Thursday 3 October 2024

Corvo 2024, Day Seven, Bay-breasted Warbler

Presuming the plane comes tomorrow (it's been cancelled today due the weather) today was my last day on here for this year so I made the most of it. The day started with a downburst (similar to a Tornado) in the village which ripped off the roof of Noel's house, caused a landslide , flooded the medical centre and sent the garden furntiure of our guesthouse (Vera's) flying to the church. A rare event on Corvo that made it on the Azores news. Fortunately there were no injuries. 

Once the downburst had passed I started off walking round the coast and lower fields and had the Glossy Ibis that's been around and then I got the car again and took Laura and Freider up to Fojo and then headed to the Lighthouse Valley.

The Bay-breasted Warbler was pretty elusive in the junipers but eventually showed well and at one point it was in reaching distance to me as I had to get into the bush it was in to hide from the rain. After the rain I walked up the valley and then headed over to de Ponte where I heard a wood warbling calling where the Parula had been a couple of days ago so presumably the same bird. 

I then played uber driver and picked up Thomas, the german group and Ilkka the elder and we all came back to the village for the evening where I found a presumed Semipalmated Plover which flew off before I could clinch the lores (but seemed to have an eye-ring and red at the base of the lower mandible) and I glimpsed the Semipalmated Sandpiper that had been touring the island today with the Grey Plover above the Black Beach pool. 

First-winter male Bay-breasted Warbler (found by Paul Dufour yesterday). The 6th for the Azores and 8th for the WP.  My third! (can't help thinking that I used up my luck on a mega that I didn't need). 
Glossy Ibis
While I was hiding in the Junipers from the rain this Blackcap popped up - one of the island's natives

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