A week with the wife in the beach resort of Costa Calma,last week of Feb 2010. Birding opportunities limited but I still managed to see a few birds. We booked with 'On the Beach' which including flights cost £630 for the two of us. We hired a car from 'Cicar' for the week, which cost £149.
Costa Calma is toward the southern end of the Island and is a typical holiday resort, mainly visited by Germans. However it is surrounded by 'El Jable' a large area of scrubby & in places hilly, desert like terrain, which was easy to access at several points. It’s criss-crossed by tracks, some of which the locals were happy to drive their cars over.
We arrived quite late on the Saturday but were delighted with our SC accommodation at The Esmeralda Bungalows, which were spacious, clean and well furnished. Not so delighted with the weather on the Sunday, as we awoke to cloud and drizzle but this didn't deter the Spanish Sparrows, which we were to find nearly everywhere.
A quick trip to the local market was followed by our first excursion into the hinterland. We took the FV605 to La Pared and onto Pajara. Initially it passes through the northern edge of El Jable and I was licking my lips at the prospect of seeing the Houbarra Bustards that I felt it surely must contain. I could even see little signs proclaiming the area as a reserve with pictures of Bustards on them. I was later to realise that this was a logo for the local protection society and did not necessarily indicate the presence of Bustards!
Past La Pared, the terrain changes colour from desert sand to volcanic brown and the views become ever more spectacular as you gradually climb, driving north, and move ever further away from the coast. Today though, cloud cover limited them and we drove past a major viewpoint, at the top of the mountain without realising it. However just past Fayagua the rain eased and I found one of the few places to pull over and stopped, just past some scrubby vegetation. A small bird was dropping onto the ground and flitting up again, my first Fuerteventura Chat, but the views were poor and as I approached closer it moved away as the drizzle started again. This road was later to provide views of several Kestrels, Buzzards and the only flock of Goldfinches that I saw. Berthelot’s Pipits were also to be seen at the roadside and were commonly encountered.
Paraja proved to be a delight and as it was lunchtime we found a lovely little restaurant by turning left on the FV30 towards Betencuria. The restaurant had a car park opposite and the noise from the Spanish Sparrows and ubiquitous Collard Doves as we got out of the car added to the village atmosphere. I looked up as 2 Atlantic Gulls cried over head (we had seen a large flock of these curiously feeding on the side of a mountain a few kms before) circling high above them was a large falcon, which I assume was a Barbary, the only glimpse of one I had.
After quite a pleasant sojourn in the restaurant (though I won't be trying goat again) we carried on towards Betencuria. As we left the village, I saw 2 Laughing Doves by the side of the road and they flew up onto power lines above the road as we slowed to view them. The road from this point climbs quickly and is (thankfully) lined with crash barriers, though there are no precipitous drops as such, nevertheless I was glad they were there. The first of many Southern Grey Shrikes I was to see, was on a power line. A few kilometres further on we found our first lay-by from which to enjoy the views, as the cloud base started to rise. As I got out of the car, I was startled and then amazed. Two Barbary Ground Squirrels ran up to me and literally begged, standing on their hind legs with their hands together. That pleased the wife no end and we were to return several times, armed with bags of peanuts, to this lovely spot. The lay-by is positioned by a curve in the road and opposite a gully that runs down from the hillside above. I could hear but never see Spectacled & Sardinian warblers here and my first contact with, what I came to realise were very common, Ravens.
On a later trip 2 Ravens sent the squirrels scattering as they too begged for peanuts, one almost taking them from the hand!! The 2 Ravens then flew in under a bush, almost immediately I heard a tremendous rush of wind as a Buzzard dived over my head and landed right in with the Ravens, presumably thinking they had food he could take, obviously disappointed with the peanuts he flew off. Also seen at this spot were Trumpeter Finches and 2 Linnets.
Further along this road is a larger stopping point marked with a white wall with an opening through it, this one is for Betencuria but all the municipalities have them as boundary signs. There’s a sizeable car park here and you can walk around some of the surrounding rocks. This point has even more Squirrels; so don't use all your nuts at the first lay-by.
I had my best view of a Fureventuria Chat here as a female gradually worked its way towards us before flicking away down the slope, more Trumpeter Finches and my first view of a Spectacled Warbler as a pair moved away just in front of me. This was a lifer for, me albeit a different race to European birds. I was struck by how much ‘blacker’ the face appeared compared to guide book pictures. I was also taken aback by their call which was almost, a sparrow like chirrup, heard several times, most un-warbler like and not mentioned in guides I have since read. (Apparently the increased black is a racial thing!!) Also on show were Berthelot’s Pipits, as tame as the squirrels and easy to photograph with just a compact camera.
It’s possible from this viewpoint to look down on the Embalse de las Penitas. However despite obvious signs of recent rain it was dry.
WARNING: A Dutch couple that were also feeding the squirrels informed us later, when we saw them in Betencuria, that they had money stolen from their car at this spot. LOCK YOUR DOORS, no matter how close you are to your car!!
We carried on towards Betancuria and were rewarded by a brief view of an Egyptian Vulture that flew along the hillside towards us, a couple of flaps of its wings and it was already behind us and I couldn't stop. On our last day we returned to this route and had great views of a Barbary Partridge here. Literally by the side of the road, noticeably dark capped as it strutted away from us.
Betencuria is another lovely village, more tourist orientated than Paraja but again alive with the sound of sparrows & doves and I saw my only Chiffchaff here and a couple of Blackcaps were singing. The doves included 2 Turtle Doves that were taking advantage of food put out for the goats. I'm sure there’s more to see in the surrounds to this village but the weather closed in again and we moved on returning to Costa Calma via Antigua. The plains around here looked very inviting but the wife had had enough of me birding for one day!
I was up early on the Monday leaving the wife to sleep of the effects of the evening’s night caps!!
I drove across the main FV2 into Canada del Rio and easily found a spot to enter El Jable. In contrast to the clouds of the day before, there was just thin cloud and the sun was already beginning to emit some warmth and it was calm, it was to be so, for the rest of the week.
On alighting from the car I was greeted by a Shrirr from a Southern Grey Shrike and as I walked out further, Lesser Short-toed Larks surrounded me on all sides. I saw these for the first time on Gran Canaria last January, in winter flocks. Here they were in full breeding mode. Song and display filled the air. There were several dog walkers about but they were the only blot, on an otherwise lovely morning. About a kilometre in, I heard what sounded like a horse snorting followed by a churring sound, as a Black-bellied Sandgrouse flew over me. It was joined by a second and they flew in tight formation as a third attempted to join them but then split off. Another life tick!
You soon become aware that most of the ground is littered with seashells and this area was obviously a seabed at sometime. I was hoping for Bustards but my next sighting was just as good, another lifer, as 2 Cream-coloured Coursers started scurrying away from me up the slope towards the line of wind generators. I saw a few Hoopoes here and they were common around the Island.
The El Jable area extends across the width of the Island for about 7 kilometres and though there are flat areas, it is quite hilly. On the eastern side it borders the beach, which is one of Fuerteventura’s best-kept secrets. South of Costa Calma it widens to about half a mile, much of which floods at high tide leaving 2 or 3 sand bars offshore. The resulting sandy lagoon is wadeable and as the tide drops attracted small groups of Kentish Plover, Sanderling & Whimbrel with flocks of up to 30 Sandwich Terns offshore. Little Egrets and the odd Grey Heron were attracted to the trapped fish.
If it weren’t so popular with people, this would be a great area. Spectacled Warblers were more noticeable along the bushes that line the inner shore. On our penultimate evening, I visited the area at the northern end of Canada del Rio, bird wise, it was very quiet. Though I was surprised to find 4 Kentish Plovers loafing in the evening sun. 2 Plain Swifts fed overhead, they were the only swifts I saw all week.
On the Tuesday, having over done the sunbathing the previous day, we took another drive and headed towards Paraja. We parked up and strolled down the main street and had coffee and a delicious plate of Canarian Potatoes—salted and dipped in Mojo sauce. We sat at a table on the pavement and were almost deafened by the noise from the towns Spanish Sparrows with Laughing and Collared Doves. A walk behind the church took us to a bridge over a dry riverbed, which was lined with bushes, all in flower. A profusion of colour and attracting several Monarch Butterflies, not a species I was expecting here. I then saw the only (African) Blue Tit of the week.
We drove on towards Tefia, I was looking for the Embalse de los Molinos mentioned in other trip reports. We took the road to Los Molinas by turning left just before Tefia and on both sides there were flat rocky plains. After a km I stopped the car at the beginning of a track, to a windmill and walked back over to the south side of the road. A quick scan revealed 2 Cream Coloured Coursers, they began calling. 2 became 3 then 3 more answered from even closer to me. Then all 6 took to the air and flew out onto the plain. ‘Very wary’!
Finding the Reservoir proved to be more of a challenge than I expected and we missed the turning, ending up on the coast at Los Molinas. This turns out to be just a couple of houses and a small restaurant in a tiny bay. Running back from the bay is a small stream and there is a walk marked beside it, which might pay dividends if explored but our attention was taken by the ferocious waves that crashed against the cliffs and we lingered here for a few minutes before re-tracing our steps and looking for a dirt track out to the reservoir. We found it At Las Parceles (If I remember correctly, its not marked on our map). The track skirts around a big, goat pen and is perfectly driveable. We stopped at a half built house, that’s been commandeered by the goats and encountered more Squirrels, though less tame. I had a female Black Redstart fly over the wall and annoyingly out of sight. A look back across the plain revealed another Cream Coloured Courser. It was not far to the end of the track and the Embolsie de los Morinos. This was a big disappointment! 24 Ruddy Shelducks 1 Greenshank, several Atlantic Gulls, 1 Heron and that was all.
Other excursions we made during the week were largely uneventful bird wise. A late afternoon trip to Morro Jable provided 2 Cattle Egrets flying over the main rd through the tourist area called Jandia. I toyed with the idea of finding the track that was marked on our map as running down the length of the Peninsula de Jandia, a mountainous area extending to the southern tip of the island but we got lost in the maze of streets in Morro Jable and gave up on the idea. But for the adventurous it should provide spectacular scenery if not birds.
On our last day we had lunch at Ajay on the west coast having taken the road from just south of Paraja. This is an attractive road that eventually runs parallel to the river (dry of course) that flows from Embalse de las Penitas. It becomes ever greener, closer to the coast and warranted more time than we had, to explore. Ajay itself was a cute little village with 3 or 4 seaside restaurants and a black beach onto which spectacular rollers pounded. There is a cliff walk here with viewing platforms and I had my closest view ever, of a Cory’s Shearwater as it sailed by just a hundred yards offshore.
So I never did see a Houbarra Bustard (I have seen one on Lanzarote several years ago) but there are vast areas for them to roam. That’s what strikes you about this Island, its about 60 miles long by 30 at its widest point, but its so unspoilt, its seems twice that big and so wild & untamed in places, it takes your breath away.