Just to update, that I have just returned from another weekend to Madeira, using Ryan Air from Manchester, and staying in Funchal, Friday 8 July to Monday 11 July 2022.
Costs included: -
£25 petrol
£16 park on my drive Heald Green, near the airport
£58 Ryan Air return flights (just taking ruck-sack on board - clothes, toiletries, binoculars)
5 euros each way Aerobus from arrivals area to Funchal. (Taxi is 30-35 euros each way)
£165 for 3 nights accommodation at Hotel Catedral (B & B) via booking.com, ideal as 2-minutes walk from harbour
£100 cash
80 euros VMT day trip to Desertas Islands with VMT (alternatives include Bonita do Madeira, or Ventura do Mar) - Wed / Sat only
28 euros afternoon 3-hour dolphin and whale trip with 'Sea Born' (truth of these trips is 1 hour dolphins, 2 hours by coast for swimming)
50 euros Windbirds Zino Petrel late evening trip to Pico do Arieiro
18 euros Cable Car Funchal to Monte, and ? cable car and entrance to Botannical Gardens.
Total cost = £550
I guess I am very lucky to have no mortgage now, at my age. Indeed, is twitching a rich man's hobby?
Flights on both legs, Friday and Monday, were very reasonably timed, departing early pm meaning arrival at Funchal and back home early evening, which added to the attraction as I was not arriving shattered, though the return flight was delayed for four hours due to strong winds. This can happen here, Easyjet delayed until following day!
Saturday 9th July 2022
After a great nights sleep and a hearty breakfast at my perfect, air-conditioned hotel, at 8.30am on Saturday 9th I trundled on down through the beautiful Funchal streets and harbour area, to the pre-booked
VMT Madeira catamaran departure point just 2-3 minutes away. The cruise to
Desertas Islands departs bang on 9am, and returns by 6pm. Take a hoody as it can get cool and breezy towards Desertas Islands. To be truthful, there is not much to do or see at Grand Desertas, where you can opt to disembark, but us birders are on this trip for the journey each way, not the location itself. But you can see why some have a feeling of ant-climax once they get there. You can only walk around 100 metres on tracks because it is a protected area.
VMT need a minimum of 12 to sail (on commercial grounds), and of course the trips can be cancelled if winds are too strong. When I was here a month ago, just 17 were on board, today 46 joined the cruise, but there was still good room to get a 'seaboard-seat'. I joined a Spanish birder and together we at least had 2 sets of eyes. I did move around depending on the angle of the sun. But if by yourself, I would choose the best side based on the light conditions on either side, and concentrate mainly on that side, but casting a cursory glance to the other routinely. Snacks were enjoyed and wc at hand. Again, for me, this relaxed-pelagic was the clear highlight, even though it was quieter overall than the previous identical trip, with only around 250 Cory's this time whereas there were probably 1000 last time. No 'Manxies' either this time, whereas they were quite common just a month ago. But there were 'goodies'. In fact, as we left the harbour, a Loggerhead Turtle was bobbing around by the surface, and Common Terns flew around but there were no Roseate Terns for me. For the first hour of the 2.5 hours 25 mile-trip, things were every quiet, though I enjoyed seeing 15 Flying Fish, and a Portuguese Man of War. A group of 200 Cory's were encountered sat on the sea, though nothing more rare was sat amongst them. But then around half-way across, I looked back and saw our 1st Pterodoma / Gadfly Petrel but it was 300 metres away, with the airport runway as a back drop which was probably five or even ten miles away. People often refer to this zone (opposite the airport) being a bit of a hot-spot, and the sea starts to swell up more as you get half-way across, in this section. Then, sixty metres to the starboard side, a small, lighter-looking ‘Gadfly’ petrel showed well for thirty seconds, possessing a clear pale under-wing bar, myself and the Spanish birder simultaneously said "Zino's", though I stress these assessments are subjective. Within the next hour, as we approached the very-choppy waters of Grand Desertas, 4 Desertas Petrels showed in flight, all at around one-hundred metres distance. Good stuff! Just 7 Bulwer's Petrels were seen on this outward section, which is a low number. The drawback of these 'non-specifically-birding' cruises, is that you spend 3 hours on Grand Desertas, though this time I opted to stay on the boat and snooze with a beer. You can transfer by dinghy to the shore, but there is really nothing to do except have a swim and sit on the rocks, or watch the Canaries and Bertholot’s Pipits that hang around the reserve centre. From the boat you can watch Common Terns fly around but the bonus today was the appearance of a huge Monk Seal that offered crippling close views two metres off the back of the catamaran, though people who went ashore missed this. People eventually returned to the boat after a couple of hours, and a meal was served, very nice beef, fish and vegetables and salad, which is all part of the 80 euros cost. With the wind ever increasing, we set off back towards Funchal, and overall it was very quiet but with a few goodies thrown in! Half-way back, another small gadlfy petrel 'rocketed' past us only twenty metres away, looking very small and compact with a pale mantle, and it instantly looked different in profile and size to the Desertas Petrels. We followed it for thirty seconds, and both of us felt confident that this was a Zino's Petrel. Twenty minutes later, another good candidate for Zino's Petrel flew to our right, around two-hundred metres away, again looking different to the Desertas Petrels. So that was 3 Zino's we felt we had seen. Although they are more common north of Madeira, E-bird reports suggest they can certainly be seen between Funchal and Desertas Islands. Another distant Gadfly petrel was then seen but we just couldn't say, but probably Desertas. The final 'gadfly' was a certain, larger Desertas that flew past, just thirty metres from the catamaran. Around 20 Bulwer's were seen on this return leg. Overall it was another great trip, with 11 'Gadfly' Petrels seen including 6 Desertas, 3 Zino’s, and 2 undesignated (I saw 6 Desertas Petrels on this trip a month ago but no putative Zino's), up to 30 Bulwer's Petrels, 250 Cory's, Monk Seal, 15 Flying Fish, Portuguese Man of War, and Loggerhead Turtle. I slept well that night after a MacDonalds 'crappy meal' and a couple of beers in my room watching 'Mad Max' on Fox channel.
Sunday 10th July 2022
A relaxed start, and a short walk past the bus station to the Cable car station, which I had pre-booked on-line. A fifteen-minute journey then takes you up to the pretty village of Monte, where a sign indicates that you walk for two minutes to the adjoining cable car back down to
The Botanical Gardens. You pay for a ticket for both at the kiosk here. It drops you off at the top of the gardens, where I spent two hours, meandering slowly downwards, amongst the shaded paths looking for Madeiran Firecrest, as I had only seen one individual on my last visit, and only briefly. But despite two hours of searching, I still couldn't find another of these blighters. Only Blackcaps, Blackbirds, Canaries, Grey Wagtail, Feral Pigeons, and Kestrels were seen ( I didn't need Trocaz Pigeon as I saw them last time). At the pond near the bottom, I saw my first Dragonfly, a Blue Emperor, which I was very pleased with until it dawned on me that in fact they were simply Emperor Dragonflies that I see routinely here in the UK. Doh! Brain-fart moment! The clue is in the feckin name! 🥴. Also at least 1 spectacular Monarch butterfly was seen. Anyway, I shared a taxi back down the short way to the hotel, and relaxed in the coolness of my room.
At 3pm, I joined my second catamaran cruise with a company in the harbour called '
Sea-born' for just 28 euros. This was crammed with young, body-beautiful types, and I was like a fish out of water, looking particularly-pervy with my binoculars
. I didn't really enjoy the three-hour cruise, with only the first section spent looking for cetaceans, though we immediately found a pod of 6 Bottlenose Dolphins, and later up to 20 Atlantic Spotted Dolphins. I noted 25 Cory's and 6 Bulwer's Petrels, but truthfully, was pleased to get back to port.
I rested in my room for a couple of hours, before being picked up at a designated spot at 9.10pm for the
Windbirds pre-booked trip costing 50 euros, to
Pico do Arieiro, to the Zino Petrels' breeding site. I had reservations about this, as I thought I would struggle with the steep inclines and declines, and possibly vertigo along the precipitous paths, and indeed I was conscious of slowing the group and at one point thought I wouldn't make it, being breathless. But I did, just! The paths were always fenced or had rock sides, and I didn't personally struggle due to the height or steepness as feared, it was just that I was breathless at times. Birds didn't start to show on what was a perfect moonlit night until 11.30pm, but over the next hour we had around 10 silhouettes of Zino's, and listening to their 'mournful calls' was memorable. I would add that not once did I see the silhouette of a bird up against the moon-lit sky, they were always down in the valley below. The white undersides were clear as they flashed past. Due to my slowness, I set off a little early before the rest of the group, with Hugo one of the two tour leaders accompanying me, and the climb back up was indeed difficult with around 200 steps up, taking forty minutes in all. Some of the rest of the group even caught me up, but I made it. Knee joints and lungs took a real pounding, and the canal paths of Wolverhampton just don't prepare you for the constant inclines and declines. You must be reasonably fit. I was embarrassed to be honest
. But at least I just made it. I was dropped back at the hotel at 1.15am.
I departed at 9am the following morning, back to the airport for my delayed Ryan Air flight to Manchester, but at least it wasn't cancelled and I arrived home at 9pm, very knackered from my previous nights' excursion but in one piece, just, but wrecked!
Based on my two VMT catamaran trips in June and now early-July, I conclude that you have an excellent chance of seeing ‘gadfly’ or ‘pterodroma’ petrels, notably Desertas Petrels, especially during the second half of the catamaran trip to Grand Desertas. However, the small petrel-species are seemingly getting scarcer and perhaps only react to chumming (via Windbirds), such as Madeiran, Wilson’s, British, and the highly-prized but rarer White-faced Petrel. Also, you may get better views of all species with the three-day 550-euros Windbirds package. Plus there are expert eyes on board.
Make sure you come at the right time of year for the ‘gadfly’ petrels, I think some of the suspected 85 pairs of Zino’s Petrels arrive a little bit earlier than the 140 pairs of Desertas Petrels, but June, July, and August through to September may provide this window of opportunity to see both ‘gadfly’ species. I am going to be a tad controversial now (but mean no offence), speaking to Hugo of Windbirds when I visited the Zino colony on Sunday night, I told him that we had 11 'gadfly' Petrels from the VMT catamaran between Funchal and Desertas Islands, including 3 suspected Zino's, to which he replied he thought that was unusual as most Zino sightings occur in the seas north of Madeira (where only Windbirds go). Yet looking at E-bird reports, there are quite a few Zino sightings south of Madeira, in fact just about as many have been reported there as to the north of Madeira. Furthermore, E-bird sightings including just last month, show photographed Zino's seen on their very-own trips 'south of Madeira', bang in the middle of the route Funchal to Desertas, so I suspect they can certainly be seen from commercial catamarans, but understandably Hugo is perhaps partly-protecting his own business interests. And they may indeed be seen more reliably and commonly north of Madeira. A photo of the E-bird map of sightings (blue and red, with red being recent) is attached below. For Desertas Petrels, I would say the commercial catamarans provide good opportunity as the trip to Desertas Islands lies in their primary area.
If you can book late, it enables you to look at 7-14 day weather patterns, but of course strong unpredictable winds can still lead to cancellation, so be prepared for this eventuality. Even Windbirds cancel their ribs from Machico if winds are too strong. I found my return flights at 58 quid with Ryan Air just ten days before departure. But maybe I was just lucky! There are ‘currently’ no covid-related requirements on Madeira except for wearing a mask inside. This of course, may change. Finally, do allow for three hours at Madeira Airport, for ticket scanning, security bag check, and then sometimes long passport control queues (as we are no longer in EU). Buying ‘fast-track’ at the Madeira end for an extra fiver is certainly worth considering. Also, if there are strong winds at Madeira, flights are often diverted to Porto Santo, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Grand Canarias, so you may have significant delays or diversions. Best to be aware of the situation here, than not at all.
Species List - abject total of 20 species
Zino's Petrel - 10 at Pico do Arieiro breeding site seen poorly, and 3 good candidates on VMT catamaran cruise to Grand Desertas.
Desertas / Fea's Petrel - 6 on VMT catamaran cruise to Grand Desertas.
(Also 2 'undesignated' Gadfly Petrels on VMT catamaran cruise to Grand Desertas).
Bulwer's Petrel - 28 on VMT catamaran cruise to Grand Desertas, 6 on Sea-Born catamaran cruise - total 34
Cory's Shearwater - approximately 250 seen
Common Tern - at least 12 seen
Yellow-legged Gull - at least 100 seen
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1 seen
Plain Swift - 100 seen at least
Canary - at least 15 seen
Linnet - 2 seen
Blackcap - at least 8 seen
Blackbird - around 40 seen
Grey Wagtail - 2 seen
Collared Dove - 1 seen
Feral Pigeon - around 300 seen
Grey Heron - 2 seen
Cayuga Mallard - at least 10 seen
Kestrel - around 10 seen
Sparrowhawk - 1 seen on way back to airport
Buzzard - 1 seen
Also: -
6 Bottle-nosed Dolphin
20 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
1 Portuguese Man of War
15 Flying Fish
1 Monk Seal
1 Blue Emperor Dragonfly
