After your arrival into the Lisbon Airport (or from your Lisbon hotel) we will head for Alcochete, just 30 minutes away. There we visit the Tagus Estuary Natural Reserve. The largest wetland in the country and indeed the largest estuary in Western Europe, it is about 84,000 acres and famous for harboring a remarkable array of waterfowl, shorebirds and other waders, as well as a few raptors that are attracted here. The combination of inter-tidal mudflats, saltpans, salt marshes, and rice fields contribute to this site being the #1 eBird hotspot (in species diversity). Its proximity to Lisbon dictates that it is a favorite among birders, both visiting and resident. As we work the wetland habitats here we could encounter birds such as Greater Flamingo, White Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Squacco Heron, Booted Eagle, Black- winged Kite, Little Bustard, Pallid Swift, and the sneaky Bluethroat. We’ll also spend time in search of the handsome Dartford Warbler, an eastern Europe special that reaches its highest numbers here on the Iberian Peninsula, and also the regionally endemic Iberian Gray Shrike, and another regional special, the Spotless Starling. Overnight in Alcochete area.

Today we continue to work the Tagus Estuary, and soak up birds like Greater Flamingo, Red-crested Pochard, and perhaps Little Bustard, we will hit new sites including some reed beds, and lagoons, inter-tidal mudflats and salt marshes that should host Pied Avocets and Black-winged Stilts, Northern Lapwing, Black-tailed Godwits, Zitting Cisticola, Cetti’s Warbler and more. We will stop into the EVOA birdwatching Centre too, to see what birds are around here and learn more about EVOA work to attract birds here.  Overnight in Alcochete area.

We begin this morning with a visit to the ancient Cork Oak woodlands in Pancas. The cork oak (Quercus suber) is native here and the stands of these trees, known as Montados, are great for producing corks for the robust wine industry, but also great for birds. Living up to 200 years, the oaks must be 25 years or older to harvest cork, and once a tree can be harvested it is then often used for decades. This means stands are often old growth and great for birds. Favored by a variety of finches such as. European Serin, Eurasian Linnet, European Goldfinch, and European Greenfinch, one also finds Song Thrush, Eurasian Wren, Common Firecrest and Short-toed Treecreeper in places like this. From here, we’ll travel to Mértola, in the Alentejo region, but along the way, we visit the great Castro Verde rolling plains. Overnight in Mértola.

Hugging the edge of the Guadiana River, and right in the middle of Guadiana Valley Natural Park, this was historically the northernmost navigable point on the river, which lent this unique town a strategic importance, early on. The town features a well preserved medieval castle and the town offers a fascinating Moorish influence, while also being good birding. Visiting the bluffs and hills around Mértola, we’ll keep our eyes open for Red-legged Partridge, Eurasian Griffon, Sardinian Warbler, and regional endemics such as Iberian Gray Shrike, the snazzy Iberian Magpie, and more. Overnight in Mértola.

With another full day to explore the area, we venture just slightly west of Mértola visiting the steppe-like rolling plains of Castro Verde. Here we bird the open country and could encounter dazzling birds such as Great Bustard, Little Bustard, a bunch of raptors including possibly Cinereous Vulture, Short-toed Snake-Eagle, Red Kite, but also birds like Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Calandra Lark, and maybe even Black-eared Wheatear. Overnight in Mértola.

Given the uniqueness of Mértola, we’ll spend a final bit of time today exploring a couple cultural sites with a local historical guide, before finally moving on travelling south. Driving about an hour to Tavira, within the Algarve region, we’ll familiarize ourselves with a new area famous for the most beautiful beaches in all of Europe, for its scrumptious seafood, and for its gorgeous villages. And as chance would have it, it’s also great for birding. We’ll begin with visits to the various canals, saline flats and salt pans of the Castro Marim Natural Reserve and see what’s around. We’ll be back in flamingo territory here, but could also connect with localized species, like Audouin’s and Slender-billed Gulls and Lesser Short-toed Lark. Night in Tavira.

Continuing exploring the Castro Marim Natural Reserve we’ll also visit the Ria Formosa Natural Park too. These are excellent spots for getting close views of scarce species like Little Bittern and Western Swamphen, and we might also see birds such as Little Owl, Red-necked Nightjar, Eurasian Hoopoe, Common Kingfisher, Sardinian and Spectacled Warblers and the Iberian Magpie. Night in Tavira.

Heading off from Sagres, the extreme southwest point of land for  continental Europe, we’ll endeavor a short ~3 hour pelagic trip, and this will give us chances for jaegers, Great Skua, Wilson and European Storm-petrels, and also several shearwaters such as Cory’s, Great, Sooty, and even the critically endangered Balearic Shearwater. In addition to our quick venture offshore, we’ll also visit the Cape St. Vincent area, and the Salgados Lagoon, where there should be a great variety of shorebirds and wading birds. Night in Tavira.

We’ll hit the Tavira salt pans in Ria Formosa Natural Park, but then it’s back to Lisbon. Along the way we will visit the southern bank of the Sado Estuary Natural Reserve, before our final night together with a nice farewell dinner in the Lisbon area. Overnight in Lisbon.

Transport to Lisbon Airport (LIS). Tazi/shuttles to the airport are easy to arrange, we will help arrange. Flights home or points onward.