Azorian race ‘patriciae’ of Grey Wagtail (Motacillia cinereal).
—Stephen—
Grey Wagtail
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Category Archives: São Miguel Island
Madeiran Wall Lizard
Seen on Sao Miguel – a naturalised immigrant from the Madeiran Islands.
—Stephen—
Sperm Whale (Just)
The primary reason for our visit to the Azores was for the opportunity to see a whale – not dolphins, porpoises or the like, but a genuine whale. The first few days we were there the sea was too rough for the sightseeing boats to go out. A calmer day was forecast so we booked to go – with the chance to see a Sperm whale. Off we set in a double-decker boat. On the journey out they gave us a talk on what we might see – setting our expectations. A whale was spotted so we headed for it.
A Sperm whale has its blow hole on the front of its head which made the sight of it a little unexpected. We watched the whale for about 15 minutes as it hyperventilated before its next dive. The whale took a last breath and then upended, tail in the air, and disappeared below the surface.
Footnote: I little confession here – I was lucky to get any pictures at all, indeed it took a great deal of mental fortitude on my part. Just prior to us spotting the whale I had an attack of the landlubbers nightmare – fortunately the boat was equipped with an ample supply of ‘just the right size’ plastic bags. From what I saw, several others had similar problems. I was fine until the boat stopped and again when the boat resumed it’s forward motion back to port. I wasn’t swell in the swell!
—Stephen—
Lava Tube
One of the tourist attractions on the outskirts of Ponta Delgada is the Gruta do Carvao, which is an old lava tube. I found it quite interesting and a complete contrast to the many water made cave systems I’ve visited. This photo has been ‘recovered’ using some extensive photoshop manipulation – at the very moment I wanted to use the pop-up flash on my Canon 80D it decided it didn’t want to work. I tried in vain to find some obscure control in the menu system but with no luck. When we returned home I had to send my camera off to Canon for repair…. and of course it was out of warranty!
—Stephen—
Roots II
Further to my previous, I thought it might be worth demonstrating how big the roots of this tree were. One without and another with a seeming mote of a human for scale.
—Stephen—
Ponta Delgada Marina
The marina of Ponta Delgada at dusk.
—Stephen—
Stephen G Hipperson 