Paradise found for the kestrel
ALENTEJO immediately brings to mind the landscape described in Cormac McCarthy's novels. Great chunks of the centre of the Iberian peninsula are sparsely populated plains, wild and sometimes desolate. No wonder the Spanish and Portuguese felt so at home in the Californias!
Alentejo, a region which produces wine, olive oil and cork, and comprises almost one-third of Portugal, nevertheless may appear a barren wilderness. Not so.
But this very poor part of Europe is home to hundreds of species of birds, from black storks and rufus bushchats to great and little bustards and the endangered lesser kestrel.
In the winter, lapwings paint the vast oceans of alternate cultivation (from wheat to grass) along with golden plover and skylarks, as was once a typical scene in Ireland. Common cranes may be seen flying in the evenings and a bustard in the distance is like some massive turkey.
As a car passenger heading heading towards Baja, I experienced the drive of my life -- high speeds and some typical local risk-taking -- with concerns being abated by sightings of storks' nests on telephone poles, black pigs roaming the scrub, buzzards and a vulture or two.
The extensive area of Castro Verde, the largest expanse of uncultivated plains in southern Portugal, is a refuge for many species of birds.
The flight of humanity from the land is obvious. Most isolated houses are abandoned and the population is concentrated in towns such as Castro Verde itself, Almadovar and Mertola.
The rolling plains form an impressive vast ocean of undulating grass and crops. East of Mertola, where the Rio Guadiana cuts a deep valley, the area becomes semi-arid. Sun rose is the dominant wild plant, and Spanish sparrows nest beneath the massive structures of the storks.
The area is a paradise for birds, but last week attention became focused on a unique lesser kestrel colony which, from March, returns to breed in an old convent building just outside Mertola itself.
The Convento de Sao Francisco was turned by its Dutch owners into an artistic retreat, with an art gallery, organic gardens and careful protection and monitoring of its annual bird visitors.
There was a time when this kestrel (falco naumanni) was a common sight throughout central and southern Portugal, with many breeding colonies in old buildings and town walls. It is a small, elegant falcon and a very rare vagrant to Ireland, incidentally. But restorative work has diminished its nesting space and almost the only protected habitat remaining is at the convent under the care of the owner, Geraldine Zwanikken.
Since 1994 she has been working to maintain and provide nesting places for the kestrels on their return from sub-Saharan Africa each March. These are on ledges or in crevices and must be inaccessible to predators.
In the past, some purpose-built towers seemed ideal and at one time 65 pairs were nesting at the convent. But rough surfaces enabled snakes to climb and raid the nests. So last year there was smoothing over with cement to stop this, with successful breeding on new ledges.
Recently, however, a feral cat family of six kittens was found near the nesting site. The mother was gone. Now Ms Zwanikken is trying to place the kittens in suitable homes before the birds return.
