Barragem de Albergaria dos Fusos

Description

Our drive into the heartlands of Alentejo on the 10th September was an eye-opener, no more the green-shrouded raptor-less landscapes of northern Portugal – here the colours of the barren earth shone through and natural character returned to the land in the form of the graceful Cork Oak trees leaning at their individual angles.  We started seeing and hearing birds again and met our first beautiful Iberian Magpies (previously Azure-winged) – more like blue shrikes as they darted silently from tree to tree.  We camped that Sunday night next to this beautiful lake or Barragem near Oriola.  Had a great meal in the tiny town that reminded me so much of the places and the people of the Karoo, just a football club in place of a rugby club but the characters looked the same all making their living off this hard land, mostly sheep farmers but here also ‘tree farmers’.  The view from our camp included the Cork Oak-studded ridges (these tree seem to love growing at angles out of the rockiest outcrops) and the softer lighter grey hues of the Olive Trees cultivated on the sands next to the lake.  Here we listened to Little Owls in the night and watched harriers and hoopoes and larks during the day.  It was a great introduction.