A Zino's Petrel Pelagic Expedition with very light winds which is not the best conditions to watch seabirds... So in order to get the most of it we had to postpone one of the days to get some stronger winds. It ended up as a very good pelagic for petrels though not so good for storm-petrels. Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii are the guaranteed species everyday.

19th of June 2019 - no more than 4 knots of wind from NW for most of the afternoon and northwest waves up to 0.5 meters

6 Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus - 5 on the way up and 1 on the chum slick
8 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
White-faced Storm Petrel Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca - flew by a bit far from the chum
3 Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Then, on the way back we watched:
1 probable Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta
1 Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
1 Pterodroma sp.
10 Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus

Short-beaked Common dolphin Delphinus delphis

Temperatures already feel like August though we are still in June... Global warming is what is called! Let's see which bird species are blown to Madeira and out of their migratory route:

18th of June 2019 at Machico - observed by a group of birdwatchers from UK
Little Swift Apus affinis - this is the 2nd record for Madeira archipelago!

14th of June 2019 off Caniçal
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus

12th of June 2019 at Ribeira Brava
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus

9th of June 2019 at Ponta da Cruz - reported by Joe (UK)
House Sparrow Passer domesticus - male. This is an exceptional record with less than 5 on the last 50 years!

Another very successful pelagic with all the aimed bird species observed and even some surprises! The weather forecasts were for the wind to drop a bit for the 2nd and 3rd days but it didn't really happened. So we got some rough seas though the size of the boat (11 meters) and the shock-mitigation seats made them very bearable and the species observed compensate the tiring (not hurt!) muscles! Again, Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii were species present everyday though in some areas more than others!

Another successful pelagic expedition with all the aimed species observed! Some sightings were better than other but, hey that's birdwatching! The sea conditions started relatively calm but got rougher each day. Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii were species present everyday in big numbers.

22nd of May 2019 - 13 knots of northeast wind and waves up to 0.5 meters when the trip started but increased to 1 meter for the end of the day
1 Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus - flying far within a group of Cory’s
White-faced Storm Petrel Pelagodroma marina hypoleuca - the bird kept a distance which did not allow for everyone to have a good view
6 Madeiran Storm Petrel Oceanodroma castro
Sabine's Gull Xema sabini
3 Barolo’s shearwater Puffinus baroli - 1 flew quite close to the boat
5 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

The first pelagic of the year started with 4 well observed Zino's Petrels though the second day we were surprised by an electronic failure on both the brand new engines which made us return to land just after dropping the first bucket of chum and on a very low speed. Fixed the problem and the 3rd day of pelagic was the best/record day for Barolo's shearwaters! Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii were a constant in all three days!

May is a good month for birdwatching worldwide! In Madeira it started with some rain in the north and east tip of the island but it is normally real Spring month, so let's see which visitant species will visit Madeira during this month.

31st of May 2019 at Ponta do Pargo - reported by Luis, Alexandre e Frederico (POR)
3 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Common Swift Apus apus

At Caniçal - observed by James (UK)
Common House Martin Delichon urbicum

30th of May 2019 at Machico - sighting by James (UK)
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus phaeopus

29th of May 2019 at Machico - observed by James (UK)
5 Dunlin Calidris alpina alpina
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus

28th of May 2019 at Caniçal
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
Sanderling Calidris alba
4 Dunlin Calidris alpina alpina
5 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres