I went to Madeira in July and it was very great : thousands of pelagic birds, a lot of cetacean and all the endemics!
There are trip report and lots of info here :
http://madeira.seawatching.net/
Recent sightings here :
http://www.madeirabirds.com/trip_reports
Trocaz pigeon are easy at the levada of Ribeira da Janela a few km from Porto Moniz
a bit info about the seabirds :
-seawatching : the best place to see the breeding birds is Ponta da Cruz just west of Funchal, in the morning and mostly in the evening, you can see hundreds or thousands of cory's shearwaters, hundreds of bulwer's petrel (I counted 255 in 45 minutes one evening), and few manx shear, Fea's petrels are seen regularly and barolo's shear is more difficult.
Porto Moniz is the best spot for migrant seabirds but is less good for bulwer's petrel : hundreds of cory, only a few manx and bulwer but fea's is more common (it can be seen almost every day) and barolo's shear is also difficult here. Mid-august is a bit early for good number of migrant but it's possible to see the first few great shear and also a few skua (whit luck maybe a flock of adult long-tailed...).
From Lugar do Baixo, there are several sightings of barolo's shearwater thus it's maybe the best spot for them. the storm-petrels are very rarely seen from land.
Cory's shearwaters are nesting at Ponta do Garajau and just east of Porto Moniz. A few Madeiran storm-petrel can also be heard at Ponta do Garajau and at the mouth of Ribeira da Janela but are not easy...(and of course don't there are the zino's in the mountain)
-Boat trip : there are a lot of the whale wathing trip of 2-3 hours in Funchal, the best is rota dos cetaceos (
http://www.rota-dos-cetaceos.pt/) (they have fast inflatable boat and they can go further offshore than the other boat if it's needed to see the cetacean and thus also better for the birds). other good WW trip are Lobosonda in Calheta do mar (
http://lobosonda.com/), and Madeira Wind Birds from Caniçal (
http://www.madeirawindbirds.com/). generally, you'll mostly see cory's shearwater and probably 1 or 2 bulwers, rarely a manx, barolo or fea's). if you are min 4 birders, you can do an evening trip off Funchal with ventura do mar (
http://www.venturadomar.com/pelagic_tours.htm#d1), good number of bulwer's petrel and bigger chance to spot fea's petrel, manx and barolo's shearwater.
There are several trip to the Desertas Island, there are day trip for tourist from funchal by Madeira Wind Bird and Ventura Do Mar and they are both doing special trip for birders where you are there at night for the madeiran storm-petrel! the fea's petrel are normally easy to see (but number vary from 4-5 to 20+), only a few bulwer's petrel are seen at see whit the simple day trip (hundreds can be seen in the evening) but you can see the chiks in their burrow on the island! Cory's shearwater is common and all the other seabirds can be seen with luck. Madeira storm-petrel can maybe be seen at sea with the special trip of Madeira Wind Bird but like it's a new trip for this summer there are not sightings yet
You can also do a day trip to Porto Santo (
http://madeira.seawatching.net/porto.html) Madeiran storm-petrel are seen regularly at dusk from the ferry. Usually a few number of fea's petrel and bulwer's petrel are seen and barolo's shearwater is also possible
And finally, there are also the Zino's peltrel pelagic expedition where you can see all the possible seabirds in Madeira!
http://www.madeirawindbirds.com/en/tours/zinos_petrel_pelagic_expedition.html
For the cetaceans and other marine life :
-Bryde's whale : common south of Madeira, nearly garanteed with rota dos cetaceos and very often seen from caletheta do mar and seawatching from Ponta Da Cruz. it's also possible to see them near Funchal when you go to the desertas
-Sei Whale : scarce but regular from whale wathcing at calheta do Mar and rarely seen near Funchal or to the Desertas. Bryde's/Sei whale sp. can be seen from Porto Moniz
-Fin Whale : scarce south of Madeira but regularly seen while seawathcing at porto Moniz and the whale wathing trip from caniçal and the boat trips to the desertas
-sperm whale : uncommon south of funchal but more common off calheta do mar, caniçal, destertas and seawathing at Porto Moniz
-blainville's beaked whale : scarce off calheta do mar (very rare elsewhere)
-short-finned pilot whale : not very common but regularly seen from all the boat trip but very rarely seen from land
-rough-toothed dolphin : scarce south off funchal but regular off Calheta do Mar in summer
-atlantic spotted dolphin and bottlenose dolphin : very common and can be seen everywhere from land and boat
-striped dolphin : uncommon south of Madeira
-monk seal : rarely seen near funchal and the desertas, the best is probably the special pelagic trip to the desertas with Madeira Wind Bird
-sea turtle : (mostly loggerhead) fairly common and can be seen from all the boat trip when the sea is very calm
-hammerhead shark : regularly seen from ponta do pargo (and probably from boat and other seawathing spot)
-flying fish : common around the dertas
FD
