So all the signs are that the lockdown is easing, Covid-19 cases are on a downward curve, pressure from countries with summer holiday destinations is increasing even here in UK, and Bojo has mentioned just this week about a proposed 'air bridge' between the UK and Portugal. That pricked up my ears a bit and after doing a little (lot) research it amazed me that both the Azores and Madeira have had very few Coronavirus cases and zero fatalities from this awful disease..... Let that sink in. Zero fatalities..... I don't know about you but I'm sick of seeing that sycophantic Hancock bloke most evenings telling us what to do, how and when! And the teenager policing the supermarket queue reminding me to socially distance every time I get to the entrance of the shop. Amazingly I haven't been living under a rock and I'm perfectly aware of the current rules, having still got a few grey cells between the ears!
Anyway, I'm literally climbing walls now. Living in an area surrounded by beautiful fields and hedgerows is all well and good and I've been distracting myself by trying (pretty unsuccessfully I might add) to get a decent photo of the pair of European Bullfinches that visit our garden most days, seemingly mocking my attempts at a clear shot. How is it I've got decent images of tragopans, wren-babblers, warblers, pteradromas but not this species...... Hmmm, bullfinches and pteradromas..... No Covid-19..... Hmmmm....
In my imagination there's a place I can take myself with minimal threat of the virus, bobbing around an ocean with sexy, long-winged, and mega-rare petrels all around. And a lush-sided mountain with a mega-rare passerine found nowhere else in the world. Sadly, it's just a dream.... or is it?
Well, no actually. Keeping fingers and everything else crossed, all things being equal, and the world/politicians/new world order/zombie apocalypse don't interfere on Wednesday 12th August ( that's under 9 weeks away so there's still plenty of time for the world to kick us in the face again) it is possible that we could be on a direct flight from Stanstead to Terceira in the Azores.... The gateway to some of the most exciting pelagic birding in the Western Palearctic. Now we are talking.
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| Desertas Petrel |
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| Zino's Petrel |
This archipelago of 9 volcanic islands is about 930 miles west of Lisbon in mainland Portugal, right out in the Atlantic Ocean. We will visit 3 of the islands where the focus is on doing two pelagics out to the Bank of Fortune where we should see Monteiro's Storm Petrel and i'm praying for a Swinhoe's Storm Petrel too! This is the best place in the Western Palearctic to have even the slightest chance of seeing the latter, whilst the former species breeds on a couple of small islets in the Azores. Oh, and Barolo Shearwater is possible too, let's not forget that one! And we'll have time to nail the rare Azores Bullfinch too!
A short flight takes us to Madeira and our private villa. We have 3 pelagics looking for Desertas and Zino's Petrel. Do you know how rare Zino's is? With possibly around 110 individuals it's incredibly rare, but we still expect to see them. And we'll visit a breeding colony high in the mountains one evening and listen to their eerie calls. Other birds we are targeting include Madeiran Storm Petrel, Bulwer's Petrel and White-faced Storm Petrel - all great birds for your Western Palearctic list.
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| Madeiran (Band-rumped) Storm Petrel |
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| Bulwer's Petrel |
So over these 11 days we will literally be birding in the outermost limits of the Western Palearctic and I don't know about you, but i'm hoping for a rarity as well...!!
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| Cory's Shearwater |
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| Great Shearwater |
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| Long-tailed Skua |
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| Wilson's Storm Petrel |
But that's not really the whole story. We really wanted to make this as safe a tour as possible, bearing in mind all the social distancing and hygiene measures we've all (sadly) become accustomed to. That's why we are organising a series of tours over the next few months that include staying in private holiday homes and villas. We have our own housekeeper/cook along to cook us fresh food and this way we can keep away from other people. Just in case. But as I said before, the Azores and Madeira are probably the safest places to be right now, but why take a chance. Ok on the Azores we may well have to use a hotel, but there's minimal risk. Convenience doesn't come into it really, it's damn more expensive to use private villas but we feel it's a very important aspect of these tours for the time being.
I'm also planning trips to Norfolk, there's an Isles of Scilly and Land's End tour in October, a week in Scotland in an enormous house in the Speyside area for November, and a winter Sweden tour in January i'd like to do. Oh and a trip to Tenerife, Fuerteventura & Gran Canaria (who split that Blue Chaffinch??!!) in September 2020. All of these tours will be on the website over the next week or so - I hope. If you are as desperate as I am to go birding, then maybe there's something here to float your boat? Pardon the pun.
So in the meantime stay safe, go birding, and brush up on your seabird identification!
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