The Castro Marim salt marsh is one of the oldest protected areas in Portugal.
Located along the Guadiana River, which, near its mouth, creates salt flats, channels, mangroves, and salt pans, it serves as a wintering and migratory stopover for thousands of birds. Around 200 species of birds have already been seen here, and we can expect to see dozens of them on a morning of observation. Depending on the time of year, we highlight the following as the most likely to be seen: the Flamingo, the Glossy Ibis, Spoonbill, Common Shelduck, Black-necked Grebe, Audouin’s Gull, Slender-billed Gull, Pied Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Black-tailed Godwit, Curley Sandpiper,, Redshank, Kentish Plover, Caspian Tern, Little Tern,Ruff and Collared Pratincole. In the salt marsh area, it is also possible to spot the Mediterranean Short-toed Lark, which has the best observation spot in Portugal here.
In the surrounding fields, the pastures, the Mediterranean scrubland, the small dryland orchards with carob and fig trees, are habitats with other biological variability, and there it will be possible to see the Iberian Grey Shrike, the Woodchat Shrike, the Hoopoe, and the Iberian Green Woodpecker.
In the pine forest by the sea, other species we can expect to find: Pallid Swift, Crested Tit, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Wryneck, Tree Sparrow, and in lagoons with aquatic vegetation, the Western Swamphen, Little Bittern, and less common ducks such as the Ferrogineous Duck and the Red-crested Pochard..
Being a relatively restricted area, a full day of birdwatching, depending on the time of year, should include the Ria Formosa, between Cacela Velha and Tavira, or alternatively, the riverbanks of the eastern Algarve closer to the mountains, where we can expect to find other species such as the Short-toed Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle,White-rumped Swift, the Common Nightingale, the Hawfinch, the Dartford Warbler, the Golden Oriole, European Bee-eater, and the Common Kingfisher.
Prices:
Private tour: 1 person €280 | 2 people €330
Group tour (minimum 4 people): €75/person
