The Azores Winter Trip 2022 , Days Four and Five

Ebird trip report updated HERE. Had 67 species in total. Highlights since last post include a new Azores tick, Jack Snipe, and also managed to see one of the suspect Egrets that have been around. These birds were considered Little Blue Herons when they first appeared but there is a possibility that they might be white morph Western Reef Egrets, hybrids, 'grey phase' intermediate Little Egrets or aberrant Little Egrets. Several birds have got various strange features including grey-pale legs and bill and dark markings on the neck and greyish wash on the upperparts. There were up to four suspects at one point. 

Despite searching for the last two days I failed to locate the Snowy Egret (there were three on the island earlier on in the winter), so once again my Azores bogey bird (that and Meadow Pipit) continue to allude me. 

So in total I got six Azores ticks (now on 248 species for the region) ; Belted Kingfisher (WP tick), Jack Snipe, Marsh Harrier, Water Rail, Common Crane and Pallid/Common Swift. With supporting cast of Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed Gulls, possible nearctica Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Ducks, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plovers, 2 Spotted Crakes, record numbers of Med Gulls and nearly 100 Glossy Ibis, it's been a great little mid-Atlantic break. A few other wildlife highlights also to follow plus a closer look as the Common and Ring-billed Gulls and the Ringed and Semipalamted Plovers.  

Egret sp. I'm leaning towards aberrantly marked Little Egret. I presume the all black legs in this photo is due to soiling. 

Jack Snipe- not an easy Azores bird. There have been up to eight this winter which constitutes a good winter (usually 2-3 birds year) 

Adult Mediterranean Gull x Black-headed Gull (thanks Peter Adriaens for identifying this- the black confined to the tips is the main feature to separate from second cycle Med). Considering there are only a handful of Med Gulls on Terceira, it's interesting that this small sample should contain a hybrid. Ruben and I were discussing what appears to be a high frequency of hybrids on the Azores. It's possible that hybrids mix up the genetic code for orientation and navigation and thus makes hybrids more prone to vagrancy? Also see Teal caption below (a bird also confirmed by Peter- thanks Peter, what would I do without you :-) ) vagrancy itself can lead to hybridisation which can 'force' mixed pairings which in part could also account for a higher frequency of hybrids in vagrant traps like the Azores. Off the top of my head I can think of Brewster's Warbler, Stilt Sand x Pec Sand, Black Duck x Mallard, Med x Black-head, Little x Snowy Egret (plus other unusual hybrid egrets including a Western Reef Heron-type) and numerous hybrids gulls, which have all been recorded on the Azores. 

Lesser Scaup, Gadwall, Ring-necked Duck and Great Scaup

House Martin- still flying over the Paul da Praia ridge with 50+ Azores Noctules. Unfortunately no further sign of the Swift sp. From what we saw of that almost certainly a Pallid Swift which is an Azores monster. Was hoping we would see it again, Ruben continues the hunt today. There were two House Martins originally which arrived the same day as the Swift, an incredible occurrence of uber early Spring migrant mid-Atlantic vagrancy. The timing alone also strongly suggests Pallid Swift which is a classic early Spring and late autumn vagrant to northern parts of Europe. 

Snow Bunting with Sanderling and Starling. 

Male and female Scaup- this is the second pair on Terceira. They came in at a different time to the Praia da Paul pair and associated with European birds. The female certainly looks a lot more of a typical European bird. 

Male Scaup 

The female European Teal again. The tertial which has a dark border and a white edge that broadens towards the tip indicates a European origin. The fact that it has paired with a male Green-winged Teal is a vagrancy phenomenon where extra-limital birds pair with their closest congener. We've seen this several times on the Azores before- hybrid Black Duck x Mallard and also seen American Coot and European Coot displaying to each other.  

Western Azores Goldcrest. This is the local race inermis. There are two other island forms, Santa Maria Goldcrest (sanctamariae) and Sao Miguel Goldcrest (azoricus) which occur on their island namesakes. More on endemic birds on the website HERE. 

Adult Mediterranean Gull with Ring-billed Gulls. There has been up to 13 Med Gulls  this winter which indicate an increase in occurrence 

Adult Ring-billed Gull (above and below)

Female/juvenile Belted Kingfisher- has to be bird of the trip. Unlike adult male, females and juveniles have the red-rufous on the underparts making this the ultimate Belted Kingfisher too. Absolute stunner.