I checked out the old rubbish tip which is now closed and replaced with an incinerator. Seems like it has had an impact on the number of wintering large gulls as I didn't see many Azores Gulls. We used to do winter gulling trips out here and found some great birds but this year there just aren't many large gulls at all. American Herring Gull used to be more or less guaranteed (often multiple birds) and white-wingers were often recorded. The number of Ring-billed Gulls also continues to fall since our first winter trips out here (from over 30 to only 10 or so now).
In the afternoon I did the quarry, the harbour, the bay, the beach and finished up at Paul da Praia to see the 95+ Glossy Ibis come in to roost. There were also 50 Azores Noctules hawking over the ridge.
The family of Common Cranes, two adults and one juvenile
Marsh Harrier (on right) and Azores Buzzard
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Plover. There were about 8 'Ringed Plovers' in the quarry today, it looked like about four of each, Semipalmated and Ringed Plover. Some looked quite intermediate but this bird shows all the features, complete breast band, yellow eye ring, dark lores above upper mandible with a distinctive gap above base of bill, orange base to lower mandible and the distinctive call
A vagrant male Pintail- stunning at the best of times but in a vagrant context, extra special
Mallard is not a common bird on the Azores. There are plenty of domestic Mallards in groups of farmyard Geese and Muscovy Ducks. Ruben and Co believe this a good candidate for a wild bird. Plumage wise seems okay.
Greenshank
Kentish Plover
First-winter Mediterranean Gull with Ring-billed Gulls
Glossy Ibis at dusk at Paul da Praia
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