A Whale of a time, Madeira 2019
Its been a while since my last blog, time flies.
Just returned from a trip to the island of Madeira, where the sun shone and the heat built, very different to the weather left behind in the UK.
Although not a birding/wildlife holiday there were a few highlights worthy of mention, all except one of the sightings are from the hotel room balcony!
Plain Swift, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, (all subspecies) Blackcap, Blackbird, Y L Gull, Manx, Cory's and Bulwer's Shearwater, Common tern, Goldfinch and Feral Pigeon!
I found the Blackbirds interesting as they appear larger and more robust than the birds I'm used to in the UK with a noticeably larger bill, I also watched a female actively hunting the abundant supply of Madeiran Wall Lizards.
The bird highlight came in the originally misidentified House Martin, (seen from a gondola car on the way down a mountain) which just looked wrong, and it was as it turned out to be a LITTLE SWIFT, a vagrant to the island (14th record?)
The holiday highlight for me was spotting the unmistakable movement of cetaceans off shore, I couldn't be 100% certain but the Dolphins appeared to be Common Dolphins, while the two whales were thought by locals to be Humpback Whales.
The flowers were, as previously, just amazing although around the hotel they were mostly non-natives.
On a more local note keep an eye out on the Pembrey Country Park website and social media, for a range of guided walks at Pembrey Country Park and the Millennium Coastal Park during July
Just returned from a trip to the island of Madeira, where the sun shone and the heat built, very different to the weather left behind in the UK.
Although not a birding/wildlife holiday there were a few highlights worthy of mention, all except one of the sightings are from the hotel room balcony!
Plain Swift, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, (all subspecies) Blackcap, Blackbird, Y L Gull, Manx, Cory's and Bulwer's Shearwater, Common tern, Goldfinch and Feral Pigeon!
 |
| Bulwers Shearwater ( photo Madeiriabirds) |
I found the Blackbirds interesting as they appear larger and more robust than the birds I'm used to in the UK with a noticeably larger bill, I also watched a female actively hunting the abundant supply of Madeiran Wall Lizards.
The bird highlight came in the originally misidentified House Martin, (seen from a gondola car on the way down a mountain) which just looked wrong, and it was as it turned out to be a LITTLE SWIFT, a vagrant to the island (14th record?)
 |
| Little Swift, (internet free to use image) |
The holiday highlight for me was spotting the unmistakable movement of cetaceans off shore, I couldn't be 100% certain but the Dolphins appeared to be Common Dolphins, while the two whales were thought by locals to be Humpback Whales.
 |
| Humpback Whale breath spout, (internet free to use image) |
The flowers were, as previously, just amazing although around the hotel they were mostly non-natives.
On a more local note keep an eye out on the Pembrey Country Park website and social media, for a range of guided walks at Pembrey Country Park and the Millennium Coastal Park during July
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