Hard going today on The Rock

It's like any other place where there is a list of good birds at the end of the day. On Corvo, you just don't see anywhere near everything - particularly if you go out on a limb. And that's what happened today. So with much less wind today, I once again headed to Ribeira das Cancelas early morning and spent three hours in there without the Black-throated Blue Warbler. Just a Woodcock to show for the effort and so I headed back down to the village at lunchtime...

Within half an hour though, all hell broke loose as Lars M had found a Hermit Thrush at the top of the reservoir. A second for the Azores, following one here in early October 2009, it was a tick for all (bar me!). But I joined the party and got a lift up with Katt where after an hour or so of searching, the bird was located. I saw it pretty distantly a couple of times before it disappeared, and so I left the crowd and headed back through Tennessee Valley. Nothing there, but the strengthening southerly wind didn't help.

Back down in the village, things are a lot easier - just walk through whichever field you want and see what's about. No private access, just lots of House Sparrows and Canaries to go through. The first thing decent I saw was a Grey-cheeked Thrush up in middle fields near the fig trees, and then a couple of Buff-bellied Pipits down by the campsite. I made a half-hearted attempt to go back up towards the miradouro where there'd been a Scarlet Tanager, but only got as far as the middle fields again - where there was a showy Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the same place as yesterday, and at least three Indigo Bunting buzzing away...

Rose-breasted Grosbeak middle fields, Corvo 24th October 2015

1st-winter male Indigo Bunting middle fields, Corvo 24th October 2015

So, although I'm not one for creating lists, here's one that shows I'm on Corvo: -
1. Bread, ham and cheese
2. Cravings for salad and anything but murdered vegetables
3. Falling over at least a couple of times per day
4. A mega rare eastern bird turns up in Britain

Strong southwesterly winds forecast overnight with heavy rain too. Could be hard going in the morning but there could be some potential rewards. We'll see.