Hans Martin Høiby
Happy amateur
Vacational / Birding Trip Report
Purpose and general conditions
One week winter vacation (me and my wife) staying in Playa Blanca on the south coast, hired car VW Polo / Avis the whole week.
We stayed at HD Pueblo Marinero, an apartment hotel near the Marina Rubicon. We had a large two-storey apartment with no meals included, so basically we made our own breakfast and lunched and dined anywhere.
We made little use of the premises other than that the wifi was free and could be used in the apartment. It is 2015 after all!
The weather was just about ok, more clouds than sunshine, but more dominant the increasingly strong NE/N winds which clearly affected the birding in most locations.
Sunrise/light 07:15AM / Sunset 06:30PM
Backup material
Clarke (1995)
Gosney (2013)
a number of reports
Julian Bell’s webpages - http://www.naturalbornbirder.com/
Direct contact via birdforum.net, email and facebook.
I brought a lightweight tripod and my Opticron MM52, but due to the strong winds this was a risky business to use, and instead of heat haze the problem was more ‘shaken and stirred’.
We surely rented a GPS with the car, but this was a waste. Unless being stuck in the Arrecife area the roads are well marked and signed. Driving after GPS on smaller tracks could be another issue.
Itinerary.
As this was a family vacation birding was not an all-time issue. We spent a day on La Graciosa plus a couple of volcano walks and the occasional sightseeing, some birds present along the routes. Birding itinerary in italics.
Sat Feb 14th Arrival day.
Sun Feb 15th Teguise market, Caldera Blanca walk, El Rubicon (east)
Mon Feb 16th La Graciosa Island, boat trip & cycle tour
Tue Feb 17th Teguise Plain, Haria, Cuevos los verdes, Tachice (Cesar Manrique)
Wed Feb 18th El Rubicon (west), Punta Pechiguera, Playa Blanca
Thu Feb 19th Salinas de Janubio, Costa Papagoyo, El Rubicon (east)
Fri Feb 20th La Guardilama walk, Femes, Salinas de Janubio
Sat Feb 21th Travel home
General
Weather is already mentioned, wind was a clear downside here, and we also experienced some light showers around. Low clouds in the north limited the sights on several locations as well. Found no need to go to any of the Famara Miradors on the 17th for example.
Main sites visited
The Playa Blanca area gave a disappointing impression. Although major expansion seems to have stopped, the outskirts are still being disturbed – an improved track here, a new trench for water there, some landfills etc. The road from PB to Femes must have had its upgrade even if unnumbered still. The least investigated area by me was north of Montana Rojo. There are a few possible stops along the (old) LZ-701 on the seaside. The quality of the tracks for driving is reasonable, but the track leading to the abandoned hotel site by the sea is best for walking.
The Teguise plain was not covered entirely, but seemed ok. More familiar with deep snow than soft sand, I didn’t challenge this at all – getting stuck was not an option. I found the southern part less easy to search than expected, but a more steady tripod/telescope would definitely have made the difference.
The Salinas and Laguna de Janubico produced the best species account. Again the direction and strength of the winds affected the birds. Overall the lagoon proved better than the saltpans except for the fact that the smallest waders clearly found good shelter among the stonewalled pans.
Day by day.
Saturday Feb 14th. Upon arrival to the hotel at 2PM, we just went to the supermarket and installed ourselves in the apartment. Soaked some sun, and certainly was greeted by the omnipresent Eurasian Collared Doves, Spanish sparrows and Yellow-legged Gulls. (If mentioned later they will be ECD, SS & YLG’s)
Sunday Feb 15th. After a long breakfast we set off at 9AM for the Teguise market. Approx ¾ hours drive, Hoopoe and - after outruling some candidates - we concluded that my wife saw a flying Houbara while I concentrated on the traffic, but we got two Cattle Egrets earlier on. Quite chilly weather, so after a couple of hours wandering among the various stands – and some decent shopping and coffee break – we set off towards Montana Blanca and a three-hour walk to and around the Caldera Blanca. Varied landscape and good tracks both through rough and upon solid lava. Real good views from the crater rim, and we could cope enough with the wind to have a picnic lunch. One Raven heard only, good numbers of Canary Pipits, and two Linnets flying by.
Back in Playa Blanca I quickly reorganized for a late afternoon visit to the area between LZ-2 and the unnumbered road to Femes (site 2 in Gosney). Drove all the way to LZ-2 and back to the roundabout. No more than the occasional pipits until a Southern Grey Shrike appeared close to the track. It started foraging on the ground, but flew off when a local car passed on a nearby track. Tried some photos in the warm sunset light.
Monday Feb 16th. We kept an open eye on our excellent Norwegian Met Services http://www.yr.no, amongst other things a full day visit to the island La Graciosa was on our must-do list, and this was perhaps a good day – the wind should increase during the week.
As we headed north to reach the 10:30AM boat from Orzola, the prospects were not promising. Some local showers and low clouds made us uncertain, but we kept going. The circunvalacion around Arrecife was subject to major roadwork these days, and overseeing some small diverting signs (?) we suddenly found ourselves in Costa de Teguise by the coast. Not intended at all. We managed to be back on track, but missed the boat. Didn’t matter though, the next one was scheduled half an hour later by the ‘other’ company. 20€ T/R pr. Person. Pretty rough seas as described by others en route to Caleta de Sabo on La Graciosa and nothing else than waves and YLG’s to observe.
11:50AM; after two tapas and a soft drink, fruit and water in the rucksack, we mounted our rented bikes (7€ pr. bike & day) for a 20km / 3hrs round-trip on the northern part of the island. Rough and firm tracks most of the time, some soft sand near the beaches and in the north. The advantage with bicycles and soft sand is that you can always stand off and walk when things go out of control!
Nice weather and view, only pipits around and no shorebirds observed, but a hunting male Kestrel showed off nice, standing against the stronger winds. A Raven was seen.
A late and cheap, but good lunch topped with more coffee and ice cream before we boarded the 4PM boat back to Orzola. The retour went closer to the Famara cliffs before heading against the waves and well off the rocks at the north end. No birding and way too early for any tropical encounters. 4 Cattle Egrets flew parallel with the car in the hills between Tahiche and San Bartolomeo (LZ-34).
Tuesday Feb 17th. The alarm went off at 06:30AM, quick breakfast and packing. Upon reading both the above mentioned site guides and the various tour reports I had tried to make a Plan A for the Teguise plain. Can’t say it worked optimally looking back, but the uncertainty was the road worthiness of the various tracks – and the undulating terrain, of which I was surprised.
We went straight to the Prolasa factory by the LZ-30. We did a last review of the Gosney map and descriptions, and decided to go for the sites 5, 2, 3 and 4 and evaluate thereafter. The tracks in the south were firm but also rough enough, making it necessary to keep an eye for the ideal trace.
Soon the first Lesser Short-toed Lark appeared, singing from a rock right on the track edge, but flew away before I could nail it to the memory card. At least one more was singing nearby. Then nothing special was to be either seen or heard. We lurked along, stopped, side scanned past the tree crosses and took left towards site 3 and Munique. A Southern Grey Shrike and a male Kestrel had appointed each their cultivated field and gave good views, but nothing else. Some pipits and then a foraging Hoopoe by the farm just before entering Munique and LZ-401. For those coming northbound here, there is also a bus stop opposite of the track leading to site 3.
We followed LZ401 north and found the track cited as site 4 in Gosney. Quite different landscape here, drier and sparse vegetation. After just 300m on the track a Houbara slowly ran from the track heading south. I stopped and quickly got some documentation photos. The bird stopped at a vague ridge in the terrain, trusting its camouflage amongst the shrubs. We decided to leave it alone, since I had a glimpse of a car and a person with binocs a little further on. Some patches with softer sand on the track. The birder showed to be Graham Hogan, Gosney’s informant on this site in person! He had been searching the area the whole morning as well without anything else than a harrier of some kind, so he was eager to catch up with my find. There was more soft sand just in front of us, and after a unified update of birds and sites we both turned our cars and headed west. The Houbara was still at the same spot, and suddenly it slowly started to display before it disappeared behind the ridge. We just waved Mr. Hogan goodbye, and went back to the LZ-401. We drove through Soo to Caleta de Famara and then the LZ-402 towards Teguise where we settled for a noon coffee break. Due to the stronger winds and more soft sand around, we didn’t approach sites 7, 6 and 1 from that direction, also the chat with GH made us certain this was a wise decision.
The afternoon was spent at Haria (photostop in the village, low skies and strong winds), Cuevos los Verdes, a late lunch in Arrieta, and Cesar Manriques house near Tahiche. A Plain Swift by LZ-2 near Guatitza and a Cattle Egret colony of 30 individuals just after Tahiche.
Wednesday Feb 18th. After a full work week, one day travelling and three days with action from sunrise to sunset a time-out was needed. That is, after some relaxing in the apartment I set out for El Rubicon west of LZ-2 and north of Montana Rojo. The tour was completely fruitless. Even by the sewage works the strong wind meant that no passerines would neither show nor be heard. I made a quick dash down to the Faro de Pontiguera, where two Sandwich Terns flew north. My wife had been for a short walk in the nearby Marina shopping center and had seen some bulky waders – sounded like turnstones to me.
Thursday Feb. 19th. We decided to do a split in the morning, I gave my wife a lift towards Montana Rojo, whilst I drove the old road (LZ-701) towards Salinas/Laguna de Janubio. I first chose the track approaching on the south side. It was very rough and barely passable with a little car. The pools were empty, but the little sheltered bay did have some birds. 1 Ruddy Shelduck, 1 Pied Avocet, 2-3 Greenshanks, 1 Redshank, 1 probable Sanderling and 12 Black-winged Stilts were tumbling around.
I then went into the Salinas from the marked entrance. One Redshank plus some pipits was seen/heard, plus SS’s at the cafeteria above. The lagoon held more birds but they were seeking shelter and mostly out of sight from here, so I quickly reorganized and drove to the lay-by north of the lagoon, From here I saw 7 Ruddy Shelducks, 5 Eared Grebes, 30 Greenshanks, 40 Kentish Plovers, 1 Common Sandpiper and 10 more Redshanks. A rainstorm was under development, and time was running so I just called it a day here.
Upon returning at the hotel the weather was improving, so we decided to move for Playa de Papagoyos. Quite rough and bumpy road, and €3 at the gate for the car. We just drove to the end by the restaurants, and did some decent walking to the south-eastern tip of the island. Stronger winds here, but by the playa itself it was quite calm. We were just relaxing in the shifting skies, 2 Sandwich Terns, 1 Common Sandpiper and 2 Whimbrels seen. Light lunch at one of the restaurants.
After leaving my wife by the hotel I first went to the shopping center pools and quickly confirmed that 12 Ruddy Turnstone were roosting there. I then paid El Rubicon east another visit. I started in fact by the Papagoyo gate and went this track to the roundabout and continued further to the LZ-2 again. More cars at the Papagoyo end, certainly wind and one heavy shower which at least calmed the dust a little. But sadly enough, pipits were the only birds around.
Friday Feb. 20th. The last whole day. We drove through Femes to LZ-2 and then to the village of La Asomada, from where we followed a rocky road heading west over a volcano ridge towards Uga and the Geria district. From the highest point on the road we took a 1½ hour walk over the Guardilama volcano. Walking leeward uphill was ok, but descending on the other side in strong gale was unpleasant. Walking back on the Geria side we followed a path through volcanic ash with nice views over the vineyard area with its zillions of half-moon shaped shelters. Near a bamboo thicket on the north-east slope a Spectacled Warbler gave itself away with a short call, but was not to be seen. This time we lunched in Femes with a great view of the plains north of Playa Blanca.
In the afternoon I wanted to make a final birding effort – and based upon my fresh experiences I chose the Lagoon de Janubio. I went directly to the parking north of the lagoon, by the sea. From there I walked the track/road running through the saltpan area. The weather was calmer here, but I was not alone. As I slowly approached the site where the birds was roosting, I was overtaken by others which in fact pushed the birds in front of us. A Rock Pigeon flew off an abandoned building. I retraced my course and went to the shoreline. 1 Ruddy Shelduck, 10 Eared Grebes, 40 Black-winged Stilts and 10 Greenshanks nearby. In an area with smaller lava-walled saltpans, 34 Kentish Plovers – quite a few colour-ringed, 1 Ruddy Turnstone and 2 Dunlins. After some photos here I started walking back, when some distant calling YLG’s made me aware that an Osprey was sitting on an abandoned structure in the inner part of the lagoon. And that became the final ‘observation’ of the vacation.
Purpose and general conditions
One week winter vacation (me and my wife) staying in Playa Blanca on the south coast, hired car VW Polo / Avis the whole week.
We stayed at HD Pueblo Marinero, an apartment hotel near the Marina Rubicon. We had a large two-storey apartment with no meals included, so basically we made our own breakfast and lunched and dined anywhere.
We made little use of the premises other than that the wifi was free and could be used in the apartment. It is 2015 after all!
The weather was just about ok, more clouds than sunshine, but more dominant the increasingly strong NE/N winds which clearly affected the birding in most locations.
Sunrise/light 07:15AM / Sunset 06:30PM
Backup material
Clarke (1995)
Gosney (2013)
a number of reports
Julian Bell’s webpages - http://www.naturalbornbirder.com/
Direct contact via birdforum.net, email and facebook.
I brought a lightweight tripod and my Opticron MM52, but due to the strong winds this was a risky business to use, and instead of heat haze the problem was more ‘shaken and stirred’.
We surely rented a GPS with the car, but this was a waste. Unless being stuck in the Arrecife area the roads are well marked and signed. Driving after GPS on smaller tracks could be another issue.
Itinerary.
As this was a family vacation birding was not an all-time issue. We spent a day on La Graciosa plus a couple of volcano walks and the occasional sightseeing, some birds present along the routes. Birding itinerary in italics.
Sat Feb 14th Arrival day.
Sun Feb 15th Teguise market, Caldera Blanca walk, El Rubicon (east)
Mon Feb 16th La Graciosa Island, boat trip & cycle tour
Tue Feb 17th Teguise Plain, Haria, Cuevos los verdes, Tachice (Cesar Manrique)
Wed Feb 18th El Rubicon (west), Punta Pechiguera, Playa Blanca
Thu Feb 19th Salinas de Janubio, Costa Papagoyo, El Rubicon (east)
Fri Feb 20th La Guardilama walk, Femes, Salinas de Janubio
Sat Feb 21th Travel home
General
Weather is already mentioned, wind was a clear downside here, and we also experienced some light showers around. Low clouds in the north limited the sights on several locations as well. Found no need to go to any of the Famara Miradors on the 17th for example.
Main sites visited
The Playa Blanca area gave a disappointing impression. Although major expansion seems to have stopped, the outskirts are still being disturbed – an improved track here, a new trench for water there, some landfills etc. The road from PB to Femes must have had its upgrade even if unnumbered still. The least investigated area by me was north of Montana Rojo. There are a few possible stops along the (old) LZ-701 on the seaside. The quality of the tracks for driving is reasonable, but the track leading to the abandoned hotel site by the sea is best for walking.
The Teguise plain was not covered entirely, but seemed ok. More familiar with deep snow than soft sand, I didn’t challenge this at all – getting stuck was not an option. I found the southern part less easy to search than expected, but a more steady tripod/telescope would definitely have made the difference.
The Salinas and Laguna de Janubico produced the best species account. Again the direction and strength of the winds affected the birds. Overall the lagoon proved better than the saltpans except for the fact that the smallest waders clearly found good shelter among the stonewalled pans.
Day by day.
Saturday Feb 14th. Upon arrival to the hotel at 2PM, we just went to the supermarket and installed ourselves in the apartment. Soaked some sun, and certainly was greeted by the omnipresent Eurasian Collared Doves, Spanish sparrows and Yellow-legged Gulls. (If mentioned later they will be ECD, SS & YLG’s)
Sunday Feb 15th. After a long breakfast we set off at 9AM for the Teguise market. Approx ¾ hours drive, Hoopoe and - after outruling some candidates - we concluded that my wife saw a flying Houbara while I concentrated on the traffic, but we got two Cattle Egrets earlier on. Quite chilly weather, so after a couple of hours wandering among the various stands – and some decent shopping and coffee break – we set off towards Montana Blanca and a three-hour walk to and around the Caldera Blanca. Varied landscape and good tracks both through rough and upon solid lava. Real good views from the crater rim, and we could cope enough with the wind to have a picnic lunch. One Raven heard only, good numbers of Canary Pipits, and two Linnets flying by.
Back in Playa Blanca I quickly reorganized for a late afternoon visit to the area between LZ-2 and the unnumbered road to Femes (site 2 in Gosney). Drove all the way to LZ-2 and back to the roundabout. No more than the occasional pipits until a Southern Grey Shrike appeared close to the track. It started foraging on the ground, but flew off when a local car passed on a nearby track. Tried some photos in the warm sunset light.
Monday Feb 16th. We kept an open eye on our excellent Norwegian Met Services http://www.yr.no, amongst other things a full day visit to the island La Graciosa was on our must-do list, and this was perhaps a good day – the wind should increase during the week.
As we headed north to reach the 10:30AM boat from Orzola, the prospects were not promising. Some local showers and low clouds made us uncertain, but we kept going. The circunvalacion around Arrecife was subject to major roadwork these days, and overseeing some small diverting signs (?) we suddenly found ourselves in Costa de Teguise by the coast. Not intended at all. We managed to be back on track, but missed the boat. Didn’t matter though, the next one was scheduled half an hour later by the ‘other’ company. 20€ T/R pr. Person. Pretty rough seas as described by others en route to Caleta de Sabo on La Graciosa and nothing else than waves and YLG’s to observe.
11:50AM; after two tapas and a soft drink, fruit and water in the rucksack, we mounted our rented bikes (7€ pr. bike & day) for a 20km / 3hrs round-trip on the northern part of the island. Rough and firm tracks most of the time, some soft sand near the beaches and in the north. The advantage with bicycles and soft sand is that you can always stand off and walk when things go out of control!
Nice weather and view, only pipits around and no shorebirds observed, but a hunting male Kestrel showed off nice, standing against the stronger winds. A Raven was seen.
A late and cheap, but good lunch topped with more coffee and ice cream before we boarded the 4PM boat back to Orzola. The retour went closer to the Famara cliffs before heading against the waves and well off the rocks at the north end. No birding and way too early for any tropical encounters. 4 Cattle Egrets flew parallel with the car in the hills between Tahiche and San Bartolomeo (LZ-34).
Tuesday Feb 17th. The alarm went off at 06:30AM, quick breakfast and packing. Upon reading both the above mentioned site guides and the various tour reports I had tried to make a Plan A for the Teguise plain. Can’t say it worked optimally looking back, but the uncertainty was the road worthiness of the various tracks – and the undulating terrain, of which I was surprised.
We went straight to the Prolasa factory by the LZ-30. We did a last review of the Gosney map and descriptions, and decided to go for the sites 5, 2, 3 and 4 and evaluate thereafter. The tracks in the south were firm but also rough enough, making it necessary to keep an eye for the ideal trace.
Soon the first Lesser Short-toed Lark appeared, singing from a rock right on the track edge, but flew away before I could nail it to the memory card. At least one more was singing nearby. Then nothing special was to be either seen or heard. We lurked along, stopped, side scanned past the tree crosses and took left towards site 3 and Munique. A Southern Grey Shrike and a male Kestrel had appointed each their cultivated field and gave good views, but nothing else. Some pipits and then a foraging Hoopoe by the farm just before entering Munique and LZ-401. For those coming northbound here, there is also a bus stop opposite of the track leading to site 3.
We followed LZ401 north and found the track cited as site 4 in Gosney. Quite different landscape here, drier and sparse vegetation. After just 300m on the track a Houbara slowly ran from the track heading south. I stopped and quickly got some documentation photos. The bird stopped at a vague ridge in the terrain, trusting its camouflage amongst the shrubs. We decided to leave it alone, since I had a glimpse of a car and a person with binocs a little further on. Some patches with softer sand on the track. The birder showed to be Graham Hogan, Gosney’s informant on this site in person! He had been searching the area the whole morning as well without anything else than a harrier of some kind, so he was eager to catch up with my find. There was more soft sand just in front of us, and after a unified update of birds and sites we both turned our cars and headed west. The Houbara was still at the same spot, and suddenly it slowly started to display before it disappeared behind the ridge. We just waved Mr. Hogan goodbye, and went back to the LZ-401. We drove through Soo to Caleta de Famara and then the LZ-402 towards Teguise where we settled for a noon coffee break. Due to the stronger winds and more soft sand around, we didn’t approach sites 7, 6 and 1 from that direction, also the chat with GH made us certain this was a wise decision.
The afternoon was spent at Haria (photostop in the village, low skies and strong winds), Cuevos los Verdes, a late lunch in Arrieta, and Cesar Manriques house near Tahiche. A Plain Swift by LZ-2 near Guatitza and a Cattle Egret colony of 30 individuals just after Tahiche.
Wednesday Feb 18th. After a full work week, one day travelling and three days with action from sunrise to sunset a time-out was needed. That is, after some relaxing in the apartment I set out for El Rubicon west of LZ-2 and north of Montana Rojo. The tour was completely fruitless. Even by the sewage works the strong wind meant that no passerines would neither show nor be heard. I made a quick dash down to the Faro de Pontiguera, where two Sandwich Terns flew north. My wife had been for a short walk in the nearby Marina shopping center and had seen some bulky waders – sounded like turnstones to me.
Thursday Feb. 19th. We decided to do a split in the morning, I gave my wife a lift towards Montana Rojo, whilst I drove the old road (LZ-701) towards Salinas/Laguna de Janubio. I first chose the track approaching on the south side. It was very rough and barely passable with a little car. The pools were empty, but the little sheltered bay did have some birds. 1 Ruddy Shelduck, 1 Pied Avocet, 2-3 Greenshanks, 1 Redshank, 1 probable Sanderling and 12 Black-winged Stilts were tumbling around.
I then went into the Salinas from the marked entrance. One Redshank plus some pipits was seen/heard, plus SS’s at the cafeteria above. The lagoon held more birds but they were seeking shelter and mostly out of sight from here, so I quickly reorganized and drove to the lay-by north of the lagoon, From here I saw 7 Ruddy Shelducks, 5 Eared Grebes, 30 Greenshanks, 40 Kentish Plovers, 1 Common Sandpiper and 10 more Redshanks. A rainstorm was under development, and time was running so I just called it a day here.
Upon returning at the hotel the weather was improving, so we decided to move for Playa de Papagoyos. Quite rough and bumpy road, and €3 at the gate for the car. We just drove to the end by the restaurants, and did some decent walking to the south-eastern tip of the island. Stronger winds here, but by the playa itself it was quite calm. We were just relaxing in the shifting skies, 2 Sandwich Terns, 1 Common Sandpiper and 2 Whimbrels seen. Light lunch at one of the restaurants.
After leaving my wife by the hotel I first went to the shopping center pools and quickly confirmed that 12 Ruddy Turnstone were roosting there. I then paid El Rubicon east another visit. I started in fact by the Papagoyo gate and went this track to the roundabout and continued further to the LZ-2 again. More cars at the Papagoyo end, certainly wind and one heavy shower which at least calmed the dust a little. But sadly enough, pipits were the only birds around.
Friday Feb. 20th. The last whole day. We drove through Femes to LZ-2 and then to the village of La Asomada, from where we followed a rocky road heading west over a volcano ridge towards Uga and the Geria district. From the highest point on the road we took a 1½ hour walk over the Guardilama volcano. Walking leeward uphill was ok, but descending on the other side in strong gale was unpleasant. Walking back on the Geria side we followed a path through volcanic ash with nice views over the vineyard area with its zillions of half-moon shaped shelters. Near a bamboo thicket on the north-east slope a Spectacled Warbler gave itself away with a short call, but was not to be seen. This time we lunched in Femes with a great view of the plains north of Playa Blanca.
In the afternoon I wanted to make a final birding effort – and based upon my fresh experiences I chose the Lagoon de Janubio. I went directly to the parking north of the lagoon, by the sea. From there I walked the track/road running through the saltpan area. The weather was calmer here, but I was not alone. As I slowly approached the site where the birds was roosting, I was overtaken by others which in fact pushed the birds in front of us. A Rock Pigeon flew off an abandoned building. I retraced my course and went to the shoreline. 1 Ruddy Shelduck, 10 Eared Grebes, 40 Black-winged Stilts and 10 Greenshanks nearby. In an area with smaller lava-walled saltpans, 34 Kentish Plovers – quite a few colour-ringed, 1 Ruddy Turnstone and 2 Dunlins. After some photos here I started walking back, when some distant calling YLG’s made me aware that an Osprey was sitting on an abandoned structure in the inner part of the lagoon. And that became the final ‘observation’ of the vacation.
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