Max Berlijn was seawatching on the 24th August 2009 between 17.30 and 19.40 at Porto Moniz and kindly sent his sightings:
Great Shearwater - 147 all to the west, some very close by (even the leg colour visible) in waves with little flocks
Arctic Skua - 2 west (pale birds)
Long-tailed Skua - 3 adults all summer plumage, one with tail streamers
Manx Shearwater - 14 all west
Bulwer's Petrel - 2 east.
Madeira common visitants are already returning to its favorite wintering destination. Here are the latest records:
13th August 2009 at Lugar de Baixo:
2 Turnstones
1 Black-headed Gull
8 Coots
1 Little Egret
Seawatching from there was a flock of about 50 Manx Shearwaters
14th August 2009 at Machico:
1 Ringed Plover
1 Little Egret
Zino’s Petrel Pterodroma madeira, off Madeira, April 2009 (photo Hadoram Shirihai © The Tubenose project). The first-ever unequivocal and photographically documented at-sea record of the species
Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus seen in Madeira, 5 miles offshore South of Funchal on the 3rd of August 2009 by Frank Zino. Later on the 7th seen 7 miles offshore South of Funchal by Luis Portugal. In between there is a possible record in the shore of two, though due to heat haze not possible confirmation.
There are only four previous records of this species in Madeira.
Other vagrants seen this week include:
7th August 2009 at Poiso
Alpine swift - observed by David Fox