A day out to Porto Santos.

It was a beautiful day on the island of Porto Santos, just to the north of Madeira and conveniently a 2.5 hour boat journey each way over seas which hold some of the rarest seabirds in the World. Highlights of the journey included at least 30 Bulwers petrels and 400 Cory's shearwaters.

The island itself is very arid and this is reflected in the fact that several of the plant species we saw at Porto Laurenco yesterday are here also, including ice plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, but also Berthelot's pipit.  The main town on the island, Vila Baleira, has a good population of Spanish sparrow.

Berthelot's pipit.

Bulwers petrel.

Cory's shearwaters.

Bulwers petrel.

Spanish sparrow.

Ice plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum.