There are no hunters around today, and peace prevails over the saltmarshes. The weather is generally overcast with quite a cold breeze and small birds aren't showing quite so well.
The tide still quite low when we arrive. Out on the flats are thousands of avocet and several hundred grey plover along with godwit, redshank, dunlin, etc. Curlew are notable by their virtual absence. A few hundred teal move up with the tide, but mallard hide in the saltmarsh until marsh harriers put them up. The harriers also put up flocks of passerines feeding in the salicornia on the far side of the channel.
It starts to rain and we went back for lunch, it continues to rain and we try the nearby town of Montijo for a map of the area. No luck there but a travel agent comes up with a set of tourist leaflets ‑ in Portuguese English ‑ about the area, which may of some help.
On the way back to Setubal we make detours to wherever the road seems to go close to the estuary, at least according the maps on the backs of the leaflets. At Moita we find curlew and just north of Coina there were saltpans and saltmarshes that may be worth exploring in better weather.
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