Azores Bird Watching Holiday - 8 Nights
In mid-October, one place will be making the birding headlines more than any other: the Azores. Join Dominic Mitchell for another vagrant-packed reader tour to the Western Palearctic’s undisputed rarity hot-spot, this year with an extra day on the itinerary to maximise our time on the key islands. We will look for the endemic Azores Bullfinch, several near-endemic Macaronesian specialities and a wealth of American vagrants, from shorebirds and wildfowl to wood-warblers and vireos.
Itinerary
| > Day 1 | Departing from London on scheduled flights via Lisbon, we should arrive on the main island of São Miguel in time for some birding near the capital, with the Azorean form of Yellow-legged Gull and the near-endemic Atlantic Canary among the possibilities. Night São Miguel. |
| > Day 2 | After an early breakfast we’ll visit Serra da Tronqueira in the mountainous east of the island, home to the endemic Azores Bullfinch. This endangered species can be difficult to locate, but we have a good chance of finding it if the weather holds. Atlantic Canary and the local subspecies of Common Buzzard, Blackcap, Chaffinch and Goldcrest should all also be seen. We’ll then visit other sites which in recent years have produced Wood Duck, Pied-billed Grebe and Semipalmated Plover, before ending the day checking roosting gulls and terns for vagrants. Night São Miguel. |
| > Day 3 | This morning we fly to Terceira, the wader capital of the Azores, and will visit two key wetlands in search of Nearctic waterbirds. Among many vagrant species we’ve logged here previously are Blue-winged Teal, Great Blue Heron, Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Pectoral, Least, Semipalmated, Western and Buff-breasted Sandpipers and Belted Kingfisher. At the end of the day we’ll move on to the remote island of Flores in the far north-west of the archipelago for a five-night stay. |
| > Day 4-7 | Heavily underwatched compared to neighbouring Corvo, Flores has perhaps the greatest untapped potential of all the Azorean islands, as shown by recent records of Wood Duck, American Bittern, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Upland Sandpiper, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Grey Catbird, Magnolia and Yellow Warblers, Savannah Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Bobolink and Dickcissel. The appearance of such major Nearctic vagrants is very weather-dependent, but every autumn brings American wanderers and our chances of finding rarities on the island are good. During this time we will check the most productive sites on the island, often searching migrant traps for passerines but also visiting wetlands where Nearctic waders are regularly found, and where American Black Duck is regular. We’ll also be in regular touch with other birders on Flores and on Corvo, and may well take the boat across the channel to this neighbouring smaller island (weather permitting) on one or two days if there are twitchable major vagrants which demand our attention. Our previous visits to Corvo have netted White-eyed, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, Black-and-white Warbler and American Redstart, among many others. The channel itself should produce good views of Cory’s Shearwaters and perhaps other seabirds. Nights Flores. |
| > Day 8 | We say goodbye to Flores this morning but may have time for a brief stop to look for anything we’ve missed on the island before flying back to Terceira. Arriving mid-afternoon, we’ll check Cabo da Praia for any new vagrant Nearctic waders and wildfowl that have dropped in during recent days, and also keep an eye and ear out for Common Quail at dusk. Night Terceira. |
| > Day 9 | With a final early start we may have time for one last brief stop, perhaps to visit Paul da Praia where we discovered a Belted Kingfisher on last year’s recce trip, before catching a mid-morning flight to Lisbon and our onward connection to the UK, arriving home in the evening. |
Dates & Prices
| All prices are per person (£) based on twin sharing but we can also quote for single supplements. | |||||||||
Date |
Price |
||||||||
15th to 23rd October 2011 |
Price: £1298pp plus £300 for schedules flights from the UK (flight prices may be subject to change and exact cost will be advised on booking) |
||||||||
|
Includes: All inter-island flights, accommodation on a bed-and-breakfast basis, ground transportation, two boat excursions to Corvo (weather and birds permitting), guidance and comprehensive pre-tour booklet. Not included: Other meals, drinks, insurance and tips. |
|||||||||
This tour is operated for Birdwatch by Archipelago Azores (ATOL 6059).
