We went over to Portimao today shopping and stopped by the River Arade to eat lunch. We sat facing the twin bridge crossing the river with the nautical place to our right. There is a pair of storks on each of the bridge tower peaks and also a pair on the chimney. Sorry but we only had the Polaroid PDC2070 with us (now is the car as a "spare" not the Kodak DC4800 Zoom which I prefer to use.
Cor, that bridge wasn't there last time I was in Portimao - mind you, it was in 1982. I've seen storks in southern Spain nesting on chimneys but can't remember seeing many in Portugal. Nice to see the painted fishing boats are still around. Thanks LoL
I can't remember when it was built, Blackthorn, perhaps as long as ten years. You can still go over the old bridge, plus further in, just about at the horizon the new Via do Infante goes from Lagos to Seville. We have lots of storks. There must be about six pairs plus youngsters in Silves, and there a pair nesting near us now in Algoz. Portimao has quite a few but we never noticed them before today nesting on the bridge. Ourique up in Alentejo has lots as well, almost on every telegraph post (they are still overground there). In the area of this massive bridge above is where the Flamingos come as well. Must have camera ready for that!
Found this pair of storks last week so had the camera with me today as we ate just in front of them ... This is about the closest I think I can get to them. There were several pairs circling behind them as well. Also just wanted to show you how bad the weather was today!
Thanks for being so thoughtful, LoL! :rolleyes: It's good to see a good picture of the storks now - something you don't see here, unfortunately....
We do but only three or four a year :( last one seen was in Suffolk last week (13th). Normandy is the nearest place to us that they breed. One day perhaps!
We couldn't believe our eyes when we went to our small grocery store this morning for the weekly shop and found these there ... They were NOT there last week we are sure ... you cannot miss this! They are constructing four-story apartments about a couple of blocks from here and there are five or six pairs of storks who reside there. It is illegal to move stork nests as they are protected but I think the cranes (metal monsters not feathered friends) and general commotion has moved them on. I think that is where our recently moved-in pair in Algoz has come from. It is wonderful seeing two or three pairs of them just circling around, gliding on the wind. I shall try to take a decent pic when the weather is better. I must also learn how to use the camera better!
Very interesting, will look forward to that! BTW Our telegraph poles are still overground and one of them is in my b***** front garden! :D
Some telegraph poles are here too. In the Alentejo region, on one stretch of road just about every one houses a stork's nest! Why should you be priviledged ... we have an ugly concrete lightpost in ours! At least it's at the boundary line next to the double gates, now fairly hidden by a Jacaranda and Morning Glory fast growing up it! :D :D : It seems every old cottage in the country MUST have their own light ... it's a nightmare ... fortunately for us our bulb has been burned out for months and we're not telling them ... just hope the neighbours don't like they did years ago! :eek:
Didn't know that's what they were, strongy! : I went all the way to Ferraguda near Portimao to get seeds for pete and I just had to look in my grocery store parking lot ... what kind of a Med gardener am I, I ask? No, don't answer! This carpark has these as the shade for the cars so twenty/thirty trees, like the Giga Garden Centre has the palms. Lovely little incidentals they do here. There is another tree blooming here at the mo and there are a couple at the side of the grocery store, unforunately with billboards in front of them so didn't bother to photograph. Jacarandas are coming into their glory now ...
You'll never be able to get closer than this Sis! We'll expect new pics every week, especially when baby nods appear!
Can you believe this, Sis ... you shop at this store and know how low this sign is! Absolutely unbelieveable. And that I didn't really ever look and see that the shade trees there are those wonderful Pepper Trees at Ferragudo! I bet Algarveshopping in Guia is well pissed off. For everyone else, Algarve's second biggest shopping centre is 20 minutes from us and it's logos are storks ... everything from paintings, a variety of weather vanes (including ones with the stork carrying the baby) to they have constructed a structure and put a few twigs on it for storks to come nest there ... no go in the five/six years it's been open.
