This morning I didn’t really bother with a sea watch however a brief glimpse out saw several Yellow-legged Gulls pass along with the odd Shearwater. The reason for the lack of sea watching was that after Breakfast I decided to give the golf course one more try. Along the way to the golf course I had 2 incredibly tame Laughing Dove which are one of the highlights of my trip for last time the only one seen was distantly calling from a rock at Vega De Rio Palma. Collard Doves and Rock Doves (feral Pigeons) were everywhere and at the usual hotel Plain Swifts could be seen hawking insects from the palm trees however their numbers were down suggesting that breeding may have finished and they might now be considering heading to their wintering grounds. A Barn Swallow also flew over upon entering Morro Jable. Above: Laughing Doves Once at the Golf Course a quick look around saw three Cattle Egret prodding and probing the not so lush grass looking for invertebrates. A Kestrel flew through and landed somewhere down below. Further on and 2 Hoopoe were found squabbling in a tree. They ended up flushing a Southern Grey Shrike and also a Canary Islands Stonechat while looked in their territorial dispute. Above: Southern Grey Shrike Below: Canary Islands Stonechat Continuing to the roundabout I found the flock of Trumpeter Finch from the other day drinking from a puddle at the side of the road. There must have been 60 or more finches in this one flock and the noise they make is truly incredible. They were feeding alongside an equally large flock of Spanish Sparrows and this made for the ground at times to look as though it was simply moving. Moving into the northern part of the golf course now and Ravens could be heard and eventually seen over head while Spectacled Warblers sang from the vegetation, however apart from a Southern Grey Shrike everything stayed hidden as it was now turning incredibly hot. Above: Trumpeter Finch I decided to head back after a few lifeless minutes and found my self watching the large flock of Finches and Sparrows. All of a sudden the whole flock scattered and not for the first time this trip a Juvenile Barbary Falcon swooped down just narrowly missing a handful of Trumpeters. The Falcon looked a bit miffed that it had missed and rather gingerly made its exit up towards the mountains. Above: Trumpeter Finch with a few Spanish Sparrows mixed in. Below: Juv Barbary Falcon It was getting late and the heat was becoming quite unbearable so I decided to head back to the hotel. This wasn’t without seeing a Kestrel and a Southern Grey Shrike on the way out. On the way back there was just enough time to head to a small bird hide that has a look across the tidal wetlands of Morro Jable. Upon arrival I wasn’t too hopeful of life however a Berthalots Pipit along with 2 rather showy Spectacled Warblers weren’t bad at all. Above: Cattle Egret Below: Southern Grey Shrike Above: Spectacled Warbler Below: Berthelot's Pipit The rest of the day was spent swimming in the pool, playing tennis and then keeping a clean sheet in footie. In fact, the football match was the first time I have ever seen a 5 aside match end 0-0. After dinner the evenings sea watch was massively productive with literally hundreds of Cory’s Shearwaters gathering just off shore. I have never seen so many shearwaters in one place at any one time it was truly magical with some on the sea and others flying through on out stretched wings effortlessly gliding above the waves. This evening only 3 Little Egret passed South with one incredibly far out and looking rather unstable. Yellow-legged Gulls were also numerous and a House Martin bucked the trend and headed North. If there is one thing I am going to miss from this trip it is going to be staring out the window in the evening and seeing the glistening white underneath of the Cory's Shears heading south over an equally clear, blue sea. It has been crazy. And so now packing has commenced for the final day of the trip tomorrow and the airport awaits us. A slightly earlier start to the day saw us heading to breakfast before I could get my usual sea watch in which was a shame. On route to breakfast there were plenty of Spanish Sparrows and Yellow-legged Gulls as per usual. We then headed down to the beach in order to get some footie in whilst it was low tide. I cant help but watch the birds as well so a Southern Grey Shrike was a God addition to the day list along with numerous Yellow-legged Gulls and a Plain Swift calmly made it’s way North along the coast into the head wind. Birds were few and far between however at lunch some of the local Spanish sparrows had decided that the buffet was for them as well and were happily helping themselves to the bread pudding and I have to admit that I can see why as it was scrumptious. Soon the time had come to head to the airport and so I decided to do a final spot of birding out the coach window. This proved fairly decent as a Common Buzzard was seen shortly after the oasis wildlife park. Further along I spotted a low flying Egyptian Vulture over a small goat farm which then proceed to land in and amongst the goats. Another Egyptian Vulture was seen distantly as were a pair of Raven. The best sighting came as we neared the airport passing through one of the large valleys when all of a sudden, a cloud of Swift dropped out off the sky. I was surprised to see that all 17 of which were Common Swift presumably on their journey South. It was also interesting to note how much slower their wing beats are compared to the hyper active Plain Swifts which are insanely difficult to follow. The final birds of the coach trip were in fact Plain Swifts with two seen hawking over the vegetation surrounding the airport. Once at the airport the traditional shockingly slow check in process began before heading through security. Once we were through, I had a great view of the runway with a Kestrel hovering over the far end as well as several Yellow-legged Gulls. Cory’s Shearwaters also passed off shore which was a nice way to end the holiday. And so now I am sitting on the plane and have somehow managed to get extra leg room on both the way out and the way back to London which is quite incredible. And as I reflect on the trip it has been another unforgettable experience. This is the first time we have been to the islands in summer and although the species aren't as diverse as in winter it has still been a worth while trip with at least 2 Lifers in the form of Plain Swift and Cory's Shearwater. And so, I wave good bye to the island of strong wind for another year rather reluctantly with the thought in the back of my mind that London may reach 40 degrees for the first time ever on Thursday. (It officially reached 38.7 which is still a British record)
(Apology's for the splodges on some of the images. Unfortunately my camera is dying a horribly slow and painful death and now has some dead pixels. It looks as though I am going to have to upgrade/ renew much quicker than I had anticipated but at 6-7 year old I guess my camera has served me well.)
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The big day had arrived and I was up before dawn. We had breakfast and made a packed lunch before heading on our way up the FV 2 towards the Roadside pools at Tesejerague. This journey was rather empty which was unsurprising for a Sunday morning, however what was more surprising was when we passed the Oasis wildlife park and came across a Police drug/ alcohol testing setup. The cars in front were let through however, we were told to pull in however, as soon as they saw my dads drivers licence we were sent on our way again. When we arrived at the pools it was a relief to see some water and a family of Black-winged Stilts parading around the edge. 8 Moorhen were also around the pool with one being accompanied by an incredibly small chick. Collard Dove were also present in large numbers and this was mirrored throughout the rest of the island along with the local Feral Pigeons/ Rock Doves. It was interesting to note the lack of diversity here compared to when we came in the winter, however given that the vast majority of the pool is dried up I guess it was hardly surprising. Above: Black-winged Stilt Below: Moorhen After this we continued onto the small area of wetlands at Rosa Del Taro (check spelling). Along the way we had fly over Ravens, Berthalots Pipits, a Canary Islands Stonechat and also a Southern Grey Shrike. Upon arrival at the Pools a Hoopoe flew over us however unfortunately for us the area of wetlands was bone dry. There was however a Rabbit parading around the bone-dry beds. My worry was that this Pool would be completely lifeless. However, despite the lack of water Spectacled Warblers could be heard and seen flying through the reedbeds and Berthalots Pipits were extremely numerous in the barren rocky landscape around the pool. Another Hoopoe was also feeding in the desert area along with several Ravens which made a bizarre set of calls different to those found in the UK. There wasn’t much point in stating here for much longer so we decided to head a little further down the road to the area where the road crosses Barranco De Rio Carbaras. We pulled in here and had a look around. To the North of the bridge I found a flock of Little Ringed Plovers feeding in the channel and to the South I had a very tame Canary Islands Stonechat and also a Green Sandpiper. I was please that this part of the barranco still had water and was please to see plenty of Fish in the water as well suggesting that this is one of the few places on the island that has running water all year round. Above: Little Ringed Plover Below: Fish Sp Above: Male Canary Islands Stonechat Below: Female Canary Islands Stonechat We then drove a little but further down the barranco to where the Dwarf Bittern had been over a year and a half ago. Upon arrival at the edge of the Barranco several Common Buzzards shot out of cover and a Juvenile Barbary Falcon flew through sending the four adult Black-winged Stilts berserk in their attempt to save their two youngsters from the talons of the falcon. This time all was lucky as the falcon appeared to be freshly out the nest given its plumage and it looked as though it was nearly testing its hunting strategy. Above and Below: The endemic race of Common Buzzard We headed down into the Barranco and along the damn passing a Hoopoe and 3 African Blue Tit. We headed along the Barranco to the next damn passing several Lizards, a Moorhen, a Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron. There were also two family groups of Black-winged Stilt present and they didn't seem to enjoy the presence of the raptors, especially the Juv Barbary Falcon that was around. To my surprise when I looked up above the second damn, we had some extreme raptor action. This included 10+ Buzzard, at least 8 Egyptian Vultures, a massive female Barbary Falcon, a Kestrel and plenty of Ravens and Yellow-legged Gulls trying to look like Raptors as well. It was truly mind blowing seeing the sky full of this amount of birds and I something I am never going to forget. Above: Southern Grey Shrike Below: African Blue Tit Above: Common Buzzard Below: Juv Egyptian Vulture Above: Common Buzzard Below: Ad Egyptian Vulture Above: Juv Black-winged Stilt Below: ad Black-winged Stilt We headed back along the Barranco towards the first damn when we flushed a flock of Trumpeter Finch with at least 30 perhaps more feeding away camouflaged in and amongst the rocky scenery. As we were crossing the damn back to the other side of the Barranco I spotted the first Dragonfly of the trip sunning itself. It was an exceptionally Red, Scarlet Darter. We then headed up the side of the Barranco and emerged to the incredible sight of 3 adult Egyptian Vultures flying just metres ahead of us and sending the heard of goats scattering in all directions Above: Trumpeter Finch Below: Scarlet Darter Above: Egyptian Vulture Next on our list of destinations was a new one for me Los Molinos Reservoir. We headed North through some incredible scenery and eventually pulled onto the dirt track that took us down to the Reservoir. Upon arrival we could see that the reservoir was running a little low on water since there was a colossal damn which must have been 20 foot high. It’s an incredible structure to say the least to find out in the middle of the desert. We headed round the side of the reservoir to get a better look at its inhabitants. While doing this a pair of Common Buzzards and their Raven escort had put up a huge flock of Black-bellied Sand grouse with over 100 taking to the air at once. You could hear their wings beating as they flew over. It was some spectacle and was incredible to watch as they flew in a starling like murmaration before disappearing out of sight. A dried-up part of the Reservoir was our next stop since there were some incredibly tame Canary Islands Stonechat as well as Berthalots Pipit. Next we headed up to view the middle of the reservoir as a massive flock of Yellow-legged Gull flew through. The reservoir held 18 Ruddy Shelduck, well over 30 Black-winged Stilt, a Green Sandpiper, 3 Little Egret, 4 Grey Heron and best of all an Avocet and 25 Coot which were both island ticks for me. The Avocet is actually quite an interesting record for the time of year and I await to hear more news on that soon. Above: Female Canary Islands Stonechat Below: Ruddy Shelduck Above: Berthalots Pipit Below: Black-bellied Sand Grouse Above: Swarm of Yellow-legged Gulls After this excitement we headed back to the car in order to have lunch via some interesting Odonata in the form of what is most likely a Saharan Blue-tail which is a new species of Damselfly for me. While having lunch Berthalots Pipits were wondering around along with a Southern Grey Shrike. A pair of Raven flew overhead as did another incredibly low Egyptian Vulture Above: Saharan Bluetail Below: Southern Grey Shrike Above: Egyptian Vulture Next on our list was Vega De Rio Palmas, but not before a brief stop at the look out North of Betencuria. Once at Vega de rio Palmas we headed along the predominately dry river bed to the sound of Laughing Doves and Sardinian Warblers. An African Blue Tit called from the trees as Ravens called over head infact it wasn’t the birds that we had stopped here for it was for some of the insect life. 3 species of dragonfly were seen including Scarlet Darter, Emperor Dragonfly, and several of what I believe are Epaulet Skimmers. While we were down here we also had brief views of some incredibly large lizards. These were potentially Gran Canarian giant Lizards as it seems as though there have been a few reports of a feral populations starting to breed on Fuerteventura. A Canary Islands Stonechat was also seen before we headed back into the car and up into the mountains. Above: Epaulet Skimmer Below: Scarlet Darter Above: Emperor Dragonfly Below: I have no clue what this is but I thought it was kinda cool... Once up in the mountains we stopped at Vega De Rio Palmas view point where there were plenty of Berthalots Pipits as well as tonnes of Barbary Ground Squirrels and also Ravens all of which had been drawn here by the tourists which feed and water them. It’s almost like a wildlife fast food haven. The view over the valley below was stunning again and it showed us that the reservoir below had dried up which is a shame. Above: Close up of a Raven Below: Berthalots Pipit After this we decided to call it a day and so we headed back to the hotel after an interesting petrol station stop in Costa Calma.
After dinner I decided to do another sea watch. This one was a little more interesting with again over 100 Cory's Shearwaters through in under 30 minutes. However, the highlight was probably a plain Swift that flew north and also a flock of 5 Little Egret that bizarrely flew south along the coast. And so, with migration in full flow and one more day left tomorrow I wonder what is left to be found? What an incredible day! (Apology's for the splodges on some of the images. Unfortunately my camera is dying a horribly slow and painful death and now has some dead pixels. It looks as though I am going to have to upgrade/ renew much quicker than I had anticipated but at 6-7 years old I guess my camera has served me well.) |
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