The 17th Sagres Birdwatching & Nature Activities Festival takes place from 2 to 5 October in Sagres, at the southwestern tip of Portugal, one of Europe’s most important migratory corridors. Every October, thousands of raptors, storks, seabirds, and passerines funnel through this narrow Atlantic bottleneck on their way south to Africa.

I have been quite a few times to this festival as it is a great way to meet old friends, have some good pelagic trips and guided excursions for a very fair price and enjoy the last days of the Portuguese summer. If you like wilderness devoid of human beings than you shouldn’t go. If you like good food and wine you want to go and skip the birding altogether. For the rest of us, the festival provides an opportunity to explore the Atlantic Ocean, the vast Sagres peninsula, the Algarve and the hinterland. Since most Algarve birding guides will be present you can arrange future excursions. Little Bustard, Eurasian Dotterel, raptors (I have seen European Honey-Buzzard every time I visited), vultures and pretty much all Palearctic warblers are possible.

My advice is to reserve your preferred activities early so you are guaranteed a spot. Sagres has ample hotel accommodation but again, booking early allows more choice. Details on the program and registration can be found here: https://www.birdwatchingsagres.com/en/. The program will be published on 5 August and registration opens on 2 September.

I recommend subscribing to the newsletter so you don’t miss any information. As a member of SPEA, you can get discounts at the Sagres Birdwatching Festival so you may want to become a member. Naturally, if you are loaded with cash and do not need the discount, you can still become a member and support the very important conservation work that SPEA does.