Portuguese Walking Holidays

For those that might be wondering what I am talking about, The Crested Titmouse would be the full name of the bird.

During an earlier visit to Central Portugal, in 2011, I was scouting walking trails, on a hot day, in the wooded valleys of Espinhal near Penela.

The forests are predominately pine with a few standings of deciduous trees such as Oak, Beech and Chestnut. Unfortunately there are also Eucalyptus trees and these grow like weeds and remove important nutrients from the soil. They are harvested for paper but are a major concern for conservationists. Sadly they are still being widely planted.

In addition for looking for suitable walking routes, out of habit I generally keep a look out for whatever’s around and much to my surprise (and delight) I got a brief sighting of a Crested Tit!

I also got a sighting of a bird that I didn’t recognise and I couldn’t find it in any of my books covering European birds. They favoured the Chestnut trees and there were quite a few of them. Eventually I identified them; Peking Robins. I can only assume they were once caged birds that had long since escaped and adapted to the location.

I first sort the Crested Tit many years ago in UK with little success. For approximately 10 years I walked in Scotland using local bed & breakfast accommodation and more often than not with my brother. We divided our time between Rannoch Moor and The Black Forrest of Rannoch in the central part of the country and further north around Aviemore, Loch Morlich and The Cairngorms; all beautiful walking country. The weather was as wild as the country was beautiful and could easily change from one hour to the next. I remember, too well, walking in rain, swept horizontally across the landscape by the strong winds. Not that we were concerned, the scenery was stunning. We were protected from head to foot in waterproofs and carried amply supplies to last the days walk. But I also remember dipping our tired feet in the cold waters of Loch Rannoch at the end of a long hot sunny day. (Hot may be a slight exaggeration)

Our stops would be frequent as we had long discovered that the best way to watch wildlife (and generally birds) was to sit quietly and watch to see what appeared. We often sheltered in the bows of the native Caledonian Pine. Some of these trees had huge girths and with our hands linked you still couldn’t stretch your arms around the trunks of some of these ancient trees.

Over the years we saw a host of interesting birds including Ptarmigans and Snow Buntings (in the mountains), Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Crossbills, Ospreys (one taking a fish on a small lake near Loch Morlich), Harriers, a wonderfully close sighting of a Cuckoo, etc. But never once a Crested Tit!

We thought also to get sightings of mammals such as deer, Red Squirrels, on the walks but rarely did. The only Red Squirrel we saw was running up and down a pine tree at our bed and breakfast accommodation, Bun Rannoch House, near the village of Kinloch Rannoch and Red Deer would could down from the hills in the evening and graze with the Highland Cattle! On one occasion when walking in the forests around Loch Morlich we did encountered a Pine Martin walking the same trail towards us.

Our days often ended in the village pub with a hot meal. After being battered by the elements all day there was nothing quite like it.

The Created Tit is obviously a very shy bird. But I believe the bird will visit feeding table at hides or in gardens in the worst of the winters.