We have visited Madeira twice before - the first time was in September 1993 when I won a week's stay at The Savoy Hotel in a competition in The Mail on Sunday newspaper and the second time was in September 2001 when this time we had to pay for our trip ourselves. It had become noticeably more built up and developed in the 18 years between our visits with the roads especially much improved and so it was on our visit this time with even more road building going on. However despite this huge areas of the island are still totally untouched and it is as stunningly beautiful as ever.
Paul do Mar, Madeira
Monarch
Monarch
We spent our first morning in Funchal before heading up to Monte on the cable car to visit the Botanical Gardens and I saw more common terns, yellow-legged gulls and plain swifts on our wanderings along with grey wagtail, robin, blackbird, blackcap, chaffinch, farmyard type mallards, muscovy ducks and (captive) mute swans.
Yellow-legged Gulls, Funchal Harbour
Common Tern, Funchal Waterfront
Common Tern, Funchal Waterfront
Blackbird (Turdus merula cabrerae), Monte Palace Gardens
Chaffinch, Monte Palace Gardens
Fringilla coelebs maderensis
Chaffinch, Monte Palace Gardens
Chaffinch, Monte Palace Gardens
Chaffinch, Monte Palace Gardens
Funchal Market
East Atlantic Sally Lightfoot Crab ( Grapsus adscensionis), Funchal Waterfront
Painted Lady, Funchal Promenade
Speckled Wood, (Pararge aegeria), Monte Palace Gardens
Madeiran Wall Lizard, Monte Palace Gardens
Perez's Frog (Introduced), Monte Palace Gardens
Long-tailed Blue, Funchal Promenade
Long-tailed Blue, Funchal Promenade
Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Funchal Promenade
Common Wall Gecko, Hotel
Monday July 15th and it was time to explore outside of Funchal and so we headed off for the day to the neighbouring island of Porto Santo by ferry, a 2 hour 15 minute trip each way. The ferry terminal was just a few minutes walk away from our hotel which was handy as we had to be at the terminal by 7:30am for the 8am crossing. We upgraded to a first class ticket which gave us access to the first class lounge complete with a breakfast and dinner buffet and a viewing deck right across the front of the boat above the bridge.
While waiting to sail out of the harbour I watched common terms flying around and resting on the quay and was very pleased to find an adult roseate tern amongst them, a good start to the day.
Roseate Tern (record shot), Funchal Harbour
As we headed out of the harbour the breeze was very noticeable as we headed into the wind and the seas were noticeably choppy but after wolfing down my breakfast I was out on deck watching lots of Cory's shearwaters living up to their name as they flew across the waves close to the boat. Viewing through binoculars was difficult in the wind but as we neared the Desertas Islands I picked up a Fea's type petrel flying past, a bird I hoped to see but wasn't really expecting too, and eventually I managed to see another 3 individuals including a definite Fea's petrel showing a distinct dark 'm' (or 'w') across the upperwings as it passed nearer to the boat than the others.
After passing the eastern tip of Madeira the sightings dwindled other than the odd Cory's shearwater but eventually I began to pick up a few Bulwer's petrels skittering low over the waves, another bird I was hoping to see.
Arriving in the harbour at Porto Santo and common terms and yellow-legged gulls were flying around and on the walk into the main town of Vila Baleira I saw collared doves, kestrels, buzzards, blackcaps, plain swifts and Spanish sparrows along with monarchs, small whites and long-tailed blues and Madeiran wall lizards.
Yellow-legged Gulls, Porto Santo
Spanish Sparrow, Porto Santo
We spent the day sitting on the beach watching common terns fishing, including a very confiding juvenile, and enjoyed ice creams and mojitos and a swim in the sea before it was time to walk back to the harbour to catch the 7pm ferry back to Madeira.
Common Tern, Porto Santo
Common Tern, Porto Santo
I was looking forward to the return journey and after wolfing down my dinner I was back out on deck watching for wildlife as we sailed out of the harbour. This time the wind was behind us and had eased off somewhat so viewing was much easier with the sea less choppy too but this meant there were less birds. Cory's shearwaters were seen in much lower numbers than on the morning trip but Bulwer's petrels were seen in greater numbers - unfortunately no Fea's type petrels were seen on the return trip but I did see an Atlantic flying fish soaring low over the water surface looking very blue and bird-like and a very distant pod of leaping dolphins being trailed by a large flock of Cory's shearwaters.
Nearing Madeira from the Porto Santo Ferry
Arriving back in Funchal at 21:15 hours and I was very tired but very happy after a great sea watching experience and a great day out - our holiday to Madeira was certainly delivering on the wildlife front.
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