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Incidental birding in Lisbon

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 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.

Rose-ringed Parakeet, one of many around the Portuguese Naval Museum in Belém
Black Redstart outside the Portuguese Naval Museum, Belém

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 Edward VII park added a couple of 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.

These three Blue-crowned Parakeets seem to be sharing a joke…probably at the photographer’s expense
Perched, it looks like a shabby Blackbird with a white bill, but this is actually a Crested Myna, also known as the Chinese Starling, Acridotheres cristatellus, an introduced Asian species now present in Lisbon and environs. Obvious white patches on the wings in flight are a giveaway.
Slightly more obvious in this photo: Crested Myna
A couple more of the Rose-ringed Parakeet
Blue-crowned Parakeet in flight, Lisbon Botanical Gardens

Photos to come: Serin…watch this space.

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.

  1. Black-Headed Gull
  2. Black-tailed Godwit – Oriente
  3. Blue-Crowned Parakeet* – Botanic Gardens
  4. Common Black Redstart- Edward VII
  5. Common Blackbird
  6. Common Buzzard
  7. Common Chaffinch
  8. Common Sandpiper – Oriente
  9. Crested Myna* – Monastery, Belém
  10. Eurasian Crag Martin* – Miradouro de Santa Catarina
  11. European Herring Gull
  12. European Pied Flycatcher – Heard only, Botanic
  13. European Robin
  14. European Serin* – Parque Edward VII
  15. European Starling
  16. Eurasian Blackcap – Parque Edward VII, Botanic
  17. Eurasian Blue Tit
  18. Eurasian Jay – Parque Edward VII
  19. Eurasian Oystercatcher – River
  20. Eurasian Wren
  21. Great Black-backed Gull
  22. Great Cormorant – River
  23. Great Tit
  24. Grey Heron – Monastery
  25. House Sparrow
  26. Long-Tailed Tit
  27. Rose-Ringed Parakeet – Monastery, Botanic etc
  28. Ruddy Turnstone – Riverside to Belém
  29. Sardinian Warbler – Parque Edward VII
  30. Short-Toed Treecreeper* – Parque Edward VII, Botanic
  31. Spotted Flycatcher – Parque Edward VII
  32. Spotless Starling* – Parque Edward VII
  33. Stock Dove
  34. Western Jackdaw
  35. White Wagtail – Belém
  36. Willow Warbler – Parque Edward VII
  37. Yellow-Legged Gull

*Bird, species we’d not seen anywhere previously.

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.

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