1st record for Corn Bunting in Madeira

Murdo Macdonald sent us an e-mail yesterday, reporting his sighting of a Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra in Ponta do Pargo,on the 10th April 2011. These were his words: "A single bird was watched for c 5min at rest (and briefly in flight) in excellent conditions at a distance of <10m with 10x42 Leitz binoculars. I am very familiar with the species from UK. The possibility of Calandra Lark was considered, but excluded in the field and again after reference to books. There was no black mark on the neck and no white trailing edge to the wing, while the characteristic bill was, to my mind, absolutely diagnostic."
This was the first record for this species in Madeira, so Catarina & Hugo went there on the 14th April 2011 and observed not 1 but 3 Corn Buntings and took photos of them!

Also in Ponta do Pargo, around the same area there was 1 Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis which is a species considered exceptional for Madeira archipelago (Romano et al., 2010), i.e., there are less than 5 records on the last 50 years.

6 Yellow wagtails Motacilla flava were also flying around and calling.

Despite all destruction of the habitat in Ponta do Pargo, for the construction of a golf course, it seems this area on the western tip of the island still attracts some vagrant birds...