Nightingales, despite their name, don’t just sing at night. In late spring and early summer we have heard them during the daytime on a couple of walks in the east Algarve. Their song is loud, and has an array of whistles, trills and even gurgles. Spotting them however is not as easy. They are an elusive bird preferring to hide in dense vegetation. It was therefore with immense joy that I spied one in the middle of a bush beside the Rio Séqua in the middle of Tavira.
I even managed to take a photograph, although as you can see it is not the best birding shot. The bush was incredibly dense!
However I have photographic proof I have seen a nightingale, and this image compare I thought a great experiment for Jude’s B&W nature challenge today. I do hope one day to see a nightingale (rouxinol-comum in Portuguese) more clearly, but in the meantime I will cherish this memory. By the way this is not the time of year to see them in Europe, as they are a migratory bird so currently in warmer climates to the south. They won’t return from Africa until late March/early April.
I’ve never seen one close up so thank you for that. I would have expected a more elegant bird, but it’s all the nicer for being more on the cute side. I sometimes used to see one rising and falling over the rose trial fields.
I was so lucky. Yet to see one in the UK even from a distance, so I’m envious of you.