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Lagoa do Pau Pique - one of many small crater
lakes on São Miguel.
Photo 2009-01-05: Staffan Rodebrand |
São Miguel is the largest island of the archipelago.
The island has a length of 65 km, a width of 12 km, a total area of 759
square km, and a population around 130000. The airport, close to the centre
of Ponta Delgada, provides daily service to Europe via Lisbon as well
as direct charter flights from different cities in Europe. There are also
regular inter island SATA-flights. Most tourist fly in to Ponta Delgada
which is the largest city in the Azores, and a busy town with lots of
hotels, restaurants, old picturesque streets, traffic jams and even a
modern galleria. Other main municipals, or towns, are Lagoa and Vila Franca
do Campo on the south coast, and Ribeira Grande on the north coast.
The western part of São Miguel is dominated by
the big crater Caldeira das Sete Cidades (diameter 4 km) with the twin
lakes Lagoa Azul (Blue Lake) and Lagoa Verde (Green Lake). The central
part between Ponta Delgada and Ribeira Grande is more flat and dominated
by large areas of lush pastureland. Further east the land rises again
with a high central ridge all the way towards Nordeste. In these highlands
with a mixture of open farm land, conifer and deciduous woods are the
spectacular Lagoa do Fogo and the Furnas' valley with its lake and thermal
water springs. The island ends with the mountain ridge Serra da Tronquira
with its partly original Laurel forest.
The roads leaving Ponta Delgada to Vila Franca da Campo
and Ribeira Grande have been improved a lot in the last years, and allow
a fast and safe transportation. The other main roads are also in good
shape, but often follow the coastline up and down in serpentines which
makes your travel time consuming.
Maps
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A
general map with birding localities could be viewed here»
»
Download
or open a detailed and resizeable map here.
»
Coordinates for birdwatching sites.
Specialties
The main attraction
is the endemic Azores Bullfinch, Pyrrhula (pyrrhula) murina, sometimes
treated as a full species. The population counts somewhere between 100
and 200 pairs, and is restricted to the Serra da Tronqueira in the eastern
parts of São Miguel.
Birding localities
You can't really do
São Miguel in one day. The distances are not that long but the
traffic is slow and it takes a lot of time to travel. Try to do the western
parts with the Twin Lakes and Mosteiros in one day, and the eastern parts
with Furnas and the Azores Bullfinch on another.
There are a lot of turnoffs and resting areas along
the roads, many with scenic views which often also are good lockouts for
checking the local bird fauna. Try to check all places that look good,
like harbours, flat open fields, sandy beaches and creeks getting out
in the sea.
Spending the late afternoons and evenings in harbours
where gulls and terns come in to roost is often a good idea.
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The village Mosteiros to the right in far background.
Photo: Bosse Carlsson |
Mosteiros
At the most
north-westerly part of the village Mosteiros there is a square monument
with benches situated about 10 m over the sea level, an ideal place for
seawatching. There are normally a steady stream of Cory's Shearwaters
passing not far out. Spending some time here scanning the seas often provides
good sightings of dolphins, a few Manx's and Little Shearwaters, while
many more species are possible. Skuas often fly by and with a little luck
rare shearwater species, gannets or even a distant whale at the horizon
can be spotted.
On the lava beach below Turnstones, Whimbrels and Little
Egrets use to walk around, sometimes together with more odd species like
Snowy Egret, Spotted and Purple Sandpiper.
If you go close to the beach south from here you come
to the harbour where sometimes waders are feeding. A little more to the
south is a small peninsula with gardens and small cultivated fields among
the houses. Here you can try to search for passerines. Mosteiros seems
to a good place for European migrating passerines, with sightings of Azorean
rarities like Whinchat, Black and Common Redstart. On the southernmost
part of the village a creek reaches the sea. Here you can check for shorebirds
and gulls.
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In the forground is Lagoa Verde and Lagoa Azul
is in the background. The bridge is seperating the two lakes.
To the left is the village Sete Cidades.
Photo: Bosse Carlsson |
Lagoa Azul and Lagoa Verde
One the bottom of the large picturesque crater Caldeira das Sete Cidades
there are two lakes Lagoa Azul and Lagoa Verde, cultivated fields and
meadows and a number of small woods as well as dazzling gardens in the
village of Sete Cidades. This variation in different habitats sheltered
by the crater walls make the area suitable for resting migrants. Depending
on the water level in the lakes, the shores are more or less attractive
for resting waders. Single Greenshanks or Spotted Sandpipers are regular,
but a lot of other species have turned up. The best shores are around
Lagoa Azul, and you can drive along most of the shoreline except for the
northern steep side.
In between the village and Lagoa Azul is a recreation
area with hedges and trees which attracts passerines, and in this part
of the lake most of the resting ducks are encountered.
Further south and just north of bridge that separates
the two lakes is the favourite spot for the wintering and possibly even
breeding Coots. If you go from the bridge towards the village you will
have a small wood on your right side. This wood is by birders given the
name "Phyllo-wood" since a few Chiffchaffs, a couple of Willow
Warblers and a Yellow-browed Warbler have been recorded here. The best
part is around the small marsh which also normally holds a few Moorhens.
East of the Twin Lakes, on a higher altitude are a few
smaller lakes which seldom hold any birds, except for a few Grey Herons
in Lagoa de Santiago which is on the road down into the crater.
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| A triple of warblers
seen and photographed in the Sete Cidade area. From left: Yellow-browed
Warbler, Chiffchaff and Yellow Warbler. Photos: Bosse
Carlsson |
Ponta Delgada harbour
The marina at
the east end of the seafront avenue is the place where the whale-watching
safaris start. From here you can search among the Common Terns after Roseates'.
The best time is late afternoon when terns and gulls come to the harbour
for the overnight roost. If you follow the avenue back you will pass a
small sandy spot below the concrete wall. At low tide this is a resting
place for waders and gulls.
The major pier starts at the west side of the avenue.
You can walk on top of the pier, and sometimes you are allowed to follow
the pier all the way out. This allowance depends of how busy they are
loading or unloading ships. Big trucks are going back and forth so it
is rather dangerous to be on the pier at that time. Ask at the entrance
if you can walk in. Anyway, from the pier you can do sea- and whale watching,
and at the outermost rocks is at summertime a flock of Common and Roseate
Terns resting.
This part of the town along the seafront is very busy
with a lot of traffic and way too few parking lots. Watch out for active
meter maids!
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| Late evening at the harbour in Ponta Delgada,
a good place for gulls and terns. Best watch point is up on the large
pier in the western part of the harbour. Photo 2009-11-01: Staffan
Rodebrand |
Lagoa do Fogo
This high altitude
lake usually keeps nothing but a resting flock of Atlantic Yellow-legged
Gulls. You can scan the lake from the first "Miradoro" along
the eastern road between Santa Cruz and Ribeira Grande. This is often
a windy, foggy and cold place to visit, and just a very few interesting
birds have been recorded. One reason for this could be that very few take
the hard and time consuming walk down to the lake.
Vila Franca do Campo
The harbour and beaches around Vila Franco do Campo
often have resting gulls and waders. Flocks of Sanderlings and Turnstones
are regular, Ring-billed Gulls, White-rumped and Purple Sandpipers have
been seen, and even a Double-crested Cormorant has turned up. From here
you can start your seawatching tours out on the Atlantic. Photo section
below shows some of what can be seen on a four hours tour in late September.
For pelagic tours see the seawatching
page.
 
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| A pelagic tour off Vila Franca do Campo. Sperm
Whale, tuna fishing, Manx Shearwater, and Cory´s Shearwaters
together with a Great Shearwater. Photo 2009-09-27: Staffan
Rodebrand |
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Great Egrets at Furnas in November 2005.
Photo: Jens
Hering |
Furnas and Lagoa das Furnas
In addition
to the coastal scenery, mountains and lakes, the town of Furnas stands
out as a unique location lying at the base of an ancient crater. In the
middle of the old town is a nice botanical garden "Parque Terra Nostre".
You have to pay a fee and the park is open daily 08-18. The most interesting
bird here has been a male Wood Duck which is said to be genuine. It is
often seen in the company of a pair of tame Mute Swans. Also Chiffchaff
has been recorded a few times here.
Just before Furnas on your way from Vila Franca do Campo
you will find Lagoa das Furnas on your left side. If you turn off at the
south of the lake you find an old deserted church on a grassy and sandy
beach good for shorebirds.
In the north is a tourist trap where food is cooked
with the help of the hot springs. You can park here and walk by the hot
springs to where a small creek runs into the lake. Most ducks and Coots
are seen on this side where also the domestic ducks are fed by the tourists.
This is also a good place for shorebirds and Spotted Sandpiper is almost
regular here. There is also possible to walk along the west more undisturbed
side of the lake.
Just east of Lagoa das Furnas you can take a small road
signed "Viveiros da Lagoa Seca" further to the east. If you
drive on this road (and don't go up to the viewpoint) you will in the
first 2 km pass over some irregularly wet fields and come to the small
Lagoa Seca (both sides of the road) which in wet periods often attract
ducks and herons.
Serra da Tronqueira and the Azores Bullfinch
This Nature Reserve is the only place where you can
find the Azores Bullfinch. Drive the road from Povoacão towards
Nordeste. After about 7 km you turn left on a narrow road that goes on
the mountain ridge all the way to Nordeste. After 2, 8 km you have a small
clearing on your right side. This clearing has been the easiest place
to find the Bullfinches. Before and after this place there are many feeders
so you can always try around them if you still miss the birds. Maybe the
best way to find the birds is to walk all the way back and forth and listen
for the Bullfinches. Recently there have been many observations closer
to the main road - as near as a couple of hundred meters. See also the
Azores Bullfinch page.
Where to stay and getting around
It should be
no problem to find a place to stay and eat at São Miguel. There
are a lot of restaurants and hotels in the town of Ponta Delgada and the
same goes for the rest of the island.
» Here
you'll find more information and photos from São Miguel
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