Madeira (1 Viewer)

[Hurricane]

We had a wonderful time in Madeira, such a beautiful place with welcoming people at every turn. It's like the Azores on mild steroids - more dramatic terrain, more developed commercially especially in Funchal, better restaurants and lodging, but still feels like a small oasis in the ocean. A 4 star hotel on the ocean cost just $180 per night with awesome breakfasts included. Very nice evening meals with wine from $20 - 40 each. The levada hiking was great, generally easy walks but quiet with great scenery. I spent 1/2 day with Hugo of WindBirds of Madeira as suggested by folks on this forum, a very nice fellow. As others have noted there are not a lot of birds on the island but they are worth the effort including the lovely Trocaz pigeon, Madeira chaffinch, common chiffchaff, plain swift, and island canaries. We heard and saw several Berthelot's pipits on the eastern peninsula along with shy spectacled warblers. My favorite was the diminutive Madeira firecrest, surprisingly easy to approach and observe. At several locations we had very close looks at the beautiful Eurasian kestrels gliding on breezes in sunlight. The bird of the trip was a long distance vagrant from Siberia, a yellow-browed warbler that Hugo had been observing since early December. In summary, a fine vacation spot for relaxing and enough bird life to make things interesting for the binocular crowd. I'd happily go back in April/May or September/October to pursue ocean-going birds like the storm petrels with Hugo and Catarina of WindBirds.