Tag Archives: Azores

Azores bullfinch news

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This video from Portugal is called SPEA Azores Bullfinch LIFE Priolo Project.

From BirdLife:

Home of the Azores Bullfinch receives tourism charter

Wed, Oct 24, 2012

Terras do Priolo (Lands of the Priolo) is the name given to a remote and beautiful area in the eastern part of the island of São Miguel in the Azores, the only place on earth in which the Endangered Azores Bullfinch, or Priolo Pyrrhula murina, is found. Nearly half its territory is included in protected areas.

Now Terras do Priolo has been awarded the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas by the EUROPARC Federation Council. The Charter is a practical management tool that enables all relevant stakeholders to work in partnership to develop a common sustainable tourism strategy and action plan, while maintaining and improving the conservation value of the area in the long term. The Charter has currently been assigned to 107 national parks and other protected areas in 13 countries.

Related articles

Stranded sperm whale saved, video

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Translated from Dutch NOS TV, on this video of today:

Off the coast of Stellendam [a Dutch lifeboat] has succeeded in pushing a stranded sperm whale back into the sea. The animal of more than 12 meters long was swimming towards the shore this morning, and had beached on a sandbank.

See also here.

Sperm whale strandings: here.

The Azores is one of the best places in the world to see sperm whales: here.

Killdeer nest in Azores

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This video from North America is called Killdeer Bird Nest with Chicks.

From Birdwatch in Britain:

Killdeer found nesting in Azores

Birdwatch News Team

Posted on: 13 Jun 2010

An American wader has been added to the list of breeding birds on this side of the Atlantic following the discovery of a Killdeer with two juveniles on Santa Maria in the Azores.

The amazing find was made by island resident Alan Vittery, who discovered the birds by chance on 29 May. He had seen Killdeers on a number of occasions on the island since last autumn, though had no idea they were still present and breeding in May. He told Birdwatch: “I had to collect our neighbours from the airport and passed by the rapidly receding pools. I saw a Killdeer and was photogaphing it when two juvs walked past! They disappeared into cover so I went back the following morning and took more photos.”

Killdeer is one of the less frequent American wader to reach the Western Palearctic, but the Azores is – unsurprisingly – the location most likely to attract the species. The Birding Azores website lists 18 records, half of them in the last 10 years, though it does not include all the sightings from Santa Maria this winter. Multiple occurrences are not unknown and include three together on Corvo in January this year, although Alan Vittery believes as many as five different adults may have appeared on Santa Maria in the months prior to breeding taking place.

As the latest Nearctic shorebird to nest in the Western Palearctic, Killdeer joins a very select list which includes Pectoral and Spotted Sandpipers (both of which have bred in Scotland) and White-rumped Sandpiper (which has been seen displaying on Svalbard).

A confirmatory photograph of an adult Killdeer with one of the juveniles appears in the July issue of Birdwatch, on sale in UK newsagents from 17 June.

See also here.