Ridiculous!

Well, it really couldn't come soon enough. After the amazing fall of birds on Corvo last Saturday, time inevitably went very slowly between then and the end of my working week. Fresh from a night on Lisbon airport floor as usual, I arrived on The Rock at about midday.

After a very speedy unpacking session and getting my gear together, I headed up into the ribeiras with Joao the taxi driver (who endearingly gets you to put a tick by your name for every journey then settle when you leave - not London service!). I got dropped off inevitably at Poco do Agua where, after a short search, the Eastern Wood Pewee obliged - this the second of the duo to be found, comprising the first two records for the Western Palearctic! It eventually showed really nicely - calling frequently - in one of the only sheltered areas from the strong north/northeasterly wind.

Eastern Wood Pewee Poco do Agua, Corvo 23rd October 2015

Once I'd had my fill of the pewee, target number two was a Black-throated Blue Warbler in Cancelas; Gerby took me to the spot where it'd been seen yesterday but despite a couple of hours hanging about there, the wind and lack of bird took its toll and I headed back down into the village for early evening... though I'll be trying again in the morning.

The levels of yanks in the village were obscene. There's often all this talk from people who've never been to Corvo about saying how easy it is to find American passerines on the island. Well, for once, perhaps they're right. I've actually seen relatively few 'solid yanks' (i.e. stuff you'd have expected on Scilly 'back in the day) so to literally walk through the corn fields and see three Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, a Grey-cheeked Thrush and a Red-eyed Vireo - all new birds for me on the Azores - was fantastic. And I missed seeing Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, Blackpoll Warbler and Philadelphia Vireo in the same area today.  I can only imagine what it was like almost a week ago as these birds landed on The Rock.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak middle fields, Corvo 23rd October 2015

Tomorrow is a new day, and the weather looks promising for some new arrivals potentially on Sunday onwards...