A Twenty Five Year Perspective
França is a village in the east of Parque Natural de Montesinho, about 18 km north of Bragança. We first visited the village in 2003 on a walking trip, and stayed with our friends who were then renting out a couple of small gites in the village.
We were keen walkers and birdwatchers, and were interested to see what the area offered by way of species.
Bird lists
Our host had various books and brochures which included a list of birds typically seen in the area, published by Parque Natural de Montesinho in 1994. He also had a checklist of birds seen by visitors.
We don’t have a record of what we saw then, but my memory suggests that it was a large number of many species, far more than are around today. We added the few that we had spotted to the visitor’s book, but our list didn’t compare to the checklist made by two couples in particular, the Thomases and the Barringtons. Theirs was impressive by any standards.
Declining numbers of birds and insects
Our friends recently gave me a copy of their list. My response was to say that while all of those birds are probably still around, it would take us two years not two weeks to compile it.
This may to a certain extent reflect our competence in finding and identifying birds, but I also believe it is a sad reflection of the fact that the overall number of birds is far fewer today than it was in 2004. Perhaps the Thomases or the Barringtons should return and put this to the test!
However, our regular visits over 15 years allow us to add the following to the sightings list:
- Dipper (Melro-d’agua) seen regularly for several years between the village and the Hípico, but not recently perhaps because the flow of the Sabor has been much reduced by the new dam;
- Barn Owl (Coruja-das-torres) which we’ve seen twice over our 15 years, between Bragança and França;
- Bullfinch (Dom-fafe) a pair on the edge of França. These occur throughout the year in the north of Portugal, but are a rare sighting;
- Grey Heron (Garça-real-comum), which is now seen regularly along the Sabor;
- Pied Flycatcher (Papa-mosca-preto) we saw regularly on its annual winter migration passing through;
- Great Crested Grebe (Merguilâo-de-poupa) seen on the original dam at Montesinho.
And these to the overall Parque list :
- Booted Eagles (Águia-calçada) we regularly saw these during the summer;
- Griffon Vultures (Grifo-comum), regular sightings, sometimes in large numbers, are now common throughout the year;
- Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (Pica-pau-galago) seen twice in the walnut tree in our garden.
… and not just birds
The decline in numbers undoubtedly applies to butterflies, moths and other insects. One of our abiding memories of living in ouhouse in the early 2000s was watching large numbers of moths flying round the street lights and watching bats hunt them – something not seen these days.
Yes, species decline is a reality, even in an area so sparsely populated as Parque Natural de Montesinh.
Birdwatching in the 2020s
When we walked into the hills it was very rare to encounter anyone. At most we might have met a couple of tourists in a car, or perhaps a farmer tending a chestnut tree plantation. And yet on many of these walks we saw few birds – perhaps the occasional Crow (Gralha-preta) or Raven (Corvo), although we would invariably hear Jays (Gaio) in the woodland, and usually Chaffinches (Tentilhão-comum) and Robins (Pisco-de-Peito-ruivo).
But then again the walk could have been marked by something quite spectacular – a Golden Eagle (Águia-real) , Montagu Harriers (Águia-caçadeira), Hoopoes (Poupa), a flock of hundreds of Chaffinches, and more! See for example our photomontage of Golden Eagles in Parque Natural de Montesinho: https://woodcockwood.com/golden-eagles-montesinho-portugal/
…. and the English subtitled video:
ou, com legenda portuguesa:
It was these experiences that add to the challenge and continuing excitement of this location, and we would like to share them with you on our website.
For an overview of birds today, try:
The Beauty of Parque de Montesinho
The park of course remains as beautiful as ever, and we provide directions for a number of our favourite short walks from França and nearby – see our list of Walking Trails.