CAPE VERDE ISLANDS 18–25 March 2011 Leaders: Vaughan Ashby and Nigel Warren

This new tour to these beautiful and remote islands off the coast of West Africa will concentrate on locating the four endemic species and several endemic sub-species (potential splits) as well as seabirds and species only just reaching into the Western Palearctic.

Day 1 Morning departure from London on a direct flight to Sal. Arriving early afternoon, we will catch an internal flight to Santiago where we will check into our comfortable hotel for a two-night stay. If time permits, we will birdwatch locally and may see our first endemic bird, Iago Sparrow.

Day 2 We will have all day to search for two more of the endemic species: Cape Verde Swift and Cape Verde Swamp-warbler. Although there are few species on the islands, there are a number of endemic sub-species, which may be given specific status in the future. High up on the list will be the critically endangered Bourne’s Heron (Purple Heron). This heron spends much of its time hunting on rocky mountain slopes rather than in marshes and reedbeds. Other possible future splits are Alexander’s Kestrel (Common Kestrel), Cape Verde Buzzard (Common Buzzard), the rare and endangered Cape Verde Falcon (Peregrine Falcon), and in the evening, Cape Verde Owl (Barn Owl). Other birds we will look for include Grey-headed Kingfisher, which occurs nowhere else in the Western Palearctic, Helmeted Guineafowl, introduced but well established and cannot now be found anywhere else in the Western Palearctic, and another established introduction, Common Waxbill. We may see the endemic race of Rock Dove, Spectacled Warbler, Blackcap, Brown-necked Raven and Spanish Sparrow.

Day 3 We will have all morning to revisit any sites to search for birds we may still need. After lunch, we will return to the airport and catch a flight back to Sal where we connect with a flight to Boa Vista. Overnight Boa Vista.

Day 4 Boa Vista has starkly different scenery to Santiago: it is relatively flat and very arid. Consequently, we will find several different species including Cream-coloured Courser, Greater Hoopoe-lark, Black-crowned Finch-lark and Bar-tailed Lark. The real prize bird here, at its only breeding site in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, is Magnificent Frigatebird. Unfortunately, numbers are now very low but careful scanning from one of the headland may yield one of these rare and spectacular birds. In the evening, we will take an internal flight back to Sal where we will transfer to a hotel for one night.

Day 5 Today we fly to Sao Nicolao, arriving at our guesthouse in time for lunch. In the afternoon we will explore the island looking for Neglected Kestrel (Common Kestrel) and have another chance to see Helmeted Guineafowl, which is quite common here.

Day 6 Today we will take a two-hour boat trip to the remote and inhospitable Razo Island, home of the endemic Razo Lark. Just 2.5 sq. km in size, Razo has a small population of around 100–150 larks, which therefore have one of the smallest ranges of any bird in the world. Many seabirds also breed on the island and, whilst many of them only come ashore at night, we are sure to see many of them on the boat trips and offshore. Brown Boobies and Red-billed Tropicbirds are diurnal and easy to see but some of the shearwaters and petrels are nocturnal in their landings. Nevertheless, we should get good views of Cape Verde Shearwaters (a recent split from Cory’s Shearwater), the boydi race of Little Shearwater (a potential future split) and Fea’s Petrels. We also have a small chance of seeing both Madeiran and White-faced Storm-petrels although both species only come ashore at night and spend the daylight hours far out at sea. If you wish, you can be dropped on Branco Island on the way back where you can spend the night in sleeping bags giving you a chance of spotlighting Madeiran and White-faced Storm-petrels.

Day 7 Today is a backup day in case the weather was bad yesterday. If anyone has opted to stay on Branco Island overnight, we will join the boat trip to pick you up, giving us further chances to look for pelagic birds. We will spend the rest of the day birding on Sao Nicolao and, in the evening, we will have the opportunity to look for Cape Verde Owl.

Day 8 This morning we will take the flight back from Sao Nicolao to Sal where there may be some time to bird locally before catching our afternoon flight back to London arriving late evening.

General Information The climate can vary from quite cold in the mornings and on the coast to hot in the interior. The pace is moderate and only a limited degree of fitness is required except for getting on and off the boat on Razo Island. Accommodation ranges from medium-standard hotels with en-suite facilities to bed and breakfast guesthouses. Transport is by minibus or four-wheel drive and some of the roads can be very bumpy and dusty. Visas are required.

Group Size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 6; maximum group size: 14 with 2 leaders.

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