Madeira - Sunday 21st

 A later start, with time to meander. Our first port of call was Canical Harbour to see if the Laughing Gull was still there. A quick scan and it was sitting down on the outer harbour wall. Some bread and left over scraps were thrown into,the sea to see if it would come. The Yellow-legged Gulls enjoyed the feast and the Laughing Gull eventually took off and flew around for a few minutes before returning to its side of the harbour and settling down again. As I had left my big camera in the car, I didn’t get any photos and after I had gone back to the car for it, it was time to move on. 

Our next stop was at a ‘wetland’ at Lugar de Baixo. This was the smallest marshy wetland ever but it did hold a good population of coot, a moorhen and two Glossy Ibis, plus, of course a wide variety of Muscovy Ducks.

We stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant, sitting out on the patio looking for seabirds but not much about and no Monk Seals either! We stopped in Funchal to check out the harbour area, we parked in a multi story and walked across to the beach area. There was a lighthouse, called the Green Lighthouse, which we walked out to but there wasn’t much beyond some xxxx flitting around the weedy area by the beach and some Sally Lightfoot crabs with enlarged claws on one side. 

We decided to go back up into the hills to retry for better views of Madeiran Grayling. We were going to go back to the area we checked out before but it looked a bit murky and we found a place to park in the National Park. There were lots of Plains Swifts hawking about and we spent some time checking out the butterflies with Long-tailed Blue and Madeiran Grayling and Madeiran Small Copper.

We ate in a supermarket ‘cafe’ and then walked back to the spot we had arranged to be picked up for our night walk for Zino’s Petrel breeding site. It was quite a ride but we got there before it was completely dark. The walk out was very stressful for me as my breathing was not good. The others went on ahead and I was diverted to a lookout not so far. It meant that I didn’t hear them as well as the others, but I did record them and that worked out ok. 

The walk back was even worse but eventually the very welcome sight of the lookout post was just ahead. I made it back to the van, glad that I had been but, very thankful I had made it back but I will never do that again. We were driven back to our car in Machico and then drove back to the house.

Madeira - Saturday 20th

 We’d planned an early start but as we didn’t wake up until around 8 it wasn’t quite so early. The plan was to go straight up to the Miradour and look for Bertholot’s Pipit to get some photographs before breakfast and before the crowds arrived. We were also going to look for Rock Sparrows. Following a chat with Bernie the day before, we decided to drive to the end of the Levada and look for Little Egret for the trip. Pulling into a space we looked into the Levada and there was a little egret, pottering around, there was also a Grey Heron and a flock of Waxbills worked their way along the reeds before flying off. 

We then headed up to the Miradour but it was very quiet with just a Spectcle Warbler heard so we checked e-birds and went back down the to the bottom road. We parked up in a parking area opposite the ‘Marina’ and walked up the hill. Almost immediately a Bertholot’s Pipit popped up giving really good views. David could hear Rock Sparrows further up the hillside so we spread out and made our way up. David came back to tell me that they had the Sparrows on the ground so I joined them but the light was awful so we walked round to a better position. It didn’t seem to phase the sparrows at all. There were about 6 sparrows in all plus a couple of Pipits giving excellent views.Walking back down we came across a nice yellow Canary in a bush, and then decided, as it was getting late, that we would head into Canical harbour and find somewhere for lunch.

The village of Canical was much less busy and much less touristy, parking was relatively easy and we made our way down to the harbour. Sean walked on as David went back to the car for his bins before joining Sean along the harbour. A shout from David had me walking to the end of the harbour wall as Sean had found a Laughing Gull on the harbour wall. We managed some photos and I rang Hugo to let him know before we then walked back to find somewhere for lunch.

We chose a cafe with outside seating and sat down to order drinks and a meal. I ordered prawns in garlic, which were very nice with a Pepsi, which turned out to be non-sugar!

Then it was time to head back to the house to get ready for our last pelagic. Fingers crossed it was better than the last two. It was much rougher than before so hopes were high, we saw several Cody’s as we travelled along and the boat stopped for a Green Turtle on the way. 

There seemed more birds about, but only Cory’s and Bulwer’s, which did loops round the chum slick until right towards the end, when Caterina called a Pteradroma which flew through, doing one loop. Unfortunately it didn’t hang around long and I only got brief views before it headed off. Just before it was time to go a small shearwater flew through, which was called as a Manx. On our journey back, another Pteradroma flew across the bows. Success!! 

Madeira- Friday 19th

 Friday.

Up around 7.00 breakfast on patio. Packed up and drove down to the Levada in Machico. The Plan was to go the bottom and walk back, in bits. It was so busy we decided to go back up the levada and find a parking place and look at what was there. We found a spot by the football pitches, and went across to the levada. There were lots of Muscovy ducks of many colours and sizes. The levada  supported plenty of plants, many looking quite exotic. As we peered over the edge, a couple of Grey Wagtails were strutting around in the water and on the stones. Sean and I walked slowly downstream, stopping to admire a spider, which had an amazing web structure and egg cases dotted about. There were also other spiders using the steps down to catch prey. Meanwhile, David walked upstream. It wasn’t long before David called us to say he had Waxbills. We walked fairly swiftly back, but the birds had disappeared in the reeds. A short wait and the waxbills flew out and over the road into some fields. 

We had lunch in a restaurant near the Levada, it was very pleasant watching people go by. We then got ready for the boat, found a parking place, again quite close, enjoyed another icecream before the boat. Boat out. The boat ride out was choppier and we went to the north of the island, passing through a gap between the Ileu da Cevada and the Ilheu do Farolat the end of the archipelago, the sea was choppier, which gave us more hope but the birds were very sparse. We did see Cory’s Shearwaters and a Gull followed us out and kept us company, but not much else. We motored back into the sunset, had some food and went back to the house.

Madeira - Thursday 18th

  Thursday. The Blackcap alarm was going loud and strong and then a leisurely get up and breakfast on the terrace. Decided to drive out to Ponto do Rosa. This is a line of sharp peaks making a promontory off the north-east corner of the island.The drive up was quite scenic but very busy in places and we were lucky to find a parking place right at the end. We had heard Bertholot’s Pipit on the way up but parking was difficult. Getting out the car and scanning round we found several Canaries sitting up on the fence so we made our way up to the fence line. They were very tame and didn’t seem to mind people getting quite close. We met up with a small group which turned out to be Caterina and three of the other travellers on the boat this afternoon. She picked out a Bertholot’s flying towards us and we did see a few more. She also picked up a Spectacle Warbler on the fence rail inside the compound.

We spent quite a bit of time with the Canaries trying to get to get good photos as the light was making it difficult. We also spent time with the Warbler which turned out to be two young birds spending all their time foraging among the weeds and not being easy to see, let alone photograph, but they came out into the open on the wires and in top of the weeds.

The geology was quite interesting as it looked like lots of mud pool bubbles which had solidified and a lot of them had lumps of rock in the centre as if the rocks had fallen into the bubbles and dried. We also had Kestrel and Plain Swift flying about, with David and Sean seeing a Sandwich Tern fly through the saddle in the islands

It started to get really busy so we decided to go back to Machico for lunch before returning to the house to get ready for the boat ride. We managed to find somewhere to park, walked over to a kiosk which had dough bread sandwiches filled with ham and cheese with garlic butter.  They were a bit stodgy and not very tasty so I decided to keep half of mine for a snack for the boat if I needed it. 

We ate our snack, walked along to the harbour to have a look. There were lots of crabs of different sizes clinging to the harbour wall concrete cubes, including one that was a great deal bigger that the others, there was also one on the rocks just along from the harbour which was an odd pink colour, it was also very flat. There were also some interesting fish in the harbour, one sort was black with electric blue edges to the fins and body as it turned in the water. There were a variety of other fish around the slipway before we headed back to the house to get ready for the pelagic.  

Parking was lucky, with a space not far from the  harbour. We bought an ice- ream, with David enjoying a tub of Pistacio. It was very warm so I didn’t put on my waterproofs. I ended up on the front seat, but as I couldn’t reach the floor, I decided to move back to the third row. The second row was filled by two Italian photographers, with no binoculars and 600 mm lenses. I managed to find somewhere to put my feet and held on to the handles provided in the seat in front. On the way out we saw several Cory’s Shearwaters and one whale species, which turned out to be a Blainville’s Beaked Whale. The chum was put out in a bucket with holes in the side which gave continuous bits and oils out of it. It attracted Cory’s, and Desertas Petrels and an European Storm Petrel or two. The first pass was most successful with the numbers dwindling after that. They did change the bucket but it didn’t seem to help. We motored back around 10.pm with little else.

We returned to the car, drove back towards the house, stopping on the way for a burger at the burger van by the football pitch and then having a tea before turning in. 

Madeira - Weds 17th

  Up around 6.30/7.00 with a Blackcap singing strongly outside. A short watch outside had blackbirds and singing Blackcaps, with a Grey Wagtail being heard but not seen. After breakfast on the terrace we packed up some snacks and drove to the Palheiro Gardens. A mistake at a roundabout meant we spent time backtracking through the back roads back towards Machico and the motorway, this time taking the right exit and heading to Funchal. The drive up to the gardens was quite interesting with narrow roads, an almost impossible right turn and great views. When we reached the gardens we parked up, bought tickets and walked down through an avenue of Agapanthus with Blackcaps everywhere and a Robin that showed on a branch just down the slope. We reached the Car Park area and managed to find a couple of Trocaz pigeons in a tree, we watched them and got some photos and then spent time following a pair of Madeiran Chaffinches flitting through the trees. There was a pair of Blackcaps in a tree in the field that gave reasonable views but still no good views of a male. We spent a little time chasing butterflies and watching the many Madeiran Wall Lizards that had taken over a rubble mound before moving further into the gardens. We met a young man from Serbia who was booked on the boat tomorrow, and he pointed out another couple of pigeons. David could hear Madeiran Firecrest so we scanned the trees and eventually, one appeared, it then flew down to some low bushes, where it gave reasonable views, but was not easy to photograph as it was so active. We made our way down towards the tea rooms, coming out in front of the hotel, which had a lawn in front of it with two Trocaz Pigeons poking about on it. We slowly walked on, coming down outside the tea rooms. One of the staff saw us and let us in, apparently, we shouldn’t have gone that way. We ordered tea and I had a very tasty veg quiche. Some very tame Madeiran Chaffinch hopped along the wall, picking up crumbs and several Perez frogs could be seen jumping into the pond as people walked by. We walked back up to the car by a different route, checking out the Kestrel and some butterflies in some rough ground with odd flowers spread across it. We drove up higher to look for butterflies. We stopped a couple of times and then stopped at an area that looked good for butterflies. We found Siskins in the tops of the trees and several butterflies which were mainly Meadow Browns. We drove on and found a better site with clouded yellow, pale clouded yellow and, eventually, Madeiran Greyling. We drove slowly down towards Machico, stopping at a site for Barn Owl. Unfortunately, there was no sign by dusk, and as the time was passing, we decided to move on, finding a burger bar just down the road. It turns out the owls don’t show until it is really dark. 

We headed back to the house, made a cup of tea and headed to bed.

Madeira - 16th - 22nd July

 We’ve been thinking of doing a short trip to Madeira for the pelagics to see Zion’s Petrel, among other things and this year we decided to go for it. We booked EasyJet flights, an Airbnb and a car plus three days of pelagics and a night walk with Windbirds. 

The journey to the airport was relatively painless, although we were a little late and the transfer went smoothly. Sean got off first, went on to the booking hall and we followed. We went to bag drop, negotiated the automatic system and went to find Sean. He had managed to leave his passport on his case as it went through onto the carousel. Some very helpful staff re-assured him it happened often and they would find it. After a stressful 20 minutes or so one of the men scrabbled around under the check in desk and found the passport where it had fallen down the side. Relief all round. 

Time was getting short so we headed to Smiths, bought a meal deal and headed to the gate, arriving as the plane was beginning to board. We located our seats, sorted out our bags and settled in for the flight to Funchal. 

The flight took us across the Chanel Islands, the Normandy peninsula, the bay of Biscay then across the top on northern Spain before heading across the sea for Madeira. We landed at Funchal, taxied, deplaned, went through passport control, collecting a stamp as we went and a short walk to the baggage claim Had us out remarkably quickly. Collecting the car took a bit longer but it was the most helpful, polite and friendly car collection we’ve had. We were offered 2 cars and given the one with the lowest mileage. We thought we had booked a second driver, but changes in the booking seemed to loose it but we were offered a choice of full to full or bring back empty plus second driver for 70€ so we took that option. The car was a Nissan Juke automatic and when we went to collect it, the man said he would have to go and find it. 

We set the phone sat nav for the Airbnb and followed the directions along the dual carriage way and along the levada until we turned left up the narrowest, steepest road to the road for the bnb. We settled in, went shopping at a local supermarket and then stopped at a hot food counter in another supermarket, which we took back to eat as it was getting so late.

Kruger - Day 10 - Return to Uk

 

Today was our last day and we were due back at Johannesburgh airport for our 21.40 flight home via Cairo.

We got up around 5.00 as usual and had a walk round exploring the camping area and finding a hide with great views over a waterhole. We had good views of Zebra and Buffalo drinking with flocks of doves coming and going.    

We walked back to the restaurant, getting slightly lost before being directed to the steps up from the swimming pool, had a lovely 'Sunrise' breakfast with added mushrooms then returned to our rooms and loaded up the car. 

We returned to the waterhole where we had views of Nyala, Zebra and Buffalo as well as a very close Yellow-billed Hornbill which hopped past the hide. the Nyala Bull was very reluctant to come to the waterhole and spent a lot of time hovering in the stream before coming into drink at the extreme left hand side.

We reluctantly returned to the car and set off on our 6+ hour drive back, stopping for the obligatory picture of the entrance Gate, and again as we left the Park at the Punda Maria Gate.

We then drove south, stopping for lunch at a service area before heading to the airport, negotiating our way to the car drop off, unloading, checking in and going through security ready for the homeward flight.

The stop over in Cairo gave us time to get something to eat and a drink, although my waffle took forever and wasn't what I expected and then we were on the onward leg to Heathrow.

We collected our luggage with David's and mine coming off early but Alan and Brenda's being among the last ones to appear. Then it was out into the cold to catch the bus, collect the car and head home after an amazing trip to the Kruger.