Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Earlier this month, I did the first tours after the "lock down" here in the Algarve. The wetlands around Faro (Ria Formosa Natural Park mainly) and to the Baixo Alentejo "cereal steppes", with a Dutch birder and WP-lister. Among the main target species was the Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), a mega-rarity (first for continental Europe) from the south-eastern US, that had been discovered in the marina of Faro on the morning of the 19th of May, where it was feeding on green crabs Carcinus maenas (e-bird checklist). The species is mostly nocturnal and crespuscular (hence the name!) and during the day, it was roosting nearby, perched in trees of a town square next to the marina. It was last seen about 3 kms further east, in a tidal channel next to some sewage works on June, 7th (for now). I had already seen and photographed it on the day of its discovery and we managed to get good and close views of the bird foraging and roosting on the morning of the first tour. I include here some photos I took during the tour, as well as the list of total of WP-records and some general Info on the species. By the way, this bird has likely crossed the Atlantik "ship assisted", as has been proved in similar cases before and is not identical with an adult of the same species observed on Horta, Azores, in early April this year (e-bird checklist) as plumage details reveal (advance of yellow crown coloration, lenght of crown- and back feathers of the nuptial plumage...). Some general Info on the species is here.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) feeding in a tidal channel just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image).

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) feeding in a tidal channel just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image).

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) in a tidal channel just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image).

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) in a tidal channel just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image)

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image)

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image)

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image)

Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) just west of Faro, Park Natural da Ria Formosa, Algarve, Portugal on June, 7th, 2020. (All photos: GS. click to enlarge image)

Summer is also season for pelagic boat-trips here in the Algarve. Please check my website for further Info here www.birdwatching-algarve.com

Some more photos taken here in the Algarve over the past weeks:

Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)

Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola) at Praia de Faro.

Slender-billed Gull (Croicocephalus genei) at Praia de Faro.

Black-headed Weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus) male.

Black-headed Weaver (Ploceus melanocephalus) male at the nest.

Iberian Magpie (Cyanopica cooki)

Yellow-crowned Bishop (Euplectes afer) non-breeding plumage.

Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor) breeding plumage.

Monarch (Danaus plexippus) west Algarve, June 2020.

Little Tern (Sternula albifrons) Quinta do Lago.

The (Common) Reed Warblers breeding in southern Iberia are actually African Reed Warblers (Acrocephalus baeticatus ssp. ambiguus or Acrocephalus ambiguus, depending on systematic) as recent molecular studies have shown. Link to article. This photo was taken near Vilamoura in June this year and shows one of the local breeders. The birds are slightly smaller and perhaps lighter colored as Common Reed Warbler A. scirpaceus. So far, no differences is song or call have been found, as far as I know.

Alpine Swift (Tachymerptas melba) Sagres-peninsula.