Savannah Sparrow!

Started in the village today to look for the Grackle, but no sign of it. Also did some seawatching but found nothing but Cory's. Kicked some fields with Pierre and then went back to the guesthouse and had a break after seeing a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. In the village Eric heard something on the radio that sounded like someone had found a Sparrow, a probable Savannah Sparrow. We couldn't find out anything more about the bird so we decided to head up towards the valleys and try to radio the others. After a sweaty walk we managed to get through to Daniele who had seen a Savannah Sparrow, just like we suspected, up by the reservoir. Everyone went up there pretty soon but the conditions were horrible with very strong wind, fog and a little bit of rain just to mess up all optics. Thanks to this noone saw the bird :( We did hear and see a Red-throated pipit though, the fifht for the Azores.

A wet and cold group of birders sheltering behing a "Cat" for lunch.

Went down to the village to say bye to Simon, Eric, Pierre and the others before I went up to the mountain again to gie the Sparrow another try. When I got up there the fog disappeared and I got about an hour of clear weather which produced two Red-throated Pipits and the two Dotterels.

Red-throated Pipit

After a while I heard a car coming and out jumped about eight other birders who had decided to give the Sparrow another go. It didn't take long before David had relocated the bird, but then the fog started to come in again and only Hannu got to see the bird. NOT good! Anyway, after another 15 minutes or so of nervous waiting we all had gotten good views of the bird in the fog. Jadang!

Savannah Sparrow!

On the way back we bumped into Staffan Rodebrand and Rich Bonser who were looking for the Northern Parula at the power plant. The bird gave som absolutely excellent views at dusk. Definately the best looking bird out here so far this autumn!

Northern Parula again, what a bird!

Birds
Northern Parula 1, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1, Whimbrel 2, Savannah Sparrow 1

Norsern Parula

Went birding with Simon today since he's leaving tomorrow. Did Pico all morning but once again without finding the White-eyed Vireo. It has to be in there somewhere! We were supposed to meet at the bridge over da Ponte for lunch at 12 and so we did. But instead of lunch we got a message with German touch on our Walkie Talkies: "Norsern Parula at se Power Station"

Simon immediately tried to phone Pierre (but failed) and started to walk towards the place. Since I had seen one last year in Cantinho I walked back a few hundred meter and radioed out the news to the others in the northern valleys before I left. Soon we met Swedish birder Stefan Ettestam who had found the bird (new point to Sweden Pete!!!) and he explained where the bird was and even showed me some pictures of it. Moments later a car passed us and we got a lift all the way to the site - perfect! It didn't take us long before Martin relocated the bird. And what a bird! And what views! Birders continued to drop in and soon everyone had seen the bird - fantastic since we are almost 30 birders here now!

Swedish birders Per Forsberg and Jan-Michael Breider also managed to get a lift to the Parula.

Photo battle!

Northern Parula!

Fred, Ward and other happy people going back up to the valleys after a successful twitch.

Went back up to Ribeira da Ponte with Simon and kicked it all afternoon without seeing anything at all. But still it felt really exciting to bird today! New birds have apparently come in and all valleys are worth checking carefully again.

Many of the birds that have been seen the last days were seen today. A new bird was a Great Blue Heron that Daniele saw flying over the villege towards the Caldeira, so hopefully I'll have to make a visit there soon again. A very interesting fact is that two birders independently saw a bird that might have been a GRACKLE(!!!) around the village today! Tomorrow will be an interesting day for sure! To see all observations, visit http://www.birdingazores.com/

Birds

Northern Parula 1, Whimbrel 1

What!?

Did it rain today or did it rain today? Ask David who first spent two hours in a cave(!) in one of the ribeiras and then another two hours in the public toilet in Fojo sheltering for the rain. What a nightmare!

I started the day on Pico to look for the White-eyed Vireo. Got about 1½ hours of birding before the rain came, which produced biref views of an American Redstart. After sitting in the rain for almost three hours we all walked back, totally soaked, without any sign of the Vireo. During my lunch brake in the village Pete and Darryl found two Yellow-billed Cuckoos of which I got to see one. Stunning birds they are! Hope we get one with black bill soon for comparison. These two birds were new in thanks to a low pressure moving out from Newfoundland, bringing westerlies (and rain) yesterday and today. And that's not all that was found today...

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Pete and Darryl left today, as did Dominic and his group. In came Team Scandinavia with two Swedes, four Danes and two Finns and also Daniele from Italy. Now the big photo battle is ON Vincent! Went up with all of them and Manuel and did another try for the White-eyed. After one or two hours Eric brought the news to us that Pierre had did it again, found a mega that is, this time a Yellow-throated Vireo. He's in the zone! As I was fortunate enough to see last years bird in Cancelas I stayed on Pico until dusk without seeing the White-eyed, while everyne else went to Cantinho and dipped the Yellow-throated. Hopefully we'll all have a bit more luck tomorrow!

Another lowpressure seems to be moving out around Wednesday in a somewhat more southerly orbit... what will come then?


Birds
American Great Egret 1, American Redstart 1, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1, Whimbrel 1

Flores!

Got news yesterday evening that there was a Killdeer and an Upland Sand on Flores, so 12 of us decided to twitch Flores today. Simon chartred a boat for us from 12 to 19 and we agreed to meet in harbour at 11:30. At about 11:20 news broke that the French machine Pierre had found a White-eyed Vireo on Pico. Third for Corvo and third for the Western P! After a few minutes of panic (at leat for me) everyone agreed on sticking to the plan and doing the Flores trip no matter what. So at 12 the twelve of us we left on our chartred boat.

Corvo

Parts of the crew!

In Santa Cruz we had two taxis waiting for us and immediately went up to Lagoa Rasa and the Killdeer. Small lake and easy to scan so we found the bird fast. What a stunning wader! Enjoyed it on ground and in flight for half an hour or so before we continued to Ponta Delgada and the Upland Sandpiper along the road out to Ponta do Albarnaz. The Upland Sand was soon giving excellent views in flight, but was a bit tricky to spot on the ground as it was really flighty and nervous.

Killdeer!

Killdeer again!

Upland Sand!

After enjoying the bird for an hour we walked back to Ponta Delgada and had lunch at a bar. Some of the guys walked over the old soccer field and bumped into a White-rumped and a Least Sandpiper. While we were having our very late lunch we got news about a Double-crested Cormorant in Lajedo on the other side of the island. Being short on time we never went for the bird as we would never have made it to the harbour in Santa Cruz to 18:00 :( Instead we had a look at the waders before our taxis came and took us to Santa Cruz.

Least Sand!

In Santa Cruz harbour, close to the boat, we had two Semi-p Plovers and another White-rump giving stunning views. Other stunning views there was Vincent Legrand showing how you do to get the best pictures of whatever might turn up.

White-rump

Semi-p Plover

Vincent Legrand in action

On the way back we got company by some dolphins aound the boat for a while. Stunning creatures and amazing to get to see them just a few m away! That was one of the absolute highlights during the day for me!

Dolphin with Flores in the background

Tomorrow we will try to relocate that Vireo on Pico. Wish us good luck!

Birds

Killdeer 1, Upland Sandpiper 1, Semipalmated Plover 2, Least Sandpiper 1, White-rumped Sandpiper 1, Grey Heron 1, Northern Wheatear 2

Buff-bellied Pipits

I didn't see any B-b Pipits today, but Pierre found two on the mountain south of the Caldeira. One more pont for France!

Birded slowly in Fojo, Poso de Agua, do Vinte and over some fields during the day. Saw the Ovenbird in Fojo. Had a seawatch for an hour in the evening which produced about ten Great Shearwaters.

Remarkably fresh juvenile atlantis. These bastards vary a lot and most of them are already very worn and have moulted a lot.

Ovenbird in Fojo.

Will probably have a calm day / half a day off tomorrow and recharge for the next possible influx of birds when the lowpressure enters the Atlantic.

Birds

Ovenbird 1, Great Shearwater 10, Common Snipe 3

Marsh Hawk!?

Had a really nice day today! Started at the Lighthouse valley with Fred, Stewart, Vincent, Pierre and Pete. The thought was to do a quick hit and then get out and back to mobile reception as quick as possible. That plan didn't last very long. After a few minutes Pierre picked up a harrier over the mountain that turned out to be a Hen Harrier, but was it a European or an American? We ran up the mountain after the bird but only got distant views. Managed to get some bad record shots and what you can see looks pretty good for a juvenile Marsh Hawk (North American race of Hen Harrier); most important is the dark hood strongly contrasting to the plain body. Pete went crazy and continued running up the mountain after the Harrier while the rest of us kicked around the valley instead. Pierre found a Red-eyed Vireo, probably the same bird me and Simon saw a few days ago. After a while Vincent heard a contact call that reminded him of Common Yellowthroat and after some searching Fred found the bird in a hedge, a young male Common Yellowthroat! Those Yellowthroats are extremely skulky! I only saw the head, but that was pretty cool actually. Good looking birds the males!

Marsh Hawk?

When we had walked back for a while we got news that the Baltimore Oriole was seen again in the village. We were about 5 km away! So guess if we were glad when a car came by and me and Vincent got a ride down to the village! Half an hour later we had gotten good views of the Oriole and went back to the guesthouse to have a chill lunch and wait for the arriving birders; three Swedes, a Belgian and four Brits. Now we are 26 birders on the island!

Baltimore Oriole!

Went up and kicked around Pico and da Ponte in the afternoon which resulted in nice views of the Yellow Warbler. After that had a slow walk back with Vincent. When we got to Ribeira da Lapa a Blue-winged teal came flying out of the tiny valley! Maybe I should add that the biggest pool of water in there is about 5 m long and 1½ m wide. Anyway, the bird appeared to land again so we went in to have a look for it and then Vincent picked up a Red-eyed Vireo instead! Excellent finish to the day!

American Yellow Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo

Follow the Eurovision Rare Bird Contest on http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.com/ and also check out Darryls amazing Yellowthroat and other stuff on http://gwentbirding.blogspot.com/.

Birds

Blue-winged Teal 1, Common Yellow-throat 1, American Yellow Warbler 1, Red-eyed Vireo 1, Baltimore Oriole 1, American Great Egret 1, Grey Heron 1, Hen Harrier 1 (ssp?)

Other birds seen today included: Ovenbird 2, Common Yellowthroat 2 (together in the village), Black-and-white Warbler 1, American Redstart 1, Turtle Dove 1, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1, Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 and Indigo Bunting 1.

Three lifers!

1) Pictures of the Yellow Warbler can be seen on both Darryls (http://gwentbirding.blogspot.com/) and Peters (http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.com/) blogs.

2) Yesterday evening me and Vincent compared pictures of Black-throated Greens from Fojo and da Ponte and they turned out to be two different individuals without doubt! Number 4 and 5 for the WP that is!

3) Today...

...it's half time! I've been here 1 month and 1 day and will stay for another 1 month and 1 day. Today was also the best day so far with Common Yellowthroat, American Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Bobolink, Indigo Buntings, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ovenbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole! IMPRESSIVE! I didn't see all that of course, but was pretty lucky anyway I think.

After breakfast Fred found an Indigo Bunting close to the Guesthouse. I was there within 30 seconds and got to see a small, brown bird fly away, but nothing more :(

Started birding around the village with Pierre and Vincent to look for the Cormorant from yesterday and kick some fields. No sign of the cormorant but Pierre found a Common Yellowthroat in the tamarisks south of the airstrip. Lucky for me I was only 50 m from him and got excellent views of the bird for about ten seconds before it dropped down into the tamarisk again and disappeared. Nice! Also saw the American Great White Egret that apparently is a new bird since the one from last year was seen at the same time in the Caldeira today.

Inhabitants of the fields.

Got a ride up to the valleys by Manuel and soon picked up Hugues below do Vinte. Found out that he had seen a Yellow-billed Cuckoo east of Pico so jumped out of the car and went down there. Within minutes I saw the cuckoo flying by pretty close - nice no2! Despite staying another hour I only saw it briefly in flight again. Went up to da Ponte and exchanged some bullshit with the lads up there for 15 minutes or so before Darryls Indigo Bunting came flying and landed in the Indigo tree. Nice no3! Quite cute actually, thought it would be a boring bird to be honest. After that birded the upper part of da Ponte and the small lousy and almost bird-empty forest between da Ponte and do Vinte before I went down to have a second look at the cuckoo. Saw the bird immediately perched in a bush pretty far away. I looked down for a second to grab my camera and when I looked up the bird was gone. Hope it stays so I can see it again.

On my way back I once again picked up heavy radio traffic as I approached the village. Pete had found a Baltimore Oriole! Ran all the way down to where the bird had been seen but missed it (just like everyone else who went for it). But with three ticks in one day I can't complain! Hopefully the bird will turn up near the village tomorrow.

Iceland seems to get the low pressure direct hits but we might get som kick-ass jetstreams after the weekend.

Birds

Common Yellowthroat 1, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1, Indigo Bunting 1, Grey Heron 1, American Great Egret 1, Grey Plover 1, Whimbrel 1, Northern Wheatear 1