Curlew Sandpiper, one of many present today
Without getting bogged down in the detail Jane and I were going to Mexico in summer, and then we weren’t. Instead we are doing the same fortnight on Cape Verde on the same island we went to last year. And although it wasn’t Plan A I do like Boa Vista.
Today’s priority was simply to get here. But that having gone smoothly I did want to visit the birding site just up the road from our Riu Palace hotel. This is the rather well known Rabil Lagoon, where last year I’d had up to five Lesser Yellowlegs, Ring-necked Duck and best of all a Hudsonian Whimbrel.
The habitat is very different from last year, with lots of exposed mud. Following presumably very recent torrential rainfall we’d seen on the roads from the airport the river / ribeira was nevertheless rushing through the lagoon and wasn’t entirely safe to cross where it met the sea.
The place was hooching with waders, which was great news as I plan to stay very local the first week of our two week break and then spread my wings the second week. The first new bird for Boa Vista for me I picked out though was Sandwich Tern, with a couple of individuals present.
On this initial sortie I wasn’t really hoping for anything other than some initial birds for the trip list. With so many waders present though I began to feel that there must be at least one Yank shorebird lurking. There may have been more, but I picked out the Pectoral Sandpiper below. Off the mark…
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