Destinations

2025

2026

Extremadura

... where there are many holiday photos to enjoy.

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Algarve & Alentejo 31 October — 7 November 2025

Autumn wildlife in south Portugal

Superb coastal wetlands, craggy cliffs and extensive plains: the south of Portugal offers first-class birdwatching in a comfortable climate.

Autumn sees an appealing mix of residents, winter visitors and migrant birds, some moving along the coast or towards their winter quarters in Africa.

This holiday, in Algarve and Alentejo, incorporates a mixture of wetlands, coastal cliffs, oak forest, dry grassland and hilly areas. Highlights could include Iberian specialities, like black-shouldered kite, great and little bustards, black-bellied sandgrouse and azure-winged magpie, plus plenty of other wildlife and beautiful landscapes.

By staying inland we can enjoy the undeveloped Algarve, moving past the better known beaches and golf courses, and head into the extensive grasslands of the remote Alentejo.

Azure-winged magpie (Steve Fletcher)

Barrocal, coast and Alentejo

At Alte, birdwatching in the traditional farmland areas of the limestone Barrocal may yield short-toed and Bonelli’s eagle, little owl, hoopoe and woodlark. The classified site of Rocha da Pena is a magnificent natural monument of great beauty. Scrub here may hold southern European birds such as southern grey shrikes, Dartford and Sardinian warblers, cirl and rock buntings, and blue rock thrush on the cliffs.

Migratory or late summer butterflies, like small copper, long-tailed and Lang’s short-tailed blues and painted lady could still be on the wing. At nearby Benémola spring, one of the few permanent streams in the Algarve, we can look for seasonal dragonflies, like western willow spreadwing, epaulet skimmer and red-veined darter.

Castro Marim Nature Reserve, in the Guadiana estuary near the border with Spain, has extensive marshes and salinas. Waders should include black-winged stilt, avocet and Kentish plovers, plus many migrants from the Arctic. Other waterbirds likely are good numbers of greater flamingos, spoonbill and egrets, and late terns could include Caspian.

At Ria Formosa Nature Park, at Quinta do Lago, the mudflats and lagoons of the area have a variety of waterbirds including specialities like purple gallinule, little bittern and red-crested pochard. Other unusual wildlife, like fiddler crabs and European chameleon, can be seen.

lagoon at Formosa
Lagoon at Ria Formosa; chameleon at Quinta do Lago.

Another excellent coastal site is Salgados lagoon near Pêra. This small coastal lagoon can be crowded with migratory waterbirds.

Castro Verde Special Protection Area, in Alentejo, is the most important dry-grassland area in Portugal. During the day we explore the dry grasslands, which support more than 1,000 great bustards. Birds of prey can be outstanding here, including griffon and black vultures, golden and Spanish imperial eagles. Other grassland birds include little bustard, black-bellied sandgrouse and stone-curlew. Larks include calandra and Thekla, and Spanish sparrows occur in flocks.

Spanish imperial eagle (Steve Fletcher) Calandra lark (Steve Fletcher)
Black-bellied sandgrouse, Spanish imperial eagle, calandra lark (all by Steve Fletcher)

There are also sites of natural history interest in western Algarve. One of these is Monchique, the highest mountain in Algarve, where there's a chance of Dartford warbler, stonechats and blue rock thrush. The peninsula of Sagres includes Cape São Vicente, the extreme south-western point of continental Europe, from which seabird passage could include shearwaters, gannets, skuas and terns. The scrub and grassland above the impressive sea cliffs hold passerines and counts show a concentration of migrant raptors, though you have to be lucky, in the right place at the right time, to see them.

Cape St Vincent

Autumn flowers can include autumn crocus (Crocus serotinus), autumn and sea squills, autumn snowflake and Narcissus serotinus.

autumn squill autumn crocus Crocus serotinus Narcissus serotinus

Autumn squill; Crocus serotinus; Narcissus serotinus.

Holiday details

Our base is are the three-star Alte Hotel (7 nights), located outside the village of Alte, surrounded by small fields and Mediterranean scrub. [Previous trips have had a second base, Hotel Mira Sagres in the small town of Vila do Bispo, but this year we have opted to have just the one hotel.]

Price: £1,700 per person in twin room for a week (Friday to Friday)

Single room supplement: £180

En suite facilities.

Flights: Jet2 ﬂights, London Stansted to Faro. There may be other flights possible from elsewhere in the UK.
Friday 31 October : flight LS1439 depart London Stansted 08:15 arrive Faro 11:05 (Flight duration 2 hrs 50 mins direct)
Friday 7 November: flight LS1440 depart Faro 12:05 arrive Stansted 14:55 (Flight duration 2 hrs 50 mins direct)

Deposit: £400

Maximum numbers: (two leaders): 14

Leaders

Chris Durdin (more about Chris on our Crete page).

The holiday is run in partnership with SPEA, the Portuguese BirdLife partner. The SPEA leader will probably be Lara Broom, SPEA's Membership Relations and Events Officer, who was our guide in autumn 2019. Previously we've been joined by Hugo from SPEA or Domingos Leitão, SPEA's former Executive Director, now working elsewhere - they are all very good and speak excellent English.

Cork oak woodland, Monchique.

Conservation project

Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves (SPEA, BirdLife in Portugal) will receive our donation, and SPEA advises on a current priority project for funding.

In 2023 we were a sponsor of the 11th Congress of Ornithology of SPEA, 22-26 November, in Ponta Delgada University (Azores). This is a major science and conservation event that SPEA used to organise every third year. The last time, the 10th, was in 2018, and because of the pandemic, the 11th was postponed to this year. More on: https://spea.pt/congresso-de-ornitologia-2023/

Previously (2019) we supported the promotion of SPEA in the Algarve, namely funding a stand that, with the help of a local group of supporters, SPEA says will: "increase our street actions to promote and raise awareness about SPEA’s work in the Algarve. We need more members everywhere, but especially in the Algarve, where there are still lots of damaging developments to fight against."

The donation in November 2017 was directed to SPEA's Marine Conservation Department, to a campaign against oil drilling off-shore by the Algarve coast. New release and news coverage here.

Donations in Portugal for the holiday here in November 2015 supported campaigning against the illegal capture and sale of wild birds - more about that in our news release here. Also more on previous projects and Honeyguide's links with SPEA) here.

SUPPORTING