Loja Wildlife, Granada Province, Spain.: Vallebrón near La Oliva, Llanos de Tindaya, Barranco de Rio Cabras and Llanos Pelados on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain.

Sunday, 18 May 2025

Vallebrón near La Oliva, Llanos de Tindaya, Barranco de Rio Cabras and Llanos Pelados on Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain.

A big lifer day for Deb, Ian, Sharon, John and Myself.

Deb and Ian, Day Twenty Four.

Ebird List for Vallebrón near La Oliva.

Ebird List for Llanos de Tindaya.

Ebird List for Llanos Pelados.

Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae).

Deb, Ian and Myself headed out to a spot where were meeting up with good friends Sharon and John who were also birding on the island and were also hoping to see the same species we were all hoping for.

Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae).

Around the accommodation we started the day list off with Eurasian Stone Curlew (Alcaraván Común / Burhinus oedicnemus), Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax), African Blue Tit (Cyanistes Teneriffae / Herrerillo canario), Spanish Sparrow (Gorrión Moruno / Passer hispaniolensis) and Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae) which was a lifer for Deb and Ian.

Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata).

We were going to meet Sharon and John on the road out on to Llanos de Tindaya but something got lost in the messages and we missed them but we did meet up a little later along the track, on our way out we saw a single Houbara Bustard (Avutarda Hubara / Chlamydotis undulata), Berthelot's Pipit (Bisbita Caminero / Anthus berthelotii), Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax) and then we made contact with Sharon and John and they caught us up.

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

We continued on down towards the coast and parked and then started to walk towards the sea but well before we reached there we had two white birds coming in from the South which were Red-billed Tropicbird (Rabijunco Etéreo / Phaethon aethereus) the main target for the whole trip.

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Nanorrhinum sagittatum.

We continued on down to the coast and spent sometime watching these birds and at least 2 more flying up the coast, we also had lots of Cory's Shearwaters (Pardela Cenicienta Canaria / Calonectris diomedea borealis), Yellow-legged Gull (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus), Small White (Pieris rapae), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus), Nanorrhinum sagittatum and Heliotropium ramosissimum.

Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus).

After enjoying the Tropicbirds for a while we returned to the car and drove very slowly back towards Tindaya seeing the Houbara Bustard again and after a lot of searching a single Cream-coloured Courser (Corredor Sahariano / Cursorius cursor) before we went for a coffee in the town.

Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus).

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

Sharon and John headed off and we popped back to the accommodation for some lunch, while there we got some photo's of a female Fuerteventura Stonechat which showed well in the garden.

Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae).

Later we went out to the Barranco de Rio Cabras where we had a walk out to the Gorge and checked just the first area of trees as we didn't want to cause any disturbance, we saw several Trumpeter Finches (Camachuelo Trompetero / Bucanetes githagineus), Ruddy Shelduck (Tarro Canelo / Tadorna ferruginea), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo insularum), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica) and African Blue Tit (Cyanistes Teneriffae / Herrerillo canario).

Ruddy Shelduck (Tarro Canelo / Tadorna ferruginea).

Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo insularum).

Fuerteventura Stonechat (Tarabilla Canaria / Saxicola dacotiae).

Trumpeter Finch (Camachuelo Trompetero / Bucanetes githagineus).

Other species seen during our time in the Gorge included Sahara Bluetail (Ischnura saharensis), Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma), Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) and a female Atlantic Lizard (Gallotia atlantica).

Sahara Bluetail (Ischnura saharensis).

Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma).

Atlantic Lizard (Gallotia atlantica).

We walked back to the car seeing a few Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis), Egyptian Vultures (Alimoche Común / Neophron percnopterus) and a Northern Raven on the way.

Egyptian Vulture (Alimoche Común / Neophron percnopterus).

Northern Raven (Cuervo grande / Corvus corax).

Next we went just up the road to a spot along the same Barranco on the Llanos Pelados where we parked and did a walk along the dry Barranco seeing our first Laughing Dove (Tórtola senegalesa / Streptopelia senegalensis) of the trip and a lifer for Deb and Ian, Great Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Norteño Koenigi / Lanius excubitor koenigi), Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Common Buzzard, Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea), Trumpeter Finch, we also saw Slender Iceplant (Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum) and Crystalline Ice Plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum).