Llanos de Tindaya, Embalse de Los Molinos and Barranco Puerto de los Molinos

An early morning visit to the Plains with a unexpected meeting, later we visited a very depressing empty Embalse de Los Molinos and Barranco Puerto de los Molinos. 

Deb and Ian, Day Twenty Five.

Ebird List for Llanos de Tindaya.

Ebird List for Barranco Puerto de los Molinos.

 

Looking down the valley just before Dawn.

We got down onto the Tindaya Plains nice and early, we parked just out of the town and where we saw Great Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Norteño Koenigi / Lanius excubitor koenigi) and Barbary Ground Squirrels (Atlantoxerus getulus).

Approaching Dawn.

The Sun breaks the Horizon.

Whilst we were parked there a white 4x4 passed us and we thought that we had blown it as we guessed that they would flush anything along the road but the car stopped by the first crossroads so we continued on and as we were about to pass the parked 4x4 an arm flagged us down and pointed to two stunning Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata) right on the side of the road just a few meters in front of us.

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

We all sat there and watched these amazing birds feeding for quite a while until they wandered off, we then got out and thanked the chap for his help and had a chat, during this we found out that he worked for the Medio Ambiante and when he told us  his name was Sarry the penny dropped and I realised he was a friend of a good friend of mine Ricky Owen.

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

Looking towards the coast over the Plain.

Sarry and Myself, a very helpful meeting.

We continued to chat and he told us about the restrictions up on the coast where we had been but luckily we had not been anywhere we shouldn't have been, he also told us where could go so we continued on down towards the coast.

Female Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).

Female Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).

Female Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).

Female Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis).

As we drove we saw a female Black-bellied Sandgrouse (Ganga Ortega / Pterocles orientalis) on the road in front of us so we crawled long slowly and watched it being unexpectedly mobbed by a Great Grey Shrike the bird walked slowly along the road and then off into the fields.

Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax).

Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus).

Canarian Bean Caper (Tetraena fontanesii). 

Mol-Albina (Launaea arborescens).

Before we reached the coast we had several Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), an immature Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus), Mol-Albina (Launaea arborescens)  and  Canarian Bean Caper (Tetraena fontanesii).

Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus).

Red-billed Tropicbirds (Rabijunco Etéreo / Phaethon aethereus).

Red-billed Tropicbird (Rabijunco Etéreo / Phaethon aethereus).

Red-billed Tropicbird (Rabijunco Etéreo / Phaethon aethereus).

Red-billed Tropicbird (Rabijunco Etéreo / Phaethon aethereus).

On the coast we went to a spot Sarry had said to go to and we soon had several of the Red-billed Tropicbird (Rabijunco Etéreo / Phaethon aethereus) flying past but all were fairly well out to sea, we also saw an adult Peregrine Falcon, Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus), Berthelot's Pipit (Bisbita Caminero / Anthus berthelotii) and Cory's Shearwater (Pardela Cenicienta Canaria / Calonectris diomedea borealis).

Great Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Norteño Koenigi / Lanius excubitor koenigi).

Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus).

Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus).

Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus).

After around 4 hours we started to make our way back along the track picking up a very well behaved Great Grey Shrike, Mediterranean Short-toed Lark (Terrera Marismena / Alaudala rufescens), Berthelot's Pipit, 2 Eurasian Stone Curlews (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus) which just stood at the side of the road and didn't want to move giving us amazing views and a group of Cream-coloured Coursers (Corredor Sahariano / Cursorius cursor) including 4 adults and a couple of youngsters.

Cream-coloured Courser (Corredor Sahariano / Cursorius cursor).

Cream-coloured Courser (Corredor Sahariano / Cursorius cursor).

Cream-coloured Courser (Corredor Sahariano / Cursorius cursor) distantly through the heat haze.

Great Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Norteño Koenigi / Lanius excubitor koenigi).

Great Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Norteño Koenigi / Lanius excubitor koenigi).

After getting some lunch in Bar cafetería María, mine was fine but really not sure what Deb and Ian's Calamari was but it had very little to do with a Squid.

Embalse de Los Molinos.

Anyway once we had finished we headed for the Embalse de Los Molinos but it was very disappointing / worrying to see the site looking so dry, neglected and totally birdless, after just a few minutes we turned around and went back to the road. 

Berthelot's Pipit (Bisbita Caminero / Anthus berthelotii).

Muscovy Duck (Pato criollo / Cairina moschata).

Our final stop of the day was down on the beach at Barranco Puerto de los Molinos where after we parked we walked up the Barranco a short way seeing Berthelot's Pipit, Little Egret (Garceta Común / Egretta garzetta), Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus), Sahara Bluetail (Ischnura saharensis), Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) and Blue / Common Emperor

Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae).

Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae).

(Anax imperator).

We returned to the bar / Restaurante Casa Pon. Los Molinos where we had a drink and watched the Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae) below us by the water and then headed back to the accommodation where we had some food and a few beers.