Arrived early evening in Madeira for a family holiday. Didn’t see a single identifiable bird in the two hours of daylight! Okay, I spent most of the time in the airport and by the time we arrived at our wonderful Mountain chalet at Casas Velleperaizo near Camacha, it was nearly dark. But no FPs at the airport and the few Swifts I saw whilst driving were unidentifiable (though with hindsight they were obviously Plain Swifts).

First to wake, so went outside to have a look around the chalet gardens. First bird I found, and the first bird I positively identified was one of four potential ticks! Madeiran Firecrest. Managed to get a terrible photograph, but the only one of an adult I ever got. All the half decent ones were of juveniles. Got a feeling the same family party may have been lingering around the chalet all week as I kept seeing the same juveniles.

Went on a decent walk along the levada to Camancha and relaxed around the chalet and took a few more photos.

Started the day at Funchal were we went around the market and had a snack before heading off to Machico for the Bird, Whale & Dolphin trip with Madeira Wind Birds. An early shout of Fea’s went up, but it was way too distant to be sure (though apparently Zino’s is never seen in this area?)

Atlantic Spotted Dolphins were constantly swimming beside and underneath the boat, which was great for Michelle and Sam, and we had several views of Bryde’s Whale.

After about an hour we came across a huge feeding frenzy with hundreds of Cory’s Shearwaters on the water. In amongst this I managed to pick up a Pterodroma which eventually came in close enough for positive identification as Fea’s Petrel. Tick number two!

On the way back I’m fairly sure that I saw Sei Whale as these photos seem to confirm…?

Arriving back at shore, myself and Hugo Romano (the guide) picked up an Osprey, a rare bird for Madeira. This was shortly followed by another rare bird for Madeira, found by Tom whilst I was putting the gear in the car: A Spoonbill in-off the sea. With my camera in the car, I took a phone photo for the record…

A great trip followed by some street food as we happened to turn up on the evening of the Machico Food Festival.

Update (13/08/2014): After looking at various photographs, the ‘Sei Whale’ was correctly called as a Bryde’s Whale.

Hung around the chalet until late morning. Managed another photograph of the very difficult to take Madeiran Firecrests as well as a photo on my phone of the Madeiran Chaffinch which came around each morning whilst we ate our breakfast.

We then went to the Botanic Gardens where I saw the first Blackcap (only heard up until now) and Canarian Lizard amongst the numerous Madeiran Wall Lizards. I looked out for Trocaz Pigeon which are very occasionally seen in the gardens, but with no luck.

We then headed to Garajau to do some snorkelling. When we arrived a lady was watching a pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales and had just seen Sperm Whales, so we joined her for a while before taking the cable car to the beach to snorkel which was good except myself and Sam got a couple of stings from Jellyfish which we’d seen from the boat trip the day before.

Another half hour sea-watch at dusk produced a Fin Whale, and single Pallid Swift was with the more numerous Plain Swifts. Our first Canaries were also seen.

In the evening I joined a party to listen (and hopefully see) Zino’s Petrel. Fortunately a non-calling (and hence apparently breeding) bird was seen flying in as soon as we sat down. This was the only one we actually saw, but we heard them all evening. With the Zino’s in the bag, and hence no pressure to see it, it was a truly magical experience (albeit cold one!) being on top of a mountain until the early hours of the morning.

Visited the spectacular gardens at Monte where I managed a couple of flight views of Trocaz Pigeons, tick four out of four. Also managed to find Lang’s Short-tailed Blue amongst the more common Long-tailed Blues.

From there we headed to Funchal where Roseate Terns were by the mariner.

No birding at all. Aqua pool in the morning followed by more snorkelling at Garajau (with only a single Jellyfish seen!) Did manage to see the first Sparrowhawk of the trip near the chalet at breakfast. Spent the evening watching the stars on our last evening at the chalet.

Spent most of the day at Canical, the North-east tip of the island. Spectacular views and I’d been told it was good for sea-watching. It wasn’t. Found a few new species including Berthelot’s Pipit and Rock Sparrow and enjoyed a long and spectacular walk.

No birding. Just messed about around the hotel.

Took a drive along the spectacular North coast to Porto Moniz. Went on a fantastic walk along the Levada de Ribeira da Janela where we decided Madeira is the most beautiful island we’d ever visited. Saw our last Madeiran Firecrests here (hadn’t seen any for a few days) and enjoyed the views. We also saw a couple of Trocaz Pigeons, and Tom found a feather from one.

Then a few hours at the natural rock pools with some diving and more Snorkelling before I managed to sneak in an all too brief sea-watch. This was a good one, and picked up some close-in Short-finned Pilot Whales and a Bulwer’s Petrel.

Our last day, so we just relaxed around the hotel before heading off to the airport late afternoon. A great holiday.