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.”
A campaign that is raising concerns about planned oil exploration off the Algarve coast has been supported by a donation from a British wildlife holiday company.
A group from Honeyguide Wildlife Holidays has donated £500 (€550) to SPEA, Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves. SPEA is part of the coalition Plataforma Algarve Livre de Petróleo (Platform for an Algarve Free of Petroleum) that is campaigning against oil and gas exploration in the region.
An area in the Baixo Alentejo has been deemed unique, so it must be preserved, thanks to UNESCO.
The Castro Verde Biosphere Reserve is home to some 200 species of bird, including the great bustard (below) a species with 60% of its population found in Portugal and Spain.
A new paper just published by Arrondo et al in the journal Biological Conservation analysed the foraging strategies of 71 griffon and cinereous vultures tagged in Spain and foraging in the Portuguese-Spanish border region - which is largely defined by river valleys and is not associated with any abrupt or systematic change in terms of climate, topography or land cover.
An exciting week for birding and nature enthusiasts as the Sagres Birdwatching Festival returned on October 4th and runs until the 8th, backed by Vila do Bispo council and organised by SPEA. Events are dedicated to nature, birds and outdoor fun.
In Sagres, "you can see almost everything", says André Pinheiro from Almargem, one of the promoters of the initiative who says that it’s the unique landscape which makes this festival not only for bird watching, but for nature in general.
