SueO
Well-known member
Peregrine is now moored off Gran Canaria and it will be our last Canary Island. We plan to leave on December 8th for St. Lucia in the Lesser Antilles and getting ready for a major ocean crossing is taking my time and effort. When we got here I thought I would rent a car and try to find a Rock Sparrow and take the ferry to Tenerife to see the endemic Bolle’s and Laurel Pigeons. At this point even the rental car will most likely not happen. I’m a bit worn out and I’m sure my bird list for this island will remain short. I have seen the Canary Blue Tits several times and they are very striking birds. I am very happy to have seen them. Fortunately, I also have seen Canaries—I really would be kicking myself later if I had not seen a Canary in the Canary Islands! To be honest, it wasn’t one of the birds I really targeted and I didn’t pay much attention to the description until I got to Gran Canaria. Even then, I just took a quick peek at the illustration in the Collins guide. As a result, I was a bit confused when I saw serins. I questioned myself at first thinking I must be seeing Canaries, but after consulting the guide book found I was right. Dummy me, I didn’t realize until seeing both species on the same day that Canaries were serins. Unbelievably, when I looked in the guide book, I didn’t pay any attention to the illustration of the serin just above the canary—talk about tunnel vision! I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that the Canaries weren’t the bright yellow creatures sold in pet shops. Obviously a bit of genetic engineering has been applied; Serinus frankensteinus? Poor little things. The vast majority of the Canaries I’ve heard/seen here come from apartments in the high rises and they are always in cages that are way too small.:-C
Whimbrel
Black-headed Gulls
Yellow-legged Gulls
Sandwich Terns
PIGEONS!!
Collared Doves
Hoopoes
Rose-ringed Parakeets
Unknown Parrot Species (at least 3 individuals)
Monk Parakeets
Black Redstart
Blackbirds
Blackcaps
Chiffchaffs
Blue tits
Starlings
Spanish Sparrows
Serins
Canaries
Whimbrel
Black-headed Gulls
Yellow-legged Gulls
Sandwich Terns
PIGEONS!!
Collared Doves
Hoopoes
Rose-ringed Parakeets
Unknown Parrot Species (at least 3 individuals)
Monk Parakeets
Black Redstart
Blackbirds
Blackcaps
Chiffchaffs
Blue tits
Starlings
Spanish Sparrows
Serins
Canaries
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