In transit to Graciosa at the moment via the Cabo da Praia quarry on Terceira island. The 'resident' Semipalmated Plover (pic 1) and presumably last autumn's White-winged Tern (pic 2) were still present. The White-winged Tern dissappered for a while but returned for some reason.The Azores do have a tendancy to hold vagrants. Becuase the birds are inevitably so far out of range a few individuals 'decide' they were lucky enough to get here in the first instance so 'decide' reluctantly or not at all to risk another journey. The White-winged Tern might have had a go but found it too difficult so reverse migrated back to somewhere it knew there was good feeding. I guess this is how these islands are colonized by birds in the first place. If these birds find a mate- it could be happy days with a new colonizing population starting up. Then over time (a lot of time) they begin to evolve in a new direction. That makes these birds inadvertent pioneers.
Also Roseate Tern in the harbour, 1st summer Great Black-backed Gull, good numbers of Kentish Plover in the quarry, two Sanderling, 1 Grey Plover and 6 Turnstone.
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