The rarest bird in the Western Palearctic

First stop Serra da Tronqueira and the remnants of the Azorean native flora plus its famous inhabitant the Priolo. The bullfinches are pretty easy to locate, their calls (more-or-less identical to our birds') are regularly heard whilst peering into the undergrowth. Seeing the buggers is a wee bit more difficult, and seeing them well is bordering on flipping hard work. I had one prolonged flight view and one or two glimpses and, much to the chagrin of the Monsieur Crochet, ticked and ran. Also had Weasel at this site, who released those on the island?!

Next stop was the wilds of Terra Nostra Parque and its equally wild Wood Duck. This bird, considered tickable by all manner of muppets, was being fed by nippers out for a Sunday stroll and parading round in a mixed flock including such well-proven 'carrier species' as Bahama Pintail, Mandarin and Mute Swan. F*ck knows why anyone would put this plastic shite on their list but they do.



After a quickish lunch of cozido, we headed to Lagoa das Furnas and, between the fumaroles, model speed boats and Tai Chi types, we turned up 1 Blue-winged Teal, 5 Ring-necked Duck, another teal sp. (strong head pattern but bi-coloured greater-covert tips, so who knows?), 1 Ruddy Shelduck (every bit as wild as the Wood Duck), 6 Common Tern and an Osprey.