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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Sal, Cape Verde, April 2018 (2 Viewers)

Stephen Dunstan

Stephen Dunstan

Registered User
Off to Sal for a couple of weeks tomorrow and will post as I go.

It's an island lots of birders just pass through en route to others holding the endemic and localised species. It is well placed to get Cape Verde migrants from the east though, and has habitat at Terra Boa to hold them.

Last year I went for 10 days and the highlights other than the local birds (Cream Coloured Courser, Brown-necked Raven, Hoopoe Larks, Tropicbirds etc) included:-

- the first Rosy Starling for the Cape Verdes

- CV's sixth Yellow Wagtail (a male, probably thunbergi)

- two Collared Pratincoles, less than 20 CV records

- the first Night Heron for Sal

A chap called Uwe Thom lives on Sal and has started taking bird pictures this year. Already he has had a first for the Cape Verdes, Desert Wheatear, as well as locally notable species including Chiffchaff (thought by Killian Mullarney to be tristis) Common Starling and Common Redstart.
 
Day 1

Initial efforts were rather truncated as our plane had to make an 'emergency' landing on Gran Canaria because the toilets were full!!

As the plane came in to Sal it was clear the tidal lagoons by our hotel, the Riu Palace, were empty and therefore low priority. As the airport transfer coach dropped others from the plane off it was a bit of a surprise to see 24 Cattle Egret on the relatively small lawns in front of the TUI Sensimar. A presumed Alexander's Kestrel was seen at close range from the moving coach.

I was graciously given an hour to have a wander before nightfall. The Santa Maria sewage farm is ten minutes brisk walk from the hotel so I headed there. The highlight in Sal terms was a Night Heron, seen well in flight, but a Brown-necked Raven was also notable so close to town as I had struggled to see these well last year. There were also c50 Little Egret, 8 Collared Doves, a few calling Quail and a presumed Tree Pipit which refused to show well.
 
Day 2

An early morning seawatch from the beach for just under an hour before breakfast produced no birds whatsoever. Last year was generally quiet but did produce Red-billed Tropicbirds and Cape Verde Shearwater so I will persist on and off.

Leaving the hotel I went through an area not known for anything much at all and was thus very surprised to encounter an American Golden Plover! There had been a couple a while back elsewhere on the island but no recent sightings.

The sewage farm produced nothing new and I headed to the old saltpans also north of the town. Birds seen included Black-winged Stilt, Little Stint, Greenshank, Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Turnstone.

After lunch I went north towards Ponta Preta. Bar-tailed Larks showed down to a few feet in the dunes. At Ponta Preta two Cream Coloured Coursers showed really well. I saw plenty of Cattle Egrets to the north and went to explore. Another sewage farm was the source of their interest, and in addition to the waders at the saltpans there were c15 Wood Sands, 2 Common Sands and at least one Curlew Sand. The first Greater Hoopoe Larks and Black-crowned Sparrow Larks were also seen and a Marsh Harrier went through.

Heading back via the smaller sewage farm again the Night Heron was seen again.
 
We're going to the Riu Palace in May, directions to some of your birding locations would be appreciated ?? Tropic birds would be a lifer for me. I'll keep tuned in to your posts, great info, thanks
 
neilh said:
We're going to the Riu Palace in May, directions to some of your birding locations would be appreciated ?? Tropic birds would be a lifer for me. I'll keep tuned in to your posts, great info, thanks
Click to expand...

No problem, happy to help. Unfortunately the area next to the hotel itself is dry. Last year it held a good variety of waders.
 
Ah yes, that sewage farm! I enjoyed my walks, and bike rides out there and back through the town. Looking forward to the rest of your reports.
 
Day 3

As you were really. A pre-breakfast seawatch again drew a blank. I bumped into local birder Uwe who said that there haven't been many seabirds for a while. Hiked out to Sierra Negra where tropicbirds were easy last year and didn't see any.

The American Golden Plover continues to show really well by the hotel. The larger sewage farm beyond Ponta Preta held similar stuff to yesterday but presumably I had missed a few Curlew Sands of which there were at least eight.

Uwe had five Bee-eaters over Santa Maria late afternoon. I didn't see them but I am going to Terra Boa with him tomorrow where there have been up to 26 so hoping to put that right, hopefully in style.
 
Day 4

Today I went to Terra Boa with local birder Uwe Thom. For those not familiar with Sal this a cultivated area north of the main town Espartos and a relatively long drive from Santa Maria where most tourists stay. The habitat is unlike anywhere else on the island so if you can get there it's worth a visit.

In terms of local specialities all the landbirds are easy at Terra Boa. Black-crowned Sparrow Lark shows a lot better than most other locations. In particular though Cream Coloured Coursers are ridiculously easy, in the south you can go several days without seeing one whereas here there are birds just about everywhere you look. It is the only place on Sal where you can easily see Blackcap and, perhaps more relevant to most readers, Spectacled Warbler.

Uwe had seen a Buzzard (first known island record) and 26 Bee-eaters (Cape Verde vagrant!!) on Monday. To cut to the chase we saw the Buzzard well and up to 11 Bee-eaters, though they disappeared during the morning. We also had a Wheatear, a couple of presumed Cape Verde Swifts as well as regular species of which Spanish Sparrow I had struggled most with.

After the event we compared images of the Buzzard and it appears to be the local race of Common Buzzard, which was always most likely though recent easterly winds had got me wondering.
 
Day 5

Uwe Thom has been seeing Desert Warblers regularly over the winter on the outskirts of Sal. We went to the area they favour today. After an initial lack of sightings one started singing. We saw at least two birds, a minimum of one male and one apparent female but I couldn't really argue with Uwe's assertion that there are two males in the area as we saw them in both places he said they favour. This was an extreme vagrant to Cape Verde before these records so apparent colonisation is something of a surprise.

Otherwise today's highlights were as follows:-

- the American Golden Plover is still near the hotel

- a group of five Bee-eaters were at Ponta Preta late afternoon but left east

- a Marsh Harrier was to the north east of Ponta Preta, for anyone planning to visit Sal and not hire a car / use taxis it may also be relevant that a singing Spectacled Warbler was in the same area (to the south of the sewage works with large green tanks)
 
Day 6 part one

A lazy morning on the beach was enlivened by two Brown Boobies sweeping past several times over the surf. I got the best photo I will ever take from a sun lounger, I will put it up later.

Intermittent 'proper' seawatching during the time on the sands didn't produce any other seabirds, not that that was really an issue in the circumstances!
 
Day 6 part two

After lunch I headed out to the sewage farm north east of Ponta Preta where most waders appeared to be residing at the moment. Working through the area south of the farm a Red-throated Pipit went up, the first of the trip so far.

At the farm itself an American Golden Plover was seen well, and appeared to be the bird previously in Santa Maria most of the week.

On the way back to the hotel three Cream Coloured Coursers showed well south of Ponta Preta.
 
Last edited:
Day 7

Went back to the Desert Warbler area, this time with the card in the camera. Sod's law they weren't as co-operative but did get some pictures.

There were two Night Herons at the Santa Maria sewage farm. At the farm beyond Ponta Preta the American Golden Plover, Red-throated Pipit and Marsh Harrier were all still about and I finally managed to add Ruff to the waders on the trip list with at least a couple about. For those who don't know there have been a White-rumped Sandpiper and a Marsh Sandpiper on Boavista so careful scrutiny of the waders could deliver.

On the way back to the hotel later afternoon there was a Greenshank in a roadside pool, and shortly after this my attention was drawn to an unusual lark (i.e. apparently not one of the three resident species). There appeared to be two together, but they were very flighty and I only ever saw one on the ground. Anyway, to get to the point the pictures I eventually managed to get confirmed by suspicion that at least one was a Greater Short-toed Lark. This was the fourth record for the Cape Verdes, and a fitting end to the first week of the holiday.
 
Good reports Stephen, can you post some directions to the different sewerage works, or any other sites of interest from the Riu Palace please, and roughly how far they are on foot. Thanks
 
neilh said:
Good reports Stephen, can you post some directions to the different sewerage works, or any other sites of interest from the Riu Palace please, and roughly how far they are on foot. Thanks
Click to expand...

The Santa Maria one is about half a mile away. At the end of the entrance road look directly across and there is a 'fake' giant palm tree (for mobile phone aerials I assume). You can see trees left of this and a white building left of those. This is the site.

The one north east of Ponta Preta is about three miles away. At the Ponte Preta roundabout if you look north east there are two large green tanks and it is this general area.

In the unlikely event that there is a monsoon before you come the are south of the hotel held lots of waders last April, but unfortunately it's dry now.

If you want the Desert Warbler site message me an email address.

Stephen
 
Days 8 and 9

I didn't do any meaningful birding on Day 8, but the Short-toed Larks were still present.

On Day 9 I went to the sewage farm north east of Ponta Preta in the morning. Nothing new, but the Red-throated Pipit and Marsh Harrier were still present.

In the afternoon I got a taxi to Murdeira and walked back down the coast. Highlight was good views of a couple of Osprey, but the trip list addition was a Grey Heron.

The Short-toed Larks were present early evening in the same area.
 
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