The field course
During the field course you will learn more about wildlife identification, field ecology techniques, and project design, with a special focus on field data collection. Find more information about previous projects in the area here or visit the gallery to see images from previous editions.
Location
The field course takes place in Sobreda, Portugal. The region as a whole has one of the highest levels of endemism in Europe and high overall biodiversity, being at the intersection between Mediterranean and Euro-Siberian climates.
The field course takes place in Quinta de Sao Pedro Field Study Centre. The Quinta is Located few kilometres south from Lisbon, and Sobreda is part of Lisbon metropolitan area. The field study centre is an original farmhouse that was established in 1960 and it provides comfortable accommodation for up to 70 people. Meeting rooms are available, as well as facilities to play sports (badminton, basketball, table tennis and table soccer) and a 350 m2 outdoor natural swimming pool. |
The centre is surrounded by 4 hectares supporting different types of vegetation such as Mediterranean macchia and garrigue, pine, eucalyptus and acacia groves, as well a dry and marshy meadows. This allows experiencing a wide variety of flowering plants that support a rich community of insects, reptiles, birds, and small mammals.
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The Quinta has its own inhabitants, three dogs (Migas, Taxi and Piefke), Felix the cat, two Norwegian horses (Heidi and Gi) as well as several goats, chicken, geese and ducks.
The schedule
Plans for the 2020 field trip are still ongoing, but will likely include a day trip to the Tagus Estuary Nature Reserve. The estuary of the Tagus river is the largest wetland in the country and one of the mot important in Europe, a sanctuary for fish, molluscs, crustaceans, and especially birds that stop-over on their migration between northern Europe and Africa. Species include the greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus), the dunlin (Calidris alpina), hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), osprey (Pandion haliaetus), or bluethroats (Luscina svecica) among many others.