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Lands of Priolo, In Search of the Endemic
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<blockquote data-quote="Jos Stratford" data-source="post: 3366301" data-attributes="member: 12449"><p><strong><u>15 February. Sierra da Tronqueira, Lagoa das Furnas & Lagoa Azul.</u></strong></p><p></p><p>Day two on the islands, dawn on the Tronqueira track, scanning the stunted laurels a couple of kilometres up from the Povoação junction. Large flocks of mixed<strong> Island Canaries</strong> and <strong>Chaffinches</strong>, <strong>Blackcaps</strong> and <strong>Robins</strong> in song, several <strong>Wood Pigeons </strong>flying over. Given I was going to be checking exactly the same areas as the day before, I was now less than certain I would find the desired <strong>Azores Bullfinch</strong>. </p><p></p><p>Today however would be quite different - less than two minutes after arriving, two <strong>Azores Bullfinches</strong> flew directly overhead, appearing to land in shrubs just up the slope. Hiked up a small path in pursuit, lots of bird activity in the area, but try as I might, I could not find the birds again. </p><p></p><p>Not entirely satisfied, I eventually continued along the track, taking a side road a few kilometres further. Via a series of steep slopes, this offers access to another area of open laurel forest - I walked the track through here for about half an hour, then began to drive back along the track again. Two hundred metres and I stopped, a sharp intake of breathe, two <strong>Azores Bullfinch</strong> feeding on the track! Wow, what crackers ...typical chunky things, warm plumage, soft browny buff rumps. Onto red flowers they flitted, feeding on the buds for a while. Then, the finale, up they flew to land in a bush just above my head, now nicely lit by the morning sunshine. Ah perfect, an entire day searching the day before and here, in less than an hour, I had bumped into two pairs, this latter two giving stunning views.</p><p></p><p>So with that, I continued up to the summit viewpoint, failed to find any more <strong>Azores Bullfinch</strong>, then decided to depart Tronqueira and explore the rest of the island. First stop the nearby Furnas area - steaming thermal springs, sulphur vents, hot bubbling mud, many signals of the island's volcanic origins. And in their midst, the large Lagoa das Furnas, one of the relatively few freshwater lakes on the island. Plenty of <strong>Chaffinches </strong>in the woodland edges, several<strong> Grey Wagtails</strong> trotting about the car park, but I was here to scan the lake - not actually many birds present, but always a chance of something good. Quickly found a long-staying <strong>Shelduck</strong> (tenth record for the Azores or something similar), carefully looked at the handful of <strong>Eurasian Coots</strong> for potential American cousins, then scanned the dabbling ducks. A grand total of fifteen birds present - six <strong>Mallards</strong>, seven <strong>Eurasian Wigeons</strong> and, the first Nearctic birds of the trip, a rather nice pair of <strong>American Wigeons</strong>. A nearby loop through farmland added a couple of<strong> Little Egrets </strong>and a vagrant <strong>Cattle Egret</strong>. Also saw a bat flying around near here, I believe an <strong>Azores Noctule</strong>, the only mammalian endemic on the island (quite a number of bat boxes were placed in trees at the eastern end of the lake in a project to assist this endangered species).</p><p></p><p>Now midday, I decided to travel to the opposite end of the island and visit Lagoa Azul, a large lake sitting inside an impressive volcanic crater. Harbouring several long-staying rarities, including <strong>Pied-billed Grebe </strong>and <strong>American Coot</strong>, it was a very pleasant area to spend the afternoon. From a causeway that splits the lakes in the crater, I very quickly located the <strong>American Coot</strong>, the bird sitting just offshore with a half dozen <strong>Eurasian Coots</strong>, one <strong>Moorhen</strong> also present for good measure. I presumed the <strong>Pied-billed Grebe</strong> should be in this same area, but it did not seem to be around. Spent the next couple of hours exploring the shores of the lake, three <strong>Black-tailed Godwits</strong> occupying an area of flooded grassland, a flock of <strong>Common Waxbills </strong>nearby. Then spotted a small flock of ducks tucked up against a far shore - very distant, but Aythya ducks for sure. Perhaps the <strong>Pied-billed Grebes</strong> might be over there too, I thought, so I drove round, taking a very small track that flanked the northern shore. Got to the spot, no Pied-billed Grebe, but the ducks turned out to be three smart <strong>Ring-necked Ducks</strong>, two males and a female, and a female <strong>Greater Scaup</strong>. Nice, more American birds, presumably the<strong> Greater Scaup </strong>also of Nearctic origin.</p><p></p><p>Then moved over to the adjacent Lagoa Verde to continue the search for <strong>Pied-billed Grebe</strong>. Not there either, just a few <strong>Grey Herons</strong> and a<strong> Little Egret</strong>. As the sun dipped beneath the rim of the volcanic crater, a demented <strong>Grey Wagtail</strong> appeared, fighting against its image in the car mirror. I then returned to Ponta Delgada, a very successful day under the belt.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jos Stratford, post: 3366301, member: 12449"] [B][U]15 February. Sierra da Tronqueira, Lagoa das Furnas & Lagoa Azul.[/U][/B] Day two on the islands, dawn on the Tronqueira track, scanning the stunted laurels a couple of kilometres up from the Povoação junction. Large flocks of mixed[B] Island Canaries[/B] and [B]Chaffinches[/B], [B]Blackcaps[/B] and [B]Robins[/B] in song, several [B]Wood Pigeons [/B]flying over. Given I was going to be checking exactly the same areas as the day before, I was now less than certain I would find the desired [B]Azores Bullfinch[/B]. Today however would be quite different - less than two minutes after arriving, two [B]Azores Bullfinches[/B] flew directly overhead, appearing to land in shrubs just up the slope. Hiked up a small path in pursuit, lots of bird activity in the area, but try as I might, I could not find the birds again. Not entirely satisfied, I eventually continued along the track, taking a side road a few kilometres further. Via a series of steep slopes, this offers access to another area of open laurel forest - I walked the track through here for about half an hour, then began to drive back along the track again. Two hundred metres and I stopped, a sharp intake of breathe, two [B]Azores Bullfinch[/B] feeding on the track! Wow, what crackers ...typical chunky things, warm plumage, soft browny buff rumps. Onto red flowers they flitted, feeding on the buds for a while. Then, the finale, up they flew to land in a bush just above my head, now nicely lit by the morning sunshine. Ah perfect, an entire day searching the day before and here, in less than an hour, I had bumped into two pairs, this latter two giving stunning views. So with that, I continued up to the summit viewpoint, failed to find any more [B]Azores Bullfinch[/B], then decided to depart Tronqueira and explore the rest of the island. First stop the nearby Furnas area - steaming thermal springs, sulphur vents, hot bubbling mud, many signals of the island's volcanic origins. And in their midst, the large Lagoa das Furnas, one of the relatively few freshwater lakes on the island. Plenty of [B]Chaffinches [/B]in the woodland edges, several[B] Grey Wagtails[/B] trotting about the car park, but I was here to scan the lake - not actually many birds present, but always a chance of something good. Quickly found a long-staying [B]Shelduck[/B] (tenth record for the Azores or something similar), carefully looked at the handful of [B]Eurasian Coots[/B] for potential American cousins, then scanned the dabbling ducks. A grand total of fifteen birds present - six [B]Mallards[/B], seven [B]Eurasian Wigeons[/B] and, the first Nearctic birds of the trip, a rather nice pair of [B]American Wigeons[/B]. A nearby loop through farmland added a couple of[B] Little Egrets [/B]and a vagrant [B]Cattle Egret[/B]. Also saw a bat flying around near here, I believe an [B]Azores Noctule[/B], the only mammalian endemic on the island (quite a number of bat boxes were placed in trees at the eastern end of the lake in a project to assist this endangered species). Now midday, I decided to travel to the opposite end of the island and visit Lagoa Azul, a large lake sitting inside an impressive volcanic crater. Harbouring several long-staying rarities, including [B]Pied-billed Grebe [/B]and [B]American Coot[/B], it was a very pleasant area to spend the afternoon. From a causeway that splits the lakes in the crater, I very quickly located the [B]American Coot[/B], the bird sitting just offshore with a half dozen [B]Eurasian Coots[/B], one [B]Moorhen[/B] also present for good measure. I presumed the [B]Pied-billed Grebe[/B] should be in this same area, but it did not seem to be around. Spent the next couple of hours exploring the shores of the lake, three [B]Black-tailed Godwits[/B] occupying an area of flooded grassland, a flock of [B]Common Waxbills [/B]nearby. Then spotted a small flock of ducks tucked up against a far shore - very distant, but Aythya ducks for sure. Perhaps the [B]Pied-billed Grebes[/B] might be over there too, I thought, so I drove round, taking a very small track that flanked the northern shore. Got to the spot, no Pied-billed Grebe, but the ducks turned out to be three smart [B]Ring-necked Ducks[/B], two males and a female, and a female [B]Greater Scaup[/B]. Nice, more American birds, presumably the[B] Greater Scaup [/B]also of Nearctic origin. Then moved over to the adjacent Lagoa Verde to continue the search for [B]Pied-billed Grebe[/B]. Not there either, just a few [B]Grey Herons[/B] and a[B] Little Egret[/B]. As the sun dipped beneath the rim of the volcanic crater, a demented [B]Grey Wagtail[/B] appeared, fighting against its image in the car mirror. I then returned to Ponta Delgada, a very successful day under the belt. [/QUOTE]
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