I'm back from my trip to Portugal. The weather was glorious , seven days of blue skies and sunshine with the temperature reaching 25 degress by mid afternoon. Sadly the birding was a little disappointing compared to my previous trips to southern Portugal. The number of species seen was much less than we anticipated nevertheless there were some highlights and lots of photos taken.
Lots of Bee eaters around.
Swifts galore screaming across the sky especially over the town centre where they nest on the tall buildings.
Barn Swallows
Red-rumped Swallows too
A beakful of mud for the nest.
Hiouse Martins also busy at the nest
My gallery here
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You shouldn't take such good photos then!! They looked much bigger.
Just been looking at your flicker album, loved the pics, especially the wild flowers, and the open boats, so colourful, and seems like over there they can leave the engines safely on their boats, unlike here. What on earth was the tractor doing in that waterlogged field?
Lot to learn
gaynorsl said:What on earth was the tractor doing in that waterlogged field?
They grow a lot of rice in Portugal , the fields are deliberately flooded for that pupose. As far as I could make out the tractor was being used to churn the ground into mud ready for the planting. Here it is for anyone that hasn't visited my gallery.
Here ya go Gaynor. It's called puddling.
Puddling is the most important operation for preparation of soil bed for transplanting of rice seedlings. Puddling is associated with churning of the soil to change its' physical properties like bulk density , percolation rate , porosity and penetration. This process helps to check the weed growth , conserve the water and nutrients and ultimately improve the crop yield. Puddling is done in standing water of 50 - 100mm depth in the field that has already been ploughed once in dry conditions.
You were right about the rice then Galatas. Puddling e'h, if that helps check the weed growth then I should try it in my garden, last summer would have been a good time to try as it was so wet! Only wouldn't fancy turning over the soil when so heavy :-)
Unknown said: I don't think I'd describe Pallid Swifts as particularly distinct! Definitely some Pallid in these shots though (the last three swift photos I reckon)
I don't think I'd describe Pallid Swifts as particularly distinct! Definitely some Pallid in these shots though (the last three swift photos I reckon)
I presume the others would be Common rather than Alpine Swifts. I must check my pics for any with white bellies.