Lähdin Sitio das Fontesille nähdäkseni onko sinne kanaviin tullut vettä näiden talven sateiden jälkeen.

Tämä on hieno paikka tulla ja syödä picnik, sillä täällä on useita pöytiä ja penkkejä istuskella, grillejä ruokailua varten tai vain nauttia hienosta ympäristöstä.

Ja tottakai täällä on aina myös lintuja.

I went to Sitio das Fontes to see if the canals had filled up with water after all the winter rain.

This is a great place to come and have a picnic, as there are plenty of tables and benches to sit on, as well as grills for cooking or just enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

And of course, there are always birds here, too

Nyt ensimmäisenä tuli esiin tikli, heti kun olin noussut autosta parkkipaikalla.

The first thing I noticed was an European goldfinch, right after I got out of the car in the parking lot.

Wikipedia: Tikli (Carduelis carduelis) on peiponsukuinen värikäs lintu, joka pesii kulttuurilintuna lähes koko Euroopassa ja Länsi-Aasiassa. Tiklin kasvot ovat punaiset, pää on muuten mustavalkoinen, vartalo ruskea ja valkea, ja siivet kelta-musta-valkoiset. Sukupuolet ovat lähes samannäköisiä, mutta koiraalla on hieman enemmän punaista naamassa. Nuori lintu on yksivärisempi, ja siltä puuttuvat pään punainen ja musta väritys. Selässä ja kupeilla sillä on viirutusta. Kaikki tiklit käyvät läpi sulkasadon elo–lokakuussa, vanhat linnut täydellisen, jonka jälkeen ikäluokkien erottaminen maastossa on hankalaa.

Tiklin pituus on noin 12–14 cm ja paino noin 18 grammaa. Koiras on hieman naarasta kookkaampi. Tiklillä on maailmalla useita alalajeja.

Lentoäänet ovat helisevän korkeita ”tik-li, stig-lits”, mistä laji on nimensäkin saanut. Laulua kuulee maaliskuulta alkaen puun latvasta, ja se on hyvin kirkasta, kiivasrytmistä livertelyä. Tikli onkin ollut yksi kaikkein suosituimmista häkkilinnuista.

Se muuttaa ainakin paikallisesti talven kylmimpinä aikoina paremmille ruokamaille eteläisempiin Itämeren maihin. Osa talvehtii Suomessa. Syysmuutto tapahtuu lokakuussa, kevätmuutto maalis–huhtikuussa.

Wikipedia: The European goldfinch or simply the goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a small passerine bird in the finch family. The breeding male has a red face with black markings around the eyes, and a black-and-white head. Its back and flanks are buff or chestnut brown. Its black wings feature a broad yellow bar. Its tail is black and its rump is white. Males and females are very similar, but females have a slightly smaller red area on their face.

The average European goldfinch is 12–13 cm (4.7–5.1 in) long, has a wingspan of 21–25 cm (8.3–9.8 in) and weighs 14 to 19 g (0.49 to 0.67 oz). There is little difference between the sexes, both having a red face, black and white head, warm brown upperparts, white underparts with buff flanks and breast patches, and black and yellow wings.

Male European goldfinches can often be distinguished on close inspection by the larger, darker red mask that extends just behind the eye. Their shoulder feathers are black, whereas those of the female are brown. The red face of the female does not extend past the eye. They have an ivory-coloured, long, pointed bill and a forked tail. Goldfinches in breeding condition have a pale bill with a grey or black mark at the tip, whereas the rest of the year they have a darker bill. Juveniles have a plain head and a greyer back, but they are unmistakable due to the yellow wing stripe. Adults moult after the breeding season, with some individuals beginning in July and others not completing their moult until November. After moult birds appear less colourful, until the tips of the newly grown feathers wear away.

The song is a pleasant silvery twittering. The call is a melodic tickeLIT, and the song is a pleasant tinkling medley of trills and twitters, but always including the tri-syllabic call phrase or a teLLIT-teLLIT-teLLIT.

Viereisellä sähkölangalla kaksi turkinkyyhkyä huhuili iloisesti.

Two Eurasian collared doves were cooing happily on the nearby power line.

Wikipedia: Turkinkyyhky (Streptopelia decaocto) on pienikokoinen kyyhkylaji, joka on viime vuosikymmeninä levinnyt eteläiseen Suomeenkin. Turkinkyyhky on vaaleanharmaa, selästä tummempi kuin vatsapuolelta. Niskassa on aikuisilla linnuilla musta kaulus, pyrstösulkien tyvi alhaalta katsoen on tumma. Koko: Pituus 28–33 cm, siipien kärkiväli 60 cm ja paino 200 grammaa. Ääni: Monotoninen luonteenomaisesti kolmitavuinen huhuilu: kuukuu, kuuuu.

Turkinkyyhky on paikkalintu. Nuoret yksilöt vaeltelevat syksyisin muutamien kymmenien, joskus satojen kilometrien päähän. Turkinkyyhky viihtyy ihmisasumusten lähettyvillä. Se viihtyy erilaisissa puistikoissa, puustoisilla kerrostalo– ja varastoalueilla ja pesii usein havupuuhun.

Wikipedia: The Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto), often simply just collared dove, is a dove species native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. The Eurasian collared dove is a medium-sized dove, distinctly smaller than the wood pigeon, similar in length to a rock dove but slimmer and longer-tailed, and slightly larger than the related European turtle dove, with an average length of 32 cm (13 in) from tip of beak to tip of tail, with a wingspan of 47–55 cm (19–22 in), and a weight of 125–240 g (4.4–8.5 oz). It is grey-buff to pinkish-grey overall, a little darker above than below, with a blue-grey underwing patch. The tail feathers are grey-buff above, and dark grey and tipped white below; the outer tail feathers are also tipped whitish above. It has a black half-collar edged with white on its nape from which it gets its name. The short legs are red and the bill is black. The iris is red, but from a distance the eyes appear to be black, as the pupil is relatively large and only a narrow rim of reddish-brown iris can be seen around the black pupil. The eye is surrounded by a small area of bare skin, which is either white or yellow. The two sexes are virtually indistinguishable; juveniles differ in having a poorly developed collar, and a brown iris.

The song is a three-syllable goo-GOO-goo, with stress placed on the second syllable. The Eurasian collared dove also makes a harsh loud screeching call lasting about two seconds, particularly in flight just before landing. A rough way to describe the screeching sound is a hah-hah.

Päästyäni vanhan vedennostopaikan viereen, näin ilokseni, että ensimmäistä kertaa noin 10 vuoteen, kanavassa oli vettä.

When I got to the old water intake site, I was delighted to see that, for the first time in about 10 years, there was water in the canal.

Jatkaessani matkaa eteenpäin näin rakennukset sekä niiden edessä olevan altaan, ja sain vahvistuksen veden määrästä.

As I continued on my way and saw the buildings and the pool in front of them, I was convinced of the amount of water there was.

Tämä kuva alla kertoo tilanteen vain hieman yli vuosi sitten.

The photo below shows the situation just over a year ago.

Niityt olivat puhjenneet kukkimaan.

The meadows were in full bloom,

Myös pikkulintuja kuului ja näkyi ympärillä.

Small birds could also be heard and seen all around.

Tiltaltti se siinä pyörähteli ja katsella ihmetteli outoa valokuvaajaa vai olisiko tunnistanut minut viime vuoden käynniltäni?

Wikipedia: Tiltaltti (Phylloscopus collybita) on uunilintujen sukuun kuuluva varpuslintu, joka muistuttaa ulkonäöltään lähisukulaistaan pajulintua. Sen tuntee heleästä laulustaan: ”tilt-talt-tilt-talt…”.

Tiltaltti on päältä vihreänharmaa, vatsapuolelta vaaleampi, ja silmäkulmassa on vaaleankeltainen juova. Sillä on tummat jalat ja lyhyehkö nokka. Usein tiltaltti on erittäin vaikea erottaa pajulinnusta, mutta keväällä se on ruskeampi, suttuisemman oloinen. Siipi on pajulinnun siipeä lyhyempi ja pyöreämpi. Syksyllä tiltaltti on usein hyvin ruskea, ei keltainen kuten pajulintu, ja tumma nokka korostaa tummuutta vielä entisestäänkin. Pituus on 11–13 cm, paino 7 g. Tiltaltti on Suomen toiseksi tai kolmanneksi pienin pesimälintu. Suomen tiltaltit talvehtivat Välimeren seudulla ja Afrikassa.

There the Common chiffchaff was, twirling around, looking at me in wonder—was I just a strange photographer, or had it recognized me from my visit last year?

Wikipedia: The Common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), or simply the chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic.

It is a migratory passerine which winters in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. Greenish-brown above and off-white below, it is named onomatopoeically for its simple chiff-chaff song. It has a number of subspecies, some of which are now treated as full species. The female builds a domed nest on or near the ground, and assumes most of the responsibility for brooding and feeding the chicks, whilst the male has little involvement in nesting, but defends his territory against rivals, and attacks potential predators.

The common chiffchaff is a small, dumpy, 10–12 centimetres (3.9–4.7 inches) long leaf warbler. The male weighs 7–8 grammes (0.28–0.31 oz), and the female 6–7 grammes (0.25–0.28 oz). The spring adult of the western nominate subspecies P. c. collybita has brown-washed dull green upperparts, off-white underparts becoming yellowish on the flanks, and a short whitish supercilium. It has dark legs, a fine dark bill, and short primary projection (extension of the flight feathers beyond the folded wing). As the plumage wears, it gets duller and browner, and the yellow on the flanks tends to be lost, but after the breeding season there is a prolonged complete moult before migration. The newly fledged juvenile is browner above than the adult, with yellow-white underparts, but moults about 10 weeks after acquiring its first plumage. After moulting, both the adult and the juvenile have brighter and greener upperparts and a paler supercilium.

This warbler gets its name from its simple distinctive song, a repetitive cheerful chiff-chaff. This song is one of the first avian signs that spring has returned. Its call is a hweet. The song differs from that of the Iberian chiffchaff, which has a shorter djup djup djup wheep wheep chittichittichiittichitta. However, mixed singers occur in the hybridisation zone and elsewhere, and can be difficult to allocate to species.

Samoin heinäkerttu lennähteli ympärilläni lauleskellen iloisesti.

Likewise, a Zitting cisticola flitted around me, chirping cheerfully.

Wikipedia: Heinäkerttu (Cisticola juncidis) on hyvin laajalle levinnyt herttujen heimoon kuuluva varpuslintu. Linnun pituus on noin 10 cm, siipien kärkiväli 12–14,5 cm ja paino 8–12 g, keskimäärin noin 9,5 g. Koiras on hieman naarasta kookkaampi. Höyhenpuvultaan se muistuttaa ruokokerttusta mutta on pienempi ja lyhytpyrstöisempi. Sukupuolet ovat samanvärisiä. Koiraan laulu on melko hidasta ja yksinkertaista, muistuttaen keltavästäräkin tsilputusta, ja koiras esittää sitä usein laululennossa. Käytökseltään se on hyvin vilkas ja energinen.

Wikipedia: The zitting cisticola, formerly also fan-tailed warbler or streaked fantail warbler (Cisticola juncidis) is a widely distributed Old World warbler in the family Cisticolidae, whose breeding range includes western and southern Europe, Africa outside the deserts and rainforest, and southern Asia down to northern Australia. A small bird found mainly in grasslands, it is best identified by its rufous rump; in addition it lacks any gold on the collar and the brownish tail is tipped with white. During the breeding season males have a zigzagging flight display accompanied by regular ”zit” calls that give it its English name. They build their pouch nest suspended within a clump of grass.

The zitting cisticola is 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) in length.^[8] It is brown above, heavily streaked with black markings. The underparts are whitish, and the tail is broad, white-tipped and flicked frequently, giving rise to the alternative name for the species. The adult males have less crown streaking and more back marking than the females, but there are no great differences between the sexes or the 17 geographical subspecies. The absence of a nuchal collar separates it from the golden-headed cisticola (Cisticola exilis). In the non-breeding season, they tend to skulk within the grass and can be hard to spot.

Vettä ja lintuja olin tullut katsomaan ja toiveeni täyttyi.

I had come to see the water and the birds, and my wish came true.

Tänään havaitut yhteensä 12 lajia: 3 varpunen, 2 haarapääsky, 2 turkinkyyhky, heinäkerttu, mustapääkerttu, punarinta, rantasipi, samettipääkerttu, tikli, tiltaltti, tuulihaukka ja västäräkki.

A total of 12 bird species were observed today: 3 House sparrow, 2 Barn swallow, 2 European collared dove, Zitting cisticola, Eurasian blackcap, European robin, Common sandpiper, Sardinian warbler, European goldfinch, Common chiffchaff, Kestrel, and White wagtail.