Last time I took you here I was so distracted by the ‘turtledoves of the sea‘ that I totally forgot to bring you back for the stroll. Quatro Águas can be found on the southern outskirts of Tavira and is a popular destination as there are quite a few restaurants here and it is the pier for the main ferry for Ilha de Tavira. I suspect the car parks are packed in season, but out of season this is a rather lovely place to come for a short stroll in the saltpans. Simply head west from the cars. On your right will be the saltpans and on your left the Ria Formosa and fishing huts, and if you are lucky you might enjoy constantly changing skies. The photographs in my first galley were all taken in the first 25 minutes of our stroll.
Usually on a birding trip we pay lots of attention to the tides. On this trip however we totally forgot and consequently we had not quite got the timings right for an intensive birding experience. However we did spot one or two.
There were also boats passing by to keep me amused. These were both octopus (polvo) boats from Santa Luzia, the Algarve’s capital do Polvo.
When we first decided to explore Quatro Águas we weren’t too sure how far we would be able to walk but I brought a picnic just in case it turned into a real adventure. It turned out we couldn’t venture that far, but the views were so lovely we decided to enjoy our picnic rather than head the short way back to the restaurants for lunch. I am so glad we did as not long after we had sat down the sky erupted with activity.
It was fascinating to observe. Not sure what had set the cormorants off, probably the incoming tide as it was too early for their evening ‘commute’. The commute is what I like to call their version of the starling ‘murmuring’ when at the beginning and end of each day large ‘swims’ of cormorants can be observed flying purposely together.
A ‘swim’ is the collective noun for cormorants, and when you see large numbers in the water that makes perfect sense. Not sure it works as well though for them in flight! Anyhow this ‘swim’ eventually disappeared off towards Tavira and we decided to do the same.
Not a long walk I know but lots to photograph and I’m hoping a few extra boats will distract Jo sufficiently from its length for it to be included in her Monday Walks!
“A ‘swim’ is the collective noun for cormorants.” What a fun fact!
🙂