Desertas Islands Birding Trip

Birdwatcher's experience of Desertas, Madeira. Ideal for Sea birds: Petrels and Storm-Petrels Night and Day. Reviews...

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Detailed Description

Finally a sea trip for birdwatchers! This trip aims to find the sea birds present in Madeira Islands from April to October, such as Fea’s and Bulwer’s Petrels, Cory’s, Manx and Macaronesian Shearwaters (these last only April and May) and, if you are one of those lucky birders, we can even get a Madeira Storm-petrel. Vagrant birds as Great Skua or Great Shearwater may make this trip even greater...

Starting at 3:30 pm we will ride the sea looking for birds, dolphins and whales. The Mediterranean Monk Seal is also on the aiming list but this one is not so easy. Opposite to other tourist boats, we do not go directly to Deserta Grande, we leave the marina and head South of Desertas, then go around the three islands, for better chances of observing petrels, storm-petrels and the Monk Seal. This means we will sail about 63 nautical miles, looking for every kind of activity, in or out of the water. Just before sunset we will land at Deserta Grande for a short walk around, have dinner and wait for the seabirds to start coming into land, for their nests. This is the magical moment of the trip, when the seabird’s orchestra plays just for us. Around mid-night the show gets weaker and so is time to head back to Madeira for a certainly good night sleep.

Dates for 2010:
Wednesday, 7^th July (Full)
Thursday, 15^th July
Thursday, 29^th July
Wednesday, 25^th August
Wednesday, 8^th September

Other dates on request.

Tour days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (Specific)
Departure times: 3:30pm
Typical duration: 10 hours

Space: maximum 10
Staff to Guest ratio^?: 1:5
Tour Languages: English and Portuguese

Pick up location: Caniçal
Return details: Caniçal

Friendly advices: Take appropriate footwear, warm jumper, sun protector and hat
Photography: Allowed and recommended. There is a possibility of your equipment getting wet with salt water spray.

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