Seawatching

Had a slow morning today with loads of sleep and after that loads of coffee. Worked my way through a big bunch of emails before I went out seawatching by the windmills. Fred joined after a while and in the evening we were five seawatchers. Result? Pretty good, thanks to Fred's sharp eyes! Bonxie, Leach's Petrel and Purple Sand best birds of the day. Fred had also seen a Grey Phalarope in the morning. By the windmills we also got company by this dude from Greenland:

Northern Wheatear

Today winds were somewhat (but not much) nicer than the previous days and allowed five birders to leave the island. The crew is getting smaller and I think we are 13 left here now. The people who birded more seriously than me saw Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warble, Indigo Bunting and Savannah Sparrow. Nothing new though :( Maybe tomorrow!


Birds
Great Shearwater 4, Gannet 1 1cy, Leach's Petrel 1, Great Skua 1, Purple Sandpiper 1, Common Tern 6, Northern Wheatear 1

S.O.S. Cagarro

Started in a windy Ribeira do Vinte with Fred today. Despite it had been light for an hour itwas almost impossible to bird in the beginning. That wood is DARK! Anyway, we birded the place for a few hours and, as usual, found absolutely nothing of interest. Walked to da Ponte and had lunch at the chat bridge before going into da Ponte. The Black-and-white was still in as usual but nothing else.

Somehow (don't ask me why) we decided to walk up to the reservoir in the afternoon. The place looked birdable since there weren't very many clouds in the sky and the hill wasn't covered in fog (as it usually is). When we got up there only one thing could happen of course - weather change! Storm winds and RAIN! Despite lousy weather we saw a Snow Bunting, a Red-throated Pipit and a White-rumped Sandpiper. Walked back to the village and only minutes after we entered the guesthouse the skies opened up. Full metal rain! Despite the late hour and the weather people were still in the Caldeira to look for the Indigo Bunting that Bosse found earlier (new pointfor Sweden Pete!). Due to the weather I asked Manuel if I could take the pickup and go up to get the poor people that were still out in the rain and it was OK. Met five VERY wet persons along the road that seemed to appreciate getting a lift down. It seems like this weather will go on for a few more days...

After dinner we found a juvenile "Cagarro" (Cory's) in the street, as we do most nights now. The birds are out flying for the first time in their life and many of them crash in the village on their way down to the sea.

Juvenile Cagarro

Picked the bird up and walked down towards the sea. Along the way we found another one and then bumped into the SPEA guy who was glad to take the Cory's. Went back with him to their (he's got two nice female collegues as well) place and put the both shearwaters there over night. Tomorrow they will ring the birds and release them in the sea. Visit their blog here: http://lifecorvo.blogspot.com/

Cagarro boxes provided by the government

Birds
Black-and-white Warbler 1, Red-throated Pipit 1, Snow Bunting 1, White-rumped Sandpiper 1 1cy

Rain and wind again

Decided to do the lighthouse valley today. Got a lift about 800 m during my walk, but did the remaining 5 km or so by foot! And i got totally SOAKED before I even got to the valley. Wet and cold I birded the place for more than three hours. Result? Wet feet!



Walked back slowly and had lunch below do Vinte. Lunch includes powernap nowadays so after an hour I was ready to go birding again. Kicked around in da Ponte for a few hours in the afternoon. Only a few rain showers and not very much wind made the place quite birdable actually. Bumped into the Black-and-white Warbler two times. It has been there 22 days now! Walked over the fields close to the cliff edge on my way back but only found the common breeding birds, a lot of cows and the odd horse. Still waiting for a Cliff or Tree Swallow to turn up there!

Me about to be struck by a BIG wave yesterday. Picture by Vincent Legrand.

Six birders left and five arrived today. Ten should have left but the wind was to strong for the plane to land on Flores (winds are from W and the airstrip on Flores is S-N) so people had to stay here. Winds will settle somewhat tomorrow I think so then it's time to find a new, good bird again! Stuff must have arrived with the last days minor storm. I'm gonna hit Ribeira do Vinte with Fred!



Birds
Black-and-white Warbler 1

REALLY crazy winds!

AZORES THE MOVIE 2009 by Simon:

Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/Waderwatcher and click on the links to the right.

Good stuff - WATCH IT!

Today was a relax day for me. Had a really good nights sleep, continued with a 1½ hour long breakfast with loads of coffee and finally finished my chill with a few hours computer work so now I have almost cought up with my harvest of emails. The winds was super ultra mega strong today so birding was very difficult, accept deep in the valleys on the sheltered eastern side of the island.

STRONG westerlies today!

Took a walk with Vincent around the village during late afternoon and managed to see a Yellow-billed Cuckoo despite the wind. Continued down to the western shore to have a look at the great scenery with the waves crashing against the lava beaches. Very impressive stuff!

A big wave hitting Corvo. The water is splashing about 50 m up in the air!

Vincent spotted a young White-rumped Sand with the Turnstones on the airfield and we watched it together for an hour or so. All the waders had some difficulties moving in the very strong wind. Tomorrow I'll get back to work in the valleys after this much needed rest!

Birds

Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 adult, White-rumped Sandpiper 1 1cy, Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1, Willow Warbler 1, Whimbrel 3, Grey Plover 1

Crazy winds!

Nice weather in the morning, calm and sunny = passerine search. Crap weather in the afternoon and evening, really windy and a few showers = seawatching.

Flushed two American Great Egrets (and a juvenile Grey Heron) in the morning at Ribeira da Poso de Agua. Two new birds or has the bird from the Caldeira gone out? It was in the Caldeira yesterday...

American Great White Egrets

Also saw the Chimney Swift hunting over around Poso de Agua and Fojo during the first half of the day.

Chimney Swift

Birded Fojo below the lower road and after some pisching I heard a very sharp and loud "ZIPP!" close to me. Out from a bush popped an Ovenbird, at the exact same place where Rafa found it a few weeks ago! Probably the same bird that has spent some time in Fojo during the last two weeks and that now has found its way back to its first home on Corvo, or...?

Ovenbird

Continued birding Cancelas and Cantinho below the road and also checked the middle parts of Cancelas before I started walking back in the very strong wind. Tried to bird da Ponte but it was to windy there, even in the very bottom of the valley! Also slipped as usual in da Ponte but this a bit harder than normal. Lost grip totally with both feet at the same time and slided down the slope for a bit before hitting a small tree with my groin - ouch! =/

Ended the day at the windmill with some seawatching that produced a Gannet and some Great Shearwaters. Tried to string a Manx for a while but it turned out to "just" be a Great.

Tomorrow we are getting a new hit from a pretty deep low pressure (see below). Hope it isn't to windy for birding just... the waves are supposed to be about 9 m high!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! :-)

After eating at the windmill yesterday (don't ask me why we went there!) we were back at the Bandits' today! Home sweet home! No chocolate pudding thugh :(


Birds
Gannet 1 1cy, Great Shearwater 7, Pale-bellied Brent 1, American Great White Egret 2, Grey Heron 1 1cy, Chimney Swift 1, Ovenbird 1

New Yank landbirds!

Check out the Eurovision Rare Bird Contest on Petes blogg: http://peteralfreybirdingnotebook.blogspot.com/2009/10/eurovision-rare-bird-contest.html Today Sweden got one new point (Yellow-rumped Warbler) and Finland its first point (Chimney Swift). Two days ago Italy got its first point (Savannah Sparrow) and yesterday Denmark its first point (Indigo Bunting).

Started in the Caldeira today with Fred, Rene, Jacob, Daniele and Hannu. On our way there we saw the newbie American Great White Egret on a field below Fojo in the morning. Found a new species for Corvo in the crater, but not a very exciting one; Garganey.

Garganey

Other ducks in the crater included a bunch of Mallars, the Pintail, a Black Duck hybrid, the two Ringnecks and their new homie a male Tufted Duck. About 20 Common Snipe kept us alert as did a Grey Heron. The American Great Egret (the oldie) was also still around as usual.

Tuftie and Ringnecks

When we got out of the crater we found out that a Chimney Swift had been found over Fojo and was now flying around Pico/da Ponte somewhere. Walked towards the place and scanned but got interrupted by the news that a Yellow-rumped Warbler had been found by the reservoir! Walked there as fast as we could but the bird had disappeared in the flock of Canarys that it was feeding together with. Many of us searched the area but the bird wasn't seen again :( Some people saw the Savannah Sparrow again though. I only managed to see the Dotterels and a Red-throated Pipit :( Anyway, a good sign that birds are still arriving! Hopefully the winds that are blowing will bring even more stuff! Would LOVE to see an American Swallow for example!

Kicked a few fields on my way back down to village and ended the day with an hour of seawatching which produced the regular ten or so Great Shearwaters and a bonus juvenile Gannet. Tomorrow me and Fred will search the island for the Great Blue Heron that everyone except us seems to see.

Birds

Gannet 1 1cy, Great Shearwater ~10, Grey Heron 2, American Great Egret 2, Mallard ~20, Black Duck x Mallard 1, Pintail 1, Garganey 1, Ring-necked Duck 2, Tufted Duck 1, Great Black-backed Gull 1, Lesser Black-backed Gull 1, Common Snipe 20, Dotterel 2, Red-throated Pipit 1

New systems on their way

Pretty quiet day today. The westerlies keep blowing pretty strong over the island so hopefully more stuff is coming in. Saw the Pale-bellied Brent flying over the village this morning while waiting for Manuel to take us up. Birded my way up through Cancelas slowly and carefully during the first half of the day, but found absolutely nada. Went down again through Fojo and continued to Pico where I spent a few hours at the White-eyed Vireo place. Walked back through da Ponte where I bumped into the Black-and-white Warbler again. That bird has been there for ages now! I wonder what it's gonna do... winter there maybe!?

Weather is looking promising. Thanks to a low pressure moving out a few days ago we've been getting westerlies for the last three days. And more is on the way...

This is what the weather was today.

On Saturday a new system is coming in and it is coming from southwest!

The system is moving pretty quick as well, this is on Sunday.

Tomorrow we'll try to go to the Caldeira!

Birds

Brent Goose 1, Black-and-white Warbler 1