Corvo Highlights 2011

Some of the best birds from autumn 2011.
All photos by Vincent Legrand
More here:
http://www.vincentlegrand.com/#26.54


White-tailed Tropicbird

Blue-winged Warbler

Parula

Red-eyed Vireo

Marsh Hawk

Tennessee Warbler

Swainson's Thrush

Philadelphia Vireo

Purple Martin

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

For all the news from Azores:
http://www.birdingazores.com/

MINI-EXPEDITIONS TO THE AZORES IN 2012

I am arranging a couple of trips for next year targeting Azorean endemics/specialities and also looking for vagrants.

WINTER MINI-EXPEDITION Azores Bullfinch, vagrant waterbirds and gulls
FEB 2012

General Itinerary:
http://azoresnature.co.uk/?page_id=134

SPRING/SUMMER PELAGIC MINI-EXPEDITION
JUNE or JULY 2012
Azores Bullfinch, Monteiro's Petrel, Expedition for vagrant seabirds. Cetaceans and other marine life.

Highlights of 2011 trip here:
http://azoresnature.co.uk/?page_id=15

Photo by Gareth Knass

If you are interested in joining one of these mini-expeditions please email me on littleoakgroup@btinternet.com for further information. Cost is dependent on numbers.

Depart from Corvo

Corvo. Only those who have ventured there understand :-)

The weather calmed down and the plane arrived as planned.
Yesterday evening we went to an Azores birdwatching meeting on Sao Miguel island. Great slide shows, interesting discussion about the future of birding on the Azores, a fascinating presentation (i think it was fascinating- it was in Portuguese) by Pedro Rodrigues about genetic studies on 'Azores Chaffinch' and other endemic Azorean passerine 'sub-species' and a good chance to meet up with other Azores ornithologists/birders.
Back to the local patch tomorrow but will post up a highlights of Corvo 2011 asap.

Tempest Borne Tanager

The storm has produced! Summer Tanager at Fojo/Cancelas today found by Stefan and David. This is the 4th for the WP (I think)- the 3rd one for Corvo.

Also a new Yellow-rumped Warbler found by Stefan.
Before news broke of the Tanager we were in the caldera seeing not too much- 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 6 Teal, 1 Shoveler, 9 Blackwit, 1 Tufted Duck, 1 Pintail, 8 Mallard, 1 Black Duck type, 20+ Snipe and a couple of Grey Heron.
If the plane comes tomorrow this will be our last full day on Corvo. Bonser and Co arrive tomorrow to take the late autumn shift.

La tempete est arrivee

All I saw today was a load of wind. However Eric found an American Merlin and a Common Yellowthroat and there was a Greater Yellowlegs found on Flores.

There's a Storm Coming

Forecast for tomorrow showing low latitude depression over the Azores

Azores Chaffinch
I was supposed to go home today but on seeing this storm coming I decided to stay on until Monday. The wind shifted to the west by mid morning and by the afternoon a Chimney Swift and a new Yellow-billed Cuckoo arrived. The weather is set to become pretty wild.
Most other birders left today leaving a team of six of us to search through the storm.

Here's a link to our Dutch Birding Paper about Corvo Birding:
http://www.dutchbirding.nl/content/news/files/DB32(5)299-315_2010.pdf

Killing Time on Corvo

Northern Parula still present in Do Vinte by Vincent http://www.vincentlegrand.com/#home


Vincent waiting to be woken up by a calling wood warbler

Me passing time with the locals


Despite the continual unfavourable winds a new Yellow-billed Cuckoo was found today. Other birds still present included the Parula, Swainson's Thrush and an Osprey was also seen.