Just pop it in your mouth and...

Small brown bird, big blue sea.

The bird above is a Monteiro's Storm-petrel identified by means of a combination of structural and plumage features (ruling out all but the other close congeners in the 'band-rumped' complex) and the state of moult, which given the whopping great 'step' in the inner primaries suggests an adult in active primary moult at the end of its summer breeding season. 

The sea below is blue is due to the combined effects of the scattering and absorption of sunlight.  The scattering, similar to that which occurs in the sky, is strongly wavelength dependent and has the effect of enhancing the shorter wavelengths.  However, unlike in the sky, absorption also has an effect, in water, the longer wavelengths of sunlight are absorbed more strongly than the shorter wavelengths.  In combination these processes cause the sea to appear blue.

And that, dear reader,... is how to suck eggs.

Azorean herps

Madeira Wall Lizard Lacerta dugesii on Graciosa. Endemic to Madeira, introduced to the Azores.

Perez's Frog Pelophylax perezi not Pool Frog P. lessonae or indeed Marsh Frog P. ridibundus, which is what I'd assumed they were for the last seven years. This was one of a metric tonne or two crammed into the pond at Ginjal, Santa Maria.

Wadering about

Just one day left, pottered around the inland waterbodies, not much doing, not much doing at all. Thank gawd for the quarry,...

It's a cutie. It's also bit of an Azorean speciality. About four of these in Cabo at the moment.

 

Lesser Lellolegs in the dark, four Azorean Noctules were overhead by this point.

Winding down

The return to blighty is looming, just time for a few waders and the like,...

Short-billed Dowitcher

American Golden Plover

Pied-billed Grebe on Sao Miguel today and seven Nearctic wader species on Terceira. 

Azores mega!

Sao Miguel University, above the compact leafy campus a White-tailed Tropicbird arcs through the sub-tropical azure, part seabird, part revelation, translucent wings and tail ablaze, streamer a rippling trace of its angelic passage. Image of the trip. Seared on the retina, too sublime to confine to sensor or film,... or, perhaps, I'd left the camera in the motor.

In lieu of tropicbird feast your eyes on this beauty found knocking about with House Sparrows NW of Relva,...

OOOOOSH! Azores mega!

Terra firma is but a myth

Over it, on it, in it. Still out here,... still looking. 

Catching pennies,... again

Pissed about at Ribeira Grande getting the longipes Oystercatcher and taking in some of the warm-up for the EUROSURF 13 quarter-finals. Of course, we should have been bagging a White-tailed Tropicbird but the news dissemination was 'gerbled'.  Did get Skylark on Santa Maria this afternoon though,... pennies and pounds and all that.

One good tern, yadda yadda yadda

Had a couple of Sooty Terns today, it would appear Graciosa can still claim to host a breeding population. The seas have got up a bit though making waving a camera around a touch tricky, so here's an image from yesterday,...

Great Shearwater in the gloaming,... cadillac of the sky.

Booby

Brown Booby,... he said booby.

Swinhoes, etc.

A tiny picture of a very nice bird.

Fea's (probable Desertas) Petrel

Monteiro's Storm-petrel, not that you can tell from this angle