Summer starts in June and although we get all Madeira seabirds around for their breeding grounds it is not such a good month for vagrant birds in land... Though there are still some birds that visit this archipelago...

30th June 2016 at Caniçal
Dunlin Calidris alpina alpina
8 Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres

27th June 2016 - off Caniço de Baixo - reported by Graham Jones (UK)
3 Barolo's shearwater Puffinus baroli - flying together quite close to shore

At Paul da Serra - sighted by Sarah Groves (UK)
5 White Stork Ciconia ciconia

We guess we can call this pelagic a Storm-petrels pelagic expedition as those were the ones offering us a great show on the 2nd day! And we did observe all the species we aimed for!

Birds act like Spring is already here but regarding temperatures and general weather it is still winter in Madeira. In April due to the snow in the first weeks and then strong winds and heavy rains into the end of the month we were unable to run a Zino’s Night Expedition (hey, safety above all!) but on the 3rd of May we finally made it and, despite the still strong and very cold wind up in the mountains we were able to hear more than 500 calls and see more than 14 silhouettes of this rare endemism of Madeira: Zino's Petrel! Now lets see which species May will bring to Madeira, with special interest in the pelagic birds as Wind Birds' Zino's Petrel Pelagic Expedition are just about to start!

23rd May 2016 off Machico
Great Skua Stercorarius skua

At Tanque Pond, Porto Santo
2 Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Western Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea
6 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
2 Common House Martin Delichon urbicum

8th May 2016 at Ponta do Pargo
Bonelli's Eagle Aquila fasciata - 1st confirmed record!

April started colder this year although while birdwatching one can already spot Spring behaviours in wildlife... A pair of Common Moorhen in Machico already has 4 chicks and Atlantic Canaries were observed carrying nesting material... Now we need some Eastern winds to blow some vagrant bird species into the island.

27th April 2016 at Ponta do Pargo
Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
3 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

At Lugar de Baixo
2 Dunlin Calidris alpina
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea
Little Egret Egretta garzetta

On the 17th of March 2016 Wind Birds run a pelagic day with a few participants on the 30th Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society. We knew it was too early for Petrels so the aim was to try to see Madeiran storm petrel, White-faced storm petrel and research which seabird and cetacean species would be around by this time of the year. The wind conditions did not help, it was a very light breeze (less than 6 knots) from South, which is a quite rare direction in Madeira... So the observations during this 7 hour pelagic with 3 hours of chum were:

Madeiran Storm Petrel Oceanodroma castro