Up, up and away!

In two days I'll leave for what will hopefully be the trip of my life. I'll start with Mallorca and southern Spain for a few days to look for Balearic Warbler, Rüppell's Vulture, Lesser Flamingo and some other local specials which I haven't seen yet. After that I'm off to the Azores where I'll spend the rest of the time during my trip.

Full itinerary:

• 5th-6th Septemeber MALLORCA (SPAIN)


• 6th-10th September SOUTHERN SPAIN


• 10th-14th September TERCEIRA (AZORES)


• 14th September - 16th November CORVO (AZORES)


• 16th-18th November SAO MIGUEL (AZORES)


• 18th-20th November TERCEIRA (AZORES)

So, why does one go to the Azores for more than two months, and choose to spend almost all that time on Corvo? Well... I began travelling and twitching in the Western Palearctic in 2006 and soon read about Peter Alfreys amazing time on Corvo during those magic weeks in 2005 (read about it HERE). Since then I've wanted to visit the islands and last autumn I eventually did together with Richard Ek. We decided to visit somewhat earlier than most people do, and spent four days on Corvo around 10th October. During those four days together with three British gentlemen we managed to find Hooded Warbler, Yellow-throated Vireo, Northern Parula, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-eyed Vireo (2), Hermit Thrush, Blackpoll Warbler and Common Nighthawk as well as some rare ducks and waders. I was of course immediately in love with the island! Our trip report (in Swedish) with lots of pictures can be found HERE. The fact that we hit the jackpot despite visiting Corvo earlier in the autumn than most birders do made me wanna try it even earlier. There has to be Nearctic landbirds there in September as well! And that's why I'm gonna be there from 14th September and 62 days onwards. Let's hope I'll see at least one or two decent birds...

I probably won't be able to update the blog until I've reached Corvo. But once settled out there I hope to update it every evening!

Cheers,
Olof