Bird Safari

This morning we had a tip-off from the whale-watching boats that there were two whales close to the harbour entrance at Sal Rei. We picked them up quite easily just 300m or so from the harbour in shallow water. We cut the engine and they gave us quite a surprise as the calf surfaced only a boat-length away and the mother swam right beneath us - white pectoral fins visible under the surface. We sampled both animals and called it a day early as the wind and swell were on the increase (not to mention we were worn out after many days on a bumpy sea in a small boat). News came in later of 5 more whales in the bay to the south.

Back ashore, Laura (bean an tí) had a fantastic lunch of fish and roast vegetables ready for us... she is a great cook and has her work cut out feeding us hounds.

Pedrin is involved in osprey research and invited myself and Darren along to collect some feather samples for a stable isotope study. Pedrin has found 89 osprey nests on Boa Vista and regularly visits some of them in order to ensure that the chicks/eggs have not been stolen or predated (usually by people or brown-necked ravens). We waded out to an islet and climbed up the cliffs to find a prominent nest, about the size of a large armchair, made  with sticks, coral and sponge with the odd flip-flop and brush-head thrown in. The two chicks 'played dead' for a few minutes while we collected a feather from each. The parents were hovering overhead but never dive-bombed us (as Pedrin had promised).

Adult Osprey

Pedrin next to Osprey nest, collecting feather samples

Cream-coloured courser - a desert wader

Two osprey chicks on the nest

The journey out to the islet brought us through desert, sand dune and some grassland. We had some great views of: cattle egret, whimbrel, Kentish plover, cream-coloured courser, hoopoe lark, desert lark, black-crowned sparrow lark, Iago sparrow, brown-necked raven, osprey and quail.