We were up well before dawn on the 27th April. The ship was sailing towards Praia & was approximately 12 nautical miles offshore.
Dawn advanced slowly as it was an overcast morning & extremely windy. In the next hour we managed to see 3 Cape Verde Shearwaters; Boyd's Shearwater & a distant Feas Petrel. We managed to miss a Cape Verde Storm Petrel which was only seen by a few observers. Bizarrely we saw a Common Quail flying low over the waves heading for land!
As we entered the port we noted a Little Egret on the shoreline & a group of six Alexander's Swifts were flying around the storage tanks. Spanish Sparrows were breeding in the port lights. I have always thought this was a countryside species, but not here on the Cape Verdes.
Then it was all about entry formalities & final packing for our day out. Oceanwide had arranged a full days birding trip around the island in four small mini buses with two local bird guides. It turned out to be an excellent day.
Our first stop was at some arid plains dotted with acacia bushes where we saw two Cream-coloured Coursers & a Greater Hoopoe Lark. Both Cape Verde & Spanish Sparrows were common in the bushes & several Spectacled Warblers were noted.
The local race of Grey-headed Kingfisher proved to be very common & tame. Several Alexander's Kestrels were also seen.
We briefly visited the Jardin de Botanico & managed to score with a couple of Cape Verde Buzzards! This is a declining species on the island & we were very fortunate to see this species. High in the mountains we could see both Brown necked Ravens & a couple of Alexander's Swifts. Eurasian Blackcaps were singing all around us.
A stop at Barragem de Poilao proved to be a waste of time as it was completely dry! There has been no water here for several years now. However we did manage point blank views of both Cape Verde Sparrow & Spectacled Warbler.
The only freshwater we could find was at Achada Fazenda Lagoon. A Western Reef Heron was fishing; 4 Kentish & 2 Common Ringed Plovers were seen, as well as 2 Ruddy Turnstone & a Common Greenshank. But no Bourne's Heron!
A stop at some sugar cane fields provided us with the much wanted Cape Verde Swamp Warblers & 3 birds were seen but proved hard to photograph!
Our last stop was at Praia Cliffs which according to the guide was a poor imitation of what it was a few years ago due on rapid & on-going construction. We managed to see 3 Red billed Tropicbirds & a couple of Alexander's Swifts.
28th April was a chill out day! Delana & I have been on the move since 24th February & we needed to recharge our batteries. We spent the morning in the apartment, mainly outside looking over an empty sea. Then we walked into town for supplies along the coast. Birds were scarce but we recorded Little & Cattle Egrets; 6 Ruddy Turnstone; Alexander's Kestrel; Grey headed Kingfisher & plenty of both Cape Verde & Spanish Sparrows.
The next two days was more of the same, but with a nice walk to a bar/restaurant along the coast on one day & a nice meal in the apartment on the other. It was a nice laid back few days here. I think both of us were exhausted after the last few weeks of being permanently on the go.
We flew out on Azores Airways on 1st May.
