Although actually I should say salt evaporation ponds; technically salt pans are natural expanses of ground covered with salt and minerals whereas what we and many waders spend much of our respective lives in are a series of artificial shallow ponds, separated by levees, created to extract salt from the sea. Salt pans flows off the tongue better though than salt evaporation ponds! You can discover more on Portuguese salterns (another word for salt making areas) in ‘Portugal’s White Gold‘, a post I wrote a few years ago.
Some of you might be wondering why we spend much of our time here, well quite simply it is because these areas are a great habitat for migrating and wintering waders. If you enjoy birding as much as we do, and are prepared to walk cautiously so not to disturb them then these areas are a fabulous place to while away an hour or two, or even three as we did yesterday in ponds a few miles away.
Usually though we spend our time in the ones within a stone’s throw of our apartment, hence the multiple posts. Here’s just a tiny selection of ones I have written over the years, followed by a few images I have taken over the past couple of days.
- A Place to Roost – sunset views and tips for exploring the ponds
- Evening Reflections in the Salterns – a closer look and listen at some of the waders
- Birding in the Right Place – birding list from a half day session
- Impact of disturbed and lost habitats – a plea to walkers, tourists and developers
- Made by the Sea – a close up of salt
- A Spotlight on Waders – exactly what the title says!
It is not just the birds that are forever changing, so are the ponds themselves. Seawater is fed into outer ponds, and then gradually through a series of culverts and levees released into smaller ponds to enable natural evaporation and a steady increase in the salinity of the water. We’ve never been here in the summer when the area has been in full production, but we have still observed the changing colours of some of the ponds. These colours indicate the salinity, as the microorganisims (algae) within the water change as do their hues depending how salty the water is. Low to medium salinity will be green, whereas mid to high salinity will be pink, red and/or orange.
And of course then there is the Algarvian light. No wonder I never stop photographing when strolling around the ponds. There are numerous salterns along the coastline of the east Algarve, most though are inaccessible to the general public for reasons of health and safety. We are therefore very fortunate to have accessible ones on our doorstep.
Beautiful photos Becky! We also have salt pans near us and I love taking photos there too. We also have flamingos there.
oh how fabulous 🙂 are yours natural ones, or artificial like these?
It is natural ones
Oh that’s even more wonderful 😊
😊
You’ve got some lovely photos in this post Becky. My favourite is the bottom one with all those fabulous reflections.
Thank you so much – it was so still that day which always helps!
Love those salt pans over the years Becky. It is so good for our birds to have a safe place to wader about 🙂
I know so important; wetlands in Europe including UK are disappearing at a rate of knots. As long as salt remains profitable these will survive.
Too many just going sadly.
Environmental disaster 🙁
I’ve seen specials on these ponds and they would be so cool to see them in person. You are definitely finding the best times and birds to have fun with 😀
They are fascinating, and to think in some parts of the world they’ve been doing this for thousands of years.
Fab photos, Becky! We’ll be there again tomorrow with some walking friends, but closer to Luz.
Thanks Jo 🙂
Beautiful. There have been a few birders with HUGE lenses looking over the Hayle estuary this week. I must have a wander and see what’s arrived. We do get Oyster Catchers, Godwits, Curlews, Red Shanks, Egrets and other wading birds here.
Cannot resist a wader – love how they have all specialised how they feed.
So beautiful!
thank you so much, we love this coastline
It’s on my bucket list
Do hope you make it here, such a fabulous country. Best explored slowly
Fabulous. I’ll explore some of the other posts in this series later.
Oooh if you have time later, that would be lovely 🙂
this morning a dozen grey herons scattered as for a fresh water fishing contest.
First time we have seen that in the Olhao salinas
oh how fabulous, we saw a lot yesterday near Faro and of course they always used to be hunched up in the sewage works. Guess they have decided the salinas are a good alternative to the latter!
Stunning pictures!
Thank you so much 🙂 it has been a good couple of days for the camera