The guide, Rui Eufrasia, was truly excellent. He can guide both experts and beginners and is immensely patient. Nothing was too much trouble.
His knowledge of the birds to be found in the area (in the case of the trips I did, the Ria Formosa saltpans and Salgados lagoon) was truly amazing, In particular, he has an intimate knowledge of the birds to be found at Salgados, where the terrain is varied and includes not only numerous water birds but also birds to be found on the dunes and the adjacent "farmland/scrub". He also uses the Collins App on his phone to point out differences between similar species and can then demonstrate in the field (extremely good telescope). Very helpful.
It is possible to have a private day's guiding, in which case you can be picked up from and returned to your hotel by Rui, or join a group guiding session (there were only 2 of us on the 4-5 hour Salgados trip I did), in which case arrangements can be made for shared transport from your hotel and drop off at Salgados and vice versa, .
Highlights of my trips were purple gallinule (plenty of good views), slender-billed gull, short-toed larks, bluethroat, caspian tern, Audouins gull, flamingo, spoonbills. Long list of waders....very close views at the saltpans.
I can highly recommend a guided tour with Rui and will hope to go again next spring once the migrants are in. I have been birdwatching for 20 years.
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