OUR ground breaking North Atlantic Seabird Odyssey tour to Madeira, Desertas and The Ilhas Selvagens proved to be an outstanding success thanks to the combined efforts of tour leader Dr. Robert Flood and skipper Luis Diaz and colleagues at Ventura do Mar, both on land and at sea in ensuring that everything ran smoothly. We would also like to say a very big Thank You to Dr. Frank Zino and his wife Buffy, who made our group so very welcome at their home and for their invaluable help in getting some of the best views ever seen for visiting birders of Zino’s Petrels. This was the first commercial tour to venture to the Selvagens and those in our small group on board are never likely to forget the tremendous adventure of this inaugural voyage. Facilities on board are limited, but when you can sleep on the beach on Selvagen Pequena and Grande and have thousands of White-faced Storm Petrels and Cory’s Shearwaters come and join you, this has to be the stuff of dreams for seabird enthusiasts. Oh, and we mustn’t forget the Madeiran Storm Petrels, Bulwer’s Petrels and Little Shearwaters that were also present off these islands or the four Sooty Terns that were present among the Common Tern colony. Closer to land, good numbers of Fea’s [Desertas]Petrels could be seen offshore around the Ilhas Desertas and the endemic and critically endangered Zino’s Petrels were seen at the breeding ledges high in the mountains of Central Madeira, while a Wilson's Petrel, Sooty Shearwater and Roseate Tern were also seen close to the boat. The endemic Trocaz Pigeon was seen in good numbers and other interesting land birds included a single Spectacled Warbler, Canary, Berthelot’s Pipit, Plain and Pallid Swifts, Madeiran Firecrest, Spanish Sparrow, African Chaffinch and Hoopoe. Four species of cetacean were seen including what was probably the first record of Northern Bottle-nosed Whale in Madeiran waters, as well as Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottle-nosed Dolphin and Rough-toothed Dolphin. Loggerhead Turtles and the endemic Selvagens Gecko were also seen. This tour will run again from 1st – 11th July 2009 and with a very limited number of spaces available, we would recommend booking very early to avoid disappointment for this fantastic ocean adventure of a lifetime.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
MADEIRA, DESRTAS AND THE ILHAS DESERTAS 1ST -11TH JULY 2008
OUR ground breaking North Atlantic Seabird Odyssey tour to Madeira, Desertas and The Ilhas Selvagens proved to be an outstanding success thanks to the combined efforts of tour leader Dr. Robert Flood and skipper Luis Diaz and colleagues at Ventura do Mar, both on land and at sea in ensuring that everything ran smoothly. We would also like to say a very big Thank You to Dr. Frank Zino and his wife Buffy, who made our group so very welcome at their home and for their invaluable help in getting some of the best views ever seen for visiting birders of Zino’s Petrels. This was the first commercial tour to venture to the Selvagens and those in our small group on board are never likely to forget the tremendous adventure of this inaugural voyage. Facilities on board are limited, but when you can sleep on the beach on Selvagen Pequena and Grande and have thousands of White-faced Storm Petrels and Cory’s Shearwaters come and join you, this has to be the stuff of dreams for seabird enthusiasts. Oh, and we mustn’t forget the Madeiran Storm Petrels, Bulwer’s Petrels and Little Shearwaters that were also present off these islands or the four Sooty Terns that were present among the Common Tern colony. Closer to land, good numbers of Fea’s [Desertas]Petrels could be seen offshore around the Ilhas Desertas and the endemic and critically endangered Zino’s Petrels were seen at the breeding ledges high in the mountains of Central Madeira, while a Wilson's Petrel, Sooty Shearwater and Roseate Tern were also seen close to the boat. The endemic Trocaz Pigeon was seen in good numbers and other interesting land birds included a single Spectacled Warbler, Canary, Berthelot’s Pipit, Plain and Pallid Swifts, Madeiran Firecrest, Spanish Sparrow, African Chaffinch and Hoopoe. Four species of cetacean were seen including what was probably the first record of Northern Bottle-nosed Whale in Madeiran waters, as well as Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottle-nosed Dolphin and Rough-toothed Dolphin. Loggerhead Turtles and the endemic Selvagens Gecko were also seen. This tour will run again from 1st – 11th July 2009 and with a very limited number of spaces available, we would recommend booking very early to avoid disappointment for this fantastic ocean adventure of a lifetime.
