We had some good wind but the storm-petrel seem to be out on vacation... Anyway, we got good views of Zino's and Fea's/Desertas Petrels and, of course, the everyday seabirds Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii

31st of July 2019 - Northern wind up to 12 knots with a swell up to 1.5 meters from the same direction
5 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
Lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus
2 Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Pterodroma sp. - flew right against the sun so we could not ID it!
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
Probable Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta on the way back

Atlantic spotted dolphin Stenella frontalis

A pelagic with very light wind is always more difficult to watch the seabirds than when there is good wind to blow the smell of the chum in a distance. Also, seabirds are lazzy and when there is no wind to help them glide they just sit on the ocean surface. So, we had very challenging conditions on these 3 consecutive afternoons and only by the very end of the expedition (i.e. after 21:00) we got to watch Zino's Petrel and Madeiran Storm petrel!

23rd of July 2019 - North wind up to 8 knots and northeast waves up to 0.5 meters, not so bad conditions though...
Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis
Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii
3 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis

3 Loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta

Despite the choppy conditions of the ocean the wind blew quite a few Pterodromas our way and we had great observations and photo opportunities of these rare species! Storm-petrels on the other hand were quite difficult... As usual, Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii were watched everyday though numbers were reduced compared to previous years.

2nd of July 2019 - NE wind up to 14 knots and northern waves up to 1.5 meters
Pterodroma sp. - on the way to the chumming position
Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - on the way up
2 Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
3 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
Great shearwater Puffinus gravis

July tends to be a quiet month regarding vagrant bird species though in what regards to the weather it has been a bit weird as it seems more like a spring month than a summer one, with showers and not so high temperature as it used to be. Let's see what the winds blow this way during this month:

25th of July 2019 at Funchal - reported by Robert (UK)
9 Black Tern Chlidonias niger

23rd of July 2019 at Lugar de Baixo - sighted by Hans (NOR)
2 Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

18th of July 2019 at Ribeira Brava
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus
European Herring Gull Larus argentatus

16th of July 2019 at Caniçal
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
3 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

Another great Zino's Petrel Pelagic Expedition for Pterodromas though not so great for storm petrels as in previous years we did get a few different species of these small petrels and also week for cetaceans... Anyway, the views of Zino's and Fea's Petrels were really good and we even got the 2 species at the same time flying over the chumming slick on the 1st day! As usual, Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's Petrel Bulweria bulwerii were present everyday.

25th of June 2019 - Northwest wind up to 10 knots and swell from same direction up to 1.5 meters
3 Pterodroma sp. - 2 on the way up and 1 close to the chumming position
2 Common Tern Sterna hirundo
8 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
2 Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
2 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta
Manx shearwater Puffinus puffinus puffinus
Great skua Stercorarius skua

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