Trip Report - Madeira, Portugal

Zino's Petrel: After booking a selection of Wind Bird Pelagics and land based birdwatching tours we stayed in a small village in the southeastern part of the island, a stunning little village nestled within a deep valley, surrounded by lush steep slopes that somewhat resemble the opening helicopter scenes from Jurassic Park!

Wind Birds have on offer a selection of pelagic tours including their 'flagship' three days of ultimate pelagic expedition focused on petrels, storm petrels, shearwaters and any other vagrant bird species that might be around the North Atlantic Ocean.

Desertas Petrel: We booked onto the Wind Birds Half Day Birdwatching Tour where they take you to several locations and its almost guaranteed that you will see the endemic Madeiran birds such as the Madeiran firecrest, the Trocaz pigeon and the Madeiran chaffinch. 

Bulwer's Petrel:  We also attended the Wind Birds Zino's Petrel Night Expedition Experience in the evening. Seeng a few silhouetted birds against the moonlight sky as the Zino's calls increased and intensified was a sensational birding experience. 

Madeira Storm-Petrel: The Madeira bird list is pretty small, with a low diversity of birds, however we managed to tick 40 birds through the whole trip, this included the Madeira storm-petrel, otherwise known as the band-rumped petrel, Zion's, Desertas, Wilson's, Leach's, Euro, Bulwer's petrel, Madeiran firecrest and Trocaz to name a just a few. 

Trocaz Pigeon: From start to finish, including the Wind Bird Pelagics, I can't recommend this trip highly enough, Hugo and Catarina are friendly, relaxed and knowledgeable. 

Please read more on my Trip Report below or click here - https://austinmorley.blogspot.com/p/madeira-portugal-june-2024.html

10/07/2024 My Garden, Golborne, Cheshire

Lesser Redpoll: A new bird for the new garden, this redpoll had been visiting the feeders through the day. These are tiny finches, only slightly bigger than a blue tit, and are sociable birds with chattering twitters and songs that enliven any garden. They are resident throughout the north of the UK particularly the far north and they tend to move further south as winter approaches.

I was surprised to see one in Summer, they are synonymous with visiting bird feeders during the Winter months. Perhaps they are breeding locally?In its breeding range, the key requirement is woodland and in particular birch and alder. Plantations of non-native conifers, particularly when the trees are relatively young are also favoured. 

The garden is looking really good at the moment, green and lush with the boarder plans and shrubs looking healthy and about to burst into colour. 

Identifiable by their streaky brown plumage and red patches on the head, lesser redpolls occasionally carry a red patch on their breast as well.

A welcomed distraction after returning back from a long, sunny holiday watching birds in Madeira.