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Day 1 |
Day 1 (Tuesday, 9th March)
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Hotel and seafront |
Blackbird |
First job of the day was to
finalise all the details for the hire car, which was quite straight forward,
since the conference agency had already organised the paperwork (Niza Cars was
used – they seem to be a popular hire company on the island, and have an office
on the opposite side of the road to the Mare Nostrum Resort). This left about
15 minutes before we met for the first work session of the morning, resulting
in a quick walk around the beach-front boundary of the hotel. The first birds
seen were actually as I was parking the car, with a male Blackbird on top of
one of the palm trees, and a couple of Spanish Sparrows being eyed up by a
subsequently chastised cat.
The hotel is predictably
based right on the seafront, which is populated by teems of happy morning
joggers. Even within this short morning walk, it was nice to see one or two
Canarian specialities. Amongst the numerous Collared Doves was a female
Blackcap, and singing Canary Islands Chiffchaff. The latter species is very
easy to pick up, having the basics of nominate Chiffchaff song, but much more
melodic, and not restricted to the repeated double syllable. There was also a
male Blackbird here, supposedly a distinct subspecies, but it looks very
similar to those seen elsewhere in Northern Europe. I was a little surprised to
see up to 10 Cory’s Shearwaters over the calm sea, flying from West to East,
and quite close to the shore.
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The morning business
session ended a little earlier than expected, so there was even more time to
head out for an afternoon birding slot. I left the hotel at around 1 o’clock,
and it took about 50 minutes to ascend the winding roads towards Mount Teide,
and to find the Las Lajas picnic site. This left hand turn was in the region of
9km up from the town of Vilaflor, and proved impossible to miss, sporting a
large wooden sign on the main road, and small restaurant visible from the road.
The pine trees here are abundant, but not too densely packed, leaving plenty of
light and space to see the birds.
I parked the car in shade
just beyond the restaurant, and as soon as I opened the car door, heard calling
Great Spotted Woodpeckers and singing Canary. Not much work needs to be put in
to see the birds here, and although there is only a limited variation in types
of birds, these are either local species or subspecies in most cases. They are
all also in good numbers, and in time relatively easy to see. Great Spotted
Woodpeckers are the most noticeable, drumming and calling from all directions.
Blue Chaffinch is one of the best known Canaries endemics, and this site lives
up to its reputation as one of the best places in the world to see them. Some
of the males are very vocal, as well as being very approachable – they are very
difficult to miss. One of the drinking taps provided on the picnic site was
found very quickly. One fascinating fact about these continental countries is
that their taps are always dripping – no complaints, since they do attract the
birds. Not only did Blue Chaffinches and African Blue Tits visit this, but the
Great Spotted Woodpeckers were also less shy than expected, and invited
themselves down for a drink. Canaries were heard regularly early on, but were
quite difficult to see, but some individuals eventually displayed themselves at
close quarters, with the tinkling call giving away their location. This
elevation above the sea is also a lot more comfortable, with cooling winds
keeping the temperatures down, despite the unbroken blue sky above. There were
also only a few people around the picnic area (1-2 dozen), but they were
somewhat swallowed up by the size of the site, and didn’t interfere with the
birds. Sitting a short distance
from the drinking taps is a good plan, since many of the species are happy to
visit despite human presence. As time passed here, the most common bird at the
dripping tap turned out to be Canaries. About 20-30m from the tap, a pair of
calling Turtle Doves eventually landed on the ground. |
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Great Spotted Woodpecker |
African Blue Tit |
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Island Canary |
Turtle Dove |
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Male Blue Chaffinch |
Female Blue Chaffinch |
The track to this headland
is situated in what is actually a bit of a desolate shambles. When I first
turned on to it from the main road, there were lorries plying to and fro on a
working site, alongside some covered banana plantations – it didn’t look
inviting at all! I drove to where there was supposed to be locked gate and a
barrier, which both seemed to be absent, reaching some buildings, where a
curious rotund Spanish chap wasn’t too happy for me to be around. I doubled
back towards the entrance, and parked about 100m away from these buildings. A
pair of Barbary Partridges appeared from the scrub in front of me before I even
had a chance to open the car door, but took flight soon after. Despite the unappealing
look to the place, one or two more local specialities were present, including
the Partridges. In fact, there is a much more picturesque area just to the West
of the main track. The whole area is good for Berthelot’s Pipit, which were not
as numerous as I had expected, but very easy to see nonetheless, calling almost
constantly. Kestrels are equally as obvious, with ~6 birds flying to and from
some small cliffs. Southern Grey Shrikes, at least 2 birds, were using lookout
posts for their hunting forays, with one having a go at a pair of Berthelot’s
Pipits. After a little walking and searching, Spectacled Warblers started to
show themselves. They were generally quite elusive in the undergrowth, but
occasionally found more exposed perches. As if to emphasise that
good birds can be found in the less luxuriant sites, a Hoopoe flew across me on
return to the car, and landed in the open, this being just after I had been able
to get within a few metres of a Southern Grey Shrike. |
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Hoopoe |
Southern Grey Shrike |
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Day 1 |
