December started very wet in Madeira which is not so good (and in some places not safe!) to go out birdwatching... Anyway, let's see what Santa will bring us in terms of vagrant bird species:

29th of December 2017 at São Vicente
Eurasian Teal Anas crecca - male
2 White wagtail Motacilla alba alba

28th of December 2017 at Machico
Northern Pintail Anas acuta - male
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus
9 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

At Funchal Botanical Garden - photographed by Richard Winters (NED)
Yellow-browed warbler Phylloscopus inornatus

At Ribeira Brava - observed by Manuel Ribeiro (POR)
Eurasian Teal Anas crecca
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus
White wagtail Motacilla alba alba

At Ponta do Pargo - by Manuel Ribeiro (POR)
Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus
14 Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis
Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita

27th of December 2017 over Neves, Funchal - reported by Ole Steinset (NOR)
Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus

At Porto Santo Golf Course - observations by Manuel Ribeiro (POR)
3 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope
7 Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula
2 Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Western Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
8 Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
4 Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita
3 Yellow-browed warbler Phylloscopus inornatus
11 White wagtail Motacilla alba alba

At Tanque pond, Porto Santo - by Manuel Ribeiro (POR)
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
3 Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
2 Red Knot Calidris canutus
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus

At Pico do Castelo, Porto Santo - by Manuel Ribeiro (POR)
2 Yellow-browed warbler Phylloscopus inornatus
7 Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita

End of October was very warm and with light winds which was almost better than summer! But in November, the month before Christmas, temperatures already dropped a little bit and rain is finally showing itself. Despite the weather events on the Atlantic on the last couple of months, so far no real rarities have shown up in Madeira archipelago, so lets keep birding around in search for some interesting vagrant birds.

Another migration month! October started with summer weather, with warm winds from the eastern quadrant though not strong enough to blow many different species out of their course into Madeira. Anyway, fingers crossed for some rarities!

26th of October 2017 at Caniçal
Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus
4 Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops

At Machico
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus phaeopus
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
13 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

23rd of October 2017 at Ribeira Brava - reported by Christopher Knight (UK)
Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
5 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

September is a good month for migration and so in Madeira archipelago we sometimes get some interesting vagrant species... More, with all these storms on the other side of the Atlantic we may well get some blown away birds, so let's see what surprises September will bring to birdwatchers in Madeira.

29th of September 2017 at Tanque Reservoir, Porto Santo - sightings reported by Doug Radford (UK)
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Wood sandpiper Tringa glareola
Common Ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula
8 Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
3 Western Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
4 Western Yellow wagtail Motacilla flava flava

26th of September 2017 at Faial
Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
2 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
2 Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

What a Zino's Petrel Pelagic Expedition!!!! There was no better way to end 2017 Wind Birds' pelagic expeditions! We had them all, the expected and the non expected seabird species! Great views of the very rare Barolo's shearwater and White-faced storm petrels which did not migrate yet and fed from the chum slick! The team that are doing the Western Palearctic Big Year got at least 7 new species to add to their list!

23rd August 2017 - Northeast wind up to 12 knots and waves up to 1.5 meters from the same direction
> 40 Great shearwater Puffinus gravis
3 Fea's Petrel Pterodroma feae/deserta - 2 on the way and 1 on the chum
5 Pterodroma sp. on the way up, too far to ID
5 Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus
Zino's Petrel Pterodroma madeira
3 Wilson's Storm-petrel Oceanites oceanicus
>25 Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea

In August starts the migration, specially for seabirds! And we already watched Great shearwater and some Skuas around, so lets see what else this summer month blows to Madeira archipelago:

31st of August at Machico
Sandwich Tern Thalasseus sandvicensis
5 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

30th of August at Ponta do Pargo - oberved by Gergő & Ildikó (HUN)
Barbary Falcon Falco pelegrinoides

27th of August at Caniçal
Little Stint Calidris minuta
Common Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula
2 Red Knot Calidris canutus
3 Sanderling Calidris alba
10 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

10th of August off Ponta de São Lourenço - recorded by Audun Eriksen (NOR)
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster