Breeding Season 2021

Portugal Wildlife

Breeding Season 2021:

Viperine Snakes mating.

Sounder of Wild Boar with five stripy boarlets.

One of four successfully fledged Common Barn Owls peering out of nestbox in Cork Grove (formerly known as Olive Plot Owls).

Female Common Kestrel inside kestrel nestbox.

Male Common Kestrel on kestrel nestbox.

The Windmill Barn Owls laid a final clutch of four eggs. But the female has not incubated them all the time. So whether or not they will hatch remains to be seen.

Viperine Snakes mating.

Olive Plot Barn Owl female with Six Eggs ( 6 ). The first egg was probably laid around 20th February.

Newly emerged Female Western Clubtail - A very early emergence date of 12th March.

Olive Plot Barn Owls laid nine eggs. Quite a large clutch.

Unfortunately the eggs are now scattered in the nestbox and the female is not incubating them all the time.

Our nesting Common Barn Owls caught a Great Tit - a very unusual item of prey for a Barn Owl. (Windmill Nestbox).

First Barn Owl Egg was laid 27th or 28th February. (Windmill Nestbox).

Our second nestbox, on a meadow next to small Olive grove, has been taken up by oue second pair of Barn Owls ! Here the Owls are mating.

Olive Plot Barn Owls.

Previously installed Nest Boxes and Nesting Sandbank:

Solar-powered Wifi Camera and Little Owl Nestbox in Iberian Holm Oak. View of Little Owl nestbox location. In previous years the Little Owls have nested in a pile of rocks, hole in Olive Tree and hole in Iberian Holm Oak. But all these sites are no longer suitable due to being too wet, a Black Rat moved in, or the tree died. So a nest box designed for Little Owls was put up to give them a suitable alternative in their territory.

Bat Box installed late November 2019 ready for colonisation in 2020. The box is suitable as a bat breeding colony as well as a roost. Aimed at any bats, but especially the reserve's three species of Pipistrelles.

Second Barn Owl Nestbox, on Olive Plot,with wifi camera system.

Garden Dormouse at Garden Dormouse Den Box.

A Trail Camera has been set up at Den Box. The target species is the Beech Marten (or maybe even a Common Genet).

Nest Sandbank: With holes leading to embedded Sand Martin nestboxes and plastic pipes for birds such as Bee-eaters. The rest of the sand bank can be tunneled into by any tunnel-nesting

birds such as Common Kingfishers.

Pre-fabricated Sand Martin Nest Boxes being incorporated into the Nest Bank ; And Nesting tubes for species such as European Bee-eaters (with floor cut out for drainage)

Pole-mounted Kestrel Nestbox with wifi live Video Camera feed to office:

Wall-mounted Blue Tit/House Sparrow Nestbox with wifi live Video Camera feed to office:

White Stork Platforms:

On Office Roof:

A second White Stork nest platformhas been mounted ontop of the reserve's ruined windmill.

Various other Wooden Nest Boxes mounted on Office wall. Originally intended for a variety of species, including Common Kestrel, Common Barn Owl and Common Swift, most of the nestboxes have been occupied by House Sparrows and Spotless Starlings.