Loja Wildlife, Granada Province, Spain.: Tenerife, Canary Islands.

Friday 26 October 2018

Tenerife, Canary Islands.

The last morning on the Canaries.

African Blue Tit (Cyanistes teneriffae teneriffae / herrerillo afrocanario).

As usual we were all up for breakfast and then headed out for a couple of hours birding at the picnic site on the way up to Tiede, it was quite cool but sunny when we arrived but it soon started to warm up as the morning went along.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major canariensis).

Almost all morning we could hear Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major canariensis) hammering or calling and we had some really nice views of a couple, Ann even managed some really good video footage.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major canariensis).

There were 3 or 4 Blue Chaffinches (Pinzón Azul de Tenerife / Fringilla teydea) in the area but none were particularly helpful but we did manage to get some shots.

African Blue Tit (Cyanistes teneriffae teneriffae / herrerillo afrocanario).

Other species seen included Atlantic Canary (Canario / Serinus canaria), Goldcrest (Reyezuelo Sencillo / Regulus regulus), African Blue Tits (Cyanistes teneriffae teneriffae / herrerillo afrocanario), Canary Island Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Canario / Phylloscopus canariensis), Raven (Cuervo / Corvus corax), Rock Pigeon (Paloma Bravia / Columba livia) and Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).

Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major canariensis).

We dropped back down to the hotel and finished packing and vacated the rooms by 12.00, some of the group had walks in different areas of the gardens seeing a few species. Nick had Blackcap (Curruca Capirotada / Sylvia atricailla) singing and I added Canary Island Blue (Cyclyrius webbianus) to the butterfly list. We also had Long-tailed Blue (Lampides baeticus), Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli), African Blue Tits, Canary Island Chiffchaff and Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula).

Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli).

Once we were sorted and settled the bills we dropped down to the coast for lunch but started our search in Los Christianos but we did not like the look of it and there was just nowhere to park so we made our way back towards La Galletas were we parked by the beach and had a nice meal in one of the nearby restaurants where we could see the van (not that we were getting paranoid much).

Mediterranean Gull (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus).

After eating Bob and I went to have a look for the two Mediterranean Gull (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus) that had been hanging around on the beach just a few hundred metres away and soon found them.

Mediterranean Gull (Gaviota Cabecinegra / Larus melanocephalus).

We walked back towards the van via a tree filled park and found 3 very smart Ring-necked Parakeet (Cotorra de Kramer / Psittacula Krameri) in one of the palm trees and just before reaching the others had views off 2 Ringed Plovers (Chorlitejo Grande / Charadrius hiaticula) and the White-rumped Sandpiper (Correlimos Culiblanco / Calidris fuscicollis) in flight. Nick had also seen a Common Sandpiper (Andarrios Chico / Actitis hypoleucos) and we had good numbers of Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) in the harbour.

Ring-necked Parakeet (Cotorra de Kramer / Psittacula Krameri).

We drove just up the road to El Fragile where everyone except for Nick and I decided to have an afternoon snooze, Nick and I went for a walk out on to the area between the urbanisation and the sea. We found Several Canary Island Chiffchaffs (Mosquitero Canario / Phylloscopus canariensis), Spectacled Warbler (Curruca Tomillera / Sylvia conspicillata), Tenerife Cacti (Euphorbia Canariensis), Prickly Pear (Opuntia dillenii), lots of the endemic Tenerife lizards (Gallotia galloti), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), African Grass Blue (Nina esmaltada / Zizeeia knysna) and just as we got back to the van we had a Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) and could hear Monk Parakeets (Cotorra Argentina / Myiopsitta monachus) but could not find them.

Ring-necked Parakeet (Cotorra de Kramer / Psittacula Krameri).

The next stop was at the southern Airport where Mike, Judy, Nick, Ann and Bob were getting there flight back to the UK and I headed North to the other Airport for my flight back to Malaga.

At just before 01.00 in met up with Jayne and we travelled home.