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...