About
SEAWATCHING IN PENICHE
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The Peniche peninsula breaks off the Portuguese coast and functions as a migration obstacle for seabirds following the Iberian coast heading south to African waters in autumn. The seabirds have to round the peninsula and are therefore easy to observe in the right wind conditions. Off the peninsula lies the Berlengas Islands which hold internationally important numbers of breeding Cory’s Shearwaters and Madeiran Petrels. The waters off these islands are deep and rich in nutrients and are an added attraction to feeding seabirds. Despite these possibilities, the migration past Peniche is poorly documented compared to European migration watchpoints further north.
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2015 Count
In 2015, Johan Elmberg, Erik Hirshfeld, and I managed to put together a project of counting seabirds on migration off Peniche (West Portugal) for 3 months - the Peniche Seabird Count. With the help of a group of committed volunteers and sponsors, we managed to tally over 300.000 seabirds, from August 15th to November 15th. When we finished, migration was still going strong.
The following observers volunteered to participate in the seabird counts at Peniche in 2015:
Hannes Andersson, Filipa Beça, Ingmar Bernemark, David Campbell, Helder Cardoso, Helder Costa, Leila Duarte, Johan Elmberg, Pierre Esteves, Luis Gordinho, Erik Hirschfeld, André Julinder, Silke Klick, Helena Lager, Manuel Lemos, Pedro Moreira, Valentin Moser, Pedro Nicolau, Ulf Ottosson, Håkan Peterson, Andreas Pettersson, Pedro Ramalho, Carlos Ribeiro, Matthias Tissot, and Anders Wirdheim.
We thank them all sincerely, as well as any participant possibly missing from this listing.
The Peniche Seabird Count - 2015 also had the support from:
The following observers volunteered to participate in the seabird counts at Peniche in 2015:
Hannes Andersson, Filipa Beça, Ingmar Bernemark, David Campbell, Helder Cardoso, Helder Costa, Leila Duarte, Johan Elmberg, Pierre Esteves, Luis Gordinho, Erik Hirschfeld, André Julinder, Silke Klick, Helena Lager, Manuel Lemos, Pedro Moreira, Valentin Moser, Pedro Nicolau, Ulf Ottosson, Håkan Peterson, Andreas Pettersson, Pedro Ramalho, Carlos Ribeiro, Matthias Tissot, and Anders Wirdheim.
We thank them all sincerely, as well as any participant possibly missing from this listing.
The Peniche Seabird Count - 2015 also had the support from:
2020 Count
With my time in autumn filled with guiding in Portugal and Spain, it has been difficult to continue counting during the last four years. This year, due to the pandemic and restrictions on traveling, I considered the possibility of going to Peniche to count seabirds again. With an evergrowing family, I just can´t do it daily, but I can commit to do it every other day, meaning a sample of 7 days every fortnight. I will be counting for 3-3,5hours after sunrise. This year I will start on August 1st and I will try to do it for 3 months. There was no time, or support, to organize a volunteer-based project, like in 2015, so I will be doing it on my own. But, if anyone wants to show up and help in the counts, I´m always happy to get some company.
Results - 2020
©Helder Cardoso. Todos os direitos reservados. Cover photo: Pedro Nicolau.
