This time was our time for holiday, as Madeira is beautiful but can sometimes be too small for the ones who live it in... So the bird records for Madeira this month are very few as it is the number of birdwatchers in the island. Anyway, thanks to some local help we can still put up some birding news:

29th of October 2021 at Machico - observed by Ralf (GER)
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
2 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
18 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
2 Little Egret Egretta garzetta

At Água de Pena
Mediterranean Gull Ichthyaetus melanocephalus

28th of October 2021 at Ponta São Lourenço - reported by Ralf (GER)
3 Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus phaeopus
Little Egret Egretta garzetta

27th of October 2021 at Machico
Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularius
Mediterranean Gull Ichthyaetus melanocephalus
8 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

At Caniçal
3 Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis

September should be a good month for migration although the temperatures in Madeira are still quite high, resembling mid-summer... Let's see if the winds blow any interesting species out of they migratory course into this small rock in the Atlantic Ocean...

28th of September 2021 at Caniçal
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
6 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Sanderling Calidris alba
Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula

27th of September 2021 at Fanal - observed by Ivan (UK)
Black Kite Milvus migrans

23rd of September 2021 at Machico
2 Little Egret Egretta garzetta
5 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula

Another light wind pelagic but this time with the wind blowing from unusual quadrants which did not bring us many migratory seabird species... Anyway, Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's petrel Bulweria bulwerii kept visiting the chum which helped to entertain us while we waited for other visitant species.

24th of August 2021 - NW wind up to 7 knots, north swell up to 1 meter and wind waves from NW up to 0.2 meters
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus

This was a pelagic with very light wind which blown us some interesting migrant seabirds but was not enough to attract a Madeira Storm Petrel to the chum... As usual, Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's petrel Bulweria bulwerii were our companions everyday!

19th of August 2021 - NE wind up to 5 knots and northeast swell up to 1 meter
2 Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira - 1 on the way up to the chumming position
5 Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
European Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus
Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta
3 Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus

Short-beaked Common dolphin Delphinus delphis

It started with a great 1st day despite the light breeze but the next days were quite poor in terms of seabird species... Only Bulwer's petrel Bulweria bulwerii and Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis were the entertainment for the waiting hours at the ocean.

14th of August 2021 NNE wind up to 6 knots and NE swell up to 2 meters
4 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta on the way up, all at same time flying around the boat
7 Parasitic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus - 4 of them flying together eastwards, on the way to the chumming position
16 Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis
9 Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus phaeopus flying south on a V formation
Northern Gannet Morus bassanus - juvenile
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
Great Shearwater Puffinus gravis

A pelagic with two days of rough oceanic conditions... The first day the wind was two low to blow the chum smell distant enough to attract seabirds. The second day was perfect but the third day, while the forecasts were just about the same as on the previous day, the waves rose like walls and some broke against the boat, making us all wet. Quite rough! As usual, Cory's shearwater Calonectris borealis and Bulwer's petrel Bulweria bulwerii were around everyday.

11th of August 2021 - NE wind up to 13 knots and waves from same direction up to 1 meter
2 Pterodroma sp. on the way to the chum
Common Tern Sterna hirundo
Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus - flew distant from the chum slick
5 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta
Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus
Madeiran Storm Petrel Oceanodroma castro - 1 bird flew by a bit distant from the slick, not allowing everyone to see it
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira - same bird came 3 times to the chum slick to be very well observed
4 Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis