The calm before the storm?

Today was a calm day. Of course, new discoveries were still made on the island - after all we are in October - but none of them was of major significance, especially regarding the events of the past few days. On the American side, a new Northern parula  - the third one for this year - and a new Red-eyed vireo were discovered by Hannu Palojarvi in Da Vinte, while a visit to the Caldeira produced White-rumped sand (1), Lesser yellowlegs (1), and a possible Rough-legged Hawk. Several American landbirds reported during a previous day that were still present on the island included one of the two Northern parulas still showing in the Tamarisk patch at the western end of the airstrip, the Cliff swallow briefly seen flying around Pico and over the High Fields, and the Buff-bellied pipit still lingering at the Reservoir for its 5th consecutive day. Several western Palearctic species were also reported during the day including Lapland bunting (2 present since 3rd October), Willow warbler (1), House martin (1 present since 2nd October), Glossy ibis (2+ present since 27 September), and Northern wheatear (1+ present since 3rd 0ctober).

'Greenland' Northern wheatear (O. o. leucorhoa), 3 October 2013, Grassland around the Reservoir, Corvo

As of this morning, 20 birders from 7 nationalities (Belgium, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain) were present on the island but in late afternoon, an additional group of 13 birders - including the first 5 British birders of the season - have found their way to The Rock. Such a large arrival at the onset of the second week of the month is certainly not attributable to chance alone: statistically speaking, both the second and third weeks of October have often produced the best birds of the autumn, so there is much hope tonight among us (33 birders in total!) that the forthcoming days will bring their share of surprises!

Northern parulas, American swallows and more...

With 20 birders spread all over the island for the second consecutive day, it was not long this morning before the first alert came on the walkie-talkie. Around 8.30am, Jens Sogaard Hansen made the exciting discovery of a first winter male Northern parula in the dense tamarisk patch at the western end of the airstrip. The circumstances of his discovery were rather intriguing. Birds such as vireos and wood-warblers can be tape-lured by playing the call of their own kind and attracted towards the observer in this way, so Jens was playing a few bird calls (using his mobile phone!) from the edge of the large tamarisk patch - in order to attract any potential skulker hiding in the middle - when something rather interesting happened: the Northern parula literally jumped out of the vegetation in response to the call of...White-eyed vireo! The bird only showed up for a brief moment before returning to the middle of the tamarisks again. News of this finding were immediately broadcasted on the walkie-talkie with birders quickly starting to converge towards the Lower Fields in an attempt to relocate the wood-warbler, which eventually showed up for a second time in response to the White-eyed vireo tape around 10am but later proved to be very difficult to observe with only brief and irregular sightings by a few observers.


Northern parula (1st winter male), 6 October 2013, Tamarisks in the Lower Fields, Corvo

Northern parula (1st winter male), 6 October 2013, Tamarisks in the Lower Fields, Corvo

In the meantime, two additional news came on the phone via sms: the first one was from Rafael Armada and Ferran Lopez Sanz who were starting to return from the wooded valleys and had discovered and subsequently observed during 1.5h 'three swallows' at the Lighthouse Valley...Tree swallow, American Cliff swallow and a European House martin. Pretty impressive! The second one came from Kalle Larsson who had found another wood-warbler, this time a Common yellowthroat, at Lapa around 12am. These combined news acted like a small thunderstorm among birders since the majority had now two or three new ticks in perspective for the afternoon. Plans were being discussed to call our local taximen, Joao, to reach the wooded valleys (Lapa and Lighthouse) as soon as posssible when Seppo Haavisto came on the walkie-talkie: "Tree swallow flying low over the Middle Fields". So, first stop with the taxi: Middle Fields. The Tree swallow was nowhere to be seen until Mika Bruun pinpointed towards a high, distant spot in the sky above the Mirador: a swallow...but which one? American Cliff swallow this time!...so, next stop with the taxi: Mirador -  where the Cliff was briefly seen and photographed, with at the same time more news on the walkie-talkie: a second Northern parula had been discovered by René-Marie Lafontaine in Da Ponte! 


American Cliff swallow, 6 October 2013, Mirador above Vila Nova do Corvo, Corvo

So, overall a very busy day on Corvo for most of us with at least 5 new American birds found on the island (2 Northern parulas, 1 Common yellowthroat, 1 Tree swallow, 1 Cliff swallow). The two wood-warblers and the Cliff swallow are regular autumnal vagrants on Corvo seen in fairly good numbers since 2005 (ca.10 records for both wood-warblers and 7 records for Cliff swallow). Tree swallow is the rarest species with only 8 WP records, including 5 records for Corvo (one in 2005, 2 in 2007, one in 2012, one this year).

More American landbirds on The Rock...

If each birding day on Corvo was to be ranked on a quality scale, today would probably be classified as an 'average' one. Perhaps one explanation for this is that with 20 birders now working hard to discover new birds on the island, many of us had hoped for a better issue to today's hunt than just 2 new birds, Red-eyed vireo and Indigo bunting. Both species are regular annual vagrants to Corvo in fair numbers and thus these findings are of somewhat minor importance to most of us. The Indigo bunting was initially flushed from a corn field behind the airstrip (Lower Fields) by Mika Bruun who by doing so offered a new 'tick' to his birding pal Petri Kuhno; the bird - a first winter male - was however not relocated subsequently. The Red-eyed vireo  - the third one this year - was discovered during the afternoon around the Windmill area by Kari Haataja who initially saw it flying inshore directly from the sea!  The vireo was refound in the nearby tamarisks and eventually showed up very well for the rest of the day, attracting quite many birders and photographers.


Red-eyed vireo, 5 October 2013, Windmill area, Corvo

Red-eyed vireo, 5 October 2013, Windmill area, Corvo

Other noteworthy records for today include the two wood-warblers found yesterday at Cantinho which were still greeting us with good views all day, one of the two Buff-bellied pipits still seen at the Reservoir in the afternoon and one Rose-breasted grosbeak still present along the dirty track between Fojo and Cancelas for its 5th consecutive day.   

What a day!

What makes Corvo such an attractive birding destination for western Palearctic listers is not merely the perspective of finding and twitching rare birds in the region, but also the hope that some of those rare birds will be American wood-warblers...those little colourful and beautiful creatures that are so enjoyable to the lucky observer. Their unobtrusive habits usually make them quite difficult to see as well, which adds a taste of victory when the 'connection' with the bird through binoculars actually happens.

Since 2005, several American wood-warbler species have been found annually on Corvo (except in 2007)  - with some years better than others - but as of yesterday night and after 7 complete days of active search, 2013 was still ranking last with no American wood warbler species on the list yet. This situation changed abruptly around 8.45 this morning when Kari Haataja gifted us with the discovery of a stunning male Black-throated blue warbler in the lower part of Cantinho, one of the largest wooded valley on Corvo.


Black-throated blue warbler (male), 4 October 2013, Ribeira do Cantinho, Corvo

The circumstances of the discovery were rather classical for a New World wood-warbler: a high sharp, frequently-called 'stip' which immediately attracted the birder's attention, followed by a patient wait to detect by eye the moving creature and finally the 'connection' with the bird through binoculars. With such a stunning male, identification was obviously straightforward and the news was released immediately by walkie-talkie. A few nearby birders managed to arrive on the spot within minutes and quickly cashed in with, in addition, several documenting photos obtained. The remaining birders (including myself) only managed to arrive 45 minutes after the initial discovery to hear that the bird was nowhere to be found. With a bit of luck and an additional 30 min. of active search, however, the bird was relocated further up in Cantinho. Every birder present on the island could now enjoy decent views of the wood-warbler and I eventually started to concentrate myself on the rather challenging task of obtaining the best of this restless beauty on the photo camera. The rest is history: 4 hours spent in Cantinho with the other photographers with another self-discovery while at work: a second wood-warbler, this time a Black-and-white warbler, gleaning insects along trunks at a short distance - less than 100m away - from the area favoured by the Black-throated blue. So, The Rock is on fire: we welcome the freshly arrived group of 10 new birders this late afternoon not only with one, but with two delightful American wood-warblers that everyone managed to twitch without problem.



Black-throated blue warbler (male), 4 October 2013, Ribeira do Cantinho, Corvo



Black-and-white warbler, 4 October 2013, Ribeira do Cantinho, Corvo

The importance of Kari's finding today is high since the Black-throated blue warbler constitutes only the 6th record in the western Palearctic following two previous records in Iceland (1988 & 2003) and 3 previous ones on Corvo (1 in 2005 and 2 in 2006). There are many more records of Black-and-white warbler in the western Palearctic and this is also the fourth for Corvo, following single in 2009, 2010 and 2012.  This latter species is nevertheless a nice addition to the daily log, making today one of those unforgettable days spent on Corvo that entirely justifies the physically-challenging efforts invested on this island in finding the 'good' birds. And with at least 3 additional weeks of intense birding activity to come and more than 20 birders actively searching the island from tomorrow morning onwards, the rest of the autumn looks very promising! 

American Buff-bellied pipits and more...

For their very first visit to the high-altitude grassland area around the Reservoir, Richard Ek and Jesper Segergren did pretty well today with the discovery of two American Buff-bellied pipits. The news came around 12am while most of the remaining birders were still 'working hard' inside the wooded valleys. American Buff-bellied pipit is quite regular on Corvo (first one found in 2005 and then annually between 2009 and 2012), so the finding did not immediately attract many birders on the spot. However, with no other interesting discovery made on the island by 2pm, a visit to the Reservoir to photograph and enjoy good views of the pipits was the only thing that could "save the day"!
So, by mid-afternoon, a small group (Mika Bruun, Petri Kuhno, Bosse Carlsson and myself) undertook the physically-demanding ascension towards the Reservoir where one of the two Buff-bellied pipits was still showing well and provided good photographing opportunities.

American Buff-bellied pipit, 3 October 2013, Grassland around the Reservoir, Corvo

Soon after the photo shoot ended around 4pm, it was the high-pitched voice of Kari Haataja that came on the walkie-talkie to drop the exciting news of an unidentified falcon briefly seen flying west from the Mirador above the village. The chances of it being of American origin were quite high - after all this is Corvo - so Mika and I got immediately interested to try our luck with that bird despite an important issue: walking from the Reservoir to the Mirador using the regular road and path network was time consuming and the chances that the falcon would be gone by the time we could make it to the Mirador were high. So we opted for a more straightforward and brutal solution: crossing directly through the grassland - which means jumping above stone walls, fences and rows of hydrangeas - to reach Cova Vermelha, a vantage point located west of the Mirador, as soon as possible. That strategy eventually paid off as we managed to reach that area within 10-15 min and to relocate the bird - a Peregrine falcon - flying high in the sky. With a bit of patience and luck, a few decent shots were obtained with a rather unequivocal verdict: Arctic Peregrine falcon (juvenile plumage, F. p. tundrius) or in other words, one of the 2 Arctic subspecies/races of Peregrine falcon that breed in Greenland and Arctic Canada (the other Arctic subspecies being the ssp. calidus from Arctic Siberia).

From the photographs provided below, a juvenile individual of the subspecies calidus can be easily discarded based on size (these are obviously larger birds) while the key features that are indicative of the 'tundrius' subspecies here (as opposed to nominate 'peregrinus') are the pale fore crown and cap, uniform pale cheek, slightly longer wings, more brown-grey upper parts (not visible on the two images below), and narrow and relatively large malar stripe.

Arctic Peregrine falcon (juvenile, ssp. tundrius), 3 October 2013, vantage point west of Mirador, Corvo

Arctic Peregrine falcon (juvenile, ssp. tundrius), 3 October 2013, vantage point west of Mirador, Corvo

Thus, overall today was a pretty entertaining day despite a rather slow start this morning. Tomorrow, a large group of birders will join us on Corvo, so there is certainly hope for some exciting new discoveries...time will tell! 

Wilson's snipe!

Today saw little advancements in terms of landbird discoveries. The Rose-breasted grosbeak found yesterday in Fojo was relocated in the morning while a second bird was found a few hours later in the lower part of Da Ponte by Jesper Segergren. The debate remains open on whether this latter individual is the one discovered by René-marie yesterday (rather high along the Caldeira road) or is a new one as none of these two sightings have been documented with a photo. The maximum number of Rose-breasted grosbeaks found on Corvo during a single season is two (this happened both in autumn 2005 & 2006), so we are presently missing an opportunity to raise the annual record for Corvo to 3! During the afternoon, a new Red-eyed vireo was discovered by Richard Ek in Poço de Agua and a House martin was observed and well-photographed by Jesper at the Mirador.

Other noteworthy records for today include a snipe self-discovered from the taxi during the early morning drive from the guesthouse to the wooded valleys. Some of us managed to photograph the bird directly from inside the taxi (thanks to our very cooperative taxi driver, Joao) and brief flight views were also obtained. After careful examination, both flight views and photographs of the bird on the ground pinpoint towards a Wilson's snipe. Some of the features that could be studied based on the images obtained and that are indicative of this species include heavily barred flanks, barred tertials, rufous tail and nape, cream-coloured stripes on back, and a rather short bill and typical facial pattern. The bird was also briefly observed in flight and presented a very thin white trailing edge to the wings, which is strongly indicative of Wilson's as opposed to Common snipe.

Wilson's snipe, 2 October 2013, Fields close to Da Ponte, Corvo

During late afternoon, a photo shoot of Semipalmated/Ringed plovers was the only activity that Mika Bruun and I found entertaining as the presence of two birds (two 1st winter individuals) side by side on the western rocky shore provided an interesting opportunity to study the differences between these two species both in the field and later based on the images obtained.


Semipalmated plover (front) and Ringed plover, 2 October 2013, western shore, Corvo

Sanderling (left) and Ringed plover, 2 october 2013, western shore, Corvo

 

The season for American landbirds has officially started!

What a relief! Just as hoped, the first day of October has paid off and the first American passerines are now in the bag. The good news came around 11.30 am when I was fortunate enough to spot a young male Rose-breasted grosbeak moving slowly along the tree line on the southern part of Fojo. The first sight was only brief but clear enough to allow a straightforward identification. I almost immediately released the news of this discovery to the nearby birders (by walkie-talkie) who quickly appeared on the spot in an attempt to relocate the bird. The grosbeak was eventually refound after 15-20 min, this time allowing us prolonged views and providing decent photographing opportunities. And as good news never comes alone, a second Rose-breasted grosbeak  was briefly seen around noon by René-marie Lafontaine feeding within a small group of chaffinches in the grassland along the Caldeira road, while later in the afternoon Richard Ek and Jesper Segergren found the first Red-eyed vireo of the autumn in the lower part of Lapa. Other noteworthy sightings today include Semipalmated sandpiper (2) and a distant Rough-legged buzzard (perhaps a North American one?) at the Caldeira and a Corncrake flushed in the grassland between Fojo and Cancelas.

With the first 3 american landbirds on the log tonight, there is now tangible proof that Corvo has been served by the low-pressure moving over the island since last week...with surely more individuals to be discovered out there in the next days!

Rose-breasted grosbeak (1st winter male), 1 October 2013, Fojo, Corvo

Rose-breasted grosbeak (1st winter male), 1 October 2013, Fojo, Corvo