Originally posted today by Ian Moran:

8th-13th March 2024

1 week trip from Manchester. Used Cicar rentals and they are unique in including all insurance for a good price, no hassle, stress free. Roads were great, except going up to Vilaflor at night and in fog! Stayed Vilaflor 1 night, Puerta de la Cruz 4 nights and the peaceful Las Galletas in the south for 2 nights. Some mountain sights weren't possible as the car parks were rammed even early on. The 3 picnic sights were easiest. 

Target Lifers

Canary Island's Chiffchaff: 1st seen at Vilaflor village, then La Caldera and everywhere outside the mountains. Very distinctive plumage and particularly calls and song. More enjoyable than other chiffchaff splits. 

Blue Chaffinch: 10+ at 1st stop at Las Lajas Picnic site. Tricky at first, then they appeared on the tables and around. Great views, but it was to get better. 35+ at Ramon el Caminero picnic site. They immediately appeared next to the car and then all over the tables with a foot of us. Incredible photo opportunities, even with a phone. They were then seen above the site, opposite the picnic area going to a small pool. 

Berthelot's Pipit: 1st sighting at Mount Teide car park, then almost tame views of one at Minas de San Jose car park. Also seen near PDL Cruz and Guaza mountain. 

African Blue Tit: 1st seen at Las Lajas and then pretty much everywhere. 

Canary: 1st one at Vilaflor and then everywhere. 

Canary Island's Chaffinch: Apparently now split. Seen at La Caldera picnic site easily and also Erjos. 

Plain Swift: 1st seen at Park Taoro in PDL Cruz. a 7th lifer in one day! Also amazing views so close you could actually say it wasn't a pallid or regular swift at Costa Del Silencio on a small mountain walk. Others were spread in small numbers around the island. 

Barbary Partridge: 3 at the small walk from the car park at Rambla de Castro. 1 flying at the banana plantations at Camino el Boullullo near PDL Cruz. 

Laurel Pigeon: 6+ at Barranco de Ruiz first visit and they were quite easy here on all visits with some great views. 10+ at El Tanque (Lomo Molino viewpoint) on forst visit and easy to see here in the trees below the car park. 

Bolle's Pigeon: 10 at El Tanque with Laurel Pigeons on 1st visit. A surprise that they were easy here on both visits and completed all 10 targets in 1.5 days. 

Cory's Shearwater: 20+ at Charco Del Viento and many at Las Galletas. Recently split from the Scopoli's seen in Majorca etc, so officially a lifer, even if a boring one. 

Nanday Parakeet: Several in Playa de las Americas at various sites. Seems currently a pending cat C bird in Spain. 12th and final lifer if countable. 

Other interesting birds

Little Shearwater: Didn't see any at Charco Viento and from ebird sightings I suspect others fooled themselves into ticking this bloody hard to identify bird at distance. 

African Collared Dove: Another dodgy bird that you think you've seen until you realise it's another collared or barbary dove in different light. You never hear the African call, there are numerous collared and barbary doves that interbreed with African and themselves and Spain doesn't have it on their cat C list, so better not to bother. 

Spectacled Warbler: Tracked down 2 in Las Galletas cactus fields area. 

Goldcrest: The formerly tickable and distictive race at La Caldera, great views. 

Barbary Falcon: 1 flew over the car in the mountains, the only sighting. Distinctive race of Peregrine. 

GS Woodpecker: Local race seen at Las Lajas. 

Robin: Apparently a local race, it looked like ours. 

Whimbrel: Great views at the spectacular Buenavista Golf coastal walk and a few elsewhere including PDL Cruz harbour. 

GG Shrike: Las Galletas and Guaza mountain. Koenigi race.

Rest

1 mediterranean gull at Galletas. ringed plovers, hoopoes, monk and RN parakeets. 1 sparrowhawk. Spanish sparrows. Buzzards and kestrels (local races identical to ours for me). 

 

Two weeks staying in the Tamaimo Tropical Hotel, Puerto Santiago, Tenerife 25/03/14 - 08/04/14.
33 species in all, but along with the endemic species the sub-species count was interesting. I used the Helm guide to the Atlantic Islands which proved very useful. Any interesting sub-species (ssp) are highlighted. The list is:

Below seen around hotel and offshore from Puerto Santiago

Rock Dove
Canary Islands Chiffchaff (many round the hotel and the most common sight of all)
Lesser Black Backed Gull
Yellow Legged Gull (ssp atlantis)
African Collared Dove
Common Tern
Eurasian Blackbird (ssp cabrerae)
Ruddy Turnstone
Plain Swift (flocks of 40+ above Los Gigantes)
Eurasian Kestrel (ssp canariensis)
Cory's Shearwater (passage of an estimated 2000 per hour for two hours early morning on 28, 29.03.14 during stormy conditions)
Island Canary
Spanich Sparrow
Booted Eagle (1 above Los Gigantes 04.04.14 and 1 near airport on way home 08.04.14)
Berthelot's Pipit (above Los Gigantes, but surprisingly few seen)

Los Christianos 30.03.14

Eurasian Collared Dove
Ring Necked Parakeet

Erjos Pools to Monte Del Agua 03.04.14

African Blue Tit (ssp teneriffae, also seen in Santiago Del Teide)
Barbary Partridge
Eurasian Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Sardinian Warbler (ssp leucogastra)
Eurasian Linnet (ssp meadewaldoi)
Common Buzzard (ssp insularum)
Common Raven
Blackcap
Common Chaffinch (ssp canariensis)
European Robin (ssp superbus)
Canary Islands Goldcrest
Bolle's Pigeon (4 seen flying over Laurel canopy)
Laurel Pigeon (4 seen flying over Laurel canopy)
Barbary Falcon (1 seen hunting over Laurel Canopy)
Grey Wagtail (ssp canariensis)

Pods of Dolphins and Pilot Whales along with 200+ Cory's Shearwaters seen on boat trip from Los Gigantes.
1 Great Whale, Blue or Fin by size of the spout and length seen on surfacing.

Indian red Admiral (Vanessa indica vulcania, and endemic to the Canaries and Madeira)
Clouded Yellow
Canary Speckled Wood (Parage xiphioides and endemic to the Canaries)
Monarch

I need to return to to get the last endemic species Blue Chaffinch that I dipped on due to lack of transport, so I have something to look forward to. A few more ssp's await as well. It was fascinating to work through ssp's even such as Robin, Linnet and Blackbird.




-- Edited by Lawrence Hindley on Tuesday 22nd of April 2014 11:03:03 AM

Just returned from a very enjoyable week in Los Cristianos, 16th - 23rd October. Birds seen Southern Grey Shrike, Spectacled Warbler, Berthelots Pippit and Kestrel on spare land between Arona Gran and mountain. Birds on the Beach included, Grey Wagtail, Turnstones, Whimbrel, Cattle Egrets a single juvenile ringed plover and the ubiquitous Berthelots Pippits. Other birds seen were Chiffchaffs and Sparrows. Other wildlife seen were pilot whales, and the odd butterfly and dragonfly.

Can anyone tell me if Osprey is frequently recorded on the island? I've been going to Tenerife (Los Cristianos) for 4-5 years now and have never seen one, but this year had two over the apartment, and presumably the same pair fishing in the Harbour. I wouldn't mind reporting to the relevant recorder if there is one either.