31.07.2024 – Ruddy Good

Ever heard of a Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)? Rola do mar in Portuguese. A name that means turtledove of the sea and a name I find simply gorgeous. These stunning waders have gently marbled reddish plumage and bright orange/red legs. They are usual winter visitors to Madeiran shores but also occasionally appear as vagrants here in the summer. Appearing on rocky shorelines such as that of Calheta. Vagrants can be exciting to birders, but they are especially exciting when they are a familiar bird, which reminds them of a time and place they first became excited about the natural world. This may happen, for example, to a young British whale-watching guide who learnt to watch birds on remote Scottish islands. In this hypothetical, the aforementioned guide may have become so distracted by a ruddy turnstone that he may stop a whole queue of guests from getting onto a whale-watching boat to talk about it. He might even write the blog on it… If this were to happen, the guide would probably notice, eventually, apologise and let you know that alongside a Ruddy Turnstone, we also saw Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella frontalis), Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), and Sperm Whales (Physter macrocephalus) today. 

By Peter Worth

Sightings of the day

Ribeira Brava

09:30 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Sperm whale, Ruddy Turnstone

14:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Striped dolphins, Sperm whales, Atlantic spotted dolphins

17:00 Bottlenose Dolphin

Stenella

09:30 Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Sperm whale

13:30 Bottlenose Dolphin, Sperm Whale

17:00 Bottlenose Dolphin