Tenerife Birding (1 Viewer)

6.3.04
Arrived in the evening at Airport Tenerife Sur and drove via highway to Puerto dela Cruz and from there to Garachico (Didn´t stop at puerto cruz, wanted to reach Hotel-a finca near Garachico)
Birds at Airport : Canary, Collared dove, Blackbird
Birds seen on the road: Yellowlegged Gull, Kestrel, domestic pigeons, Blackbird

7.3.04
Walking around the gardens of the Finca (Hotel Rural El Patio, some old trees and Canary island Date Palms, as well as common Date Palms); through the banana plantations, and at the rocky shores; also observing the big water basins for water storage.
Birds that were everywhere in the area:
Canary, Canary islands chifchaff, Tenerife Blue Tit, Plain Swift, Turtle Dove, Kestrel, Blackbird, Yellowlegged gull
Only at weedy patches in the rocks near the beach:Yellow wagtail (flavissima), Greenfinch (together with lots of canaries)
Only at the water basins: Domestic Muscovies in one, a female Pochard in the other and a little egret sitting on the edge of that basin.

8.3.04
From the evening of that day onwards we regularly heard a Long Eared Owl calling in the Finca area, but we never managed to see it.
We visited the nice little town of Garachico then, that did have two nice churches and some typical canarien houses; also lots of Spanish sparrows, Canaries, domestic pigeons, Collared Doves, Plain swifts (tey also visited little cavities in the Roque de Garachico, a big rock in the bay (probably they were looking for breeding sites (or already breeding?). on the same Rock there was also a big colony of Yellowlegged Gulls, many pairs already occupying territories.

We then drove on towards the west and then started to climb up a small steep path in a valley not far from the Punta del Fraile. Beautyfull scenery, with lots of Euphorbias and Aeonium plants as well as Canarina canariensis, one of the most beautiful endemic flowers in my opinion. Back to birds: Sparrowhawk; Kestrel; Raven; Canary, Canary Islands Chifchaff; Turtle dove; domestic Pigeon, Tenerife Robin (song quite different from middle european Robins); Tenerife Blue Tit...

I will go on adding the next 11 days here one after the other, when I find time...

Jörn

The following day was Tuesday, 9.3.04 and we decided to go to the "Canadas del Teide"-NP, a rocky area with lots of volcanic rocs and sparse plant growths (Spartocytisus, an Erysimum, the famous Echium wildpretii (not flowering yet) and a few other endemics growing there) There were wast areas with no plant growths at all, not even lichens. but still we saw the ubiquitous Canary islands lizards; a common Kestrel hunting for them, some of the also ubiquitous Canaries and got our first view of Berthelots Pipit. as described in the book, it´s legs really seem to insert more backwards than in other pipits-looks slightly strange. They were quite tame. some were directly in the little area in front of the visitors center (this was the small visitor center east of the mountain Teide; there is a bigger one in the south of the mountain) . They had a nice botanical garden and some interesting literature: I bought the book where to watch Birds on Tenerife by E. Garcia del Rey there.
We had made two stops in the pine forest region above Aguamansa (coming from Orotava); one stop on the way up in a Forest of the Introduced and problem-causing (erosion!!) Monterey pine (Pinus radiata). There we had good views of Chaffinches of the race tintillon; Tenerife Blue Tits and also of the tiny, difficult-to-see Canary islands Kinglet-But no Blue Chaffinch.
The second stop (already on the way down was much more interesting as this was the way to La Caldera-an area where you could expect Blue Chaffinch!
And there they were: first an adult male in the sun on top of an endemic Juniperus cedrus tree; then male and female on the ground in a Canary Pine wood; the female hopping around looking for seeds; the male manipulating a pinecone bigger than itself with its beak, rolling it on the ground a few centimeters. We got really great views but it was too dark already for photographing...

On the way up in the morning we had also stopped at Cuesta de la villa , a village near Puerto de la Cruz; to by some stuff at the supermarked. There we saw free-flying Monk-Parakeets, two of them having a screeched argument with a Cockatiel who was sitting in a big aviary in a garden. There we also had Kestrel, collared dove and Blackbird- and a beautiful Monarch butterfly-The only one during our whole visit to the Canary-Islands...

to be continued

Wednesday, 10.3.04
Walking from the little mountain town Erjos (In the Teno Mountains, in the Northwest of Tenerife) through some fields and areas with Broom, Opuntia cacti and Agave americana (here Southern Grey Shrike, Canary, Canary Islands Chifchaff, domestic pigeons) into the famous laurel forest to see the endemic pigeons. The laurel forest was covered with clouds on late morning, but on the first Mirador (=viewpoint)( perhaps Mirador Emmerson, but no sign there indicating this and only a small path to the mirador) we heard a strange gurgling pigeon call. Some minutes later a Bolle´s pigeon burst out of a tree crown an was racing over the canopy; giving the impression of a fast small woodpigeon, coloured too dark. we went on through the forest the whole rest of the day, going several km on a good way (workers in the forest passed us with a four wheel drive) until we returned on the same way in the evening. suddenly the woods were full with birds (Tenerife Blue Tit , tenerife Robin; Canary Islands Chifchaff, Blackbird,(all singing) Common Bussard, Sparrowhawk (both Raptors seen from another viewpoint) and then Bolles Pigeon joined the concert, sounding like a Woodpigeon with a very sore throat, being extremely hoarse. This made clear that the pigeon we had heard in the morning at Mirador Emmerson had been the Laurel Pigeon, but we hadn´t seen it yet. We saw at least 12 Bolles pigeons on the way back in the evening and one bird that might have been a Laurel Pigeon but about that one we were not sure. So when we passed the Mirador Emmerson again we decided to look there again for Laurel pigeon and to wait until dawn. We were rewarded!!! One Laurel pigeon, clearly seen, but not for long as it was also flying fast over the canopy. 2 more Bolle´s pigeons we saw also there.
And Christiane found a beautyful tail feather of Bolle´s Pigeon!

Next Time I will follow Michael F.´s advice and visit this area in the early morning without that much clouds!! Eduardo Garcia del Rey gives similar advice. For the birds evening seems to be as good as early morning, but you can be sure there will be clouds then (morning can also be cloudy, but chance on no clouds is much better).

I readily agree on Laurel pigeon being the most difficult to see endemic!
But the Laurel Forest in itself is just great!!!

To be continued

Thursday, 11.3.04

Visiting Puerto de la Cruz;botanical Garden; City and Harbour. Not many bird species around, but House sparrow (also hybrids with Spanish sparrow) and 1 single serin (a female , together with a group of 7 Canaries, in the city) were new on the list.
Also we saw the first nest of Canary Islands ChiffChaff (with young; adults feeding) in the botanical garden. Other birds were monk parakeet (both in the BG and the City-harbour area-remarkably shy in the BG area; BUT UNUSUALLY TAME IN THE CITY-SOME BIRDS EVEN TAKING BREAD ON THE GROUND WITH THE PIGEONS!
Mostz of them were not coming to the ground, feeding on flowers of palm trees instead; also several nests in canary date palms(4 used nests with about 5 nest chambers each, 1 abandonned nest with about the same number of chambers). also in the City/Harbour and BG were Canary, Tenerife Blue Tit (screening the rubbish in some streets for flies-it was a cold day and insects were not very fast), Blackbird, Kestrel, Spanish sparrow, Yellowlegged gull, Little egret, domestic pigeons/Rock doves, Plain Swift.

City and BG in general were interesting (allthough the BG was not as good as I had hoped- wrong or no signs at many plants and the gardens not that big- still it was intresting as this isthe old acclimatisation garden of the spanish Kings- in earlier times it was considered possible that one could adapt tropical plants to the spanish mainland conditions by gradually bnging them into cooler climates-omne step being the canary islands. The idea faiiled-but one remain is that Botanical Garden in Puerto de la Cruz) , but we preferred being somewhere in the landscape-
so Friday will be about Punta de Teno in the west....

To be continued

Friday 12.3.04

Far west -Punta de Teno -did not hold much birds (probably due to the time of the day we were there-late morning to mid-afternoon): Rock dove, Berthelots pipit, kestrel, Yellowlegged gull and something that might have been an osprey (but so far away (towards the South, Los Gigantes cliffs) that it was not 100% sure)

-but the waves were fantastic!

On the way back we stopped at the mirador and at the beach of what was probably Punta del Fraile (our map was not exact with the names-so we where not sure)

we had the usual suspects; er, birds at those places:
canary islands chiffchaff, tenerife Blue tit, Blackbird, Common Bussard, a yellow wagtail (flavissima), canary, Plain swift, Kestrel, Yellowlegged Gull and Berthelots pipit; together with 2 species new for this trip: a fem. spectacled warbler and a Lesser blackbacked gull.
We also had a dodgy sighting of a falcon hunting through the thick clouds (using them as cover), scaring the rock doves and making them hide in the holes and caves in the rocks-peregrine or barbary falcon from the silhouette, but no coloration visible against scy and clouds...
In the evening we also saw hundreds of shearwaters; but too far out and in too bad light to get any ID...

Saturday , 13.3.04
In the morning, again at Punta del fraile:

Kestrel; common buzzard, the latter suddenly being attacked by a barbary falcon!!!Great sighting!!! ; then we had Sardinian warbler, Canary, canary islands chiffchaff, tenerife Blue tit, Blackbird, Yellowlegged Gull .

after that we went into the mointains by car, to the pass La Tabaiba. From there we walked steep , windy trails to the little village Teno Alto, the most reliable place for seing Rock sparrow and Corn bunting (According to the book from E. Garcia del Rey)-we saw them; already singing; also canary, tenerife robin, Tenerife blue tit, canary islands chifchaff, kestrel
on ther ground the corn buntings and Rock sparrows fed together, sometimes mixed with canaries.
In the evening at Buenavista del Norte , the northwesternmost city we added collared dove, white wagtail and Spanish sparrow to this days list.

14.3.04
After a short visit to Erjos ponds that brought nothing remarkable, besides some moorhens, Yellowlegged gull and canary as well as canary islands chiffchaff (these ponds were recommended in our book , but perhaps too much water was in) we drove to the southwest-a long drive, but we were rewarded- after the shocking experience of Los Christianos-tons of tourists and millions of people who wanted to sell you anything (birds YL Gull, Span. Sparrow, Common Tern and Little Egret (both in the harbour), Collared dove)- when we walked up Guaza mountain. The abandonned fields and stone walls were recommended as the best site for trumpeter finch-being at the first plateau we soon heard the first male doing its trumpeting!! We soon discovered him on an old heap of stones and also a female with him.
we located several more and spent some time there watching them and listening to them. The biggest group we saw were 40-50 of them foraging on the ground-really beautiful creatures seen closeby, and just disappearing in the landscape from some distance. Suddenly a barbary partridge jumped out of a bush making a quick start and landing again after a few hundred meters-our first! also 2 southern Grey shrikes were there sitting on top of the cacti-like Euphorbia canariensis; berthelots pipit was also frequenting the abandonned fields and the shrubby open areas nearby, singing. Plain swift, kestrel and Yellwlegged gull were passing through; the swifts very close to the ground ( and to us) sometimes...

to be continued....

I'm enjoying reading your reports of this trip,Joern,there is a mine of information for anyone visiting Tenerife.

Thanks Trevor!
I am just seing the whole holiday again in my head, while doing this...

15.3.2004, Monday

We drove half the way to Teno Alto; a steep winding road (with only space for 1 car most of the time) towards this small village in the Northwest of the Teno mountains.
Then we stopped the car at a place where the street was somewhat wider and went towards Teno Alto by foot , passed through the village towards the coastal cliffs and down the Barranco de las Cuevas ("gorge of the caves"). Towards Teno Alto the sides of the roads where and the Mountainsides where mainly covered with tree heather , there we had Canary islands chiffchaff, Tenerife Blue tit, Blackbird and some Rock doves flying overhead. Behind the main part of the village, we again passed the flowering meadows and some isolated farms, where we had seen Rock sparrow, Corn bunting and also many Canaries feeding on the ground in the meadows and near the farms and also singing males of all three species. Again these species where there, together with a fourth: a few Linnets where among them, the males looking slightly different from the middle European subspecies (the red was a touch more orange). Then suddenly 2 calling Ravens where flying low above us, suddenly joined by another one, who suddeny decided to fly awai again. The 2 (a pair) where rising and falling down again, like playing with the extremely strong winds; doing some fantastic loops.
But the wind really was extreme, luckily after some difficulties with the very bad signs for the trail, we managed to find it again, helped by some other tourists and a goatherd. so now we were within the barranco, out of the wind, allways walking quite near the deep gorge, but it was not allways possible to look into the deep parts of the gorge. Suddenly an LBJ flow out of a bush, turned and sat on another bush, starting to sing in the open! only some meters away; it was a beautiful male Spectacled warbler! At a nearby pen for the goats during night, with walls made from rocks, there where about 20 Rock sparrows hopping around, about 30 Corn buntings and also some Canaries... two goats were still in the pen, chewing the cud. and some Rock sparrows even hopped on them for short moments.

a few hundred meters further, at an abandonned farm house, we where having our lunch break when suddenly a cloud of rock sparrows, Corn buntings, canaries, canary island chiffchaffs and Rock doves burst out of the Barranco, the small birds all flying for cver into the Euphorbia bushes at the edges of the barranco, the doves trying to get as high as possible up into the air. Christiane had been looking down the barranco, in the opposite direction and she was lucky, seeing the cause for that: a beautiful light blue-grey falcon with a reddish crown/nape area flying through the canyon with a great speed- a barbary falcon!
he was flying upwards, coming from the coast and probably trying to surprise a bird at one of the drinking holes in the Barranco...we didn´t see if he succeeded.
Going further down the Barranco we saw some caves that where still inhabited by people; with rock walls and wooden doors in the cave entrance-that was like coming into a different century. So far, we had only seen abandonned caves beside normal farmhouses.

When we reached the end of the barranco and went to a viewpointin the cliffs, we had a great look above the flat landscape of Teno Bajo (that is the flat coastal plain behind the Punta de Teno and Faro de Teno, where we had already been) several hundred meters beneath us. but due to the many birds on the way we were delayed and had to go back_ the only birds at the viewpoint were a pair of Barbary Partridges.
We also saw Kestrel and Berthelots pipit on this trip (pipits at the stony meadows of Teno Alto and at the viewpoint); the kestrels never causing such reactions in other birds as the barbary falcon; even when they where flying through the barranco.
Alltogether it had again been a beautiful day in the Teno mountains.

Tuesday, 16.3.04
Going to La Gomera by ship-
Here the book "Where to watch birds on Tenerife" by Eduardo Garcia del Rey gave us the wrong information. it recommended the ferry line "Fred Olsen" in stead of "Trasmediterranea", due to the ships of the former being higher, thus more overview for seawatching. But the conventional ships on the Line "Fred Olsen" had been replaced by fastferries - difficult to watch any birds from these, as they are not as high as a normal ferry and go that fast, that you do not see much

On the way to La Gomera in the morning we had :
about 120 Plastic bags
3 plastic bottles
1 Cory`s shearwater
32 Yellowlegged Gulls
2 Common Terns
1 unidentified dolphin
The only new bird on La Gomera was European Goldfinch (others: Sparrowhawk, Blackbird, Collared dove, Rock dove +domestic pigeons, Canary , Canary islands Chiffchaff, La Gomera Blue Tit, La Gomera Robin; Chaffinch-nothing really new)

On the way back with the fastferry we were rewarded:
thousands of Cory´s Shearwaters were flying to the north near the coast of Gomera-the sea was filled with an endless stream of birds!!! No other special shearwaters or other seabirds though (except a few yellowlegged gulls)-but nevertheless we were fascinated!

Wednesday, the 17.3.04

wanted to go to the Laurel forest again, but no chance, weather was extremely bad- went to La Orotava instead-raining also there, but some nice old houses seen...
birds just the usual within a town (Spanish sparrow, Canary, collared dove, Blackbird, domestic pigeons)
In the evening the weather in the west seemed to clear up, and we went again to the beach nerar Punta del fraile and along the Path at the coastal side of the Buenavista Golf Course.Birds seen there.

Oenanthe hispanica (A female of the light throated form; see the thread in the ID forum)
Little Egret, Sardinian warbler male, berthelots pipit, Canary islands Chiffchaff, Canary, yellow legged gull, and several Cory´s shearwaters extremely close to the coast!!!!!!!!

there were also 3 waders on the shore which took flight a long distance away and were not clearly seen (they might have been whimbrels- how commonly occur those on rocky shores?) and there where a lot more shearwaters too far out for id.

Thursday 18.3.04
went to the Anaga mountains in the East, these are only half as high as the Teno in the west, but cover a greater area and have a quite impressive laurel forest (good population of Bolles Pigeon- again we saw some- they tend to suddenly cross the path in flight or burst out of the canopy; but no Laurel pigeons visible). At the edge of the Laurel forest we had the Robin and tenerife Blue Tit again, as well as the ubiquitous Canary islands Chiffchaff and canary-together with the endemic subspecies of Grey wagtail (new canary island bird for us) chasing insects on the road.

Later the day we were walking along the beautifull rocky north coast near El Draguillo (very small village with big Dracaena draco) with steepmountain slopes and high cliffs- Here again Euphorbia shrubs with Sardinian Warbler, tenerife Blue Tit , Canary islands Chiffchaff (also a nest with young in a Pelargonium inquinans bush)and canary; Yellowlegged gull -and suddenly (I was climbing the rocks to photograph a new species of Aeonium) a falcon was hunting through a Barranco going up from the seashore into the mountains passing us extremely close-Barbary falcon again! the highlight of the day! Great view!

Good stuff coming from you. It is tempting me to go soon.

Friday 19.3.04

Our last day , so we were making a big round through the Island by car, around the Teyde, having great views of the mountain.
First stop was Las Lajas picnic area some Kilometers above Vilaflor; in the Canary pine forest. Canary pines in all ages and developmental stages, but nearly no other plants there- and lots of the fascinating Blue Chaffinch in their typical habitat; also the endemic great spotted woodpecker subspecies (new for us!); two of them having a dispute which tree belongs to whom. Would have been a good site for Photographs of the Blue Chaffinches, if I had better Camera equipment...Canary and Tenerife blue tit also present in small numbers.

Then we went through Vilaflor ; the highest vilage of whole spain-quite nice, but the gardens were not very spectacular- despite what the travel guide book said. But certainy we scanned the gardens water reservoirs and wastelands around the village for birds.
A plant common there and adding to the flower scenery was the naturalized Eschscholtzia californica. We watched Tenerife Blue tits drink nectar from Echium wildpretii there (Taginaste roja in spanish, a beautifull endemic of the Teide mountain Not in flower yet at its typical altitude, but as a garden plant in Vilaflor- a relative of Viper´s Bugloss) Other birds were Yellowlegged Gull! at a water reservoir, domestic pigeons, Canary , canary islands chiffchaff, a fem. Grey wagtail, Plain swifts; and as 2 new species for our canary list the endemic Blackcap and some Pallid swifts among the plain swifts, differences easy to see as they were flying close to us.

On the way back , allready in the north (again in the clouds), a barbary partridge jumped onto the street in the fayal-brezal zone and crossed the street slowly not caring much for our car...this was strange, so far we had only seen them in lower altitudes and drier habitats; and extremly wary_ perhps here they ave already realized that hunting is not allowed in the NP.

In our last evening we had great conditions for seawatching at Garachico, as the waves had risen and the wind was stronger and several shearwaters were even passing extremely close under land , between the coast and the Roque de Garachico; something that had never happened the days before-and now on the last evening it brought us a lifer _2 Little shearwaters among the Cory´s shearwaters- it was great to see them so close and the differences in flight and size- the Little Shearwaters really being little compared to Cory´s and not flying the high arcs of the Cory´s in the wind , but having a flight action with much more fluttering and always close to the sea...

This was our last birding Day on Tenerife- and it was a really great holiday!