The lost Swallows!

Like we decided yesterday me and Simon (the man!) did Ribeira da Ponte during the morning hours. As usual we found nothing, but we just have to keep on looking! It's out there somewhere. A few showers fell as we did the valley and that's pretty much how the weather was during the day. Either sunny and hot or windy and rainy. Waterproofs on, waterproofs off, waterproofs on, waterproofs off... Simon showed me some new spots for me. Good looking places! In the "Garden of Eden" I'm gonna find a Blackburnian Warbler after he's gone back home I think (since he talks about that species about ten times every day). We split up and did some different fields and small valleys on our way back down towards the village. A heavy showe came and I decided to get a lift down to the village, but after only 500m I met Simon and decided to get off. That nearly cost me a foot since the driver started driving again as I was getting off the car having my foot on one of the wheels!

Shortly after that I found an odd Starling flying over the Rubbish Dump. Starlings out here have a bad habit of looking like Swallows all the time, especially when they descend quickly from higher to lower altitudes. Anyway, this Starling soon turned out to be a Swallow as I saw the pale underparts of it! This was just what we both needed, some real action! After watching it for a while it cloned itself and there was two of them. Both turned out to be Barn Swallows, adult ones. But which subspecies!? To be honest I didn't know what to look for at all on an adult bird apart from the colouration of the underparts. Got some lousy pictures of one of them before they disappeared behind a ridge, comments are very, very welcome!

Adult Barn Swallow

We went back to the guesthouse and recharged ourselves with orange juice, coffee, cookies and fruit before going out birding again. We also had a look in the American and European books we brought and judging from the plates in those it seems as and adult American apart from the rufous underparts should have a bigger throat patch and a thinner breastband between the throatpatch and the white body than the European. Am I right? Unfortunately the pictures are too poor for this to be visible. Judging from the underparts it looks like a European one I think (both birds looked very similar, being adults with pale underparts), or can an adult American be this pale underneath? Comments are VERY welcome!

After the break Simon took a walk in the village (which gave a Whimbrel) and got a haircut while I walked up the road again to the Swallow hotspot arond the farmers' little houses along the road. As I got up there hell broke loose. The rain was massive! And of course no cars were passing by so I just had to walk back in the rain. After a while I got a lift back but by then I was already soaked and cold.

In the evening we head an absolutely delicious chicken dinner at the airport restaurant. Normally the food is something fried (meat or fish) served with rice and french fries and then spiced up with some extra salt and ketchup. You do get a bit tired of that rather quick. Tonight we hit the jackpot though, especially since it was the dish of the day, meaning that we had to wait about one minute to get our food. Excellent!

If weather allows us we'll go up to the crater tomorrow to have a look in there. Hopefully at least some new ducks and waders have turned up since my last visit there (11 days and an American weather system ago!), and maybe a yank passerine has got stuck down there? Both Yellow-rumped Warbler and Scarlet Tanager have been recorded down there in the past...

Birds

Grey Heron 1 1cy, Great Black-backed Gull 1 1cy, Barn Swallow 2 adults (ssp?)

Full Metal Ribeira

We can't find it! The new bird that is. We're working really hard out there but it just isn't paying off! Me and Simon did, once again, Cantinho and Cancelas real hard today. Inside, outside, everywhere! The American Redstart is still there and easy to see in the same spot, but nothing else. Continued to da Ponte where we did the lower parts for two hours or so late afternoon before heading back towards the village since it began to rain. That place da Ponte is really hot and I think we're going back there tomorrow to do a full morning hit. There's gotta be something in there as well! Did some of the higher fields on the way back. A few Turnstones and a Wheatear were around, the latter probably the same bird as Pedro saw a few days ago? In the village we had a quick cup of coffee at the restaurant and then checked the airfield and beaches before heading home during a massive rain shower. Saw the usual Turnstones and Common Terns and the Bar-tailed Godwit is still around. Smart as I am I forgot my bag at the beach and got an extra 2 km walk in the evening. Nice one!

Lava rocks outside the shore south of the airport.

September is officially over in a few hours. This first part of the trip was the big experiment part. Unfortunately I didn't have the winds with me. If I'd had that I probably would have seen more Yanks. A small low pressure system moving east a bit north of the Azores on the 17th-18th coincided well with the appearence of a Spotted Sandpiper in the beach on the 18th. And the system that moved through straight on us during the last days apparently brought at least an American Redstart and a Bobolink (and hopefully more!). The birds appeared to move in front of the system as they both appeared before the low pressure hit the islands.

Conclusion? September is well worth a go out here! But as always it's a big game with the winds. If you get the right ones, the birds will come, probably including a pretty different setup of species compared to what you get in late October, American Redstart for example. I was pretty unlucky during my two September weeks out here. Most of the time winds were easterly due to a massive high pressure that parked over the Azores. But when the good winds finally came, so did the American Redstart! Hopefully more people will try this the coming years and hopefully they will get better winds than I did. There is a massive migration on the other side of the Atlantic during September as well so give this a try will ya!


Tomorrow it's October and now we know what can happen - ANYTHING!

Birds

Grey Heron 1 juvenile, Bar-tailed Godwit 1 adult female, Northern Wheatear 1, American Redstart 1 (juvenile?) female

Hard days work in rain!

I take back that Simon's a robot. He is very, very human! We did a good try up in Cantinho and Cancelas today, a nine hour hit but only found the American Redstart inbetween the rain showers. That bird's really active, never sitting still and calling a lot so quite easy to see actually. After doing a few more places up there we got a lift down to the village with Pedro, the very nice local guy who knows some birds. Down in the village we did the lower fields are for two hours or so, but without finding anything. New day tomorrow, we have to find a new bird now!

A bit better today...

Birds

American Redstart 1 (juvenile?) female, Grey Heron 1 juvenile

A second for Corvo + American Red still in

Weather today was horrible, just f*ckin terrible! The first five-six hours of birding it was raining most of the time - heavy! I saw the American Redstart again but pretty soon gave up and headed back since I was soaked and activity was lousy. About halfway back the raining sopped and it was sunny! Ten minutes later I met Mani and Simon coming in the pickup, but Peter never came out due to airplane problems. Went tosaz Cancelas and found the Redstart for Simon within an hour or two - great start for him!

Blurry American Redstart

Cancelas after it rained... I usually walk here!

Simon's a nice guy and I'm pretty sure he's a robot, cause the speed he's got in his legs (despite only eating an apple during the whole day!) is just crazy! Got back pretty late and couldn't find a place to eat to begin. The place at the windmill/airport was having a big event for Mani's party since he's running for mayor on Corvo again. But we got let in a back door and got food pretty soon, and didn't have to pay for it since Mani's party was paying! Great! Went in to the pub for a quick coffee and when we were gonna leave they refused to take our money - everything was free here as well! So we got stuck a few hours drinking beer... and Simon is actually still there having beers since he seems to know half the people in the village! Anyway, tomorrow we're going up there again to do some seriouse damage in the ribeiras. More birds are here for sure since winds have been really good, now we just gotta find them!

Oh yeah, the second for Corvo was a female-type Pintail that flew over our heads when we were walking in the fields on the eastern side. Probably an American vagrant since they're common in The States as well.


Birds
American Redstart 1 (juvenile?) female, Pintali 1 female-type, Quail 1, Grey Heron 1 juvenile

Got another one!

Took up birding today where I quit yesterday at Ribeira do Poço de Agua. Weather was good for birding with thin clouds keeping the sun away. Only 30 seconds after Mani dropped me off I saw something yellow sitting in the top of a hedge - Bobolink! Got great views of the bird for a few minutes before a Chaffinch chased it away. This is only about 300 metres from where I had a possible Bobolink a few days ago so maybe it's been around for a few days?

These creatures are real beauties!

The next ten hours I didn't see shit despite birding Ribeira da Poço de Agua, upper parts of Fojo, a part of Pico, a part of Ribeira da Ponte and whole Ribeira da Lapa. But more birds are out there for sure! Tomorrow Simon Buckell and Peter Alfrey will arrive to the island and help me find them.

Birds

Bobolink 1

American Redstart!

Okay, pretty much to write about today, but I'll try to keep it short. Had decided to go to the Caldeira this morning since weather was going to be good and I hadn't been there for a while (and probably wouldn't go there for a few days from today since winds are looking promising for new landbirds to arrive). But it was looking very foggy up there when it became light so I went for plan B instead - the lighthouse. But when we got up there the fog was lying really low, covereing pretty much all ov the medium road to, so Mani took me down the lower road and dropped me off at Ribeira do Cantinho instead since there wasn't any fog down there. Birded Cantinho and Cancelas for a few hours without seeing anything special. Took my scope and bag and walked back from Cantinho to Cancelas (or Ribeira da Tebaiba that the lower part of it is called). There I dropped of my stuff and started to walk, but soon realized how stupid it would be not to bring the bag (with my camera in it) so I grabbed the bag and walked up to the hotspot maybe 200 m up in the ribeira from the road. After watching some Chaffinches and Blackcaps I started pisching as usual to get the rest of the birds out in the open. Soon a "Blackcap" flew over me, or was it a Blackcap...? Something didn't feel right so I lifted my bins and tried to find the bird. Soon got onto a rather round, plain grey head sticking out of the leaves. What's this!? My pulse was rising as I also noted some yellow on the flank. Seconds later the bird turned and showed its tail - BONER! AMERICAN REDSTART! Continued pisching and kept my eyes on the bird as I dug out my camera from my backpack. The bird moved into somewhat more open space and called a few times. After some fast adjustments of the settings I managed to get a few documentation shots of the bird. Unfortunately it soon flew back into the dense canopy and despite spending more than an hour on the site waiting, pisching and taping I couldn't find it again. A minute was all I got. Really hope I see it again!

Female American Redstart. Juvenile I guess?

The bird admiring its beautiful tail!

I moved on towards Fojo very inspired to find new stuff. Birded intensely until 16:30 when the rain and wind was getting a little bit to rough for me, so I started walking back towards the village. Soon got picked up by a nice farmer who actually knew some birds! And English! He told me he had seen a Wheatear in the Caldeira yesterday, a Ringed Plover in a field high up on the slopes a week ago and some Great Shearwaters from the ferry to Flores a few days ago. Got dropped of near the guesthouse and decided to the the usual tour around the airfiled before I quit for the day. The Bar-tailed Godwit was however the only bird of interest.

A rainy landscape...

Weather is looking really interesting for the coming days with a nice lowpressure coming in from The States, hopefully bringing some good birds out here!

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

And some high altitude jet streams:

I got a comment on the duck I saw yesterday that it might actually be a Redhead due to the head shape and wing pattern. The identification as a Common Pochard was based on the head shape and bill pattern which I think feels very much like a Common Pochard. Maybe the picture I posted yesterday gave a somewhat more Redheadish profile? I don't have any experience of Redhead at all though. Hopefully the bird ended up in the Caldeira yesterday so I can have better views of it some day. Here are some more pictures of the bird, comments are very welcome!

Birds

AMERICAN REDSTART 1 (juvenile?) female, Bar-tailed Godwit 1 adult female, Grey Heron 1 juvenile

New species for Corvo again!

Decided to bird around the village today, which turned out to be a wise decision. Rather strong winds from the east were blowing so I decided to try a little seawatching. Went up the small lighthouse next to the airport and sat down behind it. Loads of Cory's were moving in the wind and within a minute I had spotted my first Great Shearwater for the day. An hour and 15 minutes later I had counted 24 of them and since all shearwaters were flying further out I left and checked the shoreline instead. Not much to see at all, only saw the Bar-tailed Godwit, a Sanderling and five Turnstones. I wonder where the Turnstones are some days! Here are about 30 around so they must be hiding somewhere else.

Cory's Shearwater

After checking the beach I went up to the rubbish dump to have a look at the gulls and it was actually quite nice up there today. Something like 50-100 gulls were around and easy to check. Found three Lesser Black-backed and two Greater Black-backed Gulls among the Yellow-legged. Ring-billed Gull in a month or two? When I was on my way to check around the village for landbirds I suddenly saw a big grey wall coming towards me from Flores - RAIN! Quickly packed my bag and walked back to the guesthouse. Got a little wet but not very much. The rain then continued for four hours so I had time to have lunch, take a nap and hang around the Internet for a while.

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull

2cy Lesser Black-backed Gull (I think)

Juvenile brownie and Great Black-backed Gull


2cy Great Black-backed Gull

When the rain stopped I decided to have an early evening walk around the airfield. Took a short scan over the sea from behind the lighthouse again and loads of Cory's were moving since the wind had increased. When I lifted my eye from my scope I saw something coming flying towards me from west - A DUCK!!! Every duck out here is a good duck and this was the first time I saw one outside the crater. As the bird was going to fly by me at sea I had to make a fast decision - scope or camera? Within half a second or so I had started to change the settings on the camera and soon I was taking poor pictures of the bird in flight. Through the camera I could see it was a male Pochard type, interesting! When the bird flew out of camera range I grabbed my scope and couldn't see anything that suggested it wasn't a Pochard. When checking the pictures afterwards I could confirm the identification. This was the first record for Corvo and the first record since 2005 on the Azores, so quite a good bird!

Male Common Pochard