Raso Lark Alauda razaeis a kind of skylark that somehow got marooned in the Cape Verde archipelago a very long time ago, evolved the ability to survive on little more than rocks and dust and disappeared from all but one tiny, uninhabited island without permanent drinking water. That island, Raso, is also famous for seabirds, and it featured prominently in Petrels night and day. Here we present a couple of previously unpublished recordings of shearwaters, as well as two other species of seabird that were not covered by that book.
The Sound Approach is fortunate enough to have landed twice on Raso. Fortunate, also, because the boats we hired to get there were not exactly in tip top condition. Our first visit was when Arnoud and Magnus went in 2004, then Magnus returned with Killian, René and Pim Wolf in 2007. Since the thread currently linking all locations visited in the blog is René’s photography, most of the material here is taken from the second visit, which was also the longer one.
Raso Lark Alauda razae, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 21 March 2007 (René Pop)
Raso LarkAlauda razae, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 13 February 2004 (Magnus Robb). Song of a perched individual. A strong wind nearly always blows across the habitat of this species.
Cape Verde Shearwater Calonectris edwardsii, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 21 March 2007 (René Pop)
Cape Verde Shearwater Calonectris edwardsii, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 20 March 2007 (Magnus Robb). Duets of several pairs.
Boyd’s Shearwater Puffinus boydi, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 22 March 2007 (René Pop)
Boyd’s Shearwater Puffinus boydi, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 13 February 2004 (Magnus Robb). Calls of several individuals in flight.
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 20 March 2007 (René Pop)
Brown Booby Sula leucogaster, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 17:17, 22 March 2007 (Magnus Robb). Begging of a nestling, grunts of adult females and hisses of adult males as a Brown-necked Raven Corvus ruficollisflies over the colony. Background: Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus.
Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 21 March 2007 (René Pop)
Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 13:13, 21 March 2007 (Magnus Robb). Calls of a pair. Background: Raso Lark Alauda razae.
Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 21 March 2007 (René Pop)
Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus, Raso, Cape Verde Islands, 20 March 2007 (Magnus Robb). ‘Long calls’ in flight and, at very close range, in a burrow.