Corvo 2023 Day One

I left the Old Vic at 0930 yesterday and finally arrived on Corvo around 2pm today. After getting the connecting flight to Lisbon I met up with David Monticelli on Sao Miguel and we overnighted there (at a Monastery) before getting the connecting flights to Horta and then Corvo today.

After taking the baton off Pierre-Andre Crochet at the airport who departed today after 28 days on the island we quickly scrambled our equipment and managed to hire the only car for hire on the island and then headed up to Fojo. Harry Murphy joined us and David put up a net as part of the long term vagrant ringing and isotope analysis study. There had been fall of 15 or so Catharus thrushes (12 Swainson's and 3 Grey-cheeked) on Corvo on 19th October and several had been on Fojo so David targeted this area. While waiting for the net to catch I did a walk around Fojo. 

In the three hours we were up there I managed to see a Swainson's Thrush, a Red-eyed Vireo and an Indigo Bunting and we also caught a Grey-cheeked Thrush in the net. On the way back to the guesthouse we twitched the sub-adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the rocks behind the Doctor's house.

Not a bad start! 

Corvo daily log here: CORVO BIRDERS

First-winter Grey-cheeked Thrush (above and below). With a wing length of 102mm and the distance between p8 and p6 being 10mm this ruled out Bicknell's Thrush which is much smaller and more rufous-tinged with a more rounded wing and a wing-length of below approx 90mm. 

Swainson's Thrush on the road 

First-winter Indigo Bunting 

Sub-adult Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Cory's Shearwater- I rescued this juvenile from a drainage ditch

Atlantic Canary