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| Parque Nacional da Peneda-Geres, northern Portugal, June 2012 |
I had read that Peneda-Geres National Park was regarded as Portugal’s most important National Park before I went away, so I was
really keen to visit it while I was in the area. Thankfully my amazing hosts, translators
and providers of dry socks, Adam and Sarah, were up for it too, so on the
Sunday morning we left Porto and drove north towards the mountains.
Situated in the far north of the country, straddling the
border with Spain, the park covers around 700 km2 of craggy granite peaks,
valleys and steep forested slopes. It is apparently a stronghold for many rare
and threatened species of flora and fauna including, in its remotest reaches, wolves
and otters as well as some endemic plant species.
After a roundabout tour of Braga and Guimares (a tour of
roundabouts) we headed for the small but central village of Vila do Geres about
50km north. Situated in the middle of the park, it seemed like a good place to
start and it wasn’t long before the hillsides closed in and lush vegetation
flanked the narrow roads. Being a Sunday, the village was quiet, save only for the
sound of the stream running through and a few Serins singing across the valley.
There was little traffic - apparently vehicles are strictly monitored and
banned in some areas save for locals only. This is a measure taken to prevent disturbance
of the sensitive ecosystems. We carried on north via an ever twisting road, through mixed coniferous and deciduous forests
until it levelled out and the trees thinned to stands of pine, birch, juniper
and hardy shrubs.
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| Ahh... |
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| Ooh... |
Parked up at one of the few designated stopping areas, I
heard a number of small birds calling in the trees. Flitting through the pines were
Long-tailed Tits and Coal Tits, with a Goldcrest busy feeding amongst them. It occurred
to me that this might be the kind of habitat to see Crested Tits in but since I’d
never seen one, I couldn’t be sure. I also wasn’t sure of their range, although
someone told me they were often quite easy to find in mainland Europe. We
followed a small path down to a rocky stream where a Grey Wagtail went zipping
by, closely followed by another.
Climbing back up the path I became aware again of tiny calls
in the canopy and small birds flicking about. There were Goldcrests again but
something else too, a pretty non-descript call that I couldn’t place. Craning
my neck, I eventually I found the tree where the activity was centred and there,
slightly shadowed but on show were a party of Crested Tits! It seemed that one
was even busy feeding two attentive youngsters. Brilliant. With time getting
on, we made one final stop just up the road at Portela de Leonte. This was a
stunning viewpoint from which to view some of the most restricted areas and
also the base for some of the Park’s rangers. Peering down through the valley
it was possible to make out hazy shapes of Spain in the distance. Peneda-Geres
is also well-known for birds of prey so I couldn’t resist one final scan of the
peaks. Although conditions were close and grey clouds were quickly descending
down the valley sides I did manage to pick out a raptor perched on a distant
rock. Its form suggested a Peregrine and a quick flash of pointed wings
confirmed this. I realised that I’ve become more used to seeing this bird in
urban areas of late; what great bird to see in its true element, perched high
on a rocky ridge surveying the wilderness before it.
After that we hurtled back to Porto for the Jeff Mangum show
at Casa di Musica – a glorious, modern sugarcube of a building and a pretty wonderful
show to boot; the perfect end to a surreally awesome day. I didn’t see masses
of birds but what I did see I enjoyed. However, it was the pure, ravaged beauty of
Geres that I’ll remember most.
I could probably write another whole page about the drive south from
Porto to Lisbon the next day but I think I gotta pick my battles. There were shed loads of raptors but here are some other photos instead:
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| About 45 minutes south from Porto, White Storks suddenly appeared everywhere. Their huge nests were visible on every chimney, crane and tall structure for miles around. Amazingly there were even nests on the motorway bridges - seemingly undisturbed by the traffic thundering by just metres below! |
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| That's how you build a nest |
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| I like this photo. This stork was flying along side the car - just as I took the picture, trees obscured it giving that weird effect. I managed to hold a bit of focus despite the road. |
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| This White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) flew over while we stopped for petrol on the A17. A common bird but always amazing to see in flight. |
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| Oh and it's not really a European festival trip without seeing Shellac at some point. They were ok but Wolves in the Throne Room were better. And Chairlift were amazing too *hearts* |
"But for now we are young/Let us lay in the sun/and count
every beautiful thing we can see..."
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