Projecto Sobreiro: Seeding more ‘balotas’ in the São Jacinto dune reserve

Yesterday my two companions and I went for a big walk through the São Jacinto dune reserve. With us we carried two big bags full with balotas (acorns), which we seeded at the moister and shaded areas in the woods of the reserve. 2015 is the fourth year in which acorns are seeded there by us. This activity is undertaken to increase diversity of the woods, to reduce the chance of forest fires and to help fight invasive acacia species (see some earlier posts about this subject). Thankfully, now the wardens of the reserve also see the point of this and already seeded a large amount of acorns there earlier this fall. Very nice!




Over time this little oak will outgrow the acacia and attract a lot more wildlife.




Not all of the young oaks survive. Again, this summer a number of them died due to the scorching temperatures and draught that occur on the peninsula during summer. Most of the oaks that grow there now are English oaks (Quercus robur). Cork oaks (Q. suber) have also been seeded during the past four years, but this species appears to have more difficulties surviving its first years. I suspect that over time the oaks themselves will create better growing conditions for both types by changing the soil structure and chemistry, and by preserving moist.




At least three of the oldest English oaks in the reserve that have been planted there in the past, produced acorns this year (one more than last year). Although there were not many yet, the acorns that have been seeded thus far will certainly speed up the process. We’ll have to be patient, but in some decades from now the São Jacinto dune reserve can host the largest mixed forest of the Aveiro region, which once was dominated by oak (instead of monotomous Eucalyptus plantations…)!

The São Jacinto pack

During the past years I had a few close encounters with the pack of stray dogs that roams the dunes of São Jacinto. The presence of these dogs is likely causing problems for local wildlife, but as a dog owner I’m biased and must admit I’ve gotten fascinated by them. Here are reports of some of those encounters.






September 4, 2012 - In summer, when the water level of the ponds is lowest, the pack hunts on moulting ducks (which at that time are unable to fly), as well as any nesting waterbirds. The ducks try to find a safe place at the deepest part of the pond. The second dog from the right is the suspected alpha female.




March 7, 2014 – A confrontation with the alpha female and two of her pups in the dunes.








January 23, 2015 – At the beach, where they find and eat whatever ends up on the tide line (in particular beached animals). I assume the first black individual is one of the pups seen in 2014. Whether the other two on the first photo originate from the same litter remains unknown. On the second photo the suspected alpha male and female.






July 14, 2015 – The family patrols the pond again. A life any short-living Portuguese asylum dog would dream of? In the front the alpha male and female, in the back at least one of the youngest generation.

Green-winged teal and more @ São Jacinto (January 20 - 21)

Eurasian wigeons Anas penelope were abundant...



Eurasian teals or Common teals Anas crecca were even more abundant...



And among these there was an uncommon teal, which ended up in our captures: a 2nd cy male Green-winged teal Anas carolinensis, a North American species.



A single Common pochard Aythya ferina.



Perhaps the biggest surprise was the presence of a sleepy female Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis, another North American species and the second individual to show up at the pateira. We all remember this one, of course: http://btoringing.blogspot.pt/2014/11/portuguese-ringed-lesser-scaup-in-wales.html

Torreira - Sao Jacinto beached bird and mammal… and REPTILE transect (November 12, 2014)

The first Leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea we found, also the first reptile species we recorded on the transect.





Below the second Leatherback, laying on his… leather back.








The head (rotated 180°), showing some teeth. I thought these were very friendly animals.






Throughout our walk we encountered very clear tide lines.




Coastal erosion at work. It wasn’t like this a month and a half ago.




Goose barnacles Lepadidae growing on a buoy.




We noticed an increase in the amount of washed up small plastic particles, including what seemed to be some industrial plastic pellets.




Near Sao Jacinto, the beach is now almost made up entirely from plastic litter.

Patos and more at the São Jacinto reserve (September 1 - 3, 2014)

The pateira got occupied by a few hundred Mallards Anas platyrhynchos and about 70 Common Teals Anas crecca. We also observed a single Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina and a single…




… Garganey Anas querquedula, which ended up in our captures and got marked.




Several of the female Mallards in our captures were still undergoing their moult. These birds are temporarily incapable of flying. Too bad for the ducks outside of the reserve that the hunting season will start in only a few days from now. Moulting female Mallards will not be able to find a place to shelter, away from one of Portugal’s most nasty habits.




Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis in front of the blind.




Eurasian wryneck Jynx torquilla




Nice to see that many of the acorns that we sowed at the reserve last winter managed to germinate and survive the summer. An update on ‘Projecto Sobreiro’ will appear on this blog in the near future.

Picking up Puffins on the first beached bird and mammal survey between Sao Jacinto and Torreira

On March 14 2014, a survey of beached birds and mammals was conducted along a 10 km long transect between Sao Jacinto and Torreira, by Pedro Moreira and me. The transect included 5 km of closed off beach belonging to the Sao Jacinto reserve, who gave us permission for this survey. The idea was to get an impression of what species and their numbers had been washing up on the beach along the northwestern coastline of Portugal during the previous months. None of this 10 km of beach gets regularly cleaned, making it a very suitable length of coastline for this study.

Another motivation for this activity had been the reports of large numbers of dead seabirds that washed up on beaches in France and Spain, after the ‘wreck’ that occurred earlier in the year in the Bay of Biscay due to continuing bad weather conditions (See http://www.sott.net/article/274701-Update-Tens-of-thousands-of-dead-seabirds-have-now-washed-up-in-Bay-of-Biscay and http://www.timvannus.blogspot.nl/2014/03/dead-british-seabirds-are-finding-their.html).

 The 10 km transect we walked from Sao Jacinto to Torreira.

Results

Which of these birds died in the wreck that occurred in the beginning of the year remains difficult to determine, with the absence of earlier survey results. We suspect this had been the case with all of the puffins that were found. Even the few of those that we found on the recent tide lines showed signs these had been floating in the ocean for a while. All of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls had died recently and these were probably all local birds. Also the Common Guillemot and one or two Razorbills appeared a bit too fresh to have come all the way from the Bay of Biscay.

Beached Atlantic Puffins.

 

 Three Lesser Black-backed Gulls and two Razorbills.

 Great Northern Loon.

Unidentified Seahorse...

...and a coconut.

The São Jacinto Reserve, March 5 - 7