Cabo Verde: birding the WP edge

A long time since I posted any news on the blog. Have been very busy at work with three students finishing their PhD and the launch of a national garden birdwatch (see www.oiseauxdesjardins.fr) Whatever, I finally find time, during holidays in Normandy, to post some pics of a recent trip to Cabo Verde, when I managed to reach the mythic target of 700 species senn in WP! 700th was Cape Verde Shearwater, but short before 699 White-faced Storm Petrel, 698 Madeiran Storm Petrel and 697 Raso Lark... Sailing from Sao Nicolau to Raso (where we had to sample some petrels' odors for a scientific programme), we thereafter shifted to the rocky Branco where we beached close to the eastern flat peninsula. On Branco, the slope over 'the beach' is the place where to look for flying displaying Cape Verde Madeiran Storm Petrel Oceanodroma castro jabejabe

Madeiran Storm Petrel ssp jabejabe, this one photographed on Raso (tick 698)

On a small beach at the entrance of the flat peninsula on Branco, these holes are petrels' burrows - not crabs'.

At night, we spotted a single white-faced storm petrel on ground, coming to the colony, after a few hours spent in the wind with our lights on and off. tick 699

Raso Lark: that's birding the edge (tick 697). Amazing when they return rocks with their bills to search for seeds or insects.

Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca, two were present on Santiago, Barragem de Poilhao or something like that.

The only Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia present on the barragem, difficult to spot.

The local Grey-headed Kingfisher - present everywhere on Santiago - my second tick on the islands, just after Iago Sparrow.

Red-billed Tropicbird - on Santiago and easily seen on Raso