Two little kittens appeared in one of our neighbour’s gardens on our regular evening dog walk. No mother to be seen.

Leaf blowers. What’s to like about them? They are bad for residents, bad for tourists, and bad for the lungs of those who use them.  And new research has found that they have a devastating effect on insect life. 

Wildlife Ourique is a Facebook group my husband and I started to share wildlife sightings in our area. On our small plot in Alentejo, we’ve identified 138 species of flower, 134 birds, 24 butterflies, 24 mammals, 10 reptiles and fewer trees, spiders, fungi, moths and amphibians. Every day of every season there’s something new and exciting to observe and learn.

Regardless of where you plan to travel or where you live, the Mediterranean sea region offers a whole new experience with bugs. It is not Australia though, so they won’t try to kill you, but many of them are annoying, frightening, or carries a disease. Let’s see what you can do against them!

Yoga Groups, Retreats in general, Family gatherings, Romantic Getaways and Family Holidays are some of the reasons why our guests choose the Quinta as a venue, but perhaps the favourite reason is as a base from where to watch nature, birds especially, but Nature in general, and recently we’ve been having some wonderful views of a particularly difficult species to get to grips with, European Otters.

Deborah Richmond will cycle to Portugal in custom-made bee cape to raise awareness and crowdfund for a 25 acre honey bee sanctuary and reforestation project. Deborah began the first phase of her epic 950 km cycle ride on 16th September and aims to arrive back to her rewilding project in Portugal by 3rd October. The vision for the Rewilding our Planet project is to transform 25 acres of degraded monoculture land into a sanctuary for the honey bee, to re-forest and re-establish a biodiverse landscape.

In April, Lagoa Council sent in heavy machinery to 'clean' the banks of one of the water channels at Alagoas Brancas, in the middle of the breeding season for birds.

Although the GNR's SEPNA nature division were called they said they found no dead birds, yet local residents have photos and a video that prove otherwise.

The Sawday’s guide to extraordinary and legendary places has picked Quinta do Barranco de Estrada on the Santa Clara reservoir as the place for birders to stay if they want to get the best of a ‘Spring birdlife explosion.’

The boutique travel guide, Sawday’s, “still looks for authenticity, warmth and character, places that embody the slow life and where hours of love have been poured into the tiniest detail to create those simple, personal joys that make something truly special.”