © Pedro Marques

An autumn tour to lovely Portugal promises spectacular birding and beautiful landscapes with touches of history and culture.

Portugal is a beautiful and popular travel destination rich in art, architecture, food, and landscapes. Bordered on two sides by water, Portugal sits at a geographic crossroads that both people and birds have found irresistible for thousands of years.

Our Southern Portugal in Autumn tour to the country’s southern half visits the most important birding areas and landscapes while providing a bit of exposure to some of the country's vivid history, shaped over thousands of years by the rising and falling tides of some of the world’s greatest civilizations. Marvelous birding is assured, with good chances for many of Europe’s most spectacular and highly sought birds.

From the capital city of Lisbon, on the Atlantic coast, we’ll travel to the rolling hills near the border with Spain and then south to the white sand beaches rimming the south coast. We’ll visit the famous Tagus Estuary nature reserve outside Lisbon, Portugal’s premier location for waterfowl and shorebirds; we’ll travel to the Alentejo, where we’ll seek a range of hawks, larks, and other open country birds amid rolling plains interspersed with Holm and Cork oaks and Olive trees; we’ll explore the hills and forests of the Guadiana Valley Natural Park where Spanish and Bonelli’s eagles occur; and we’ll journey to the coastal Algarve, a scenic region of bluffs, hills, and beaches boasting protected wetland areas, nature parks, and reserves, and situated on a major migratory flyway.

Our trip is timed for the peak of fall migration; consequently, we anticipate encounters with a wonderful variety of birds, including Red-legged Partridge; Greater Flamingo; Black-bellied Sandgrouse; Great and Little bustards; Pallid and White-rumped swifts; many waterfowl and shorebirds; Slender-billed, Mediterranean, and Audouin’s gulls; White and Black storks; Little Bittern; Squacco Heron; Eurasian Spoonbill; Cinereous and Egyptian vultures; Eurasian Griffon; Short-toed Snake-Eagle; Booted Eagle; Red and Black kites; Eurasian Hoopoe; Iberian Green Woodpecker; Iberian Gray Shrike; Iberian Magpie; Red-billed Chough; European Roller; Dartford Warbler; and Rock and Cirl buntings. A visit to Sagres and Cape St. Vincent at the tip of the mainland provides great opportunities to see migrant landbirds and seabirds, including a suite of shearwaters, jaegers, and storm-petrels.

Intermingling with our natural history pursuits will be a sampling of Portuguese history, a history populated with Phoenicians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, Christian “Reconquistas,” and the larger-than-life figures who appeared during the golden Age of Discovery. At times we’ll be joined by licensed guides who will lead us on walking tours of the historic districts of Lisbon, Évora, and Mértola, where we’ll wander winding streets through historic plazas and squares en route to an array of castles, cathedrals, museums, Roman ruins, and modern promenades and cafes.

Complementing our days in the field will be numerous opportunities to sample Portugal’s many culinary delights including its famous wines.

With its multi-faceted approach, this program is designed to satisfy the needs of the serious birder while offering a look at a culturally rich European country.

Very good accommodations and food; birding activities intermingled with walking tours and visits to historic sites; moderate physical demands; warm and dry weather conditions expected.

Alfama, Lisbon © Photo Archives