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Fuerteventura in December (1 Viewer)

P

pandachris

Well-known member
Afternoon

Like last year I have some leave to use up and flights are inexpensive. This time my partner's coming too and we have 9 nights. I thought I'd split it 3 Lanzarote, 4 Fuerteventura and 2 Lanzarote.

In terms of birding, does it matter where we stay in Fuerteventura or is it not big enough to make any difference. We'll have a car throughout. I stayed outside San Bartolome, Lanzarote last year and found that convenient for getting around the island. One possible difference is that I'm much more of an 'up before sunrise' person than my partner tends to be so somewhere with local walks or a short drive to good sites might be ideal.

Any other tips welcomed. I've read a selection of trip reports. Unsurprisingly the chat is top of my priorities and I'd like to see the bittern, assuming that it's still around. Apart from that, finally getting a decent view of sandgrouse would be nice. They were one of my priorities around Lleida/Los Monegros last week but not even a sniff. We normally only get brief glimpses, birds flying away etc.
 
The Bittern was reported again within the last few days. I missed it on a day trip from Lanzarote 3 weeks ago, but the canyon was by far the best place for birding I found on either Island. The Chats found me there! I drove around the plains north of there - found the small sign with a painting of a Bustard on it warning people to stay on the tracks. 1 Shrike, 2 Pipits in 2 hours.
On Lanzarote the salt pans a few kms north of Playa Blanca were useful. Big flock of Black-necked Grebes on the Laguna there.
 
Yes the Bittern was still reported but its bloody elusive for many people.
I saw 7 Fuerteventura Chats there, in that same canyon.
 
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There is a drought on Fuerteventura. The bustards have apparently moved to military and private land near Betencuria where there is more moisture from clouds on the higher ground. There is no access to the public. They may start to move back to the lowlands by December.

David
 
Thanks all. The ways it's panning out we'll have three nights on Lanzarote (evening arrival, so no birding on the first day), four on Fuerteventura then two on Lanzarote before a lunchtime flight. I've seen Houbara Bustards before, but my partner hasn't so we'll definitely be looking for them

I've been to Lanzarote before so the salt pans will definitely be on our itinerary. We'll have a scope so I'm hoping that we'll have better luck with sea-watching than I did (two Bryde's/Sei Whales within seconds of setting up the scope for the first time, then few birds and no other cetaceans thereafter, despite several hours of efforts at various locations).

I did the "sunset and dolphins" tourist boat from Puerto del Carmen which was quite good for Pilot Whales but almost bird-free. I see that there are more expensive trips possible from Fuerteventura. Does anybody have any opinions on them?
 
pandachris said:
I did the "sunset and dolphins" tourist boat from Puerto del Carmen which was quite good for Pilot Whales but almost bird-free. I see that there are more expensive trips possible from Fuerteventura. Does anybody have any opinions on them?
Click to expand...

I have been on a 2 hour whale and dolphin watching trip from Caleta de Fuste in September last year and this October. The only cetacean seen was at least one Pilot Whale this year. On both trips Cory’s and Barolo Shearwaters were seen, last year a single Madeiran Storm Petrel flew close to the boat. My wife saw three storm petrels from the boat this year but she wasn’t able to identify them to species.

David
 
Hi David

Re the whale and dolphin watching trip from Caleta de Fuste, was that with Oceanarium Explorerand do you have a website for them? I've not been able to track anything down.

Also does anyone know of a good description for the approximate location of the Dwarf Bittern, specifically where to park, landmarks to look out for etc. I realise that we'll have a walk and a search when we get there. I've seen various on-line descriptions and have struggled to match them with Google Maps.
 
pandachris said:
Hi David

Re the whale and dolphin watching trip from Caleta de Fuste, was that with Oceanarium Explorerand do you have a website for them? I've not been able to track anything down.

Also does anyone know of a good description for the approximate location of the Dwarf Bittern, specifically where to park, landmarks to look out for etc. I realise that we'll have a walk and a search when we get there. I've seen various on-line descriptions and have struggled to match them with Google Maps.
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Yes them, they have a ticket office in the marina at Caleta.

As for the Bittern, I was told park at Playa Blanca and walk up from the beach. It’s said to be about 40 minutes to get to the pools where the bittern is. I didn’t try for it.

David
 
Cheers

Seems odd that there's no on-line presence.

I think there's closer access to the sites where the Bittern is seen from the FV-20 road between Tesjuate and Casillas del Angel. We'll have a try around there.
 
Not a bad first day (in Lanzarote). We found two Yellow-browed Warblers in Haria, the first seen only in the trees by the children's play area next to the free car park in the village centre and the second (heard and seen) in trees close to the junction of Calle Sol and the LZ-10.

About and hour driving slowly on the plain between Muñique and Soo resulted in more views of Houbara Bustards than 5 hours last year, although few other birds.
 
Following this thread

Hi pandachris, I hope you are enjoying your stay on the Carnaies!

I'm hoping to be in fuerteventura next month so will be interested to hear your experiences and sightings.
 
Holidaycanray said:
Hi pandachris, I hope you are enjoying your stay on the Carnaies!

I'm hoping to be in fuerteventura next month so will be interested to hear your experiences and sightings.
Click to expand...

I’m out there in mid-Jan, so am keen to get sites for the few targets I have (Bustard, Chat, Bittern plus countable exotics)

If anyone has recent sites for Monk Parakeet, Sacred Ibis and Red-vented Bulbul I’d appreciate it. Are there any other countable exotics?
 
For any birders visiting Fuerteventura in the near future, especially staying at Corralejo, we saw up to 5 Spoonbills along the Plays Bristol section of coast each morning before 08:30. They were mainly in the section between the La Olivia monument and the small sandy bay at the West end. A decent selection of common waders here too, including Whimbrel.
 
Monk Parakeets were numerous around the whale skeleton at Morro Jable. We didn't see, or look for, bulbuls or ibis.

The access to the Dwarf Bittern site from the track to the Complejo Ambiental from the FV-20 called Camino Vertedero on Google Maps seemed good. Park on the bend (obvious) after the buildings off the road on the right then walk about 3-4 minutes south to find the ravine and hopefully the bittern. It took us two visits but there are plenty of birds I/c the chat to keep you interested. You pass some rubble piles then a rainwater/dew catchment structure just before the ravine. We saw a Trumpeter Finch amongst the rubble. Hope this helps.
 
pandachris said:
Monk Parakeets were numerous around the whale skeleton at Morro Jable. We didn't see, or look for, bulbuls or ibis.

The access to the Dwarf Bittern site from the track to the Complejo Ambiental from the FV-20 called Camino Vertedero on Google Maps seemed good. Park on the bend (obvious) after the buildings off the road on the right then walk about 3-4 minutes south to find the ravine and hopefully the bittern. It took us two visits but there are plenty of birds I/c the chat to keep you interested. You pass some rubble piles then a rainwater/dew catchment structure just before the ravine. We saw a Trumpeter Finch amongst the rubble. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Very helpful, thanks
 
Bismarck Honeyeater The Monks were very numerous just before the Whale in a children's play playground opposite a abandoned zoological park where they nest.
 

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