AZORES

AZORES BIRDING TOUR: DETAILED ITINERARY

Azores: Day 1  Our tour begins late this afternoon at Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel in the Azores, where we will be staying for two nights. Cory’s Shearwaters (here of the Atlantic form borealis, often now treated as a species distinct from nominate diomedea, referred to as Scopoli’s Shearwater if the two forms are split, that nests in the Mediterranean) nest on the headland just by the hotel and in the evening they can be seen flying in to visit their burrows over the hotel gardens, uttering their strange cries.

Azores: Day 2  São Miguel is the largest and most varied of the nine islands that make up the Azores, and the closest to Portugal, which lies 1400 kilometres to the east. The Azores are known as ‘The Garden Islands of the Atlantic’ and, like most mid-Atlantic islands, are volcanic in origin. The verdant island of São Miguel, which is dotted with the picturesque villages of this largely farming and fishing community, has some spectacular volcanic calderas with brightly coloured lakes, but it is the luxuriant vegetation which makes the biggest impression and not least the ubiquitous banks of blue Hydrangeas. The highest peak is the 1103m Pico da Vara at the eastern end of the island, and it is this area that holds the remnants of the once-extensive native shrub forest of the island, a mosaic of tree heather, juniper and laurel. Here survives one of Europe’s most threatened birds, the Azores Bullfinch (or Priolo as it is called locally), now widely regarded as a full species. The remaining population numbers as few as 300 individuals, restricted to what is left of the native vegetation. We will, of course, be concentrating our efforts on this special bird, but other birds of particular interest on the island include the beautiful Roseate Tern, Atlantic Canary and the Azorean forms of the Common Buzzard, Common Wood Pigeon, Grey Wagtail, Common Blackbird, Goldcrest and Common Chaffinch, as well as the atlantis form of the Yellow-legged Gull (known as Atlantis or Azorean Gull), several of which are candidates for splitting. Other species we are likely to see on São Miguel include Common Tern, Rock Dove, Collared Dove, European Robin, Blackcap, Common Starling, House Sparrow, European Goldfinch and the introduced Common Waxbill.

Azores: Day 3  Today we will take a flight to the charming little island of Graciosa, situated in the far northwest of the archipelago for a two nights stay. Our flight will most likely take us via the intermediate island of Tercia. Graciosa is home to a population of the recently recognised Monteiro’s Storm Petrel (a member of the Band-rumped Storm Petrel group), and this will be our prime reason for visiting the island. This afternoon we will have our first opportunity to go to sea, and with a little good fortune, our chum will pull in a few of these poorly-known petrels.

Azores: Day 4  Today we will have further opportunities to go to sea, again targeting Monteiro’s Storm Petrel if we failed to find it yesterday. Cory’s Shearwaters are likely to be present in numbers, and other species likely include Roseate and Common Terns and Atlantic Yellow-legged Gulls. There is also a chance of a scarcer species such as Sooty or the rare Barolo’s Shearwater or a Bulwer’s Petrel, and other rarities are always possible. Even Swinhoe’s Petrel has been recorded on pelagics here in the past! We will also focus some of our attention on to the cetaceans. A number of species occur here ranging from Common and Spotted Dolphins right up to the huge Sperm Whale, though it is of course quite unpredictable what one will see on any given day. Few land birds are present, and most overlap with those we will have seen on São Miguel, though Graciosa does seem to be a good island on which to see Common Quail.

Azores: Day 5  This morning we will take a flight back to Tercia where the tour ends mid-morning (there are frequent connections from Tercia back to Lisbon).