After the excitement of yesterday, everybody was hoping for another action-packed day of sightings as we continued our journey south towards the island of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde. However, animals proved elusive despite good conditions although a prolonged spell of rain from mid-morning to early afternoon didn’t help matters as it made viewing difficult. Despite this, things got off to a fabulous start when I spotted a fairly large, dark shape roll out in the 1 o’clock direction which, as I called to get everyone onto the sighting, a huge triangular dorsal fin broke the surface – Orca! Distant, but unmistakable. Always high on everyone’s wish list, this tight group of 5 animals showed well, although remaining distant, before doing the typical Orca disappearing act and diving deep. Actually the largest of the oceanic dolphin family, identifying Orca isn’t as easy as you would think as there are now acknowledged to be 10 different types across the globe. The animals we sighted are likely to be the Eastern North Atlantic ‘Type 2’ variety which grow to approximately 8.5 metres and generally have an eye patch which slants backwards (which certainly seems to be the case with one of the individuals photographed). Type 2 Orca diets are suggested to be highly specialized to other cetaceans.
A lack of sightings throughout the morning and persistent rain meant that many passengers drifted away from the decks for a leisurely lunch, but soon reappeared once things had dried up. We had been discussing a wishlist of sightings during the quiet morning and one very keen passenger had said she would love to see a Sperm Whale as she’d missed the one on approach to La Palma. Just as it stopped raining, she suddenly spotted a blow…. and again! Self-found Sperm Whale – well done Judith! Although once again distant, the 3 adults and one calf remained on the surface for some time and all passengers on deck were able to get good views of them as the calf spy-hopped and splashed around whilst the females were re-oxygenating on the surface.
Whereas yesterday had been very much about cetaceans, the afternoon of 22nd was very much about seabirds and we were treated to some excellent views of various petrels and shearwaters feeding close around the ship including the best views of Macaronesian Shearwater Russ and I have ever had as well as a wonderful view of a White-faced Storm Petrel bouncing distinctly over the sea as if on a pogo stick.
No turtles were recorded, but at least 3 sharks slipped down the sides of the ship, of which two were confirmed as Hammerhead Shark (exact species unknown).
Friday 23rd November saw Braemar docked in the town of Mindelo on the island of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde – a place I last visited in 2009!
We decided to spent some time investigating the beach and some scrubland for birds before utilising time on the ship to catch up with notes and edit some of the many photographs taken so far. We very quickly spotted the beautiful little Iago Sparrow which is endemic to Cape Verde and soon after a Collared Dove which flicked up into a tree – having been none here in 2008 or 2009, I wasn’t surprised to see them as we’d brought one in on Swan Hellenic’s MV Minerva last time I was here!
Along the beach, we picked up Whimbrel and four Kentish Plover feeding along the shoreline and then found a good-sized flock of Iago Sparrow in the scrub. Hundreds of Cape Verde Swift were also feeding distantly over the sewage works, but we weren’t able to get closer for a better look.
Saturday 24th November found us heading to the island of Santiago and the capital of Cape Verde, Praia. It was uncharacteristically windy during our visit to the islands so we decided to take a trip into the city and do some sightseeing rather than head out birdwatching. However, whilst the ship was manoeuvering to dock, two or three Brown Booby were seen feeding in the Bay – Santiago is the only place they nest in Cape Verde so we had been hopeful to see them.
A scan of the distant cliffs to the east of Praia and we were able to pick up very distant views of Red-billed Tropicbird – sadly, too far for a photograph that doesn’t look like a smudge on the page! After heading into the city, we happened to bump into some of the guests on the city walking tour who were very excited to show us photographs of the bird they had just seen wanting to know what it was – Grey-headed Kingfisher in the palace gardens! We quickly dashed in that direction and there was no sign of the bird anywhere! After a fruitless search, we decided to head back to the vegetable market for a look. There we got talking to a very friendly young Cape Verdean fisherman called Victor who offered to take us to the local market for a tour. This huge, maze-like covered market gave us a great insight into the vibrant local life in the city and we were delighted to have been able to visit and have a personal tour – somthing we would not have thought of doing ourselves. After this, a walk back towards the bus stop and we bumped into Richard who has been keeping us company on deck and helping spot animals with his sharp eyes – he’d just seen the kingfisher! This time success – this stunning kingfisher was sitting on a wire posing beautifully although we’d left the camera on the ship! Thank you Richard for kindly allowing me to use your photographs – much appreciated.
If 21st November was a whale watcher’s dream, 25th was definitely a whale watcher’s nightmare! A difficult sea state with lots of white water meant a frustrating day with very few sightings. We did have the best view of a beaked whale so far, but both cameras chose that moment to play up so we weren’t able to get any images. My gut reaction was it was a Blainville’s Beaked Whale, but with no images to prove it either way, this has to go down as an unidentified beaked whale. Two dolphin sightings was the sum total throughout the day, both from the stern of the ship with the second group identified as Atlantic Spotted Dolphin from photographs. What a frustrating day!
Thanks for reading!
Emma
Wildlife, Wild Sea.... 