I'm jotting down some thoughts on the plane as we return from a week's family holiday on Cape Verde. Like last year, we booked our holiday with Thomson and stayed at the Riu Karamboa Hotel on Boa Vista.
We enjoyed warm weather throughout the week, probably about 26oC, but on our final day it reached 31. The cloud cover was variable. The wind was north easterly, occasionally strong and usually lightest in the morning. The sea was mostly rough, but became calmer towards the end of our stay. The red flag on the beach, that we had considered to be permanent, was eventually replaced with a yellow flag - sometimes at half mast!
Most days, I visited the Rabil Lagoon early in the morning and in the evening. The lagoon held more water than last year and was less attractive to birds. The highlight was an Oystercatcher which is a vagrant on Cape Verde. A dark phase Western Reef Heron on 2 dates at the Lagoon was another vagrant for CV.
Checking the dry grassland behind the Hotel failed to produce any Coursers, but Quail, Black-crowned Finch Lark, Bar-tailed Lark, Hoopoe Lark, Spectacled Warbler and feral donkeys were seen.
The Desert Locust was a feature this year with a dozen or more in seemingly every acacia bush. They were surprisingly large and one seen alongside a Spectacled Warbler was almost the same length. Many acacia bushes had been completely stripped of leaves.
Around the hotel and beach we noted Cattle Egret (up to 8), Alexander's Kestrel (up to 3), Osprey (3 together), Sanderling, Brown-necked Raven, Hoopoe Lark, Blackcap and many Spanish and Iago Sparrows.
Two whale watching trips from Sal Rei were amongst the highlights. On the first one, we were treated to the sight of an exuberant two week old Humpback Whale calf frequently breaching, pectoral fin and tail splashing. A few Cape Verde Shearwater provided some bird interest. On the second trip, I saw 2 female whales each with a calf. The mother and calf seemed at ease with the proximity of the boat and often rested at the surface together only 20 metres away. It was possible to hear their 'gasp' as they surfaced. With a hydrophone we could hear a male singing. A flying fish, an Osprey, a few Brown Booby and a Western Reef Heron provided a supporting cast.
With most of the likely BV bird species seen last year I decided to focus on seeing one iconic species really well - Red-billed Tropicbird. In a 4x4 we drove on a cobbled road through the desert and then on an intermittent track across sand dunes to an area of cliffs in the south-west of the island. The tropicbirds did not disappoint and put on a memorable show, often at very close range. Two dead birds on the cliff top were evidence that this population is threatened by feral cats.
Besides the plague of Desert Locust few identifiable insects were seen apart from several Black-bordered Babul Blue (Azanus moriqua) and an unidentified dragonfly.