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A Report from birdtours.co.uk

Cape Verde Islands,

Nico Geiregat

Introduction:

The aim of this report is to offer an updating for some very good trip reports that have been made in the past. References of documents with more basic information and maps can be found in the literature section at the end of this report. Below you will find an update on costs, some additional information, interesting hints for future visitors and our sightings. 

1. Getting There:

Belgium has no direct flights to the Cape Verde Islands. In our region, there are direct flights from Holland, Germany and France.

We flew from Brussels to Lisbon and then to Sal (the only big airport on the Cape Verde Islands). Our company was not Cabo Verde Airlines. You should try to fly with them, because then your inter island flights are a lot cheaper!

The cost for all our flights (both national and international) was about €1100.

2. Money:

One euro is worth about 110 escudos.

As we arrived by day, we had no problems is getting our euros changed. We changed €500 in escudos per person and this turned out to be enough since we could pay our trip to Branco in euros.

3. Things to do in advance:

For European visitors it is not necessary to have any inoculations. You do need a passport and a visa.

4. Itinerary:

05/04/03:         Arrival at Sal, flight to Boavista.
06/04/03:         Surroundings of Sal Rei, Praia Da Cruz, Rabil lagoon, night on Ilheu De Baluarte.
07/04/03:         Praia Da Cruz, lazy day.
08/04/03:         walk from Rabil lagoon to airport and village of Rabil, night on Ilheu Dos Passaros.
09/04/03:         flight to Santiago via Sal, exploring the surroundings of the airport and city centre.
10/04/03:         with taxi to the interior: Banana de Ribeira Montanha, Pedro Badejo and Boa Entrada.
11/04/03:         with aluguer to Sao Jorge and walk back to Joao Teves, visit Praia river mouth and egret roost.
12/04/03:         Praia river mouth and cliffs near airport, lazy day. 
13/04/03:         flight to Sao Nicolau, ride to Tarrafal.
14/04/03:         Boat trip to Razo, staying for about 3 hours and then to Branco, night on Branco.
15/04/03:         Getting back from Branco and relaxing.
16/04/03:         Sea watch near Extancia Bras.
17/04/03:         Morning walk northwards of Tarrafal and flight to Sao Vicente.
18/04/03:         Visiting the Mindelo sewage farm twice.
19/04/03:         Seawatch north of Mindelo.
20/04/03:         Beach near San Pedro and flight to Sal, visit to the salinas near Pedra De Lume.
21/04/03:         night flights to Lisbon and Brussels.

5. Diary:

05/04/03:

We arrived at about midday on Sal and had to wait some hours for our connecting flight to Boavista. From the lounge we spotted our first endemic: a family of Iago Sparrows. The birds even entered the building while looking for food.

On Boavista we had some more common species like Brown-necked Raven, Brown Booby, and a hand full of waders. Far away we saw a few Red-billed Tropicbirds near the colony that is situated in the bay near Praia Da Cruz, north-east of Sal Rei.

06/04/03:

While waiting for our breakfast to be served, we walked about in Sal Rei. Some more common species were added to out list: Bar-tailed Desert Lark, Spectacled Warbler and Little and Cattle Egrets. Near Praia Da Cruz we saw a couple mating Alexander's Kestrels. Our first visit to Rabil lagoon yielded some new waders. 4 Black-winged Stints and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits were the most remarkable ones. The dry land south of the Rabil lagoon had good numbers of Black-crowned Finchlark, Hoopoe Lark, Spanish Sparrows and Alexander's Kestrels.

We were going to spend the night on the little flat island called "Ilheu Dos Passaros" to see the famous little colony of White-faced Storm Petrels. Therefore we had arranged the trip with Bom Sossego's son.

In the evening we drove to the fishermen's cabin close to Joao Galego. We explained what we wanted to do and a fisherman that was present wanted 10.000 Esc. for the trip: that meant that the price had more than doubled! Also we had the impression that they did not exactly know which island we wanted to go to. We had heard that the island was rather close to the cabin, but the fishermen said that there were no birds on that nearest island. Anyway we decided to go for it and we were not disappointed. While approaching the island we had a Brown Booby that accompanied us… and as we were getting closer we saw that there were quite al lot of Brown Boobies… they were even nesting there! That was a complete surprise for us! It got even better: as I was preparing to land, Dirk shouted that he saw a Magnificent Frigatebird! And we saw even more: there were six of them! Once we had landed we looked a little closer and saw 2 females on the nest, 2 males in breeding condition and 2 other males that were not in breeding condition. In the end we realised that the fisherman had brought us to the wrong island. This was Ilheu De Baluarte. And so we had to spend the night with about 50 Brown Boobies and some Magnificent Frigatebirds and no White-faced Storm Petrels…

07/04/03: 

The fishermen were not too late to pick us up the next day and Bom Sossego's son drove us back to Sal Rei. The road between Joao Galego and Rabil was long and scenic. It was the only place where we saw regularly some Cream-coloured Coursers.

A long walk to Praia Da Cruz, along the cemetery of Sal Rei (where there have been found pellets of Cape Verde Barn Owl), yielded two or three Egyptian Vultures: we had already seen them before from Bom Sossego's rooftop. But we specially walked there to get closer to the Tropicbird colony. Unfortunately, it was impossible to see birds on the nest since they were all rather high on the slope, but the view of these birds was superb. For the rest of the day we did nothing much.

08/04/03:

This evening we were going to give it another try to see some White-faced Storm Petrels on the Ilheu dos Passaros.

Before that we did a long walk from the Rabil lagoon to the airport. In comparison to yesterday we had about the same birds along the lagoon itself, but now we went further south, resulting in more desert species like Black-crowned Finchlark, Bar-tailed Desert Lark and Hoopoe Lark.

On the eastern side of the village of Rabil, we saw a Barn Swallow, three Quails and a young Egyptian Vulture.

Next we drove again to Ilheu Dos Passaros and near Joao Galego we spotted another young Egyptian Vulture. It was unlikely that it was the same as before since this one had an all black tail, in contrast to our first one that had a broad white edge to it's tail.

Arriving at the Fisherman's cabin we saw two Knots. These seem to be rather scarce on the Cape Verde Islands.

The night on Ilheu Dos Passaros was great. But you have to take care for two things: (1) stay always on the rocky edges of the island since it is said that you can very easily destroy the burrows and (2) when you use your torch, the birds will be very attracted to the light and if you don't shut it out quickly they may collide with it, so you may kill the birds! At one moment I tried to photograph the birds using my digital camera. Because of the little LCD-screen some light was reflected onto my chest, as a result a White-faced Storm Petrel flew in to me. Fortunately no harm was done, but I wisely decided to stop photographing.

09/04/03:

The next morning, we counted about 50 burrows and they were all situated at one side of the island. The fishermen were over an hour late to pick us up. This is rather scaring when you're on an uninhabited island… certainly when you have a plane to catch…

But in the end we had our flight to Santiago via Sal.

Exploring the surroundings of the airport and city centre resulted in out first sightings of Cape Verde Swifts and Grey-headed Kingfishers.

10/04/03:

The life in the city centre was a huge shock as we were coming from the peaceful little village of Sal Rei. We wanted to get out of town as soon as possible, so we took a taxi and we drove to the interior of the island. First we drove to Banana De Ribeira Montanha.

A very nice surprise was a Cape Verde Purple Heron that was soaring near a mountain peak close to Sao Domingos. At the breeding site at Banana there were no Cape Verde Purple Herons. We did see one bird flying to the valley that is situated north of the Ribeira Montanha, but that was it.

Our visit to Pedra Badejo was a little bit useless: the two ponds that are close to the beach have almost dried out and there were few waders. We may have had some Cape Verde Cane Warblers, but when we finally had located a singing bird it turned out to be an imitating Blackcap! We were soon on our way to Boa Entrada where the Cape Verde Cane Warblers are much easier to be found. On our way to Assomada we had 2 Cape Verde Buzzards: an important observation, because from now on, it was not necessary to visit Santo Antao for this species any more. Cape Verde Kite is close to impossible to find these days, even on Santo Antao, so we were not going to look for the latter species anyway.

The scenic but restless valley of Boa Entrada was much better for Cape Verde Cane warblers: we had about 10 singing individuals, most of them situated west of the huge kapok tree. A roosting Cape Verde Barn Owl had been seen here before, but we had run out of luck. Even though this species is rather common, quite some visitors to the Cape Verde Islands miss it. But we didn't: our hotel "Sol Atlantico" may have had some cockroaches, but it also had a nice balcony from which we heard and saw a Cape Verde Barn Owl passing by at about 20:20h. The next days we would have two more observations from our hotel room and one near the river mouth.

11/04/03:

With only the Cape Verde Peregrine still on our "most wanted list" for Santiago, we decided to slow down a bit and economize: we used the aluguer to go to Sao Jorge. After about half an hour and after ending up with a pig between our legs, we were off at full speed with about 20 persons in a van offering place for maximum 12 persons.  Near Sao Jorge we looked for a nice spot to watch the Pico San Antonia and we had up to 5 Cape Verde Buzzards and two times we saw Cape Verde Peregrine, which may have been twice the same individual.

Back in Praia, we visited the river mouth and Egret roost hoping for the long-staying Western Reef Heron to be still there. There were not many birds in at the river mouth, but the bird species were not bad at all: one Semipalmated Plover and one American Golden Plover were amongst them! Unfortunately there was no Western Reef Heron at the Cattle Egret roost. In fact, this roost is now displaced because of a new road near the old roost: the birds now come to rest in the harbour, but they can still be seen from the road.

12/04/03:

On our morning visit to the river mouth, we could not find the Semipalmated plover again, but the American Golden Plover was still there and also the Western Reef Heron turned up now.

After this we went to the airport for our flight to Sao Nicolau via Sao Vicente… the flight had been displaced from the afternoon to the early morning… how did they expect us to know that? Easy: you should check on each flight some days in advance. Anyway, we were lucky enough to have a direct flight to Sao Nicolau the next day: funny that our travelling agency didn't choose that flight in the first place. So we were off to our hotel again and decided to relax.

On the cliffs near the airport, we spotted about 8 Red-billed Tropicbirds, and we stayed there and spent a lazy afternoon.

13/04/03:

From the airport of Sao Nicolau we drove immediately to Tarrafal. On the way we scared the aluguer driver to death when we saw on one side of the road a Neglected Kestrel and on the other side a flock of Helmeted Guineafowl. This was near Carvoeiros.

After having arrived at Alice's pension we immediately arranged our trip to Razo and Branco for the next two days. The person that you need to contact for that is Antonio or "Tony". Alice will bring you into contact.

In the evening we did some seawatch from Alice's rooftop. Far away we saw a lot of Cape Verde Shearwaters and also some Cape Verde Little Shearwaters.

14/04/03:

On our boat trip to Razo, we had a confirmation of what we had seen from the land: a majority of Cape Verde Shearwaters flew around our boat, accompanied by a Cape Verde Little Shearwater from time tot time.

When we came closer to Razo we saw more and more Brown Boobies and Red-billed Tropicbirds. We landed on Razo and started walking in search for Razo Larks. We did find some flocks, but they're not easy to find. It's best that you search west of the fisherman's shelters, I think (used when they're on the island to kill shearwaters, boobies and tropicbirds). All the larks we saw were colour ringed. For more information on this, you can contact Paul Donald at: paul.donald@rspb.org.uk.

We stayed on Razo for about 3 hours and then we sailed to Branco where we spent the night: another highlight: once it gets darker, Cape Verde Shearwaters come in at dazzling speed. Higher up in the mountain, Madeiran Storm Petrels were continuously calling and flying in circles along the slopes. We slept relatively high on the eastern slope. It was only later that we found out that there is a fisherman's shelter (…) near the southern shoreline between the landing place and the White-faced Storm Petrel colony where sleeping must be much more comfortable.

15/04/03:

Embarking from Branco will not be easy to forget! The technique that these men use to get you off the island is a little dangerous: they attach a small rubber boat to their boat and wait until there are no big waves arriving, then they give a sign and you are pulled in the sea. Laughing at Dirk while he was lying in the small rubber boat was great fun! But after that it was my turn… In my case there WAS a big wave approaching! Result: I fell in the water with my binoculars around my neck and with all my optical instruments in my bag. Fortunately we had learned from our previous landings on Baluarte and Ilheu Dos Passaros that it could come out handy to put all precious stuff in plastic bags!

On the way back the numbers of Cape Verde Shearwaters were better than on the previous day and we had a total of 12 Cape Verde Little Shearwaters. Not that I enjoyed it very much: I was suffering from seasickness. When Dirk shouted "A Skua!", Unfortunately we were unable to see the bird well enough! That's a pity because a discussion with professor Hazevoet learned that there is indeed no certainty about the identity of greater skuas that are seen from time to time near Razo.

For the rest of the day we relaxed a bit in Tarrafal.

16/04/03:

At the northern side of Sao Nicolau there is a place called "Extancia Bras". Previous seawatch sessions carried out by other birdwatchers yielded relatively good numbers of Fea's Petrels, so since we had decided not to visit Santo Antao where you may have a better chance, this was our best chance to see them. We went further north-west than Extancia Bras so that we were closer to the cape, but this was definitely a bad decision: we were to high and it cost quite some time to get there. So our advice is to watch somewhere on a lower spot near Extancia Bras. The 3 Fea's Petrels that we saw all went eastwards and passed there anyway. The lower angle that you have there gives you a larger observation range, which is also better.

In fact those three Fea's were all seen within the last hour of seawatch: before that we were looking too far at sea, so probably there had been more birds passing there.

17/04/03:

We had a flight to Sao Vicente in the afternoon and we had seen al that we wanted to see, so again, we spent a lazy day. In the morning, a little walk northwards of Tarrafal in the direction of Barril was made. There was not very much to see. A family of Bar-tailed Desert Lark was a nice surprise though but in "The Birds of the Cape Verde Islands", this was already known.

18/04/03:

We had arrived late on Sao Vicente, and one of our last "new for the journey" species was calling us out of our bed… not that it was such a special one: House Sparrow… or should I say "something like House Sparrow"? These birds have indeed grey on their head, and they lack the barring on the sides of their chest, but for "true" House Sparrows they have a strange coloration. In fact, they come close to Italian Sparrow.

We visited the sewage farm for the first time at about noon. After our two special waders at Praia, we were very optimistic. Too optimistic: we did not find any American amongst the numerous sandpipers, plovers,… no luck…

We returned in the evening to watch the Cattle Egrets coming to roost. A year ago, there was an Intermediate egret present here. Leo Boon filmed this bird then. We were very happy to see that the bird was still present. It came from the south-west, preened for about half an hour at the edge of one of the ponds and then it went to sleep with the about 600 Cattle Egrets. We also had a Red-rumped Swallow and a Swift here.

In Dave Sergeant's report there's a good description on how to get to the sewage farm, however it is possible to take a much shorter track, crossing the sandy golf courts, but it may be safer to take the described route first if you don't want to loose your way.

19/04/03:

Dirk was not completely satisfied with his observation of Fea's Petrel near Extancia Bras, so we decided to go north of Mindelo to give it another try in order to see them a little bit closer. We found a very nice spot with a great view… but no birds. This was about the worst day of the whole trip. Was it the wind that was bad or were there just no birds? This should perhaps be checked again by future visitors, but we had to be satisfied with some Red-billed Tropicbirds and Cape Verde Shearwaters that were flying very far away.

20/04/03:

Our journey was coming to an end. Before taking off to Sal, we visited the beach near San Pedro, but there was not much to report from there.

After having landed on Sal, we stored our bags at the airport and drove to the salinas near Pedra De Lume. Again a wise decision: we were very happy to see that there was (again or still?) a Lesser Yellowlegs present. In fact we were even thrilled to see that he was in the company of a second Lesser Yellowlegs.

21/04/03:

Night flights to Lisbon and Brussels.

6. Aditional information:

6.1. The pensions we used:

-  Sal Rei, Boavista: the well-known Pension "Bom Sossego": 2500 Esc. per night for 2 persons: good lodging, has good rooftop for birdwatching. Comes out handy to arrange trips to Ilheu Dos Passaros, Curral Velho,...

Website: http://www.caboverde.com/pages/511155.htm

-  Praia, Santiago: Pension "Sol Atlantico": 2500 Esc. per night for 2 persons. Ideal for both the insect-enthusiasts and birdwatchers: cockroaches, filthy bathrooms and a nice view from the terrace with grey-headed kingfishers, Waxbills flying beneath you.

Website: http://www.caboverde.com/pages/612872.htm

-  Tarrafal, Sao Nicolau: Casa di Pasto "Alice": the only pension known to us in Tarrafal. Great rooftop for birdwatching. Alice brought us into contact with Antonio ("Tony"), the owner of the speedboat that is used for the trips to Branco and Razo. You can calculate the price on the website (but of course, the diner price had changed…)

Website: http://www.caboverd.info/pages/361187.htm

-  Mindelo, Sao Vicente: 3100 Esc. per night for 2 persons. More expensive than the others but of a higher standard and a good kitchen with nice Belgian waitress.

Website: http://www.reisetraeume.de/kapverden/reisebuero/hotels/vicente/sodade.html

6.2. Some more financial stuff:

-  Aluguer trip from Sal Rei to Ilheu Dos Passaros: 5000 Esc. for double ride (evening and morning)
-  Aluguer trip to Curral Velho: 6000 Esc. (we did not do this as we had already seen the Frigatebirds)
-  Boat trip to Ilheu De Baluarte and stay overnight: 9000 Esc. (useless to land:  read more under "useful hints …" below)
-  Boat trip to Ilheu Dos Passaros: 3000 Esc.: this was rather cheap compared to other prices we had heard of.
-  Hiring a taxi all day for the interior of Santiago: 8000 Esc. A rental car is cheaper, but may be rather dangerous.
-  Aluguer to the interior of Santiago: some hundred Esc.: a huge difference with the taxi but you can lose a lot of time!
-  Direct aluguer from the Sao Nicolau airport to Tarrafal: 2000 Esc.
-  Trip to Razo and Branco: €600 (fixed price, independant of the number of participants)

6.3. Useful hints for future visitors:

-  Try to fly with Cabo Verde Airlines if you want to visit a lot of islands

-  On Boavista there is a rental car company. Traffic is relatively easy there and if you want to go to Ilheu Dos Passaros, Curral Velho,… this may come out cheaper. 

-  If the Magnificent Frigatebirds decide to stay on Baluarte, it may be a good idea to do the following trip: sail to Baluarte without landing, then sail past the islands between Baluarte and Ilheu Dos Passaros and finally land on Ilheu Dos Passaros to spend the night and return to land the next day.

-  A lot of Razo Larks are colour ringed: try to note some observations down (Project leader is Paul Donald, paul.donald@rspb.org.uk)

-  Seawatching may be interesting near Praia Branca at the north-western edge of Sao Nicolau.

-  North of Mindelo we found a very promising sea watching point, but we saw very little. This should perhaps be checked another time in the future.

6.4. Literature:

The most important literature that we used is:

-  Hazevoet C.J.: The Birds of the Cape Verde Islands + 5 addenda from the Bulletin Zoölogisch Museum: essential basic information with recent updates.

-  Sargeant D.: A Birder’s Guide to the Cape Verde Islands: lots of hand-drawn maps.

-  Clarke T.: Cape Verde Islands, 5-20 March 1999

-  Bakker T.: Cape Verde Islands, March 1996: lots of hand-drawn maps.

-  Cursorius Photo & Video Library also launched their video “Birds of the Macaronesian Islands & the Azores” some months before our departure, covering most species of the Islands and recorded in 2002. In this way we obtained some very recent information.

7. Birdlist:

Commoner birds not subsequently reported
"#": indicating no numbers counted or hard to count
"*": photographed

Cape Verde Petrel, Pterodroma feae            
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Extancia Bras: 3, between 10:00 and 12:30                                                      

Cape Verde Shearwater, Calonectris edwardsii*     
07-04-03:        Boavista, Sea watch Sal Rei: 2                                               
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 15                                                                   
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat Tarrafal - Razo: 60                                               
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat Razo - Branco: 20                                                
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco: #: in some burrows both birds were present during the day
15-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat between Branco - Tarrafal: #, hundreds?   
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Extancia Bras: 5                                                            
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: #, constantly seen far away                  
19-04-03:        Sao Vicente, cliffs northwest of Mindelo: #, far away, accompanying fishermen's boats.          

Cape Verde Little Shearwater, Puffinus boydi           
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 2                                                                     
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat Tarrafal - Razo: 7                                                 
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco: #, especially heard in the morning                     
15-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat between Branco - Tarrafal: 12                              
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 4, constantly seen far away, together with CV Shearwaters. Biggest group: 4 ind. together

White-faced Storm Petrel, Pelagodroma marina*    
08-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu dos Passaros: #, about 50 burrows, birds arriving from 20:15h onwards, active all night

Madeiran Storm Petrel, Oceanodroma castro           
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco: #, several birds continuously calling in the higher valley                                                 

Red-billed Tropicbird, Phaethon aethereus*
06-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: about 10                                                      
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: about 25                                                      
07-04-03:        Boavista, Sea watch Sal Rei: 4                                                           
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport: 5                                                         
12-04-03:        Santiago, Cliffs east of Praia: 8                                               
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo: 10                                                           
19-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Cliffs northwest of Mindelo: 3                                                               

Brown Booby, Sula leucogaster*
06-04-03:        Boavista, South of Rabil lagoon: 1                                          
06-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu de Baluarte: 50, some full-grown chicks          
07-04-03:        Boavista, Sea watch Sal Rei: 2                                               
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport: 1                             
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 5                                                                     
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 2                                                                     
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat Tarrafal - Razo: 5                                                 
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo: #, colony near Tropicbirds                                   
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat Razo - Branco: 5                                                  
19-04-03:        Sao Vicente, cliffs north-west of Mindelo: 1                                                               

Magnificent Frigatebird, Fregata magnificens*         
06-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu de Baluarte: 6: 2 females, 2 males in breeding condition and 2 males without red, one of these with plastic/nylon strap on left leg.       
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 1, bird with plastic strap, an hour later probably the same bird was flying near the Rabil Lagoon.                                                

Cattle egret: Bubulcus ibis*
06-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 2                                                                  
06-04-03:        Boavista, track Joao Galego to Beach: 10                                          
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 1                                                                
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport: 30                           
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village: 10                                                                  
10-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico: 6                                                         
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedro Badejo: 10                                                               
10-04-03:        Santiago, Boa Entrada: 5                                                                   
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 140, roost                                                     
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, on our way to Tarrafal: 10                                             
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 2                                                                     
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, road Tarrafal - Barril: 2                                                 
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Airport Sao Nicolau: 7                                                  
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: >600 at the roost                                               

Western Reef Heron: Egretta gularis*          
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth:     1, present all day. (was NOT at the roost)                                                                 

Little Egret
: Egretta garzetta 
06-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 1                                                                 
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 3                                                                 
09-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 1                                                
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedro Badejo: 1                                                                 
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 5                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, cliffs east of Praia: 2                                                
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 2                                                
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo: 1                                                             
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco: 1                                                                     
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 1                                                                     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 20                                                                     

Intermediate Egret: Egretta intermedia*        
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 1                                                           

Cape Verde Purple Heron, Ardea bournei     
10-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Domingos: 1, while stopping for a bottle of water, bird soaring high near a mountain peak                                                          
10-04-03:        Santiago, Banana de Ribeira Montanha: 1, flying to the valley north of Ribeira Montanha

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea    
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon, 2                                                                   
06-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to Beach, 2                                          
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon, 3 or 4                                                            
08-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to beach, 1                                           
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, 3                                                                  
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, 1                                                                  
12-04-03:        Santiago, cliffs east of Praia, 1                                                
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm, 1                                                           

Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus     
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 2 or 3 adult birds                                         
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village, 2 birds: 1 adult + 1 probably second-calendar year
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei, from the roof top, 1                                    
08-04-03:        Boavista, Road Rabil village - Joao Galego, 2nd calendar year, different ind. than the earlier young bird.                       

Cape Verde Buzzard, Buteo bannermani      
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pico d'Antonia, 2                                                    
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge, 5                                                           

Osprey , Pandion haliaetus*
05-04-03:        Sal, Airport, 1                                                            
06-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 2                                                                 
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon, 1                                                                   
06-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu de Baluarte, 2                                                 
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 5                                                                 
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, on our way to Tarrafal, 5                                              
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 1                                                                    
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo, 1                                                             
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco, 2                                                                     
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 1                                                                    
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo, 2                                                                    
19-04-03:        Sao Vicente, cliffs north-west of Mindelo, 1                                                              

Alexander's Kestrel, Falco alexandri*          
06-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 2: mating                                          
06-04-03:        Boavista, South of Rabil lagoon, 5                                                     
06-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to Beach, 2                                          
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport, 3                             
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village, 1                                                                    
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei, from the roof top, 1                                    
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport, 2                                                        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 1                                                         
10-04-03:        Santiago, Banana de Ribeira Montanha, 10                                        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Boa Entrada, 10                                                                 
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge, 4                                                           
12-04-03:        Santiago, cliffs east of Praia, 4                                                
13-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, Airport, 2                                                                 

Neglected Kestrel, Falco neglectus* 
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, on our way to Tarrafal, 7                                              
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 1                                                                    
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco    , 1                                                                  
15-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 1                                                                    
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, road Extancia Bras - Tarrafal, 7                        
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, road Tarrafal - Barril, 1                                                 
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, road Tarrafal - Extancia Bras, 12                                  
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, airport Sao Nicolau, 1                                                  
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Laguna near San Pedro, 1                                                                    

Cape Verde Peregrine, Falco madens           
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge: 2 observations within about an hour, possibly same individual                                                    
Quail, Coturnix coturnix       
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon, 1                                                                   
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village, 3                                                                    

Helmeted Guineafowl, Numida meleagris      
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Carvoeiros, 40                                                             
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Carvoeiros, 7                                                               

Black-winged Stilt
, Himantopus himantopus 
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon, 4                                                                   
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon, 3                                                                   
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: 35 à 40                                                                 

Cream-coloured Courser, Cursorius cursor  
06-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to Beach: 1                                           
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei, from the roof top: 2                                    
08-04-03:        Boavista, Road Rabil village - Joao Galego: 2                         
09-04-03:        Santiago, airport: 1                                                                
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport: 2                                                         
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 3                                                           

Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula*
05-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 3                                                                
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 3                                                                   
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 2                                                                 
09-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 2                                                
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedra Badejo: 1                                                                 
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 5                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 4                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 3                                                
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 1                                                                     
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 1                                                                     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 20                                             
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, laguna near San Pedro: 4                                   
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: 5                                                               

Semipalmated plover, Charadrius semipalmatus*    
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 1, summer plumage

Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus      
05-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 6                                                                
06-04-03:        Boavista, north of Rabil - to Sal Rei: 10 + distraction behaviour          
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 30                                                               
08-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to beach: 1                                           
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedra Badejo: 2                                                                 
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 30                                             
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Laguna near San Pedro: 5                                                                     

American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominica*
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 1                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 1

Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola     
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 3                                                                   
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 3                                                                   
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 9                                    
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: 4                                                               

Sanderling, Calidris alba*
05-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 1                                                                
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 25                                                                 
06-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu de Baluarte: 1                                                 
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 1                                                                
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 4                                                                     
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 4                                                                     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 30                                             
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Laguna near San Pedro: 25                                           

Little stint, Calidris minuta     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 1                                    
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: 5

Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea          
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: >60

Knot, Calidris canutus
08-04-03:        Boavista, little pond near the fishermen's cabin near Ilheu Dos Passaros: 2                                                                 
Bar-tailed Godwit, Limosa lapponica
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 2                                                                   
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 2                                                                   

Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus         
05-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 2                                                                
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 5                                                                   
06-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu de Baluarte: 1                                                 
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 1                                                                 
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 2                                                                
09-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 1                                                
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedra Badejo: 1                                                                 
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 1                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 1                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 1                                                
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 1                                                                     
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo: 1                                                             
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco: 1                                                                     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 9                                    
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Laguna near San Pedro: 2                                                                     

Redshank, Tringa totanus     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 1 with injured leg            
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: 1                                                               

Greenshank, Tringa nebularia           
06-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu de Baluarte: 1                                                 
08-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to beach: 1                                           
08-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu dos Passaros: 1                                                          
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedra Badejo: 1                                                                 
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 5                                    
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: 1                                                               

Lesser Yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes*  
20-04-03:        Sal, Salinas near Pedra De Lume: 2                                                               

Wood Sandpiper, Tringa glareola     
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 1                                                                   
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 10                                                                     

Common Sandpiper
, Actitis hypoleucos        
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 1                                                                   
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 1                                                                
09-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 1                                                
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedra Badejo: 1                                                                 
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 2                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia: 2                                                                   
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth: 2                                                
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 1                                                                     
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 1                                                                     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 10                                                                     

Turnstone, Arenaria interpres
05-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 20                                                              
06-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon: 15                                                                 
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz: 1                                                                 
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei: 50                                                              
08-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to beach: 6                                           
08-04-03:        Boavista, Ilheu dos Passaros: 3                                                          
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 3                                                                     
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 18                                                                   
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo: 10                                                           
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco: 10                                                                   
15-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 5                                                                     
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal: 30                                                                   
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 30                                             
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Laguna near San Pedro: 10                                                                   

Skua sp., Stercorarius sp.      
15-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat between Branco - Tarrafal: 1: Great Skua or Brown Skua                                                            
Common Tern, Sterna hirundo          
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Boat Tarrafal - Razo: 1  

Rock Dove / Ferral Pigeon, Columba livia    
Finding pure individuals was not easy. Most birds are darkish, both above and below. In almost every flock there were birds with traces of domestic origin.
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village: 10                               
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport: 20        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Boa Entrada: 10      
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm: 20

Cape Verde Barn Owl, Tyto detorta 
10-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 1 passing at about 20:20h                                
11-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, 1 close to the brewery                                                          
11-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 1 heard in the evening                          
12-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 1 heard in the early morning                                                     

Common Swift, Apus apus     
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm, 1                                                           

Cape Verde Swift, Apus alexandri*
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport, 20                                                      
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedra Badejo, 15                                                               
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pico d'Antonia, 2                                                    
10-04-03:        Santiago, Boa Entrada, 20                                                                 
11-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 2                                                         
11-04-03:        Santiago, Joao Teves, 2                                                                     
12-04-03:        Santiago, cliffs east of Praia, 5                                                
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, On our way to Tarrafal, 4                                             
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 30                                                                  
15-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 10                                                                  
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Extancia Bras, 2                                                           
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Road Extancia Bras - Tarrafal, 5                       
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 15                                                                  
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Road Tarrafal - Extancia Bras, 2                       
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm, 60                                                                     

Grey-headed Kingfisher, Halcyon leucocephala*      
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport, 1                                                        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 3                                                         
10-04-03:        Santiago, Banana de Ribeira Montanha, 5                                          
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pedro Badejo, 10                                                               
11-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 1                                                         
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge, 10                                                                     
12-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, river mouth, 2            

Black-crowned Finch-lark, Eremopterix nigriceps*  
06-04-03:        Boavista, South of Rabil lagoon, 25                                                   
06-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to Beach, 15                                        
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport, 80                           
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport, 20                                                      
12-04-03:        Santiago, cliffs east of Praia, 5                                                
13-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, Airport, 2                                                                 

Bar-tailed Desert Lark, Ammomanes cincturus         
06-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 1                                                                 
06-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to Beach, 20                                        
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 1                                                                 
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport, 6                             
08-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to beach, 4                                           
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Road Tarrafal - Barril, 6, amongst which one family with alarming parent and fledged young                                                          
20-04-03:        Sal, Road to Salinas, 1                                                           
Hoopoe Lark
, Alaemon alaudipes*
06-04-03:        Boavista, South of Rabil lagoon, 3                                                     
06-04-03:        Boavista, North of Rabil - to Sal Rei, 3                                              
06-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to Beach, 3                                          
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 1                                                                 
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport, 10                           
08-04-03:        Boavista, Road Rabil village - Joao Galego, 2                        
08-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to beach, 4                                                                  

Razo Lark, Alauda razae*
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo, 20: groups of 2 to 7 ind., all birds colour ringed                                                  

Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica         
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village, 1                                                                    
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 2                                                                    
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 1                                                                    
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm, 2                                                           

Red-rumped swallow
, Hirundo daurica         
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm, 1                                                           

House Martin, Delichon urbica          
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 1                                                                    

Cape Verde Cane Warbler, Acrocephalus brevipennis         
10-04-03:        Santiago, Boa Entrada, 10
                        (Possibly also heard near Pedro Badejo on the same day)                              

Spectacled Warbler, Sylvia conspicillata      
06-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, #                                                                 
06-04-03:        Boavista, North of Rabil - to Sal Rei, 2                                              
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport, 20                           
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village, 4                                                                    
13-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, airport, 1                                                                  
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Extancia Bras, 2                                                           
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Airport Sao Nicolau, 2                                                 
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Laguna near San Pedro, 1                                                                    

Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla   
06-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to Beach, 4                                          
08-04-03:        Boavista, Joao Galego, 1                                                                   
08-04-03:        Boavista, Track Joao Galego to beach, 1                                           
09-04-03:        Santiago, Plateau near airport, 2                                                        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Banana de Ribeira Montanha, 10                                        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Boa Entrada, #                                                                   
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge, 2                                                           
11-04-03:        Santiago, Joao Teves, 20                                                                   

Brown-necked Raven, Corvus ruficollis*      
05-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei, 10                                                             
06-04-03:        Boavista, South of Rabil lagoon, 5                                                     
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport, 10                           
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil village, 13                                                                  
08-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei, from the roof top, 10                                             
08-04-03:        Boavista, Road Rabil village - Joao Galego, 2                        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Pico d'Antonia, 1                                                    
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge, 10                                                                     
13-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 30                                                                  
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo, 1                                                             
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Branco, 6                                                                     
15-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Tarrafal, 20                                                                  
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Road Tarrafal - Barril     , 2                                                      
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Airport Sao Nicolau, 6                                                 
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo Sewage farm, 2                                                           

House Sparrow, Passer domesticus*
18-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Mindelo, #                                                                    

Spanish Sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis*      
05-04-03:        Boavista, Sal Rei, 5                                                               
06-04-03:        Boavista, South of Rabil lagoon, 50                                                   
08-04-03:        Boavista, Rabil lagoon - south to airport, #                             
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge, 100                                                                   
11-04-03:        Santiago, Joao Teves, 50                                                                   
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, airport Sao Nicolau, 10: only place on Sao Nicolau where we saw this species                                                
Iago Sparrow, Passer iagoensis*
05-04-03:        Sal, Airport, 5                                                            
07-04-03:        Boavista, Praia da Cruz, 4                                                                 
11-04-03:        Santiago, Joao Teves, 3                                                                     
12-04-03:        Santiago, Cliffs east of Praia, 2                                               
13-04-03:        Santiago, Praia, Airport, 2                                                                 
14-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Razo, 20                                                           
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Extancia Bras, 5                                                           
16-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Faja De Baixo, >100                                                                
17-04-03:        Sao Nicolau, Airport Sao Nicolau, >100                                                       
20-04-03:        Sao Vicente, Laguna near San Pedro, 5                                             
20-04-03:        Sal, Road to Salinas, 5                                                           

Common Waxbill, Estrilda astrild     
10-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 10                                                       
10-04-03:        Santiago, Banana de Ribeira Montanha, 80                                        
10-04-03:        Santiago, Boa Entrada, 100                                                               
11-04-03:        Santiago, Hotel Sol Atlantico, 10                                                       
11-04-03:        Santiago, Sao Jorge, 20                                                                     
11-04-03:        Santiago, Joao Teves, 100                                                                 

Parakeet sp.               
12-04-03:        Santiago, Cliffs east of Praia, 2: yellow breast, dark head, heavy bill, back: like green woodpecker, about 20 cm. 

8. Conclusion:

We've seen all the endemics that we wanted, all the special breeding birds (except perhaps for Bulwers Petrel and Cape Verde Kite) and quite some vagrants. Most birdwatchers go to the Cape Verde Islands in March but obviously April is not too bad either. We definitely had luck in finding some Cape Verde Purple Herons outside the breeding period, but even when travelling in March this is not a certainty either as the main breeding period is in autumn with only sometimes a second brood in spring!

9. Specials thanks

To Dirk Colin (for the pleasant company, all papers-and-documents-stuff and great ornithological knowledge), Kris de Rouck and Professor Cornelis Hazevoet (for their useful information) and Natalie Groenez (for letting me go without her).

Nico Geiregat
Meerspoort 49 B 31
9700 Oudenaarde
Belgium
Nico.Geiregat@pandora.be

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