November has started but the temperatures are still around 25ºC intercalated with some rainy days... As it is still migration season anything can stop by Madeira archipelago, so let's see which species will visit us during the Thanksgiving month:
26th of November 2023 off Porto Moniz - recorded by Michel (NED)
Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo
25th of November 2023 at Santo da Serra
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
off Porto Moniz - observed by Michel (NED)
Black Tern Chlidonias niger
22nd of November 2023 off Porto Moniz - counted by Michel (NED)
2252 Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis
3 Pomarine Skua Stercorarius pomarinus
21st of November 2023 off Porto Moniz - seawatched by Michel (NED)
2252 Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis
9 Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus
Very high temperatures for the beginning of the autumn, reaching 30ºC... It is migration time, but it seems the weather seasons are disappearing. Let's see which species will be blown off their migratory course into Madeira!
26th of October 2023 at Machico
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
25th of October 2023 at Caniçal
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
19th of October 2023 at Machico
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
5 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
At Faial
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
15th of October 2023 at Lugar de Baixo - observed by Philip (UK)
Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
August was a calm month regarding migrating birds passing by or stopping by Madeira. Ruddy turnstone was the only species recorded by Wind Birds, so there were no news for August 2023 other than the pelagic expedition. Now we sure hope September will bring some interesting species to the archipelago!
27th of September 2023 at Caniçal
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus phaeopus
5 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
26th of September 2023 at Porto Santo - observed by Andy (SPA
Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus - flew by Pico Castelo
25th of September 2023 at Porto Santo - observed by Andy (SPA)
Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus - off Calheta
Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus - at Tanque pond
22nd of September 2023 at Machico river - photographed by Andreas (GER)
Ringed Teal Callonetta leucophrys - Most probably an escaped bird and maybe the same individual recorded on the 9th of July at Santa Cruz
In the 2nd half of August usually starts the migration season for seabirds and we already saw a few species passing by Madeira. As for breeding birds we got all we were expecting at this time of year! As usual, Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis were present everyday although we missed Yellow-legged gull on the chum.
22nd August 2023 - NNE wind up to 12 knots and waves up to 1 meter from same direction
6 Desertas / Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - 2 on the way up and 1 on the way back
6 Common tern Sterna hirundo - 1 on the way up
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus
Madeiran storm petrel Oceanodroma castro
22nd August 2023 - 7 knots of Northern wind and 0.5 meter waves from NNE
2 Desertas / Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - on the way up
4 Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus - 3 on the way up
4 Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus - flew high up above us
2 Common tern Sterna hirundo
15 Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea - 6 on the way back
Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus
2 Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira - 1 on the way back
This time the ocean conditions did not help with the number of birds or bird species... It was a strange pelagic expedition with much less numbers of Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis but also small numbers of species seen. We even only got 1 Yellow-legged gull on the chum during the 3 afternoons!
28th July 2023 - we started with 9 knots of north wind which decreased to 4 knots and 0.5 meter waves from NNE
3 Desertas / Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - 1 on the way to the chumming position
Common tern Sterna hirundo
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus
Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
It was another successful pelagic expedition but considering the good wind and rough ocean one would expect a few more Pterodromas and Oceanodromas to fly along with thousands of Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii and dozens of Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis...
22nd July 2023 - 15 knots of North wind and 1 meter waves from same direction
Common tern Sterna hirundo - on the way to the chumming position
Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus - on the way up
2 Madeiran storm petrel Oceanodroma castro
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus