British Isles Birding

Introduction

For those of you who’ve read some of my trip reports previously I’m going to warn you in advance on this one. It’s real dudey, it’s not the most thorough trip report from Madeira and there’s even some very nice scenery shots.

This is a short report of my holiday this summer in Madeira with my girlfriend. The purpose of the trip was two fold – firstly to have a relaxing time in the sun and the second part was to see all of the island’s endemic bird species. If you’re looking for a destination that combines a steady birding location with tasteful resorts and spectacular scenery I couldn’t recommend Madeira highly enough.

We booked our holiday online through Expedia with return flights from Gatwick to Funchal with British Airways. We stayed at the 5* Pestana Grand located just to the west of Funchal. The hotel itself was excellent (as you’d expect considering the cost!) and from a birders’ perspective was ideally situated a couple of minutes walk from Ponta da Cruz, probably the best seawatching spot on the southern coast of the island. We hired a car for 4 days through Sixt Car Rental with this enabling us to explore the island and its wonderful scenery.

As I had visited the Cape Verdes earlier in the year, and having a girlfriend who is to say the least a poor traveller on boats, I opted out of a trip to The Desertas and all of my seawatching was land based – either from Ponta da Cruz or Porto Moniz.

Useful websites, trip reports and acknowledgments

It is safe to say that, unlike other trips, there’s not too much to do in terms of gathering information on Madeira. It’s a small island and in truth there’s not an awful lot of species that you will struggle to see. Niklas Holmstrom’s Birding Madeira website is where I gained most of my information regarding birding sites and seawatching – the amount of info about sites here means there’s little that I can actually add in terms of useful information. The most difficult endemic species is Zino’s Petrel and trips to see this species at Pico de Arieiro must be booked in advance. I cannot recommend strongly enough using Madeira Wind Birds, a company run by birders Hugo Romano and Catarina Fegundes. Their website has also come on in leaps and bounds recently and all the latest bird sightings can be found there (as well as arranging other excursions with them). If you have a non-birding partner, I’d recommend taking them to Pico de Arieiro because the setting and eerie noises of the petrels is an experience in itself, even to the non-birder.

Trip reports that I used (most of them from Birding Madeira) included the following: -

-         6^th August – 13^th August 2001 by Steve Smith and Dot Machin

-         23^rd August – 6^th September 2002 by Niklas Holmstrom

-         29^th August – 5^th September 2002 by Peter Meininger

-         19^th July – 2^nd August 2005 by Stefan Magnusson

-         1^st August – 8^th August by Alex Bevan, Phil Bristow, Hugh Harrop et al

Andy Clifton, Mark Lopez, Stuart Piner and Andrew Raine all provided useful information prior to the trip.

Daily Diary

21^st July 2007

We arrived at Funchal airport late morning and then got a taxi to our hotel. The first thing that I noticed was an abundance of Monarch butterflies in the hotel garden along with good numbers of Plain Swifts wheeling overhead and many Canaries calling from the vegetation in the hotel grounds. After relaxing for most of the afternoon I walked the couple of minutes down to the rocks at Ponta da Cruz and did an hour of seawatching from 5.50pm. Evening passage was well underway with loads of Cory’s Shearwaters passing, some quite close but the majority pretty distant and in a heat haze. The undoubted highlight were c.25 Bulwer’s Petrels, some fairly close. 4 Common Terns and several Yellow-legged Gulls were also seen offshore.

Monarch Danaus plexippus

22^nd July 2007

With no car yet, most of the day was spent in the grounds of the hotel punctuated by a leisurely walk into Funchal. Yellow-legged Gulls, a handful of Common Terns, lots of Canaries and Pallid Swifts were seen whilst I spent a fair bit of time admiring and photographing the Monarch butterflies.

Canary Serinus canaria

The evening, however, was a real highlight as Karen and I were met at our hotel at 9pm by Hugo and Catarina of Madeira Wind Birds and taken up to the Zino’s Petrels in the mountains north of Funchal. Whilst Karen was getting ready, I managed a quick half hour seawatch from Punta da Cruz where 15 or so Bulwer’s Petrels were noted alongside large numbers of Cory’s Shearwater. With a clear night and little cloud cover, when we arrived at Pico de Arieiro the night sky was pretty amazing. After hearing about the walk, I was expecting a precipitous drop and a bit of a hairy experience. Things had either got a little bit safer with handrails fitted or I don’t really have any sense of danger but, whatever the reason, it was a nice walk to the Zino’s Petrel breeding area. After what seemed like an eternity, the first haunting called echoed through the valley and soon afterwards birds started to fly around. With a clear, moonlit sky I was fortunate that, although largely silhouetted, some pale colouration could be made out on the birds. After having our fill of the petrels we headed back to Funchal arriving back at the hotel at 1am.

23^rd July 2007

A lazy morning was had after the late night of the previous evening. After picking up the car nearby we ventured to the eastern tip of the island, east of Canical, to Ponta de Sao Lourenco where 10 or so Berthelot’s Pipits were easily seen on the open ground whilst a Buzzard and a couple of Kestrels were located. Tracking back to the harbour at Canical, amongst 15 Common Terns, an adult Roseate Tern was a nice surprise. Plain Swifts were common, especially in the skies over Funchal as we headed back west via Funchal harbour (where a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were seen amongst the Yellow-legged Gulls).

The remainder of the day was spent exploring the coastline from Camara de Lobos to Lugar de Baixo just west of Ribeira Brava – the high sea cliffs at Cabo Girao are worth a visit if only for the view. Little birdlife was found apart from the odd Yellow-legged Gull and Cory’s Shearwater offshore. The lagoon at Lugar de Baixo was void of anything of note with a Little Egret,  4 Coot and a dozen or so Moorhen being present in amongst the Muscovy Ducks.

24^th July 2007

I spent the morning in and around the hotel grounds and the nearby Ponta da Cruz. A large congregation of Yellow-legged Gulls were present close inshore, presumably attracted to the area by a shoal of fish that were easily visible. Anyway, amongst the gulls was a solitary Bulwer’s Petrel that provided me with quality land based views of this species. After seeing the usual Canaries and Plain Swifts from the hotel we headed off early afternoon westwards with the first stop being Lugar de Baixo – nothing exciting with exactly the same birds present as yesterday.

We continued driving west from here along the coast to the western end of Madeira at Ponta do Pargo where we parked by the lighthouse. After a cripplingly beautiful drive through lush vegetation and plant-lined roads it was a bit of a surprise to reach this arid patch of habitat. Evidently the Berthelot’s Pipits lapped it up and were around in good numbers whilst a handful of Buzzards and Kestrels, a couple of Linnets and lots of Plain Swifts were seen.

Berthelot's Pipit Anthus berthelotii madeirensis

Late afternoon we reached the north-western corner of the island where the first stop was Ribeira de Janela. We parked at the end of the road in the valley south of the town (accessed from Porto Moniz) and it was not long before the first Trocaz Pigeons were seen. Though mainly seen in flight good scope views were obtained of them as they perched in the tree tops – a total of 10 sightings were had in about half an hour of this Madeiran endemic. Grey Wagtail, Chaffinch, Blackbird and Robin were also seen as well as a couple of butterflies that I identified as Madeiran Speckled Woods.

The view north from the end of the road at Ribeira de Janela

Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs madeirensis

We then headed to the quiet, quaint seafront at Porto Moniz and whilst Karen had a look around the area I decided to seawatch. Though the wind was quite strong the seabird movement was rather unspectacular – 1 Bulwer’s Petrel and 100 or so Cory’s Shearwaters. Admittedly the views here were better than you generally get off Ponta da Cruz and this site seems to come into its own later on in the season (mid August to mid September) where it’s probably the best place to see Great Shearwaters in the Western Palearctic outside of Ireland.

25^th July 2007

After breakfast we drove into Funchal and got the cable car up to Monte Palace – well worth the trip, especially the toboggan down! Anyway, another endemic, Madeiran Kinglet was extremely common in the palace grounds whilst Blackbirds, Blackcaps and Robins were also seen. After exploring the town we headed to the harbour where I spent a fair amount of time, much to Karen’s chagrin, studying the local Yellow-legged Gull population.

Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis (1st-summer top, juvenile middle, 4th-summer bottom)

After heading back to the hotel mid afternoon, I spent a couple of hours late evening seawatching at Ponta da Cruz. This was to be my most productive seawatch of the holiday. Within half an hour of sitting down, whilst looking through a few close Cory’s Shearwaters, a small shearwater bombed straight through my scope and as soon as started to track it realised that it was a Little Shearwater. 180 Bulwer’s Petrels were logged as well in the two hours, with Cory’s reaching in excess of 500 and, as if by magic just as I was packing up my stuff, two Fea’s/Zino’s Petrels drifted east at relative distance. I suppose I should have got excited by these but, having been to Cape Verdes earlier in the year and having seen four of them in Ireland, I’ve probably got a little bit complacent…

26^th July 2007

This was the last full day with the car. I started fairly early, leaving Karen to relax at the hotel, and headed east past Funchal to the rivermouth at Machico. No waders were present (in fact I don’t recall seeing a single wader the whole week!) but I managed to locate a flock of c.100 Common Waxbills in the first area of reedy grass inland of the bridge. Having watched these for a while I headed east to Canical where in trees by the whale museum a handful of Spanish Sparrows were seen. I spent the rest of the morning around the harbour at Funchal, again watching the local Yellow-legged Gulls along with the odd Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild

After picking Karen up from the hotel, we headed into the mountains to the north of Funchal and our first stop was at Ribeiro Frio. We had lunch at the restaurant by the fisheries (recommended) where Madeiran Kinglet were abundant and then walked to the watchpoint at Balcoes where amongst spectacular scenery, a couple of Trocaz Pigeons were seen as they flew over. An extremely tame Chaffinch was fascinating even for the non-birder as it showed to within inches feeding on breadcrumbs at the watchpoint.

Spectacular scenery at Balcoes, Ribeiro Frio

After this we headed off and drove along the entire north coast past Santana and Sao Vicente to Porto Moniz – very few birds were seen but once again the scenery was rather impressive. I rounded the day off with a couple of hours seawatching at Porto Moniz where a couple of Bulwer’s Petrels and about 200 Cory’s Shearwaters were seen.

27^th July 2007

The last full day where, after dropping off the car mid morning, we then spent the day relaxing at the hotel. As usual Plain Swifts and Canaries were the common sights whilst the odd Common Tern, Kestrel and Yellow-legged Gull were seen around the hotel. An evening seawatch from Ponta da Cruz produced the usual passage of 250+ Bulwer’s Petrels and a constant stream of Cory’s Shearwaters, providing me with my final memories of how good this island is for watching seabirds. A walk along the promenade after dark surprisingly produced the haunting calls of Cory’s Shearwaters from the cliffs below our hotel.

28^th July 2007

After checking out of the hotel, we boarded our BA flight from Funchal arriving back at Gatwick mid afternoon.

 

Species list

Fea’s/Zino’s Petrel Pterodroma feae/madeira

Zino’s Petrel Pterodroma madeira

Bulwer’s Petrel Bulweria bulwerii

Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea borealis

Little Shearwater Puffinis assimilis baroli

Little Egret Egretta garzetta

Buzzard Buteo buteo harteri

Kestrel Falco tinnunculus canariensis

Coot Fulica atra

Moorhen Gallinula chloropus

Turnstone Arenaria interpres

Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus

Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis (atlantis?)

Common Tern Sterna hirundo

Roseate Tern Sterna dougalii

Trocaz Pigeon Columba trocaz

Plain Swift Apus unicolor

Berthelot’s Pipit Anthus berthelotii madeirensis

Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea schmitzi

Robin Erithacus rubecula

Blackbird Turdus merula cabrerae

Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla heinekin

Madeira Firecrest Regulus madeirensis

Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis

Canary Serinus canaria

Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis parva

Linnet Carduelis cannabina nana

Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs madeirensis

Common Waxbill Estrilda astrild