On our way from Cape Verde to The Canaries we decided to make a short stop in Lisbon, a Dusky Warbler (lacking its tail) had been resident in Tejo Estuario for over a week. We arrived in Lisbon in the evening and the day after we had received excellent information from Pedro Nicolau regarding the whereabouts of the Dusky Warbler. We spent the entire day staring at this bush.
In the afternoon the wind picked up and it started to rain, no warbler. Eventually we embraced the dip and went back to the apartment we had rented.
We’d made an invite on Facebook, inviting Lisbon birders to come and have a drink with us in the evening and gossip about birds. It was really nice to meet Pedro Nicolau who has been very helpful over the year, providing excellent information over and over again. Other birders that came were Manuel Ribeiro and Frederico Morais, and Frederico had a card to the Estuary gates. The Estuary is closed over night, apparently to protect against thieves!! We borrowed Fredericos card and could access the Estuary in the morning. Otherwise, without a card we wouldn’t have had time to do that, our flight to The Canaries was at 11 am, and the gates open at 9 am. We drove back to the same spot, the same patch of reeds we spent the entire previous day staring at – and as soon as we jump out of the car, we heard the Dusky Warbler calling. It was there !!!
