Birds of Prey in the Douro | Graham's Port

A young eagle pauses at Graham's Quinta da Vila Velha

Graham?s and all of the Symington Family Estates? quintas in the Douro ? some 944 hectares (2,300 acres) ? are on average only about 50% planted with vineyards, with the rest of the land being a mixture of olive or citrus groves and natural vegetation.? This creates an richly varied natural habitat for wildlife, and over the years the Symington family have observed a gradual increase in birds of prey in the Douro ? a sure sign that other birds and animals in the food chain are ?thriving and increasing.

So it was with some interest that Paul Symington read an article in the local Douro newspaper about a Birds of Prey recovery unit at the University of Tras-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD) in Vila Real, and asked Ant?nio Filipe, SFE?s general manager, to learn more about the program for us.? What he learned so impressed the family that last week they visited UTAD to tour the facility and to make a donation on behalf of SFE to help sustain the extraordinary work of the program. ?The Dean of UTAD, Prof Carlos Alberto Sequeira, welcomed them, and introduced ?his colleagues who are directly involved with the Birds of Prey program.

L to R: Ant?nio Filipe, Paul Symington, Dr. Filipe Silva, Dr. Roberto Sargo

UTAD has an extensive program of agrarian sciences, including a school of Veterinary Sciences, headed up by Dr. Filipe Silva, and a veterinary hospital which is open to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.? The staff receive and treat up to 4,500 animals per year, including domestic and exotic pets, horses, farm animals, and any injured wild animals which people have found.? The hospital is well designed with extensive facilities for the reception, treatment, surgery and rehabilitation of all these different kinds of animals.

The Centro de Recep??o, Acolhimento e Tratamento de Animais Selvagens (The Centre for Reception, Refuge and Treatment of Wild Animals) (CRATAS) is an additional facility which includes areas specifically designed for the rehabilitation of birds of prey.? The Centre receives an average of 200 wounded birds each year from right across the Tr?s os Montes region.

Scops Owls

Eagle Owl

Peregrine Falcons

Dr. Roberto Sargo, head of CRATAS, lead the tour through the facilities, explaining the program and showing the family and Ant?nio some of the current residents, including a trio of Mochos de Orelhas (Scops Owls) the symbol of SFE?s Altano table wines, two magnificent Eagle Owls and a group of Peregrine Falcons, the fastest animal on earth, which can reach speeds over 325 km/h (202 miles per hour) as it dives to hunt.? With all the time spent in the Douro, the family are all familiar with many of these birds ? and have been known to forget the grapes for a minute to point out an eagle or falcon overhead whilst leading visitors through Quinta dos Malvedos during harvest.

Most of the birds brought in to the centre have been shot, though some have been electrocuted by high tension cables or hit by cars.? After any necessary surgery has been performed in a dedicated facility, the birds are housed in a series of spaces of differing sizes, according to their capacity for flight: as the birds regain strength and it is safe for them to begin to fly again, they are moved to progressively taller and longer tunnels with more space to practice, the last being 25 metres in length.? In addition, their diet is gradually modified so that in the final stages of recovery they are hunting again within the tunnel, as they would in the wild.? The goal is always to return to the wild all birds that can survive again, and their recent release of a black vulture was featured on the news here in Portugal.

We are very pleased and proud to support the work of UTAD and the CRATAS program and the preservation of the birds of prey in the Douro region.

Graham's has an unmatched reputation as a producer of the finest Port wines.

Source: http://malvedos.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/birds-of-prey-in-the-douro/

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