Close to our holiday home Casa Limão, bird watchers can also enjoy themselves. A short distance from our village Azinhal you will find the following bird areas. We would love it if you would like to share a photo for our website.
Sapal de Castro Marim
This wetland nature reserve attracts many visitors due to its diverse wildlife, which includes some 153 species of birds, including storks, avocets, sandpipers, flocks of flamingos, black-tailed godwits, little egrets, mangrove warblers, little bustard, bee-eater and hoopoe. As well as more than 400 plant species and various reptiles, amphibians and mammals. In the spring of 2021, 550 flamingos were born in the nature reserve - a first for Portugal.
Lagoon of Ria Formosa
The Ria Formosa lagoon, is a system of barrier islands connected to the sea through six inlets. Five of these coves are natural and the sixth is an artificial cove that was opened to facilitate access to the port of Faro. In 2010, the lagoon was recognized as one of the country's Seven Natural Wonders. It is also listed by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area, both in the lagoon zone with 23,296 hectares and in the oceanic zone with 19,900 hectares. It serves as a stopping point for migratory birds during the spring and autumn migration periods. You will find here, among others, the harrier, pintail, gadwall, crown duck, plover, little bittern and purple coot. The purple coot with its beautiful feathers is the symbol of Rio Formosa.
See the Visitor Center website below for more information on this area:
https://natural.pt/protected-areas/parque-natural-ria-formosa/infrastructures/ceam-centro-educacao-ambiental-marim?locale=pt
Natural Park of Guadiana Valley
Further north along the border river you enter the Guadiana Natural Park and the town of Mértola where the landscape becomes more mountainous. Larger birds such as black stork, black vulture, hawk eagle and eagle owl live here.
The Salinas del Duque Isla Canela (Ayamonte)
The Salinas del Duque is a beautiful natural environment formed by marshes and inhabited by many species of water birds that nest and reproduce in it. You can visit them on foot or by bike via the green routes specially created for this purpose. You will see, among other things, the flamingo, osprey, tern and cormorant.