The day started in a chilled out fashion and breakfast was had in good time. A text from David to tell me that I needed to get to the Costa Calma forest urgently broke this relaxed manner and sent me to the front where he was waiting for me. We went to the forest, however what he had found before had gone and in its place were a few Kestrels, 2 Hoopoe, 4 Song Thrush, 30 Spanish Sparrow, 4 Blackcap, 14 Chiffchaff, 6 Goldfinch and 10 Collared Dove. However there were bigger fish to fry so we moved on briskly and headed out to Tesejerague Pools. The journey went by quickly with the only birds of mention a couple of Southern Grey Shrike. Upon arrival at the pools I was surprised at just how much life there was at such a tiny little pool of water next to quite a busy road. We could have stayed in the car to see what was there, however we walked a small way up a track. The pools contained my first ever Ruddy Shelducks with a pair feeding out in the middle, 3 Coots, a Green Sandpiper 8 Moorhen, 2 White Wagtail, a Berthelot's Pipit, 2 Red Vented Bulbuls and a pair of Spectacled Warblers which were also a first for me and the male gave us some great views on the fence around where we were standing! There were also 3 Black Winged Stilts as well as Chiffchaffs fly catching from the bushes around us. Above: Spectacled Warbler Below: Green Sandpiper Above: Black Winged Stilt Below: Ruddy Shelduck Above: Spectacled Warbler Below: Red Vented Bulbul Above: Ruddy Shelduck and coot Below: Ruddy Shelduck Below: Black Winged Stilt We then headed to Rose Del Taro and another roadside pool. This one was much larger and was surrounded by towering reed beds. A steady stream of Yellow Legged Gulls was coming in all the time and must have numbered between 40-60 birds in the end heading Northeast. A Cormorant and 6 Ruddy Shelduck were the birds that stood out as we walked up to the edge of the pools. We went round to a ridge overlooking the pool to have a look at what we could see. 15 Teal were lurking in the pool alongside a lone Tufted Duck, a Moorhen and 4 Coot. A little more in depth searching brought out a Common Snipe resting at the edge of the reed bed. A pair of Berthelot's Pipit were running around our feet and a pair of Common Buzzard circled over head. We then headed back to the car to flush a pair of Lesser Short Toed Lark and a Spectacled Warbler as 3 Raven flew over head. Above: Cormorant Below: Ruddy Shelduck Above: Cormorant Below: Berthelot's Pipit Above and Below: Teal in flight Next up we headed to the Barranco De Rio Cabras upstream from our final destination. We had a quick scout around. 4 Little Ringed Plovers were feeding on the muddy banks of the stream. All of a sudden a call came from the bushes beside us and out came a pair of African Blue Tits. This is a lifer for me and boy are they beasts compared to the native ones in the UK. They must be double the size and their call is also a strange one. We headed down the Barranco a bit further and dug out another pair of Spectacled Warbler, 4 Raven, 20 Feral/ Rock Pigeon and rather strangely a Muscovy Duck was lurking in the trees a little further down the stream. Above: Little Ringed Plover Below: African Blue Tit Next up we drove a mile or two further down the Barranco as a massive twitch was on our hands. When we arrived at the site I was surprised to find that the Barranco was very well hidden and not actually viewable from the main road. It was about a mile to the Barranco and all the time we had the calls of Lesser Short Toed Larks, Berthelot's Pipits and Ravens to keep us company. When we arrived at the edge of the Barranco David was just explaining to me that it might take us a long time to find the bird as others had spent hours searching for it in recent days and in the end given up. I moved a little closer to the edge of the Barranco and there it was - the Dwarf Bittern sitting on a rock in the middle of the stream. What a stunning bird. We hatched a plan on how to get to the other side of the Barranco for better viewing as a pair of Ruddy Shelduck flew past. Above: Dwarf Bittern Above: Dwarf Bittern Below: Ruddy Shelduck Above: Dwarf Bittern When I got to our chosen spot 4 Grey Heron flew along the Barranco flushing 2 Little Ringed plovers and 6 Black Winged Stilts. A large group of raptors also rolled in off a nearby hill containing at least 10 Egyptian Vultures and 20 Common Buzzards. It was truly something. 3 Trumpeter Finch also flew along the Barranco, but in the opposite direction to the previously mentioned and another pair of African Blue Tit were in the few trees that surrounded the Dwarf Bittern. The Bittern eventually after some amazing views of it decided that it would continue looking for food under the shelter of a nearby tree and so we decided to head further down the Barranco to see what was about. Above: Egyptian Vulture Below: Dwarf Bittern The Barranco contained a small stream that in places had some larger pools of water. Black winged stilts fed in one such pool and a Black Headed Gull sat out in the middle of it. An adult Goat and its youngster were around the edge of the Barranco and they flushed a pair of Canary Islands Stonechats, a first for us on the trip and also a lifer for me. Bertherlot's Pipits were also around the edge of the pool as we moved on. Above: Black Winged Stilts Below: Canary Islands Stonechat Above: Black Headed Gull Below: Black winged Stilt As we moved along the Barranco we were reunited with the Little Ringed Plovers that we saw upon our first arrival and they were busy feeding alongside a Greenshank and a Green Sandpiper. As we moved further still a Common Snipe was flushed from under one of the dams and flew calling loudly as it went down stream. A Grey Wagtail could also be heard, however neither of us could pick it up. A small group of trees produced 7 Chiffchaff and another African Blue Tit and a Kestrel flew over head, flushing a White Wagtail from the side of the Barranco. We then headed back to find a Moorhen now bathing in the large pool of water and a Hoopoe flew along the other side of the Barranco to where we were standing. Above: Fuerteventura Goat Below: Black Winged Stilts in flight We then headed back towards where we first saw the Bittern and unfortunately it wasn't on show. We were however greeted by another pair of Canary Island's Stonechats and the male was showing really well. We decided that we would sit on a rock opposite the Stonechat and see what would happen. Sure enough David's theory was correct and it slowly came closer and closer until it was picking insects up around our feet. Whilst we were sitting there gathering our energy and taking on water, something had caught David's eye. It was the head of the Dwarf Bittern peeping round a large rock. By now David had pointed it out to me and we watched as it slowly gave itself the all clear signal and started to stalk around in the pools. It was amazing to see such an amazing bird up close and we must have watched it for nearly an hour. It successfully caught many fish whilst we were watching and to be honest it didn't have to try hard as the pools were almost full to the brim of them. Above: Canary Islands Stonechat Below: Dwarf Bittern We decided that we would leave the Bittern in peace and just as we were leaving the female Canary Islands Stonechat (Pictured Below) gave us some great close up views and a small group of Trumpeter Finch flew through the Barranco calling as they went. Once we were back on the side where the car was parked a Southern Grey Shrike was perched at the top of the bush (Pictured Below). Lesser Short Toed Larks and Berthelot's Pipits were still calling from the desert like landscape around. Once we arrived at the car we met out first birders of the day and we gave them directions as to how to get to the Bittern. They were from central Europe and had just come back from a trip to Cape Verde and they told us that they just had to come and see this bird and who would blame them as it is only the 5th record for the Western Paleartic and 4th for the Canary Islands. We now had a decent car journey to our next location. 2 Cattle Egret in the town of Casillas Del Angel were the best birds. We made a quick pit stop in Betencuria and saw 2 Southern Grey Shrikes, a Kestrel, and a Common Buzzard. Next we went to Vega De Rio Palmas in search of a newly colonising Dove, however it just brought us close to triple digit figures for the amount of Collared Doves in the area. We headed down another stream which was full of towering Reeds and trees, finding mainly Sardinian and Spectacled Warblers along the way. This was until we reached a small pool of water and this contained our first and only Dragonfly of the trip a Velvet Darter. Above: My shots of the Velvet Darter Below: David's Digiscoped shots of the Velvet Darter We then continued down the stream till it opened out and any chance of life seemed unlikely for the stream showed the signs of one that had newly emerged and the water did not reach the bone dry reservoir. Chiffchaffs called from the dense vegetation, however after a quick search nothing else was picked up. A call from David up stream sent me running in the direction of him. When I got there it turns out he had heard a Laughing Dove call and so we waited in silence. It called again and eventually we picked it up in the top of a tree. By now I had climbed up a rock to get a better look at it and just as I got to the top it flew, or so we thought. It had actually just hopped off the tree and onto a nearby rock and gave us some good but distant comparison views between the Laughing Dove and a Eurasian Collared Dove. Above: My shots of the Laughing Dove Below: David's Digiscoped shot of the Laughing Dove We then made a quick journey into the mountains and at our stops we were treated to some extremely close views of the Raven and also the Barbary Ground Squirrels. It was amazing to see the Ravens up close and when you see the photos you will realise just how strange their beaks are, with feathers covering half of it! Above: Raven Below: Barbary Ground Squirrels Everywhere we stopped in the mountains at least one pair of Ravens joined us sitting at the road's edge. They are quite bold things and I even saw one eyeing up the open boot of the car. The reason why we had stopped here is because it is well known that Barbary Partridges use the area. However on this occasion we didn't see them, however we did see a pair of Barbary Falcons sitting on top of the rocks overlooking the valley below. It is sad to think that there may not be any pure Barbary Falcons left in the wild and that they might be clumped with the Peregrine due to interbreeding. They are however still amazing birds. Above: My shots of the Barbary Falcon Below: David's Digiscoped Shots of the Barbary Falcon Below: Our Raven visitors at this stop We decided to make one more stop in the mountains to have one last look for Barbary Partridge, however yet again we couldn't find them. We did however find a pair of Canary Islands Stonechat and also the usual Ravens and Barbary Ground Squirrels. Above: Canary Islands Stonechat Below: Barbary Ground Squirrel Above: Canary Islands Stonechat Next we made one last stop in the town of Pajara. We immediately set about scanning the trees at the back of the car park bringing up at least 10 Chiffchaff, and then out flew a calling Yellow Browed Warbler and it fed in a bush at the opposite side of the car park giving superb views. That wasn't the only thing though that this row of trees had to offer with a Male Siskin appearing at the top of one of the trees alongside a flock of Goldfinches before it flew over to some taller trees in the middle of the town near the church. This was literally vagrancy at its best. An African Blue Tit was the next bird to join the party as it flew into the trees alongside a large amount of Spanish Sparrows. It was now heading towards 17:15 and so we head back to the car for the final leg of the journey. Above: Yellow Browed Warbler Along the way back we were on a rather quiet street and up popped a Male Canary Islands Stonechat, the first of 2. David slammed on the brakes and rolled down the windows and we watched as the chat fed from the barriers at the edge of the road and also from one of the spikiest branches I have ever seen. (Pictured Below) We then continued our journey seeing yet more Southern Grey Shrikes and a flock of Linnet out of the car window.
And so I got back to the hotel and stumbled across this insect which I am yet to identify (Pictured Below) and I settled down for a good rest before yet another action packed day in the morning. A Massive thank you must go out to David for taking me around the island on a day I am truly never going to forget. With the Dwarf Bittern and superb views of the Island's Birdlife clocking up all bar one of the must see species.
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AuthorI have been a birder since i was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 17. ArchivesCategories |