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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Paul Chapman" data-source="post: 3175995" data-attributes="member: 69491">I was told by a world birder once that you only needed 24 hours to clean up on the Canaries including the Tenerife to Fuerteventura flight. I'm making harder work of this than I remembered in 1999.I'd like to think that the weather - 10 degrees, 30 mph winds and light drizzle is contributing.We woke to the sounds of Spanish Sparrow, Canary Islands Chiffchaff and Collared Dove. En route to our first site, a single Cattle Egret was new for the trip as was Grey Wagtail.We stopped at the Restaurant El Bosque site at Ruiz Gorge. At least five Laurel Pigeons were seen. They included two perched and showing well and others flying past very close. They were not really photographable but very nice nevertheless. Chaffinch, African Blue Tit and Robin showed but Goldcrest was only heard. Canary Islands Chiffchaff and Canary were here and indeed everywhere throughout the day.After a couple of hours with no Bolle's Pigeons apart from a fly over across the road and up the valley fairly early on, we decided to head to Erjos. A stop at the pools produced Coot, Moorhen, Sardinian Warbler and a single Snipe. Feral Pigeons dropped in to drink but alas no Bolle's and the usual species were very much in evidence.Despite very poor visibility by now - down to maybe 30 metres - we headed for the Erjos track. I had driven this to Las Portellas in 1999 but now it is firmly barricaded with no entry signs stating that it is a Nature Reserve. It seemed a bit unnecessary to walk it in thick cloud.So with further pigeon searching seeming pointless, we headed to Punta de Teno. At the arch site, we had superb views of at least two Barbary Falcon with the birds clearly enjoying the ridiculous winds. One then sat in full view on the cliff above us albeit a little distantly. It preened for a good twenty or so minutes.The 30 mph wind funnelled through the arch meaning that you could hardly stand up until you got into the lee of the rock. Buzzard and Raven were also in evidence as were a couple of kestrels - we must have had a dozen during the day.The wind caught our Tenerife map and it was last seen heading out into the Atlantic.Full of enthusiasm we headed back to the Restaurant El Bosque. En route, we had our first Sparrowhawk of the trip. Whilst checking the Ruiz Gorge, we had a further Sparrowhawk and Buzzard and a repeat of the morning's experiences with again perched Laurel Pigeons, similar species and the crest only heard.So the trip list has leapt to a mighty 29 and tomorrow's main hope is for better weather to accompany Pico del Ingles, Chanajiga, etc. The priorities remain better Bolle's Pigeon and Goldcrest with some slight scratching of heads that we have not yet bumped into Plain Swift and Berthelot's Pipit. I'm sure if we could have actually stood up at Punta de Teno at least the Pipit would have fallen!A curious trip so far as a result but with excellent scope views of Laurel Pigeon and Barbary Falcon we shouldn't complain.All the best</blockquote>

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