This was much more of a holiday than a birding trip. Having been to the island two years earlier we pretty much knew what we were likely to see and where to see it. Our only 'target' species was the elusive Laurel Pigeon.
Reference material was 'A Birdwatchers Guide to the Canary Islands' - Clarke & Collins and 'Finding Birds in the Canary Islands' and its supplement - Dave Gosney. Searching the net found little more information since our last visit.
We flew out of Birmingham International with Monarch Airlines and after a boring 4 hour flight without any form of on-board entertainment, arrived at the southern airport at 21:30. We collected our hire car and travelled one junction west up the TF-1 to our accommodation in San Blas. We were very fortunate in being allocated a top floor suite with fabulous views of the sea and rocky coastline. It was great for sea watching - something I really enjoy. Things were looking good.
DAY 1: 4th October.
Got up late and did some birding from the balcony. At sea, Cory's Shearwaters were seen but they were not happy as there was little in the way of wind so most of them were just bobbing around in small groups on the surface. Also seen were a number of Yellow-Legged Gulls, the only Black-Headed Gull of the holiday, Spanish Sparrow, Ferral Pigeon, Collered Dove, Common Sandpiper, Chiffchaff(Canariensis), Kestrel, two Whimbrel and a Turnstone. A highlight of sea watching was spotting a pod of six Pilot Whales slowly moving southeast. These were to be a common sight from the balcony over the following days.
In the afternoon we went to do a 'big shop'. Since our last visit a new road has been built which conveniently links the San Miguel Marina area (where the Yellow Submarine is based)and Las Chafiras. Just before entering Las Chafiras we came across a small reservoir not noted in any of our books. It's visible on Google Earth on the southern edge of the industrial area on the Lugar Golf Del Sur. It had birds on it. Unfortunately, as I didn't think that we would need optic's in the supermarket, we could not see much except some Little Egrets. Over dinner and a few beers later, we decided to go the Erjos pools the next day and visit the reservoir on the way.
DAY 2: 5th October.
The small reservoir was surprising. It held seven Little Egrets, two Common Sandpipers, a juv. Greenshank, two Grey Wagtails and a Muscovy Duck!! A Grey Heron was nearby obviously waiting for us to leave.
The journey to the pools takes what seems like an age from our location due to the combination of tortuous mountain roads and pathetic car. On the way, Jane spotted a pair of Ravens circling above Santiago Del Tiede. I remember seeing Ravens there two years ago.
Just before you get to Erjos, there is a small lane/track that leads off to the left - it's very easy to miss as it's almost a hairpin turn just after a left hand bend in the main road. It leads to the pair of large radio masts that are visible high above the ponds. You can only drive a short way up it but the rest can be walked. From here you overlook the ponds and to our great surprise they were nearly all full of water, and birds. On our last visit the ponds were almost completely dry.
From our elevated position we got great views of Common Buzzards hanging on the updrafts just meters away and numerous Plain Swifts hawking for insects.
We thought about walking the track upto the masts but time was not on our side as we wanted to check out 'Hornbuckle's Rock' for Laurel Pigeons - more of this later.
We drove down to the ponds via the track next to the bus stop as per Clarke & Collins. The place was alive with singing Canarys with ChiffChaff song mixed in for good measure. From the first pond we flushed a pair of Common? Snipe which we could not re-locate to positively identify. The birds on the water were a mixture of many Moorhens and Coots. Lots of them, we estimated fifty+ of each. Jane then spotted, briefly, in flight, what she called as a partridge. In fact, when we got our 'eye-in', there were quite a few of them around the ponds. These Barbary Partridges were a life tick for us both - RESULT! Also seen at the ponds was a Kestrel, a small flock of very nervous Rock Doves, a Common Sandpiper and a Northern Wheatear.
From here we drove the short distance to the track that leads to 'Hornbuckle's Rock'. On our last visit it was completely closed due to engineering works. It is now open again but you can only drive up to the radio masts where there is parking for a few cars. From there it's on foot only.
Almost immediately we flushed a Bolle's Pigeon but it was quickly lost to sight. We walked the track for about 2-3Km - not far enough to get to the rock, and saw nothing. The trees are now very tall and dense, completely blocking views of the Laurel forest. Obviously I cannot say what, if any, views might be had from 'Hornbuckle's Rock' as we didn't get there (ran out of time). The notes in Dave Gosney's Guide supplement regarding the trees and our experience suggest it might not be worth the trek unless you fancy the risk of driving down the track to save time. The supplement however does mention a small track and ridge near the masts. This is still available and gives good views but we saw nothing from there.
Day 3: 6th October.
We went to Mount Teide with the aim of going up to the top on the cable car. Unfortunately they were not running due to to maintenance. The weather up there was beautiful, a little chilly perhaps but the light was crystal clear. Only birds seen were Chiffchaffs and Berthalot's Pipits.
On the way back we dropped into the Las Lajas picnic site to check out the famous Blue Chaffinches - it would be rude not to. I saw at least six in the half hour we were there. Also present were a good number of Canarys, African Blue Tits, Tenerife Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs and those Pipits. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard but we could not find it.
We also dropped into Los Christianos to check out the ferry to La Gomera. Unfortunately, I couldn't justify spending 100Euros for one bird. We also found it rather poor that residents travel for half that - let's rip off the tourists!
This of course meant that we would have to go to Chanajiga for Laurel Pigeons.
Day 4: 7th October.
A doing nothing kind of day. Did some seawatching in the morning but saw very little of note. A Common Sandpiper and a Ringed Plover were seen around the building work in the marina. Further seawatching during the early evening saw a very large westerly movement of shearwaters. I'd witnessed this movement the day before but not in such numbers - birds were streaming past. The vast majority were Cory's but a good number appeared to be Great Shearwaters.
For the rest of our stay I watched at the same time every evening but never saw as many birds or any species other than Cory's.
Day 5: 8th October.
We went to Jungle Park which sits up in the hills above Los Christianos/Playa de las Americas. Its promotional leaflet boasts of an eagle display. It was excellent. Several Bald Eagles, Griffon Vulture, Ruppell's Griffon Vulture, King Vulture and White Headed Vulture to name but a few were released. The highlight however was an Andean Condor. Seeing them on TV etc or reading their vital statistics in some book do not adequately prepare you for actually seeing one in the flesh. Massive. When it was released it swooped low over the audience and then up into the sky above the hills where it soared with the rest of cast. Any birder on the nearby coast who did not know of this place's existance and who chose to look up at the hills while this was going on would have had a heart attack. Various Storks and Ibis were also released and provided entertainment while the raptors enjoyed themselves over the hillside.
Later, in a different arena, various parrots and hornbills were also flown free. In the upper branches of a tree in the nearby flamingo enclosure, Jane spotted a male Night Heron which was joined by another male and a female shortly afterwards. None were ringed and they didn't feature on any of the information boards around the area.
Day 6: 9th October.
Didn't do much birding. A quick visit to the reservoir at Las Chafiras produced the same birds plus two Ringed Plovers. I then went down to the Golf Del Sur golf course. I walked part of the perimeter fence but found no interesting migrants (or anything else really). I then moved to the scrubby area to the north of the course (where the water tanks are). This was much more productive with excellent views of a Spectacled Warbler and Chiffchaffs. From this area the ponds on the course are more visable than from the road. 'Pukka' birds were Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Blackbird and Berthalot's Pipit. The three Cattle Egrets were a surprise though. The deffinitely 'non-pukka' birds included Muscovy Duck, Bar-Headed Goose and, I think, Fulvous Tree Ducks. The tree ducks could fly well enough as they did when a greenkeeper turned up on a lawnmower. Everthing else just waddled into the ponds.
Day 7: 10th October.
Road trip to Chanajiga. We decided to go cross-country as we'd done the same on our last visit and sort of knew the way. Big mistake! We got stuck behind numerous slow moving vehicles and it took over three hours to reach the place. We also got a bit lost - it's not difficult when you get close, but when we eventually found Bar Casa Tomas(see Clarke & Collins) we were fine.
The weather was perfect. We started walking the track from point E in the above guide and within two minutes had a good, in-flight, view of a Bolle's Pigeon down below. We eventually walked the 2.5Km to a small shelter, stopping frequently to scan the forest above and below the track. In all we had at least ten Bolle's Pigeon but not a sniff of Laurel. Scanning above the track produced the most birds. Other birds seen were the ever present Chiffchaffs, Common Buzzard, Plain Swift, Blackbird, African Blue Tit and Robin.
We decided to use the motorway on our return and were back in our appartment in under 90 minutes. We should have gone that way as it was nearly mid-day when we arrived and most guides say that earlier is best - Oh well, and to top it all, I was getting a cold.
Day 8: 11th October.
Not really a birding day but got a life tick none-the-less. We drove down to the Costa Del Silencio just for a look round. On the Palm tree lined road that links Costa Del Silencio and Las Galletas, while stopped at a traffic island, we heard several parrots calling. We parked and walked the road for a short distance before finding several Rose-Ringed Parakeets feeding in the palms. Several more were seen in flight.
We then carried on into Las Galletas and parked opposite the beach and walked back along the sea front. The were lots of Yellow-Legged Gulls around hoping for scraps from the fish market. Further on, the beach becomes rocky and would be worth checking out early morning with the correct tide.
From there we went for a quick look around the Punta de la Rasca area. It was very quiet with only a Great Grey Shrike seen. This was surprising as the area had been very productive on our last visit.
By now, my 'man-flu' was coming on nicely so went to get some 'Night Nurse' or the like from the local supermarket. Not in Tenerife you don't. They don't even stock Paracetamol tablets. You have to go to a chemist to purchase such things and when I found one that was open, the choice was very limited and expensive.
Day 9: 12th October.
Did nothing. At death's door.
Day 10: 13th October.
Our last day. After getting up late, we went for some lunch in Los Abrigos and then down to El Medano to check out the lagoon. On our last visit the place was very windy and alive with kite surfers and the like. There were few birds. On this visit, I'd forgotten to take any optic's - very professional I'm sure. Sure enough, the lagoon held several waders, all of which were to far away to identify. We decided to return later when we thought there would be less people about.
On our return, fully armed with scope and bins, we saw.........NOTHING! We sat and waited for about an hour for something to turn up. Nothing did. We went for a beer.
So that was that really. Two life ticks was good but we dipped out on our target bird. Perhaps we should have gone to La Gomera after all as it's unlikely that we will visit the island again.