Natural Selection

It wasn’t a very auspicious start to this morning’s birding walk when I left the hotel without binoculars. I’d returned and set out again when a flock of Rock Sparrows tempted me to get my camera out and realise there was no memory card in it. Jane who’d noticed rang and offered to fetch it but I didn’t think that was fair.

There were three additions to the trip list at Porto Santo Golf – a flighty Black-tailed Godwit around the pools, a small group of Starlings that went straight through and a Chiffchaff in the trees near the entrance. So the only one I would have had a chance with was the Chiff and I actually got a record shot with my phone. I was initially alerted by the call which sounded bog standard so presumably a collybita Common Chiffchaff.

When I’d checked the Wildguides book last night it said that Common Waxbill don’t occur on Porto Santo. I looked a bit more carefully at the birds in the Ribeira Saldago this morning on that basis, but they definitely were waxbills. There was no sign of yesterday’s Kingfisher.

This afternoon we went on an island tour. It actually included a stop at the golf course so I scanned the pools again. Attached are pictures of views around the island, including the Giants Causeway-esque rock formations caused by volcanic action.

We also learned a tremendous amount about the geology, history and current organisation of Porto Santo island and its people. And Jane found the world’s biggest swing (possibly).