Tenerife Sept 13-20th (1 Viewer)

After spending our main summer holiday in the cool of the Arctic we fancied a week somewhere warmer and with a chance of a bit of birding.
We were able to get a good deal on Jet2 Holiday flying from Blackpool and staying in El Medano (Arenas Del Mar) on a half board basis with a weeks car hire, 22Kg of luggage each and seat at emergency exits (extra legroom) for just a fraction over £1000 in total.
We had asked for advice on where to stay and had mixed advice, with a friend who had been a few years ago saying that South was best for access to Golf Courses for migrants and good coastal sites for waders. We met 3 other birding couples while on our trip who were staying in Los Gigantes and one staying in Vilaflor, with hindsight we would probably have chosen somewhere further north but as daylight wasn't until about 7.45 you could get just about anywhere on the Island for morning birding without starting too early.

We used Clarke's Birds of the Atlantic Islands, A Birdwatchers Guide to the Canary Island and some trip reports on this site.

Day 1 - we left Blackpool ten minutes late at 07.10 and were with our luggage and hire car by 12.15. So we decided to drive to the hotel via the Golf Del Sur despite the fact it was in the heat of the day. We didn't see much as we just parked and had a little stroll around the edge of the course but we did get out first endemic the [B]Canary Island Chiffchaff[/B], other birds were Yellow legged Gull, Cattle Egret and some Fulvous Whistling Ducks with young of dubious origin.

We decide to drop the luggage off grab some lunch and then head into the mountains. On the way up to Vilaflor, I stopped for a Southern Grey Shrike and we quickly spotted African Blue Tit and Sardinian Warbler in the nearby shrub. Pigeon here were all feral or Rock Doves.

Next stop was the large Canarian Pine tree (Gordo), where we saw a Raven and Eurasian Collared Dove . It was then off to Las Lajas where surprisingly for a Friday afternoon we were the only visitors, we managed to see a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers near the bench we chose to sit at, then a family of Atlantic Canary came to eat some remnants of our nuts on the ground. I then saw a fleeting glimpse of what I thought was the Golcrest before seeing a distant Blue Chaffinch. Hoping to get better views we started to look for dripping taps or a pool of water. We set out for the toilet block but no sign there but as we were making our way back we noticed a warden had just arrived and was setting up a yellow hose from the hut nearest the toilets. We kept our distance as a few birds were starting to come down but could already see better views of Canary, Woodpecker and Chaffinch as they came closer. The warden spotted us and indicated to us to sit next to him by the hut (we just about made ourselves understood with our very poor Spanish and his few English words). We were treated to really close up few of a couple of families of Blue Chaffinch (12 birds), 8 Atlantic Canaries and 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers . Only other sighting in an hour or so of watching was a Kestrel.

We left passed through Vilaflor about 18.00 and just about 4K down the road was some agricultural watering I spotted on the way up. I slowed where I hope something might be an low and behold there were 7 Barbary Partridges - unfortunately when we stopped the car and tried to get the window down for photography we spooked them so we were only able to look at a distance and then only 4 of the birds were visible. The rest of the drive back was pretty uneventful with just some Plain Swift seen in flight (but Sarah didn't see them and said that without a decent view I couldn't be certain they weren't Common Swift on passage) so I left them off the list.

Candelaria and Guimar

Day 2 was to be mainly about site-seeing with some birding in the under watched east of the Island, Sarah wanted to see the Basilica at Candelario and then we would try for some birds in Arafo and Guimar before visiting the Piramides de Guimar.

Before we left El Medano we had a look at the gull roost, it was mainly Yellow Legged, but we did spot a single Greater Black-backed Gull and a single Black-headed Gull, I assume that some of the wintering gulls are now starting to arrive.

On the drive up the coast on the cliffs near the turning for Punta de Abona, we saw our first Barbary Falcon, this might be a regular haunt as we also saw a bird here a couple of days later. There was nothing of note around Candelaria and we didn't find the dam at La Hidalga but we did find a narrow farm track by some vineyards between Arafo and Guimar. On a fruiting Mango Tree we saw loads of Canaries, an Ortolan Bunting and on the roof of an old stone barn two Rock Sparrows. There was also a large flock of Goldfinches and Greenfinches the only day we saw these birds.

We then headed to the Piramide site at the end of Guimar. It cost 10euro to enter a bit steep for the attraction which I had never heard of. Still there was plenty to see and it did have a water garden and a Canarian Garden area, where we spotted a large flock of Serin, more Goldfinches, Greefinches and our only Linnet of the trip. There was also Common Chaffinch and African Blue Tit, Canary Island Chiffchaff and Blackbird in the garden areas. With a healthy number of Dragon Flies and Kestrels and the odd party of Plain Swift.

The only other bird we saw on this day was Spanish Sparrow.

South of the Island

Today was all about trying to cover all the sites in the south of the Island. I should have probably cross checked the latest trip reports and the Clarke guide which is 16 year years old now, but I just decided to try the general areas and see what was there with a hope that we could get some migrants, water birds, Trumpeter Finch and Lesser Short Toed Lark

El Medano and the area around Montana Roja still looks OK, although all we got today were Yellow Legged Gulls, Southern Grey Shrike and Berthelot's Pipit .
We couldn't find the Embalse De Ciguana, not sure if this is now incorporated into the remnant nature reserve in San Blas or has gone, in any event all we saw here was a Kestrel and lots of Canary Lizards which were pretty much everywhere.
Golf del Sur and Amarilla Golf Club are still there and have ben joined by at least two other clubs. The only part of Golf Del Sur / Royal Tenerife we could access was around the car park and club house, the rest we viewed from the road. The best place we actually found was opposite the Information Centre (closed on a Sunday so we also had a wander behind the centre). We did get a few birds, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Greenshank, Berthelot's Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Blackbird, Moorhen, Plain Swift and on the pond by the bridge a large feral population of Fulvous Whistling Ducks and Muscovy Ducks.
We bumped into a couple of other birders in the Car Park at Amarillo, who were kicked off Golf Del Sur when they were trying to photograph a hoopoe, so there is obviously no permitted access. Amarillo was much more accessible and they didn't seem to mind you wandering round the holes by the car park or alongside the pitch and putt which has some water by the 9th hole, on this day only additional birds were Yellow Wagtail and Tree Sparrow.
It was then on to Las Galletas where we sat on the beach overlooking the reef while we had lunch, we saw a Whimbrel and lots more Yellow Legged Gulls.
Despite being warned by others that Punta de la Rasca and the reservoir was now inaccessible we were given hope by the couple who told us they had found a track across the scrub. So we parked up near the Banana Plantation and headed out in the general direction of the reservoir and lighthouse. The abandoned fields are pretty much turned into a landfill area with a huge area of dumped furniture and rubbish, but after about a 1km we could see the Fraile reservoir but it is now behind a fence. However we climbed one of the two mounds and could see into the reservoir. Almost immediately an Osprey was mobbed by some gulls, then 4 Little Egrets perched on the fence. On the water were Coot, and I spotted a Wood Duck, however when I got it in the scope for Sarah she noticed it wasn't swimming in fact it was bobbing (a proper wooden wood duck) so not sure if was a decoy and they are now hunting in the area or if it is just to annoy birders.
The banana tents now go all the way to the shore so we just did a little birding in the area beyond the dump, lots of Berthelot's Pipits, a Grey Shrike and then a Lesser Short-toed Lark, there were also loads of Kestrels but no sign of a Trumpeter Finch. We did though get our only Common Swift of the week and an nice Hoopoe.

There was nothing to see at Ten-Bel apart from a single Canary Island Chiffchaff. While all three Dams at Guargacho when we finally found them were completely empty.

So future trips would concentrate on the Golf Course and the El Medano area.

Tomorrow was our big day with an early start to get round the Island.

Round the Island

Intention was to get off before daylight and have a picnic breakfast at La Grimonas , hotel breakfast didn't start until 8.00, first problem was that little supermarket next to the hotel wasn't open. So we would get something on the way. Then we hit a bit of traffic near Santa Cruz and then a bit more at the turn off for La Laguna, so it was around 8.30 and with no breakfast we arrived at the La Grimonas view point. It is as easy to find as people say, heading west from Puerto de La Cruz on the TF5 after the first tunnel there is a sign for the Mirador in 400M, then it is immediately there as you exit the second tunnel. As we pulled in we found a British couple with bins and a scope so we were obviously at the right place. We quickly confirmed that both Pigeon's not just Laurel were about and indeed we quickly found two Bolle's Pigeons within minutes and had them in the scope for about 5 seconds and then we saw a few Laurel Pigeons in flight. However while the birds were fairly active it was pretty difficult to see them perched. I don't know if it was because of the birds of prey around, there was a Sparrowhawk, 2 buzzards, a Peregrine Falcon and up to 8 Kestrels flying in and out of the trees and rocks or if the birds are always this flighty.

We found the best technique for us to get good views was to follow a buzzard going into the trees and then hope to see a Laurel Pigeon emerge and track that into the trees, there seemed to be a sizeable group of these here with smaller numbers of Bolle's. However after about 40 minutes we noticed that most of the birds were flying right behind some cliffs. So I headed about 250 meters along the road towards the Garage where there is gate and driveway which allows you to look into this area which is hidden from the viewpoint, but even hear all I was getting was flight views, so I returned to the viewpoint. After about 90 minutes of flight sightings with just some poor scope views of perched birds we finally got a Laurel Pigeon out in open in the scope (as did our fellow birders) but no sooner did I get it in view than it flew again. So reasonable views but no photos.
By now 10.00 it was getting pretty warm and we were getting hungry so we decided to head up to Chanajiga via a supermarket for some provisions. When we arrived it was totally clear and very pleasant but 90 minutes later there was signs of mist and visibility was getting worse. Near the picnic area we saw Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Canary Island Chiffchaff, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard. Along the trails near the water outlet valve on the big pipe there is a do not pass sign, I took it to be that you couldn't go any further by car as we were on foot and had seen some runners go past we continued, I'm glad we did as round the next bend we got a really good flight view of a Bolle's Pigeon. It was now time to decide where next North or West we already had Serin and Rock Sparrow so we decided that we would skip La Laguna and the North and head west to Punta de Teno and then Erjos stopping at Garachico on the way. But first we tried for Los Realejos reservoir as we heard that there was ring-billed gulls here. Well there might have been but we would never know because we couldn't find the place. So it was on to Garachico a nice little town partly covered in lava.

The road to Punta de Teno was very poor in places particularly after the sign saying road closed, which really just means your on your own.
Around the lighthouse we searched for Falcons and did a bit of seawatching but all we got was distant Cory's Shearwater and Yellow-legged Gulls, while on the ground only loads of Berthelot's Pipits and a couple of Plain Swifts. From Punta de Teno I trusted the satnav to get me to Erjos and quicky realised that after it tried to take me up a walking trail maybe that wasn't a great idea, still it did make it in the end albeit that some of the early roads very steep with sheer drops.
I had heard that Erjos was badly affected by fire but intended to have a quick look to decide if it was worth a longer visit. We didn't see much and the only value from the stop was to exchange photography and site advice with another pair of british birders.
It was now after 6pm so we didn't have time for much more birding If we were to get back before dark so we decided we would skip plans for a trip home via Chio and Vilaflor and do the main road via Los Gigantes and we were glad we did when we saw a perched Barbary Falcon on the crash barrier with what looked like a Lizard tail hanging from his beak, unfortuately because of the bendy road and potential traffic I couldn't stop.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful - only thing to report is that the new motorway isn't yet opened but does look nearly ready.

Some time around Mount Teide

After a morning relaxing around El Medano where we got an unexpected Black-crowned Night Heron we headed up to Vilaflor.

About 4K before the town we stopped where we had seen the Barbary Partridges, not there today but we did see a distant perched Barbary Falcon and a Kestrel and a Spotted Flycatcher. Around the town found 4 Rock Sparrow near the main square and there were large numbers of Plain Swift.
Then on the road up to Las Lajas we had two Barbary Partridge and a Buzzard. The site was a bit busier than before with maybe about a dozen people around.

In Las Lajas the area near the Ranger hut was already filled with water and we had very good views of Canary, Blue Chaffinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker but there was no sign of Tenerife Goldcrest our main target for the day. Recent reports said Chio was now more reliable for this bird so after just 45 minutes or so we headed up to Chio picnic area which was almost deserted. The first birds we spotted here were Ravens, really close views and then after running one of the taps to create a full drinking area we quickly got a large numbers of Blue Chaffinch, Berthelot's Pipit and Great Spotted Woodpeckers coming down and there were lots of Canary Island Chiffchaff about. After an hour or so of waiting at various taps we still had not heard or seen any Blue Tits or more worryingly Goldcrests. So we decide to work our way around the whole area hoping to find a mixed flock. 2 and a half hours on and many Woodpeckers and Chaffinch's later. I then heard some what I hoped to be Goldcrest calls back towards the main area close to the ranger hut, we the saw a huge number of birds fly and fortunately we were able to get on three Tenerife Goldcrest at the top of a tree, not great views but good enough to identify the birds and see one adult with the black on the head, in the same tree was a flock of up to 10 Canaries, 6 Blue tits and believe it or not they were joined by up to 50 Blue Chaffinch's it became really difficult to keep the Goldcrests in views as we kept been distracted by the huge flock of mainly Juvenile chaffinch's moving around.

We then had our "Woodpecker on Tap" B moment which reminded me of an old Cider advert when the woodpecker came down to a drinking area.

With all the target birds in the bag we decided that tomorrow we would take the ferry to Gomera, we had decided early on that we would leave Fuerteventura and Chats and Bustards for another trip.

Ferry to Gomera

We got ourselves to Los Christianos an hour before the Armas Ferry was due, a good call as the ticket office was incredibly slow. I didn't realise that you needed to show photo ID to book a ticket or board the Ferry. Fortunately we had our driving licenses with us as our passports copies would not have been good enough. We boarded about 20 minutes before the hour and the ferry left 10 minutes early, this also happened on the way back where we saw at distraught lady having to leave her friend behind because she was unable to make it up the boarding stairs by ten to five, despite the fact it wasn't due to leave until 17.00, anyway we were on time. Ferry is now 21 Euro per person each way.

Journey out wasn't great for birds, not sure if that was because it was lovely and calm and sunny, indeed the wind only really got up at all just before Gomera. It was however good for Dolphins and Whales with 4 groups of Dolphin and 2 groups of Pilot Whales seen and a lovely Green Sea Turtle swimming alongside the ship also a good sighting. On the way out we had a few dozen Cory's Shearwater and Sarah got a Macronesian (Little) Shearwater that I just couldn't pick up. Is this a full spilt or just a sub-species?

After some sight seeing and a look at the beaches (no birds what so ever) we spend some time in the park, where we got good views of Hoopoe, African Blue Tit, Canary Island Chiffchaff, Collared Dove, Berthelot's Pipit and Spanish Sparrow. Just about time for a relaxing meal then it was time to return.

It was noticeably windier on the way back and there were sign of a storm blowing in (looked as though some serious rain was imminent) it was immediately much better for birds within 10 minutes we had a least 50 Cory's Shearwater, and then a hoped for Bulwer's Petrel, then Sarah spotted 2 Storm Petrel which fortunately we were able to look down on as they flew away from the sea where they were disturbed by the Ferry, first thought was Leach's but there was very little forking on the tail, they were Madeiran Storm Petrels. The next 200-300 birds were all Cory's Shearwater but I then saw what looked like a slightly smaller Shearwater, with what we thought was a dark bill (I tried to photograph the bird in case it was a Cape Verde Shearwater, which is very rare I understand, but I can only find one photo of a bird with a less than obvious show of Yellow on the bill and view on this bird from the ID forum is Cory's so either a small Cory's or one that got away). We then saw two more groups of Common Dolphin and a Pilot Whale before I finally caught up with a Little Shearwater. The only one I saw (Sarah got this one and one on the way out) I expected these to be more common.
The last 20 minutes of birding was all Cory's apart from one yellow-legged gull, on arrival at Los Christianos we managed to make it to the car before the threatened rain arrived and it was nothing like as bad as we feared.

The shearwater is a full split - Little now in the Southern Hemisphere I believe

It is also declining dramatically in the Canaries hence you saw less than you hoped for.

Thanks - another one for the list as previous Little Shearwaters were in New Zealand waters.

Last full day

We had seen very few waders, no Trumpeter Finch and very few migrants so we decided to concentrate on the beach round El Medano and Montana Roja and then the gold courses to see if anything new had turned up.

We did the beach at first light but only a single Curlew and a Cormorant in flight were seen, then we parked up for Mount Roja, on the dry scrub quite a few Berthelot's Pipit's, 6 Plain Swift overhead and then on the pool a Dunlin, 5 juvenile Sanderling, 2 Grey Plovers and 2 Kentish Plovers. The Dunlin and Sanderling were pretty approachable but the Kentish and Grey Plovers were very flighty, there was also a Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst the Yellow-legged Gulls.

Around Golf del Sur and Royal Tenerife, we added another feral bird Bar-headed Goose to the Fulvous Whistling Ducks which were still around. We also saw our first Great White Egret of the trip and some Moorhen and a Little Egret at the second pond.

On Amarilla near the pitch and putt we had 4 Hoopoe beside the ground under repair, a couple of grey wagtails and some Tree sparrow drinking at the ponds by hole 9 on the pitch and putt. There were also plenty of Pipits but all Berthelot's and at least 4 Kestrels and a couple of Collared Doves.

Only warbler we saw all day was Canary Island Chiffchaff and not a sniff of a Trumpeter Finch anywhere. But I did manage to achieve the ambition of taking the hire car completely down to empty, in fact I did a little too well and had to put 5 Euro of fuel in the tank to ensure we had enough fuel to get back to the Hotel and then to the airport.

The next day we just had a couple of hours by the pool then drove the 15 minutes to the airport, where everything went smoothly, car dropped off without any problems and baggage dropped off at Jet2 desk with no queue what so ever.
Flight to Blackpool was uneventful and on time.