After loosing a couple of customers due to strong winds at the airport that diverted the airplanes and consequently cancelled the flights to Madeira, the next days were with very light winds. The 3 pelagic evenings had no more than 10 knots of wind which normally is not enough to attract storm-petrels to the chum but somehow they showed up and made this another great Zino's Petrel Pelagic Expedition! Flocks of Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis sitting on the water and some Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii flying were watched everyday.

15th July 2022 - It started with 10 knots of NNW wind dropping to 3 knots and 1 meter waves from north
3 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - 1 on the way to the chumming position
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
Common tern Sterna hirundo
3 Lesser Black-backed gull Larus fuscus graellsii
16 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

Bottlenose dolphinsTursiops truncatus
Baleen whale Balaenoptera sp. - a glimpse of a dive
Short-finned pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus

Despite having the right sea and wind conditions for storm-petrels, which makes it a bit uncomfortable for the birdwatchers, this time we only had 1 European Storm Petrel... But there was a Scopoli's shearwater on the 3rd day which flew by the chum between the Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii which were watched every hour.

7th July 2022 - NE wind between 9 and 12 knots. 1 meter waves from the same direction
4 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - 2 on the way up
Pterodroma sp.
European Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus
Scopoli's shearwater Calonectris diomedea
2 Lesser Black-backed gull Larus fuscus graellsii
9 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Blue shark Prionace glauca

July, as a summer month, is not the best period for vagrant birds but as climate change is being felt everywhere, lets see which bird species are blown into Madeira archipelago...

21st of July 2022 at Caniçal
Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops

2nd of July 2022 at Porto Santo - photographed by Geoff (UK)
Laughing dove Spilopelia senegalensis

The ocean was not soft on us during these 3 afternoons but those are the conditions most Procellariiformes enjoy! And we had great views of all the seabirds described below, plus hundreds of Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and dozens of Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis everyday.

28th June 2022 - 12 knots of NE winds with 1.5 meters waves from the same direction
Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus - just outside Machico
3 Pterodroma sp. - 2 on the way up
3 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta
2 Madeiran storm petrel Oceanodroma castro
Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus
Lesser Black-backed gull Larus fuscus
7 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

Although we looked for Storm Petrels for 2 days, we had no sighting of any storm-petrel species... Spring was weird as we hardly had sightings of Wilson's and European storm petrels and they used to be common on our pelagics... White-faced storm petrel was common but for the last 4 years it has been scarce and, Madeiran Storm petrel decided to be tricky with us this year! But we had very good sightings of the seabird species described below and, of course, big numbers of Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis everyday.

23rd June 2022 - NNE wind between 8 and 12 knots. NE waves up to 0.5 meters but very short period
5 Desertas Petrel Pterodroma deserta - 4 on the way up
3 Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus
2 Common tern Sterna hirundo
Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
2 Pterodroma sp.
Great shearwater Puffinus gravis
2 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus
Atlantic Spotted dolphins Stenella frontalis
Blue shark Prionace glauca

The ocean started rough and ended up flat but storm-petrels only showed when it was flat and late in the evening... Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus were the species entertaining us during the long wait.

18th June 2022 - North wind between 9 and 3 knots, waves 0.5 meters from same direction
3 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - 1 on the way up
4 Pterodroma sp.
2 Madeiran storm petrel Oceanodroma castro - both at 9:20 pm
Lesser Black-backed gull Larus fuscus
5 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

Atlantic Spotted dolphins Stenella frontalis