Dipp day

First a few things I forgot yesterday. The French team found a new (third!) American Redstart in Ribeira da Ponte where the Black-and-white and the Black-throated Green were still around to. Fred also found a Spotted Sand on the beach.

First half of today was quite calm, best bird was a Red-eyed Vireo by Pete in the bottom of Fojo. All I picked up on my walkie-talkie when he found it was "...eyed Vireo" so at first I got a bit excited, but unfortunately soon calmed down again. At lunch time Fred picked up an Alpine Swift over Fojo, a 1st for Corvo and 2nd for Azores. During early afternoon Darryl spotted an Indigo Bunting at Ribeira da Ponte. I was already on my way there and soon joined Darryl and Ferran who sat and waited for the bird to reappear. After ten minutes of waiting the walkie talkies went active again and soon the news broke that Pierre had found a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER in Ribeira da Poso de Agua. 1st for Az and about 3rd for the WP - RUUUUUUUUUN! While we were running there news broke on the radios that Fred had relocated the Philadelphia Vireo in Ribeira do Vinte at the same time!

Alpine Swift

The French and Belgians saw the Philadelphia Vireo and in Ribeira da Poso de Agua all ten of us were looking for the Warbler until dusk but all we got was a few contact calls :( Maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow when we go there together in the morning. On my way back to the village I once again missed the Indigo Bunting since I stayed too long in Poso de Agua.


Winds today and tomorrow maybe can put some stuff out of course from Newfoundland...?

Birds

Alpine Swift 1

Darryl and his Canadian friend!

Today it happened again! After kicking different valleys in the morning a few of us were going to have lunch at the picnic site in Fojo. As I was on my way there I picked up some intense radio traffic going on with directions on how to get to the bird so I started to run and try to find the right place - without knowing what species they were talking about! As I was almost there I radioed them and got to know that Darryl had found a Canada Warbler just north of the picnic site! Unfortunately the bird had disappeared and we had to search hard. After abut an hour Ferran picked it up and the look on his face was very similar to a childs on Christmas eve. Unfortunately the bird disappeared again before the rest of us arrived... Later Darryl saw the bird briefly again and after totally three hours everyone finally got excellent views as Pete refound the bird feeding in the middle of the wood. Absolute magic!

CANADA WARBLER!

Read about the discovery on Darryls blog: http://gwentbirding.blogspot.com/
Pete has put some film of the twitch (mostly showing my ass) on his blog: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.com/

Eric celebrating his 703rd WP species.

On the way back me and Fred checked the lower parts of Ribeira da Poso de Agua. That place looks really, really good and I look forward to seeing something there... sometime... Found a Cory's nest down there with an almost fully grown chick in it. Soon we will be picking them up from the streets in the village but I decided to have a preview.

Juvenile Cory's Shearwater.

Me trying to pull out the Cory's chick that was doing its very best to fight back! Photo by Fred.

According to Pete the occurance of vagrants in Newfoundland correlated pretty good with what turned up in the Azores in autumn 2005, so you better take a look at Newfoundland Rare Bird Alert every now and then: http://groups.google.com/group/nf.birds/topics?lnk=srg&pli=1Thanks to Dave Brown for providing the link.

Birds

Canada Warbler 1!

President Manuel

Not very much happened for me today despite hard work in the Ribeiras. Me, Vincent, Eric, Pierre, Rafa and Ferran tried Ribeira do Vinte for a few hours in the morning, but couldn't find either the Catharus or the American warbler sp. Best bird was a Willow Warbler... Rain was pretty heavy though, and it was slippery like hell today! Had approxiamately ten falls during the day - a new highest daily count for me and my butt without doubt! Ouch! After do Vinte the others went back to the village to twitch a Bobolink that Peter had found. See pics on either his (http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.com/) or Darryls (http://gwentbirding.blogspot.com/) blog. I decided to stay up in the valleys and birded the upper half of da Ponte, a small part of Pico, the upper parts of Cerrado das Vacas and the lower parts of da Lapa, but found absolutely NADA! Just to keep on looking. Was fortunate enough to get a lift down to the village by Manuel as it started to rain during early evening. Speaking of Manuel; Today there were mayor elections in all Azorean towns, including Corvo, and Manuel was one of two candidates here. A few hours ago we found out that he had gotten 65% of the votes and will be mayor the coming four years, starting in early November. Congratulations Manuel!

Apart from the Bobolink the others saw the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a Merlin of unknown race, the Pec and some other more common stuff around the village. Hopefully more people will be up in the valleys again tomorrow looking for the small magic ones!

Lunch break in Fojo a few days ago. In order of appearance: Me, Rafa and Ferran. Filmed by Simon.

Birds

Willow Warbler 1...

Ovenbird!

Started at upper Ribeira da Poso de Agua and upper Fojo with Simon but strong from south made birding hard. During late morning the Spanish clown Rafa (Rafael Armada) found an absolutely stunning Ovenbird in Ribeira da Amoreira below Fojo. He found the bird as he was taping Blue Tit(!) along the road and everyone could twitch the bird successfully. A very much wanted species for me!

Ovenbird!

Birded my way back and had an odd looking bird I thought could be a Baltimore Oriole near the lower parts of Ribeira da Poso de Agua, but only got crap views of it on big distance in bad light. Maybe it was just a Chaffinch.

Two hours later at Ribeira da Ponte I got to know that there was a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Baltimore Oriole in the village! Walked down as fast as I could but missed the Oriole. Found out that Eric was the only one who had seen it as it rapidly moved up towards the village. Probably a newly arrived bird looking for a nice place to hang out, hopefully someone will find it the coming days. Also got to see Pete's Grosbeak in the evening.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Visit Peters blog for better pictures: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.com/

Black-and-white and Black-throated Green are still hanging around in Ribeira da Ponte and in Ribeira do Vinte Eric flushed a Catharus thrush and Pierre heard the (still!) unidentified American Warbler today again. We're thinking about making a hit there together first thing in the morning tomorrow to nail the bastards!

Birds

Grey Heron 1, Ovenbird 1, Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1

More yanks and more birders

Me and Simon started at the lighthouse valley today while Team Spain went to look for the Red-eyed Vireo by the Camping area and Staffan went to Cancelas to look for the American Redstart. Me and Simon hit the jackpot as there was both a Red-eyed Vireo and an American Redstart (new bird judging from photos) in the lighthouse valley! Beautiful place, but far away and lacks mobile signal...

Red-eyed Vireo

Got picked up by Manuel at noon and dropped of at da Ponte with Staffan who we picked up along the road. After a brief lunch we split up to try to find and stake out the Black-and-white Warbler for the arriving birders; Pierre, Eric, Vincent, Fred, Peter and Darryl. Simon went down and I went up (as usual) and the Black-and-white was still around in the same area as usual. Surprisingly it was soon joined by a Black-throated Green Warbler (maybe same as in Fojo)! This island is without doubt on fire! Most of the arriving birders saw Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler and American Redstart during their first afternoon - what a start! The grand finale of the day was a hunting Common Nighthawk above the power station that Eric picked out at dusk!


Birds
Red-eyed Vireo 1, American Redstart 1, Black-and-white Warbler 1, Black-throated Green Warbler 1, Northern Wheatear 1, Grey Heron 1, Bar-tailed Godwit 1

Red-eyed Vireo

We had planned to go to Flores today with the boat at 11:20, so at 9 I went to the ticket shop and settled everything. At 10:30 Simon got a call that the boat was cancelled... So we headed up to Cantinho and Cancelas instead. After 10 minutes the rain started and the first half of the day was a total failure. After boosting up at Fojo I went down and kicked the lower part of Ribeira da Poso de Agua as hard as could for a few hours, but nada. After walking back scanning fields I took a short walk around the village before I settled on some rocks by the sea and enjoyd a fantastic sunset. On my way back I passed a few bushes by the beach and a Blackcap flew by me. Very odd place for a Blackcap so I checked the bird and soon saw a Red-Eyed Vireo feeding in a small bush 5 m in front of me - yes! Unfortunately it was late and not much light left, so none of the others got to see the bird. Maybe it arrived today as a new system hit us or maybe it flew off the boat that passed the island yesterday? Anyway a good indication that new birds are here! Also saw the small white Egret flying by near the beach. Staffan successfully twitched the Philadelphia Vireo in Ribeira do Vinte today but unfortunately couldn't find the Black-and-white Warbler in Ribeira da Ponte despite a 4 h search :(

Birds
Red-eyed Vireo 1, Bar-tailed Godwit 1 adult female, Little/Snowy Egret 1, Northern Wheatear 1

Ship-assists coming in?

Not very much happened today. Started in Ribeira do Vinte to look for the American warbler from yesterday, but didn't find it. Saw the Philadelphia Vireo good for a few seconds again though. Saw a Willow Warbler by the road, a first for Corvo found yesterday by Team Spain. Me and Simon worked Pico and the lowest parts of Ribeira da Ponte while Rafa and Ferran were looking for the Black-and-white Warbler. Unfortunately none of us saw anything of interest. Since we had seen a ship going east between Corvo and Flores in the morning we decided to bird the village in the afternoon and evening in search for newly arrived ship-assists.

On our way down we met a newly arrived Staffan Rodebrand who was on his way up. After trying to explain to him where the birds had been he went up and successfully twitched the Black-throated Green Warbler.

The only interesting we found around the village was the usual Pec on the airfield and two Wheaters in the lower fields (among those the flying peach). Rafa also found a Willow Warbler in the tamarisks by the shore.

Weather is continuing to look interesting with a new system hitting us tomorrow and another system moving out from America on Friday. More birds soon?





Birds
Philadelphia Vireo 1, Willow Warbler 1, Pectoral Sandpiper 1 1cy, Whimbrel 1, Grey Heron 1, Northern Wheatear 2

Philadelphia Vireo!

Good harvest today again! Team Spain went looking for yesterdays birds while me and Simon hit Ribeira do Vinte. After scanning the outer parts of the valley we went inside it to have a look. Pretty soon i noticed something small moving around in the tops of some trees and alerted Simon but he didn't see it as the bird had dropped down among the trees. I was pretty sure that it was one of the pale vireos (Philadephia/Warbling) but the bird was gone. After an hour of rain and wind we glimpsed the bird again, but again only from below. Now we were sure that it was a Vireo, but which one of them!? The hours passed and we just couldn't find the bird again! While searching for the Vireo we heard a sharp call and Simon also had brief views of a small bird in the tree tops. We heard the bird several times again but never got any views of it - VERY annoying! After looking for the Vireo for almost five hours getting soaked by shower after shower we had a short lunch break and then tried to find it once again. And then suddenly, there it was! A beautiful Philadelphia Vireo! 2nd for Corvo and 5th for the WP! On our way out of the valley we heard the American warbler again, but didn't see it this time either. Happy to have nailed the vireo but PISSED-OFF about the warbler we left the valley and headed towards new adventures. Didn't see very much else of interest that day. The Bar-wit and the Pec still around the village but no small Egret or Eider today.

This beautiful picture was taken by Ferran Lopez Sanz.

Team Spain had a great first full day and managed to twitch all three megas present on the island; Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler and Philadelphia Vireo! Now they are in the game and tomorrow the four of us will do our very best to find whatever might be out there.

Birds

Philadelphia Vireo 1, unidentified American Warbler 1, Pectoral Sandpiper 1 1cy, Bar-tailed Godwit 1 adult female

BANG! And BANG!

In the morning I couldn't find my Sibley guide (Birds of Eastern North America) and asked Simon if he could bring his instead. He just replied that bringing that stuff gives bad luck so we went up bookless today. Went back into the valleys after the last two days interesting influx of waders, hoping that new birds had arrived. Rain showers kept coming every now and then, among them the worst shower so far out here that got us both soaked and cold. Fortunately the sun came out shortly after that big shower so we sat on a field in the sun for a while trying to dry up a bit. Did Cantinho and Cancelas whole morning but didn't find any birds, not even the American Redstart, so maybe it's gone? Anyway, while we sat there trying to heat up Simon picked up a small white egret flying around looking lost over the sea. A new arrival since I haven't seen any small Egrets here during my three weeks. And coming in during the westerlies as well! The bird never came close enough to see any details but seemed to continue towards the village so we hoped to find it again.

Started to walk back and had lunch at Fojo. After that Simon walked up towards the picnic area and I went in to check the orchards in the forest. After a while in there I saw a bird feeding, hanging almost upside down in some twigs just over the path maybe 15 metres in front of me - BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER! One of the most beautiful birds I've ever seen! Called Simon on the walkie-talkie, got my camera up and tried to take pictures of this absolute perfect, superb, mega good looking creature. But despite close range, good light and image stabilizer on my lens I couldn't get any pictures! I was so sky high on adrenaline that I was shaking like a leaf! I shit you not, this was probably the best rush I have ever gotten from a single bird! And as I'm writing this every single hair on my body stands up once more, I love it! Simon soon came and we got excellent views of this mega together (his 2nd on Corvo!) as the bird was feeding in the orchard for a few minutes before moving away from us. During that time I (almost) quit shaking and managed to get some decent shots of the beauty. This was the sixth record for the WP I think, so a relly good one!

Black-throated Green Warbler, 2nd for Corvo and about 6th for the WP.

This is what a big part of this game is about to me, getting that rush when finding a true rarity. And what a rush it was today! I'm glad we didn't bring any book out :) Now it was game on for us! What else could be out there!? After looking for the Black-throated Green for while we continued up to the picnic area and had a short break trying to decide what to do. The choice of site fell on Ribeira da Ponte to which we walked getting hit by another shower. After scanning the parts of the ribeira around the road I wanted to go down into the lower parts of the valley to have a look. We usually split up down there to cover as much as possible, me going up and Simon going down. I suggested to Simon that I could go down and he go up this time but he just replied that if I went down I would just find a good bird instead of him, so we went our usual ways. Afer only 20 meters I see something on a big tree, looking almost like a Tree Creeper in profile with a long, insect-eating-adapted bill. Got my bins one the bird and another dream came true - BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER! The bird was a bit tricky to see so I was really glad that Simon was right behind me and soon got onto the bird as well. It turned out he had heard the bird call as I got my eyes on it, the so far sharpest call I've heard from an American warbler as we got to hear it a few times more.

Black-and-white Warbler, 1st for the Azores and maybe the first for the WP since 1996?

What was happening? What birds were on the island today? When did they get here? And what had we missed? It was getting late so we went down to the village to have a look for the Egret. I went down to the harbour to scan that area and spotted an Eider lying there looking f*cked, proper f*cked! The jurney these vagrants do before hitting Corvo is impressive, so not strange they're tired when getting here. Apart from the general condition I think the bird had a really strange head- and bill shape compared to what we normally see back home. Have a look at it:

Common Eider. Look at that bill - American vagrant?

Went on to theck other spots for the Egret, and soon Simon found it! And it had a lot of yellow on the legs! Snowy?! When looking closer at the bird it unfortunately had grey lores and not yellow. But what about those legs? I think a juvenile Little Egret can look like this, but can a Snowy as well? I don't know. What I know is that the bird did fly in from the sea during a front passage from west with an apparent influx of American vagrants... Please comment! When watching the Egret we met Rafael Armada and Ferran Lopez from Spain who will be here for almost ten days. As soon as they heard about the warblers (or about the Black-and-white) they went up there to have a look for it, but didn't find it. Hopefully they will tomorrow!

Juvenile Little/Snowy Egret.

Birds

Black-throated Green Warbler 1, Black-and-white Warbler 1, Common Eider 1 female-type, Snywy/Little Egret 1 1cy, Whimbrel 1

A 1st for Corvo and more Yanks!

Birded around the village all day today. Got a "bad" start by finding a first for Corvo - a House Martin. We do NOT want European birds, we want Yanks! After kicking the upper fields and scanning all the fig trees, stone walls etc. we went for a walk around the airfield. Things soon felt better as Simon picked up a juvenile Pec and a juvenile White-rumped Sand together, nice ones! Both birds looked like shit in the beginning to be honest, as you might expect after almost crossing the Atlantic... They both gave very nice views as they started to feed just inside the fence next to the airstrip. These two and the waders in the crater yesterday signal that new American birds are in fact coming in, let's hope that goes for warblers as well!

Yank wader video by Simon. Filmed by hand without scope!

Pec with W-r in the background.

White-rump and Pec.

When we got to the lower fields i bumped in to a Northern Wheatear that looked almost as a flying peach. I have never seen anything like it. Here, have a look at that rufous underpart colour. Beautiful, isn't it!?

I've never seen a Northern Wheatear with this rufous underparts. Has to be a leucorhoa, right?

Winds are really strong outside now from somewhere around west, so I really look forward to do another hit in the valleys tomorrow!

Birds

Pectoral Sandpiper 1 1cy, White-rumped Sandpiper 1 1cy, Whimbrel 1, Bar-tailed Godwit 1 adult female, Barn Swallow 3 adults, House Martin 1, Northern (Greenland?) Wheatear 1

Caldeirão!

Made a new try to get to get to the crater today and managed to get in, even though it was a little bit foggy. Me and Simon split up and did one side each of the crater. I got the shit side and kept slipping and falling and only saw the Ring-necked ducks and the Pintail we saw in the fields the other day. Simon on the other hand had a nice walk and soon picked up a juvenile Spotted Sand on his side. A little while later he also found a very nice group of five juvenile Pectorals while I was pissed because I had slipped, again! All the waders from my last viit was gone and the new ones were feeding intensely all the time. When did they arrive? Simon also had a Wheatear, the fourth we see around the crater in just a few days. A little bit too many just to migrants, or...? After having a late lunch we walked back to the eastern side of the crater and decided to go around it one more time to really clean it up! Now Simon got the shit side :) I had lost the lens-cap for my scope somewhere in the crater and got annoyed everytime a shower came and made my scope wet (which happened quite a few times)... Anyway, when we met again Simon pulled up the lens-cap from his pocket and tried to explain that he's the man! Today I'm actually willing to agree with him. Thanks!

Probably my best photo so far of a Spotted Sand.

Pintail with Mallards.

After we had done the walk of hell up from the crater again it had gotten pretty late, it was almost 19, getting dark and the rain had increased... we weren't going to get back until LATE! So guess if we were happy to see a car coming up after only 30 s! Got a lift back down in the rain (by a maniac driver) and were pretty much soaked when we got back.
The winds are looking interesting the coming days, or what do you say about these jet streams coming from Newfoundland the next days?

Birds

American Great Egret 1, Grey Heron 2, Mallard ~20, Pintail 1 female-type, Ring-necked Duck 2, Common Snipe ~15, Spotted Sandpiper 1 1cy, Pectoral Sandpiper 5 1cy, Lesser Black-backed Gull 2 (adult+1cy), LENS-CAP 1!

Fog sucks

Had a late morning since we we're only going to do the Caldeira today. Weather looked good and I started with a short walk around the village. Soon got on to the Barn Swallows which turned out to be three. Unfortunately they all are European ones, which is NOT good! We don't want birds coming from that side of the Atlantic!

Adult European Barn Swallows. Note small throat patches, broad breast-bands and white bellies.

As we got up to the crater it was foggy and rainy so we had to do plan B instead. Too bad we didn't have a plan B! We took a walked a bit we north along the western edge of the island. Saw very much fog and rain but not many birds. Let's hope the weather is better tomorrow!

Birds

Mallard 2, Bar-tailed Godwit 1 adult female, Common Snipe 1, Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 adult, Northern Wheatear 2, European Barn Swallow 3 adults

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