Cape Verde Special: Feb-March 2027
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Island Endemics and Petrels Photography
We are targeting:
Endemic Cape Verde Petrel (including the recently discovered and rare dark morph – see below ‘A Must read’)
Enigmatic Cape Verde Storm-Petrel
Endemic Cape Verde Shearwater
Endemic Boyd's Shearwater
Endemic Raso Skylark
Endemic Cape Verde Swamp Warbler
Endemic Cape Verde Sparrow
Endemic Cape Verde Heron
Endemic Cape Verde Swift
Endemic Alexander's Kestrel
Endemic Neglected Kestrel
Endemic Cape Verde Barn Owl
Further key species:
Black-capped & Black-faced Petrels (– see below ‘A Must read’)
Bulwer's Petrel
White-faced Storm-Petrel
Red-billed Tropicbird (a unique photo opportunity at the breeding colony)
Grey-headed Kingfisher
Background:
Working in conjunction with Scott Reed, who runs Fogo Island’s very successful Pelagic operations following the structure of Bob Flood’s research original research program (for booking see: www.windshearbirding.com), we create a birding-research operative covering the remining islands (see below), with the aim of grabbing the extreme and photography targets the Cape Verde Islands have on offer. The operation is targeting the Northern Islands, the Santo Antão, São Vicente, São Nicolau and Raso, and on Santiago Island.
Dates & Prices
Endemics of Santiago Island
2-night/3-day extension, 27 Feb to 1 Mar 2027: 270 GBP per person including guiding (by Hadoram), accommodation and transportation around the island in birding time.
Max. participants: 9.
Extreme Pterodroma pelagic off Santo Antão (with Black-capped Petrels as the main target, as well as extraordinary close-up encounters and photography of seabirds from a small fishing boat)
Are scheduled for 1-7 March 2027 and 14-21 March 2027: at 870 GBP per person. We start and end at the hotel in São Vicente. This price includes Hadoram's guidance, as well as any necessary lodging and land transportation. Every day we go to sea, we charge an extra 150 GBP per person. However, because going to the ocean is weather dependent and we are unsure whether we can go for one, two, or three days (most likely two), we will only charge the amount specified on the spot. An extreme and adventurous operation!
Max. participants: 5.
The holy Razo Lark
An operation via São Nicolau (one of the most wanted WP birds!)—is scheduled for 7-14 March 2027: at 870 GBP per person. Price includes guiding by Hadoram, accommodation and land transport where necessary. The boat to Razo is an additional £280 per person but only charged if the crossing can be made in the prevailing weather conditions. We will run oil dripping between Razo and São Nicolau Islands to target the Cape Verde Storm-Petrel, which has become difficult to see at sea across the archipelago in recent years. If time and sea conditions allow, we will also form another chumming off the island to target the latter. We are doing this via São Vicente with ferry to São Nicolau finishing with São Nicolau to Praia/Santiago ferry. An adventurous and extreme operation!
Max. participants: 5.
must read!
Our chumming hotspots off Santo Antão Island are unique in that we might not need to chum; we simply likely need to locate the petrels on a feeding frenzy, where they may be feeding on giant squid debris (i.e. feeding association in relation to predation by Sperm Whale), whereas the petrels here are typically fed from small traditional fishing boats. That, combined with the proximity of the main Cape Verde Petrel colonies, results in these pelagic locations having a staggering record of well over 300 Cape Verde Petrels per day. In these pelagic operations, we can expect to see a large number of Black-capped petrels (senso lato; i.e., with associated/recognised forms), possibly up to ten birds per day; we also likely encountered the rare and poorly known dark morph Cape Verde Petrels. The latter two subjects will feature Bob Flood's et al.'s submitted paper to the Dutch Birding magazine, and as we intend to continue this research for many years to come. All you need is a wide-angle or macro 100-200 mm zoom lens for close-up photography, if not, you get only head or wing shots! 🙂 So, if you're interested in petrels, don't miss this operation and save your spot.
