Portugal wildlife and whatever else ...

[paul m]

Partly because of other options opening and partly because I'm a bit worried about Mediterranean temperatures in August, we have deferred the tour of southern Italy -
Southern Italy

So, now I need to know if anyone has any recommendations and tips for Portugal. Shall be starting off in Lisbon - best to go north or south?

[paul m]

Not a lot of feedback there then! I'll let you know how it goes on my return - just in case anyone needs infomation in the future. We plan on going to Evora (a world-heritage city) and Lisboa for the history and art and then going up north for some back-to-nature stuff! Probably staying at Coimbra, Guimaraes (for the Serra do Gerez) and Guarda (for the Serra da Estrela).

I've found a little book which gives some interesting walks and it has all sorts of wildlife things in it - how to recognise raptors in flight &c.. We shall see .....

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by paul m

Not a lot of feedback there then! I'll let you know how it goes on my return - just in case anyone needs infomation in the future. We plan on going to Evora (a world-heritage city) and Lisboa for the history and art and then going up north for some back-to-nature stuff! Probably staying at Coimbra, Guimaraes (for the Serra do Gerez) and Guarda (for the Serra da Estrela).

I've found a little book which gives some interesting walks and it has all sorts of wildlife things in it - how to recognise raptors in flight &c.. We shall see .....

I visited the Serra da Estrela in February to see some of the Narcissus sp. that grow there. Probably very different at this time of year, but imagine there will still be plenty to see. It is a very beautiful area.

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Tiggrx

I visited the Serra da Estrela in February to see some of the Narcissus sp. that grow there. Probably very different at this time of year, but imagine there will still be plenty to see. It is a very beautiful area.

Sounds great. Sad that my wife only has July or August for holidays! Mind, she's getting on a bit so we'll soon be able to holiday at sensible (and cheaper) times of the year ....... might not be able to climb the hills though
It's one of those annoying paradoxes of life: when you have the energy, you don't have the time or the money but when you have the time and, perhaps, a bit of money, you're not fit enough to do the things that you want to do Still, if I can lose the odd kilo and ........

[paul m]

The plans were varied a bit, after the first few (excellent) days in Coimbra. Getting to Guimaraes in the north of the country .....

... quite a nice little town ... there was a choice of two campsites: one by the river near a thermal spa, the other on a hill-top served by a cablecar ... concerned about the possibility of flooding we opted for the hilltop place .... Penha:

The campsite is under that cloud.
I've not seen rainfall like it for a long time and it followed us around.
Someone mentioned that the Costa Verde (this is about 40 km from the coast) is green because it gets so much rain ..... so moved on inland and upwards .....

Originally Posted by paul m

.......... - just in case anyone needs infomation in the future. We plan on going to Evora (a world-heritage city) and Lisboa for the history and art and then going up north for some back-to-nature stuff! Probably staying at Coimbra, Guimaraes (for the Serra do Gerez) and Guarda (for the Serra da Estrela).
.....

[paul m]

Carefully skirting around Fatima, had a stroll around the part of the parque natural where a lot of dinosaur footprints were found a few years back:
Dinosaurs made a big impression in Portugal - 22 October 1994 - New Scientist
There's an extensive area of exposed bedding which you can walk around and across (on a very restricted path):


There are several different trails of different sized animals:


The largest are quite large:


My interpretation of the Portuguese is that these radiating lines are splashmarks?


The Serras de Aire park has lots of well-marked walks and cycle routes. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try most of them ... another time.

Bats are numerous in this area and they are proudly used as the Park's symbol:

[paul m]

Evora is one of several World Heritage sites in Portugal with remains dating from the Palaeolithic. It was inhabited by the Romans who built an aqueduct (later maintained by the Arabs). Near the aqueduct I was studying plants one morning [Anyone recognise this?


When there was a strange noise and two large raptors took off from near the aqueduct:


The one behind was making the noise so I assumed it was a youngster being taken out for flying instruction. They gradually soared way up into the sky before disappearing:


However, as they were fading into the distance, another appeared, then another two ... could this have been a large family?
My first assumption was buzzard (Buteo buteo) but the underwing pattern doesn't look right and they were perhaps a little large ...... any suggestions?

[goosey]

You seem to have seen so many interesting things on your trip . I love the raptor images - you were lucky to get a second chance to photograph them.
I have had a look to see if I can ID them - I used this site
Birds of Inland Spain and Raptors and googled each of the raptors listed and the most similar (to me ) seems to be The Booted Eagle - Aquila pennata.

[paul m]

Originally Posted by goosey

......... and googled each of the raptors listed and the most similar (to me ) seems to be The Booted Eagle - Aquila pennata.

Thanks. Yes it does look like the booted eagle (which I hadn't heard of .... ) ... bad news, it seems to have changed its name: Booted Eagle - Hieraaetus pennatus

I've found a rather good site on distribution of the vertebrates of Spain - unfortunately for me the animals are indexed by Spanish common names; however, the booted eagle is easy to find -
http://www.vertebradosibericos.org/a...pas/hiepen.png
The strong brown areas would, presumably, extend over the border into central Portugal - including Evora.

[paul m]

Coimbra is a university town - imagine Cambridge on a hill - with a long history. It's a World Heritage Site (beginning to expect that .... ).
The old square houses, amongst other things, the doctors common room, the hall where degrees are presented and the library which is a fantastic old place.

The library has lots of advantages: the wall are so thick that a constant temperature is maintained and there are bats in the eaves; allegedly these bats catch any flying insect that would damage the books so they are well looked after - and the books and furniture are covered with large cloths every night!

Not all of the University is this old - there are modern buildings on another hill and behind this square are buildings of every age. The University is primarily scientific and the various departments (Botany, Physics, Geology, Medicine &c) have museums of varying size to which the public can sometimes gain access. There was a nice little exhibition in the Zoology Department and visiting it was rather like walking back in time: you expected venerable professors with huge beards to appear at any time! The corridors were lines with these rather attractive tiles (azulejos)


There is a very interesting old town descending to river level - while the small buildings are cramped together there are lots of flowers squashed into every available space - anyone know what this is?


That's not all - there is, nearby, a well-preserved Roman site and, yes, a botanical garden - Botanical gardens

The Roman site at Conimbriga is very well preserved (as these things go) with some nice mosaics. One side has a great view over a wooded canyon. The soil is quite deserved (as one would expect) with quite an interesting mixture of flowers including (I think) an asphodel -

and this composite, perhaps Arnica montana?

[Tiggrx]

Originally Posted by paul m

Anyone recognise this?

It is a species of Knapweed (Centaurea) - there are a lot in the Mediterranean.

[paul m]

Originally Posted by Tiggrx

It is a species of Knapweed (Centaurea) - there are a lot in the Mediterranean.

Thanks - I was just getting interested in this and other plants when I was distracted by the eagles .....

[paul m]

Having a fairly short journey from Coimbra to Guimaraes, decided to divert a little to see the sea! Much of the western coast of Portugal has a sandy shore in front of dune systems. Unfortunately most of them are unprotected and get seriously disturbed by holidaymakers. The exception seems to be at San Jacinto whic is at the end of a spur of consolidated dune running between the shallow Canal de Ovar and the Atlantic, quite near the town of Aveiro. Apart from the town and the coastal tourist resorts this is a fairly interesting wooded and/or marshy area with raptors commonly seen as well as stork. Somewhere near a junction on the A25-IP5 with the N235 perhaps (okay, I was lost) was a cluster of storks' nests - about thirty on electricity pylons, traffic sign gantries, houses - about two thirds of the nests had storks on or near them - presumably roosting?

Anyway, there are several walks through the resort which is about 5km wide so did the succession backwards to the dunes (no access to the sea so wasn't able to dip my feet ). A new boardwalk has been built

to replace the former one

and, by and large, there was little evidence of people walking over the dunes. There's quite a secluded set of ponds in the slack:


Quite a few flowers on the dunes but outnumbered by seedheads: this must be quite spactacular in May-June.


This whole area would be very interesting to explore - especially in the spring or autumn.

[paul m]

Travelling inland and slightly southerly the climate becomes much more Mediterranean: the valleys are lush and fairly well irrigated but the hilltops are hot and dry.
Leaving Guimaraes there was still plenty of cloud and some tremendous views. As one who thinks cars are next above dentists as necessary evils, it was quite impressive to drive along practically empty motorways with views over many miles: shame we couldn't stop to examine the flora and fauna.


It would be interesting to know what the natural ecology of the Douro valley is - it's an infinity of grape vines today, going to produce a lot of port:


The hills have more grapes with the occasional hectare or two of almonds. No vegetation in there really but quite a few plants along the roadside - all seeds at this time of year:



A few small villages and quintas break up the vineyards; along with distilleries:

Some of the grape juice must be distilled to produce brandy to fortify the port but I would think a lot of it goes as industrial alcohol.

[ericrovve]

That knapweed is Centaurea pullata, I'm fairly sure

[paul m]

The highlight of this holiday was to see the palaeolithic drawings in the Coa Valley ( Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa / Côa Valley Archaeological Park ). The discovered carvings are spread over at least 17 kms of rough, arid riverside rocks. Walking is quite hazardous and the carvings need protection so no one is allowed to enter the archaeological park except with guides. Without staying a week we couldn't do all three sites and had to wait a couple of days before the first expedition.
So we went to Vila Flor which has a most peculiar museum, a reservoir -

one of many in this part of the world which often cause great controversy; and was near an old castle, Ansiaes:

where there were plenty of butterflies and other flying insects.

Eventually got to the Coa valley which is mainly on schist (used to build houses &c:

It (the schist) was also used by ancient humans to draw on. The carvings (by several different techniques) are mainly of horse, aurochs and ibex but there is one fish and one human! Surprising that there aren't more fish because they must have been the staple diet.

There's a lot written about Palaolithic art but one of the fascinating aspects (why?) is that pictures have often been drawn over at a later date - even where there is/was plenty of space to do a separate drawing the new one is often done over an older one:

Is this like modern graffitists painting over someone else's work? Or is it because they have seen changes - horses replacing aurochs, perhaps? In some places you can see horses with two or three heads: one neck down grazing, one high in the air rearing and another in between: an attempt to demonstrate movement?

Fascinating place - can only hope that the local farmers don't get their way to build the dam ....

[paul m]

The bulk of Portugal's agricultural produce comes from this area: cereals in the spring winter, the usual animals year-round and crops of cereals, beans and gourds when appropriate. There aren't many extensive field systems - usually the agriculture takes place in the gaps between olive or cork oak trees.


However, amongst these groves are lots of much older sites - including some caves (Grutas do Escoural) with drawings on their walls which I couldn't get access to ....

Almost any type of neolithic 'building' can be found - menhirs


stone circles:


dolmens:


even some which have been adapted by a later religion!

Originally Posted by paul m

Evora is one of several World Heritage sites in Portugal with remains dating from the Palaeolithic. It was inhabited by the Romans who built an aqueduct (later maintained by the Arabs). .........
...............

[paul m]

The least lovely city I've seen for some time but lots of wonderful things around it. Setubal is on the mouth of the R. Sado. There are lots of mudflats upstream with lots of shorebirds - even quite close to Setubal despite the industry along the coast:



The mouth of the Sado is almost blocked by an enormous sand-bar - Troia - that was settled by the Romans.

Down one side are lots of stones which must have been imported (Troia is entirely made of sand) and were used in the salting/pickling of fish. The Roman town ppears to have been destroyed by a tidal wave or some other natural disaster.

On the other side of Setubal is the Natural Park of Serra da Arrabida which was saved from development in the 1970s although there are a few houses in it as well as a massive limestone quarry with associated factory:

The beaches are crowded in the afternoon.
This is a marine as well as terrestrial reserve and is most odd in that the sea contains little, if any seaweed; indeed contains very few molluscs and the like - apparently these were destroyed incidentally to heavy and illegal fishing in the past. Most of the reserve consists of ridges of various rocks - limestone, red sandstone, puddingstone .... the latter used in local architecture: