Portugal - Birding & Stargazing in Rural Alentejo

The Alentejo — Portuguese for ‘beyond the Tagus River’ — is a diverse and beautiful region of Iberia that not only supports a wealth of wonderful wildlife, but also boasts a rich history and culture. Clothed in rolling, arable plains dotted with Cork Oak and Olive trees, nature thrives in this sparsely populated landscape and light pollution is negligible. The Alentejo offers some of the darkest, and most starstudded, night skies in all of Europe and on this fascinating holiday, we will take in the region’s natural and human history by day, and enjoy some spectacular stargazing by night.

After a flight to Lisbon, our tour begins with time exploring the Tagus Estuary, which forms the southern boundary of Portugal’s capital and is one of Europe’s finest wetlands. We will be based here for two nights and enjoy a full day at the estuary, viewing its wintering birds such as Greater Flamingo, Marsh Harrier, Black-winged Stilt, Spoonbill, Glossy Ibis, Kentish and Golden Plovers, Hen Harrier, Hoopoe and Bluethroat. The sheer numbers of wintering birds here can be breathtaking, with up to 120,000 individuals present, including nearly a quarter of all of Europe’s Avocets.

Moving on, we will drive east through the Alentejo’s gentle landscapes, passing small villages of white-washed houses with their roofs of terracotta tiles. Away from these settlements, the open countryside is thinly populated and the night skies really are incredibly dark. In recognition of this, Alentejo’s Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve was the first site in the world to be declared a ‘Starlight Tourism Destination’, a certification supported by UNESCO. We will spend the next four nights within the dark sky reserve itself and enjoy several visits to a nearby observatory equipped with cutting-edge astronomical telescopes. We have timed our tours to coincide with the new moon and, assuming the weather is clear, the views out into space from here are truly outstanding. In the company of our Naturetrek guide and local astronomers, we will search the heavens for galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, multiple star systems and the planets that are visible at the time. This region of Portugal enjoys an average of 280 cloud-free nights per year, so we stand a very good chance of clear skies and an unobstructed view!

During the daylight hours we will search the nearby steppe for such birds as Great and Little Bustards, Common Crane, White Stork and Stone-curlew, while keeping an eye skywards for Spanish Imperial and Golden Eagles, Cinereous Vulture and Black-shouldered Kite. Other target birds that we will hope to encounter include Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Calandra Lark and Iberian Grey Shrike. Small flocks of the beautiful Iberian Magpie are commonly seen throughout the countryside. This species has been recently split from the Asian Azure-winged Magpie and is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. Birds such as Corn Buntings benefit from the low intensity farming that is still practised in the region and our tours in the early spring are sure to be enlivened by their ‘jangling keys’ song, a sound that has become all too rare these days in Britain.

During our time in the Alentejo we will stay in the comfortable Herdade Dom Pedro, near the pretty hilltop town of Terena; ‘Herdade’ being Portuguese for a large rural property or farm. Set in rolling hills speckled with Cork Oak and overlooking Terena’s 13th century castle, our base is surrounded by pastoral countryside crisscrossed with plenty of trails to explore and is blessed with the most wonderful sunsets; the perfect spot for a pre-dinner sundowner. Meals consist of typical, homecooked, Alentejo cuisine, prepared at the Herdade with fresh local ingredients.

We will not ignore the region’s rich culture and history on this holiday. This will include a visit to the beautiful, medieval, hilltop village of Monseraz where attractive whitewashed buildings are enclosed by fortress walls dating back to the year 1310, whilst on other days we may well see evidence of even older settlements in the form of prehistoric stone circles and other archaeological remains. The Alentejo is also noted for its wine, and there will be an opportunity to visit a local vineyard to sample some of Portugal’s excellent wines. After a thorough natural history, astronomical and cultural exploration of Alentejo we will return to Lisbon for our flight home.

As well as revealing the delights of the Alentejo’s diurnal wildlife and night skies, this tour will run in conjunction with ‘SPEA’ (BirdLife’s partner in Portugal), and thus help support its vital conservation work.