Azores 1

Ok so i'm in the Azores. It's one of two autonomous regions of Portugal (the other being Madeira) and is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesian region of the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,360kms west of continental Portugal. It's literally in the middle of nowhere! 

And before you start to criticise about travelling during this pandemic, i'm not doing anything wrong and it's perfectly legal and we've followed the relevant government's advice.... You may have a different opinion and that's your prerogative but we've got to live alongside this virus as it's not going away anytime soon.

Anyway, I had a Covid-19 test done in the UK and it's negative (of course!), so after a 4 hour flight on an empty plane we arrived in Terceira Lajes airport, I quickly did the formalities and was soon on the way to our lovely accommodation in Praia da Vitoria. Ten minutes later a taxi whisked us off to the shorebird hotspot of the Western Palearctic at Cabo de Praia.... We noted Common Quail, flocks of Common Waxbills and an Atlantic Canary walking along the lane.

I must admit I was expecting to find an American shorebird or two very quickly and easily. But in birding I should know not to expect anything. Arriving at a little after 6pm there appeared to be very little about, but scanning from the vantage point depicted above eventually revealed 4 Eurasian Whimbrel, 10+ Ruddy Turnstone, 20+ Kentish Plovers, 8 LRP's, 3 Little Stints (and boy I really tried turning them into something else!), 1 Common Greenshank, 6 Common Snipe, 1 sum plum Red Knot, 3 Ruff, and over 18 superb Sanderlings in various stages of moult. To say I was disappointed is an understatement and I don't wear it well. But walking around to the other side, watching flocks of Common Terns passing by and scoping a big stream of Cory's Shearwaters along the way, we scanned again....

Eventually, I picked up an apparent juvenile Common Ringed Plover at the back of the pools and my heart began racing. It had to be right? Thin breast band and those dark lores do look like they meet the bill above the gape line.... Hmmm... After watching the bird for a good while I was happy with the identification of Semipalmated Plover - a bird from the USA that has been fairly regular here, but it's just a shame it was too far away for photos. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.... 

Azores Pelagics

I'm running 3 pelagics out of Graciosa island on the Azores next week. The dates are 14th, 15th & 16th August and the cost is £150 per pelagic. We will be heading out to the Bank of Fortune to look for the endemic Monteiro's Storm Petrel, but if the sea gods allow then hopefully Swinhoe's Storm Petrel and Barolo Shearwater too. There are some previous reports of Grant's Storm Petrel, as well as Sooty Tern, Desertas Petrel and Brown Booby. Who knows what we will see? And for anyone interested in cetaceans it's a great opportunity to see a variety of whale species too. Each pelagic will run for 6/7 hours and we'll be chumming for some of the rarest seabirds in the Western Palearctic.

If interested or you want further info just send me a message to: info@zootherabirding.com or WhatsApp me on +44 771 226 3475

#BirdersTogether

So what is #BirdersTogether you may well ask? Well, this is the hashtag for a link that has been used on Facebook to help raise money for people at the grass roots level of Colombia's birding community who have zero income due to Covid-19. So what's that got to do with us right? And that's not an easy question to answer really, except from my own personal point of view having birded in that great country last year and meeting some of these people I just felt I wanted to help. For some reason, and I've honestly looked at this in the most naive way, I thought I could do something to help. My company (Zoothera Birding) sent a donation to the Vaki Crowdfunding platform almost straight away and I kept following to see if the donations total was rising and it was..... but very slowly. In fact, too slowly. At the same time, my wife was tinkering with an idea that has been burning with her for a while and she suggested we design something to sell and raise money that way. You know, what i've seen during this year is that many, many people have their own agenda and rarely do people do something for anyone else without there being something in it for them! Sad but true. You may even call me a cynic. So we both wanted to do something good.....Anyway, she designed some greetings cards from my photos and then got in touch with a nearby printers and we now have the finished product. And here they are....

Bicolored Antpitta

Brown-banded Antpitta

Chestnut-bellied Flowerpiercer

Chestnut-naped Antpitta

The exquisite Crescent-faced Antpitta

Northern Tawny Antpitta

Pale-naped Brushfinch

Purplish-mantled Tanager

Slaty-crowned Antpitta

The daddy of them all.... Undulated Antpitta

They really are top quality greetings cards, printed on really thick card and being 158mm x 158mm - they are rather large. So despite the Vaki Crowdfunding deadline has passed we can still get money to these people who desperately need it via PayPal. And it's not the big tour companies who are getting the money, it's the people at the grass roots level of Colombian birding. The guy who walks miles to dig for worms and then goes every day to feed the antpittas we all so desperately want to see. It's the other people involved in doing the mundane jobs around the feeding stations, restocking hummingbird feeders, tinamou feeding stations etc. It's the drivers who ferry us birders up precipitously narrow mountain tracks and whose main source of income is this. It's the small B&B's in remote villages, it's the people who cook for groups of birders, the people who do the laundry. The ones who do the dirty work, the hard work. Can you even begin to imagine the hours and hours of legwork and patience required to start an antpitta feeding station...? Me neither but it's tough! Can you imagine having zero income at all for the whole year and beyond, due to this killer virus and zero tourism for a year? So by purchasing a pack of 20 greetings cards you can contribute to a small monthly wage for the hardest hit of Colombia's birding community. It's just £20 for a pack of 10 good quality cards with free 2nd Class postage if you live in the UK. 

Front and Back of one of the cards...

My wife has set up a website where you can buy the Colombia cards right now. It is called Country View Arts and the website is www.countryviewarts.co.uk 

And during these strange times you might even want to purchase a face mask too. Love them or hate them they are going to be around for a while, so why not go to Tesco's looking like a birder?

Crescent-faced Antpitta face mask

Apologies if i've bored you, but i'm off birding now! Stay safe everyone.

Getting Back to Birding

Following on from the last Azores & Madeira post, we've decided to go a few steps further now and add another Macaronesian tour in our short series of tours in the 'Getting Back to Birding" programme. The current situation around the UK and Europe is still promising and within the next 2 weeks our wonderful government (that's tongue-in-cheek by the way) are going to announce a list of countries that are going to be safe to travel to...... Hmmmmm...... well, let's see! Well, we thought Portugal was going to be in the top 3 of that list but it seems despite the Azores & Madeira barely having any cases of Covid-19 we would still have to quarantine upon return to UK - the government have made this very confusing. And the next best/safest destination could well be the Canary Islands. So with pretty cheap flights from the UK and Europe, throwing in a bunch of endemics, add a list of endemic subspecies that could well be split in the future, a few seabirds, throw in the odd Houbara Bustard and Cream-coloured Courser into the mix and it looks like a recipe for a damn decent trip. Oh and let's spice it up a bit by some island hopping and call in to Gran Canaria for the recently split Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch on top of visits to Tenerife, La Gomera and Fuerteventura and all this in just a 9 day tour. See tour info here - Canary Islands Info

See our 'Getting Back to Birding' philosophy here - Getting Back to Birding Info

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That's all ok but these are difficult times and our invisible enemy is still out there somewhere, lurking in plain sight.... That's Covid-19 by the way. So we have hired large, private villas on Tenerife and Fuerteventura for a 3 night stay on each island, with a 2 night stop on Gran Canaria at an all-inclusive resort. As with all our other 'Getting Back to Birding' tours we will bring our own cook/housekeeper rather than get a bunch of strangers in a restaurant to prepare food for us. We will also have 2 vehicles so we can manage the social distancing requirements whilst travelling to and from sites etc. We've even looked at etiquette around using leaders' scopes and hygiene issues and social distancing...! Then there's the hygiene and cleaning of our vehicle each day... And on and on. But what I really want to stress is how seriously we are taking all this, and how seriously we are looking at making your next birding trip as safe as possible. This isn't just a business to us, this is us looking after friends on a birding trip. This is us looking after you.We know how most birders feel about not travelling, about our confidence being affected with the travel industry and with travelling in general right now. But it will get better. 

Other tours in our "Getting Back to Birding' Programme:

Azores & Madeira - See full tour info here

Isles of Scilly & Land's End - See full tour info here

Scotland in Winter - See full tour info here

We believe there is a way to 'Get Back to Birding' in a safe and sensible manner. And we believe we've got it covered as much as possible. Let's go birding!

Birding Through the Looking Glass: Macaronesia Dreaming...

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.

Desertas Petrel

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. 

Madeiran (Band-rumped) Storm Petrel

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...!!

Cory's Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Long-tailed Skua

Wilson's Storm Petrel

You can see the full tour details here: Azores and Madeira Ultimate Pelagic Birding

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!

Cape Horn & Straits of Magellan Pelagic Cruise - Seabird Bonanza!!

This is what it's all about! We are going to be sea-watching from a stable, comfortable fully working cruise ship where all the food and beverages are included and we'll be staying in comfortable cabins for 14 nights. And your non-birding partners can come along and only pay for the cost of the cabin (there's no Zoothera fee for non-birding partners). And currently it only costs a £50 deposit per person to secure your cabin and there's a sale so inside cabins are approx £1300 per person - and that includes meals and some drinks such as tea, coffee, water, lemonade etc.

But back to the birds. Just look at this mouth-watering list of potential species and i've got some photos from a while ago when I was lucky enough to be on a ship crossing the Drake Passage between Ushuaia and the Antarctic Peninsula..........

Northern Royal Albatross

Southern Royal Albatross

Yellow-nosed Albatross

Black-browed Albatross

Light-mantled Albatross (rare)

Wandering (Snowy) Albatross

Wandering (Antipodes) Albatross

Chatham Albatross

Salvin’s Albatross

Buller's Albatross

Grey-headed Albatross

Southern Fulmar

Cape Petrel

Northern Giant Petrel

Southern Giant Petrel

Soft-plumaged Petrel

Cape Petrel

Masatierra Petel

Juan Fernandez Petrel

Stejneger’s Petrel

Kerguelen Petrel (rare)

Slender-billed Prion

Westland Petrel

White-chinned Petrel

Subantarctic Little Shearwater

Cape Verde Shearwater

Pink-footed Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Grey-backed Storm-Petrel

Black-bellied Storm-Petrel

White-faced Storm-Petrel

Fuegian (Wilson's) Storm-Petrel

Pincoya Storm-Petrel

Magellanic Diving-Petrel

Common Diving-Petrel

Peruvian Diving-Petrel

Brown Skua

Chilean Skua

Long-tailed Skua

It's a great list of possibilities and hard to imagine seeing thousand upon thousand of Sooty Shearwaters and sailing past an island where 90% of the world population of Pink-footed Shearwaters breed, or seeing hundreds of albatross every day!

See the day-by-day itinerary here - Cruise Daily Itinerary

See the Princess Cruises tour info - Coral Princess Info

Black-browed Albatross is common

Black-browed Albatross

A Giant Petrel sp with a backdrop of snow-covered mountains in the Beagle Channel

South American Tern

There's fabulous scenery as well

Cape Petrel

Gentoo Penguins can be seen at Volunteer Point nr Port Stanley

A number of cetaceans are possible. This is Humpback Whale but Sei Whale is also possible.

A Light-mantled Albatross being photo-bombed by a Black-browed Albatross

We will count ourselves very fortunate to see a Light-mantled Albatross

A flurry of South American Terns in the Beagle Channel

Southern Giant Petrel

More impressive scenery around Tierra del Fuego

This is what we want... Wandering Albatross

Northern Giant Petrel

Southern Giant Petrel

Southern Royal Albatross

Snowy (Wandering) Albatross

All photos copyright Nick Bray/Zoothera Birding unless otherwise stated.

If you have any questions or need clarification on this tour please email the Zoothera Birding office on: info@zootherabirding.com 

We currently have 5 spaces left, but at present you don't need to pay a deposit to Zoothera, just register your interest with the Zoothera office.

Let's go birding!

Cape Horn & Straits of Magellan Pelagic Cruise - Info

So we have set up this tour, to join the Coral Princess cruise ship sailing out of Santiago, Chile on 4th February 2021 and ending up in Buenos Aires where the tour finishes on Thursday 18th February. Yes, this is a full, working cruise ship that can house 2,000 guests, has 1,000 cabins and has 16 decks. All meals are included along with an assortment of beverages. And I know what you are thinking, that this sounds horrible and i'd rather go on one of the Russian research vessels that house only 50 people and are purely for wildlife watching. If you think that, then you probably shouldn't read on as this is not the tour for you. But just look at the cost.... 

My philosophy for this tour is that the tour leaders will be available 'on deck' from sunrise to sunset (approx 5.30am-9pm) and that members of the group can join in for as much as they want. We can set our scopes up as the ship is so stable and we'll be about 200 feet above the ocean with a great view. 

Oh, by the way this is a perfect tour to bring a non-birding partner as the cabins are wonderful, and there's shopping, an art gallery, swimming pool, hot tub, casino, room service, music, dancing and various forms of entertainment, and food is available 24/7....

King Penguin copyright Tracey Barber

Snowy Sheathbill copyright Nick Bray

Dolphin Gulls copyright Nick Bray

The scenery at Tierra del Fuego is stunning. 
I took this photo on my last visit to Ushuaia.

Back to the birding. There are 7 land-based excursions that we have made arrangements for as follows:

Puerto Montt for species such as Flightless Steamer-Duck, Black-throated Huet-Huet, Chucao Tapaculo, Des Mur's Wiretail etc

Punta Arenas - Magellanic Plover, Imperial Cormorant, Tawny-throated and Rufous-chested Dotterels, Band-tailed Earthcreeper, Black-throated Finch

Ushuaia - Great Grebe, Dolphin Gull, Magellanic Woodpecker, White-throated Caracara, Dark-bellied Cinclodes.

Falkland Islands - King, Gentoo & Magellanic Penguins, Falklands Steamer-Duck, White-Bridled Finch.

Puerto Madryn/Valdes Peninsula - Lesser Rhea, Snowy Sheathbill, Elegant Crested Tinamou, Patagonian Canastero

Montevideo - Giant Wood-Rail, Rufous-sided Crake, Spot-flanked Gallinule, White-spotted Woodpecker, Black-and-rufous Warbling-Finch

Buenos Aires/Costanero Sur - Coscoroba Swan, Rosy-billed Pochard, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Lake Duck, Freckle-breasted Thornbird, Yellow-billed Cardinal, Golden-billed Saltator

Obviously that's just a small selection of the potential species. 

For a full description please go to our website to view further details: Cape Horn Pelagic 
For more info from the Princes Cruises website about this cruise, amenities, cabins pricing etc just follow this link: Cruising

Diademed Sandpiper-Plover copyright Rodrigo Tapia

Oh and there is also a pre-cruise extension to various birding sites around Santiago with the ultimate prize of Diademed Sandpiper-Plover. But there's a number of Chilean endemics and localised specialities also to find such as Chilean Tinamou, Stripe-backed Bittern, Chilean Flicker, Dusky-tailed Canastero, Crag Chilia, Moustached Turca, Creamy-rumped Miner, Chilean Mockingbird and much more. 

A post-tour extension once the cruise is over will take us to the steppe north of Buenos Aires to Ceibas just to add some more new land-based lifers such as Lark-like Brushrunner, White-naped Xenopsaris, Black-capped Warbling-Finch and many others. We will add further details on the post-tour extension very soon.

In the next blog post we can take a look at what we've really come for - the seabirds.

Antipodean (Wandering) Albatross copyright Nick Bray