Madeira - Day 1

We decided we would go to Madeira as a way of using up some of the airmiles and nectar points we've been collecting, and as a (therefore) cheap but interesting and distinctive place to visit. We hoped to combine walking and bird-watching with some late-in-the-year sunshine. Madeira certainly delivers on the walking and the weather. In respect of bird-life, there are few endemic species and few genuine birding hot spots so it is possible to cover the island comfortably within a week.

The first thing that strikes you about Madeira is the humidity, that and the temperature, which never dropped below 17 celcius, day or night. The second thing that strikes you about Madeira (especially if like me you have height-type Vertigo) is that there are almost no natural flat surfaces, it being an extinct volcano type island, and therefore virtually every surface is man-made, surrounded by precipices, drops, heights, etc. There is no escape from this aspect of the island, which over time becomes quite wearing. Even a short walk will involve cliffs, step inclines, sharp drops, jagged rocks, etc. However setting that aside the island is different from anything I've visited before, and proved worth exploring. I recommend the 'Madeira Tour and Trail map'. published by Discovery Walking Guides Ltd (ISBN 1-904946-26-7) and Shirley Whitehead's 'Madeira Walks' (ISBN 1-904946-31-3) for reference. There are some non-commercial websites out there but they are few and far between.

One of the commonest birds in Madeira is the Yellow-legged Gull, atlantis, here shown in flight:

The most common bird of prey is the (Common) Kestrel, I snapped this one hovering over a patch of green land, on the coast in Funchal:














Ever-present close to sea-level is the (Atlantic) Canary:














As are the lizards:




















I believe I saw three species of lizard on the island, but in truth they are a complete mystery to me so I actually have no idea. All these snaps were taken on a leisurely first-day walk along the front close to our hotel (which I won't be recommending) and into Funchal itself.