We spent a few days in Lisbon in early October, our first time in the beautiful and cosmopolitan capital of Portugal. Man, it was nominally a city break to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary, which was earlier in the year. There had been the notion of perhaps heading up to the Tagus Estuary Nature Reserve to see the flamingos, but we didn’t get there in the end. We kept our eyes peeled for birds in between more conventional city sightseeing in the city, as well as Belém (west along the river) and Oriente (to the east, as the name would suggest).
We didn’t spot any Black Kites, Azure-winged Magpies, nor Hoopoe, which I’d hoped for, but there were lots of Crested Myna, Black Redstart, and Rose-ringed Parakeets at the Mosteiro de Jeronimos in Belém. A couple of hours at the Parque Eduardo VII added Sardinian Warbler, Short-toed Treecreeper, and Serin to the list. Then another couple of hours in the Botanic Gardens added two species of parakeet Blue-crowned and Rose-ringed.
It was wonderful to spend some time in the peace of the Lisbon Botanical Gardens away from the bustle of the streets and the trams. It was also warm and sunny while we were there and with the sight and sound of Willow Warbler and Blackcap around it was almost like a summer rewind. The deciduous trees were starting to show signs of the autumn, of course, but it was still 25 Celsius and very humid, twice the temperature it had been at home when we left Old Blighty.
We finally caught up with a load of European Serin, Serinus serinus, in the Edward VII park in Lisbon. Not seen this bird species before, it’s related to the Ethiopian Siskin and the Black-headed Canary, but you could also say it’s a distant cousin of the European Goldfinch and the European Siskin, to which is bears more than a passing resemblance. They’re all finches, basically.
The hopefully complete bird list for our four-day ostensibly non-birding trip. Birds without a place were seen in various places or just around Lisbon/riverside in general. Birds marked * are lifers for us.
- Black-Headed Gull
- Black-tailed Godwit – Oriente
- Blue-Crowned Parakeet* – Botanic Gardens
- Common Black Redstart – Parque Edward VII
- Common Blackbird
- Common Buzzard
- Common Chaffinch
- Common Chiffchaff – Parque Edward VII
- Common Sandpiper – Oriente
- Crested Myna* – Naval Museum, Belém
- Eurasian Crag Martin* – Miradouro de Santa Catarina
- European Herring Gull
- European Pied Flycatcher – Heard only, Botanic
- European Robin
- European Serin* – Parque Edward VII
- European Starling
- Eurasian Blackcap – Parque Edward VII, Botanic
- Eurasian Blue Tit
- Eurasian Jay – Parque Edward VII
- Eurasian Oystercatcher – River
- Eurasian Wren
- Feral Pigeon
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Great Cormorant – River
- Great Tit
- Grey Heron – Naval Museum, Belém
- House Sparrow
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Long-Tailed Tit
- Rose-Ringed Parakeet – Naval Museum, Botanic etc
- Ruddy Turnstone – Riverside to Belém
- Sardinian Warbler – Parque Edward VII
- Short-Toed Treecreeper* – Parque Edward VII, Botanic
- Spotted Flycatcher – Parque Edward VII
- Spotless Starling* – Parque Edward VII
- Western Jackdaw
- White Wagtail – Belém
- Willow Warbler – Parque Edward VII
- Yellow-Legged Gull
Just to add, we saw a few Large White butterflies, presumed Speckled Wood, and a few Lang’s Short-tailed Blue, and also Velvet Carpenter Bee, and some fish in the river, but, that was pretty much it on other wildlife, as you’d expect from a city break.
Birds photographed with a Canon R7 mirrorless digital camera fitted with an appropriate adapter and an ancient Canon EF L 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS lens.