The Birdwatching and Nature Activities Festival returns to Sagres for its 17th edition, from October 2 to 5.
The municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, will once again transform itself into the meeting point for ornithologists, naturalists, and nature enthusiasts from around the world.
Organized by the Vila do Bispo City Council together with SPEA-BirdLife and the Almargem Association, this year’s event will feature the razorbill (Alca torda), a seabird with a significant presence in Portuguese waters during autumn and winter.
In a statement, the organizing entities explain that the razorbill nests exclusively in the North Atlantic, from the coasts of Greenland and North America to those of Europe, Russia, and northern France, passing through Iceland.
In Portugal, the species occurs as a migratory visitor, spending the coldest months of the year along the entire continental coast.
It is precisely in October that the razorbill, after the mating period, launches itself into the skies for its winter migration, “making the festival period ideal for observing it,” say the promoters of the initiative.
A superb diver, capable of reaching tens of meters in depth in search of prey such as sardines and sand eels, the razorbill was chosen as the star of this edition of the festival to reinforce the event’s role in “raising awareness for the conservation of seabirds, one of the most threatened groups of animals in the world, particularly due to threats such as bycatch in fishing gear.”
The complete festival program, which celebrates the diversity of the avifauna crossing the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast during the autumn migration, will be announced on August 5 at 9:00 a.m., and registrations will open on September 2 at the same time.
Among the planned activities are bird ringing, field and boat trips, mini-courses, photography workshops, and lectures.
The organizing bodies of this event, held annually since 2008, state that “the festival is establishing itself as one of the flagship nature-tourism events in Portugal, taking advantage of Sagres’s privileged location, one of the best spots in Europe for observing migratory birds.”
