Flora and Fauna Alto Alentejo
Flowers
Quinta do Pomarinho borders natural park Serra de São Mamede in Alto Alentejo Portugal. The park offers an unique flora and fauna and especially in the months May and April you will encounter an explosion of flowers in all colours of the rainbow. Particularly special are the calla lily, the blue iris, the red clover, and the roadsides filled with blue lupins and lots of orchids.
Birds
In natural park Serra de São Mamede you will encounter special bird guests such as the hop, the kingfisher, the bee-eater, the nightingale, the backed shrike, the golden oriole, and even eagles, griffon vultures, white and black storks, and lots of small wildlife. Just on the premises of our 62 acre terrain alone more than 60 species of birds are spotted each year. Just across the Spanish border you can find a colony of griffon vultures. The park is a fantastic place for bird watchers.
Reptiles, amphibians and Insects
The natural park is well known for its diversity of reptiles, amphibians and insects. In the park, you will find the fire-bellied newt, the water-turtle, the green tree frog, the small emperor moth, and other animals such as crayfish, otters, and old world swallowtails. Living in the natural park Portugal are also large mammals such as red deer, wild boards, foxes, badgers, martens, and genets. Hidden in the woods or dense thickets there are also Egyptian mongooses. In Europe, these predators can only be found on the Iberian Peninsula. The natural park is one of the few places in Portugal where the Iberian lynx can still be found in the wild.
Rivers and reservoirs
During one of the many hiking trails Portugal you will regularly cross rivers. In the river Rio Sever you can find great private swimming spots. Sometimes you may be accompanied by otters, or you will see how a kingfisher skims over the water. During the Reibeira da Nisa walk you will use stepping stones to cross the O Sever multiple times and you will walk through a beautiful old cork oak forest. Also in the reservoir of Póvoa you can take a refreshing dip and you might spot a black stork, griffon vulture, or an osprey. At our own Quinta you will find a small lake with turtles, frogs, small fish and the many species of birds that reside there.