Madeira is located distantly enough in the Atlantic to have acquired its own characteristic range of wildlife. We took a morning to go on a birdwatching tour with Madeira Wind Birds to get glimpses of some of the local species. Hugo Romano took us (and another couple) for a morning's drive, guiding us to spots where he knows the indigenous species hang out.
The opening picture shows a gorgeous spectacled warbler that flitted in front of us for no more than a few minutes on a high ridge with a distant overlook to Funchal.
We encountered a small flock of Madeira firecrests at 600m elevation in a national park. They were moving at high speed through the branches of a group of camellia trees, deep in shade and under dense cloud; in other words, in hardly any light. I managed two pictures of them when they were clearly visible in about a 30sec period. For both this picture and that of the warbler, the near-instant and accurate pick up of focus by the D500-500PF combination continues to amaze me!
Madeira firecrest
Here in the UK, we are used to seeing pipits — rock, meadow, and, occasionally, water pipits. Madeira's characteristic species is Berthelot's pipit. We encountered one individual in a desert-like area at the east end of the island. It posed unconcernedly in the brilliant sun — quite a change of environment from where the firecrests were.
Berthelot’s pipit
Finally, there is a gull. Yes, ABS — another bloody seagull. This one is a yellow-legged gull. At first sight, you might think it is a herring gull, or maybe a lesser black-backed gull. It is something of a lookalike of both: very similar to a herring gull, but with a darker back, and legs that look like it is wearing yellow wellies. They are very common on Madeira, from high cliffs to the ocean shore. Near the seafront in Funchal, they behave like any other gull, swooping down on anything tasty discarded by humans.
Yellow-legged gull gliding by the same ridge where we saw the spectacled warbler
Yellow-legged gull swooping low on the seafront, close enough for a picture with an 85mm lens — its yellow legs and feet are clearly visible
There were some other species we saw that day — Atlantic canary, Trocaz pigeon and Madeira chaffinch — but they tended to be sufficiently deep in cover or high up that I never got a chance for a decent picture.
One species that we are familiar with is surprisingly frequent — the common kestrel. Even though we saw them everywhere, they were still quite hard to photograph as we never got sufficiently close to them (do I need another picture of a kestrel? Not really, but I can't resist...)
A distant view of a (very!) common kestrel (deep crop from the original image)
One of the reasons they are so common is the quantity of small lizards available for predation. The Madeiran wall lizard is Madeira's main lizard species, and they are extremely abundant. They are very skittish, presumably because they are the progeny of the survivors who adapted to the presence of kestrels, and they scoot away at the first hint of a moving larger creature. But wait for a few minutes, keeping very still, near where they like to bask in the sun, and they will reappear. On the Quinta where we stayed, there are some dry stone walls: these are great habitats for the lizards to hide in deep crevices, but with a sunny aspect outside that is ideal for basking.
Madeira wall lizard basking in the sun at the Quinta where we stayed
If you are going to Madeira, I can recommend a trip out with Hugo and/or Catarina from Madeira Windbirds. They are extremely well-informed about the local wildlife, and we have now had enjoyable and productive tours with them in our most recent two visits.