Madeira and the Desertas Islands

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After a short walk on the nature trail near the research station we re-boarded the Ventura at 18.00 for a chumming session. And although there were hardly any birds attracted to the small amount of chum, seabirds were plentiful. Hundreds of Cory’s Shearwaters, 50+ Bulwer’s Petrels and at least15(!) Desertas Petrels. We saw two or three that might have been Zino’s, but where Hugo from Madeira Wind Birds claims he is able to distinguish Zino’s from Deserta Petrels at sea, no one from the Ventura do Mar team was confident enough to do so. Our first (distant) Manx Shearwater was seen when we were slowly making our way back to Deserta Grande’s natural harbour. It was already dark when we returned to Deserta Grande, where a delicious meal of fresh tuna salad, spicy barbecued meat, beer and wine was thoroughly enjoyed in good company. The first Bulwer’s Petrels were heard with their dog-like barking and sadly the first one hit the roof of a wooden fence. Deserta Grande now came alive with the howling calls of Cory’s Shearwaters and it was time for the seabird party to really begin! Suddenly the first Madeiran Storm-petrels were heard with their squeaky calls, their numbers growing as the night progressed. Seabird numbers built up making all birders walking around the research station seeing and hearing seabirds arriving to their nests. By now numerous Bulwer’s Petrels and Cory’s Shearwaters are flying past. Some Cory’s fly so close that their wings almost slap you and Bulwer’s Petrel thud clumsily ashore. A walk around the short nature trail reveals numerous Cory’s Shearwaters and Bulwer’s Petrels sitting beside nest holes between boulders and on one occasion Hiele and a Bulwer’s Petrel have a painful rendezvous when the bird flies right onto his shoulder. After midnight the number of flying and calling birds had clearly reduced and seven birders crawled into their warm sleeping bags in a tent that was just a little too small… Cory’s Shearwater, off Caniçal, H. Lootsma Deserta Grande, J. Westra 24 July Desertas Islands tour, return trip to Funchal harbour The next morning the seabirds had left the island and Deserta Grande was once again a very peaceful place. We were accompanied by a few Common Terns, Yellow-legged Gulls, a Kestrel, Berthelot’s Pipits and several Atlantic Canaries while having breakfast. After breakfast we left the island for the return trip, scheduled to arrive on Madeira by 2pm. The 3½-hour return trip provided new opportunities to look for any species we didn’t manage to see the day before. The one bird I hoped to see appeared halfway the trip; a White-faced Storm Petrel was discovered by our skipper Luis, who called the bird immediately. I was right behind him and could connect to the bird right away. I saw it for only a few seconds, most of the birders on board were not so lucky. This morning there were actually far less seabirds; I counted two Desertas Petrels, twelve Bulwer’s Petrels, the usual Cories and a Great Skua. Fifteen minutes from the harbour the sharp-eyed skipper (who helped us to at least forty 4
Bottle-nosed Dolphins ten minutes earlier) spotted a distant blow and we headed directly towards it to investigate. They were two large Bryde Whales, a fantastic sight. At 3 pm we were back in Funchal harbour and thanked the Venturo do Mar crew for a superb trip. We walked right into the Pizza Hut for a late lunch and a beer and talked about how well things went so far. We then checked to harbour for Roseate Terns and the Yellow-crowned Night Heron, but couldn’t find them. Little Egret, Black-headed Gull and a Lesser Blackbacked Gull however, were present at a small beach along the boulevard. Late afternoon we took our bags to our room and updated our diaries and lists. We heard that Ponta do Garajau, located only a few kilometres north-east of Funchal, is no longer a reliable site for Madeira Barn Owl (Madeira Storm Petrel is getting harder and harder to find here too), but Hugo told us they are sometimes seen near the Funchal harbour close to our apartment. We checked the harbour walls under Casino Park Hotel and were treated to two Madeira Barn Owls, that showed really well around 10.30 pm. 25 July Parque Ecologico do Funchal, Ribeiro Frio We were not in a hurry this morning and under a cloudless sky we leisurely drove north towards Monte. Driving further uphill we were once again faced with the storm and fire damage as a result of the catastrophic storms in 2010. There are still large tracts of forest with black trees. However, near the visitor centre of Parque Ecologico do Funchal the trees and flowers were colourful as ever, making the park look like a big botanical garden with geraniums, bougainvilleas, African Lilies, and a list of other flower species. We parked the car at the visitor centre and saw our first Madeira Graylings. Inside the centre we asked where to find Madeira Cleopatra. People were very kind, but they couldn’t really help us. One of the staff told us they were seen near the centre before the fires, but had not been seen this year. Walking back to our car we followed a road to the left (driving uphill, just before the visitor centre) and found sunny allotment gardens filled with flowers. Butterflies were everywhere. Madeira Graylings were very common, we saw hundreds of them. I tried to photograph one of the many Clouded Yellows when a Madeira Brimstone came flying past. A second and a third one appeared, settling shortly on African Lilies. A Monarch made a brief visit and the Madeira Brimstones kept flying through the gardens, giving us a hard time trying to photograph them. Scanning the pictures on our cameras we discovered we had no decent pictures of Madeira Speckled Wood and we expected them to be absent at PEF (Parque Ecologico do Funchal), as the gardens are outside the laurel forest. We decided to go back to Ribeiro Frio for better pictures, for we were sure to have seen them there. At Ribeiro Frio we drove right into low grey clouds, so no butterflies showed. We went back to Parque Ecologico do Funchal once more. Here the clouds lifted and we easily found half a dozen of Madeira Speckled Woods, but the Madeira Brimstones were gone. Madeira Chaffinch and Madeira Firecrest were common and today’s best new bird at Parque Ecologico do Funchal was a Red-legged Partidge close to the road. 26 July Porto Moniz, Ribeira de Janela, Prazeres, Lugar de Baixo, Ponta da Cruz This was our last day and we planned to visit a wide variety of sites. At 8.05 we reached the cloudy north-western corner of the island where the first stop was at Porto Moniz. We stood 5
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Madeira and the Desertas Islands

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