We have just come back from a 10 day, 'non-birding' holiday to Madeira. Having been there in 2007, I had seen all the regional endemics before, but the timing of my last trip had not been good for seabirds. So this trip had a couple of strategic boat trips (plus an apartment with a sea view), with the aim of picking up at least three lifers...
The apartment sea view paid dividends in the first few minutes, with my first ever Bulwer's Petrel; this species was seen in variable numbers over our stay, with up to 50 in one seawatching session, but they were always hugely outnumbered by Cory's Shearwaters - one evening I estimated there were several thousand on view, although other times there were very few. A couple of Bryde's Whales and dolphin sp. were added bonuses, which could be readily located by groups of feeding Cory's, and a Great Skua was my only one of the week.
 |
| The view from our apartment |
However, the real seabird business came across three organised trips:
1. Madeira Wind Birds - Birds, whales and dolphins trip
We had one afternoon session out with Wind Birds in their RIB. This was a great experience, and were had barely left Machico before our first Fea's-type Petrel dashed past, followed soon after by another. The third was closer, arcing over the boat and allowing a half-decent shot of it, showing an almost all-dark underwing and a chunky bill - without doubt a Desertas (Fea's) Petrel. Awesome!
 |
| A distant Pterodroma... |
 |
| That's more like it - Desertas (Fea's) Petrel! |
As well as lots of Cory's (some very close), a single Great Shearwater lingered for a while, and quite a few Bulwer's Petrel zipped past, proving to be very tricky to photograph well. Non-avian highlights were a young Leatherback Turtle, a pod of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins, and a brief Bryde's Whale. All very good.
 |
| Great Shearwater |
 |
| The same Great Shear |
 |
| Bulwer's Petrel - about the best photo I could manage... |
 |
| Young Atlantic Spotted Dolphin |
 |
| Submerged Atlantic Spotted Dolphins, with spots |
 |
| A dinner-plate sized young Leatherback Turtle |
2. Madeira Wind Birds - Zino's Petrel night expedition
As I couldn't justify spending over 500 Euros on Wind Birds' Zino's Petrel pelagic, the next best thing was to visit their breeding site on Pico do Areeiro. The experience of sitting on a high mountain peak, with an incredible starry sky above and the eery bleating of Zino's Petrels nearby is one I wont forget for quite a while. The flutter of wings just metres above our heads was tantalising, and after a while we had two silhouette views of a Zino's Petrel as they flew over the ridge we were sat on. Not great for assessing their size, underwing pattern or bill structure, but tickable in my book!
3. Cruise to the Desertas Islands on the Bonita da Madeira
Organised through Wind Birds, this was a whole day trip. Although not nearly as good as the RIB excursion for seabirds, I never-the-less notched up 8 Pterodroma petrels, presumable all Desertas (Fea's), but none were exactly seen closely. Bulwer's Petrels proved to be frequent, as were the ubiquitous Cory's Shearwaters; no surprises on the bird front though.
 |
| Bonita da Madeira, moored at Deserta Grande |
 |
| Bugio, the only location in the world where Desertas Petrel breeds |
 |
| Cory's Shearwater |
 |
| Cory's Shearwater |
 |
| Cory's Shearwater |
 |
| Cory's Shearwaters |
Actually, the best part of this trip was seeing a Monk Seal when we set anchor at Deserta Grande; although c.40 individuals are present in the Desertas, their breeding site is at the southern end of Deserta Grande and they are not frequently seen on day trips; one of our companions on the trip had been across 7 times and had never seen one. Not only one of Europe's rarest mammals, but the rarest seal in the world. The cruise back produced more Spotted Dolphins and a couple of Pilot Whales close to the boat, as well as some flying fish.
 |
| Monk Seal |
 |
| Monk Seal |
 |
| Monk Seal |
 |
| Pilot Whale |
No comments:
Post a Comment