Karen and I decided to have a week relaxing in the sun during the UK's winter in November 2004 and we chose Tenerife mainly because it was warm and not too expensive. We had visited Tenerife before and decided on an apartment in the harbour area of Los Gigantes, away from the bustle of the south. In March 2006 we decided on another winter break and went back to the same apartments.
Karen is a non-birder and likes a lie in on holiday, so most of my birding is restricted to early mornings. I hired a car on both trips to get us around and it was essential to get me to the birding sites. I aimed to be wherever I was going at first light, about 7.15am on both trips and back at the apartment by about 10am. This is a bit restrictive but is a good compromise. Many of the birds are most active before the sun gets too high anyway and I got to sleep by the pool for a couple of hours before lunch.
For reference I used 'A Birdwatcher's Guide to The Canary Islands' by Tony Clarke and David Collins (C&C) and Dave Gosneys 'finding birds in the Canary islands'. I also used other trip reports found on the internet Inc those of Domonic Le Croissette and Alan Miller. I used the Collins Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe by Mullarney, Svensson et al for identifications in the field and the Heinzel, Ritter and Parslow version and the BWP interactive DVD for confirmation of difficult ID’s on my return to the UK.
We stayed at Pablado Marinero apartments, next to the harbour in Los Gigantes. There was very little vegetation in the complex but there were still Spanish sparrows, collared doves, feral pigeons, African blue tits & Canary Islands chiffchaffs to be seen. Around Los Gigantes I saw blackbirds, blackcap, plain swifts, Pallid swift, kestrel, grey wagtails, Common tern, numerous gulls, little egrets, ring neck parakeets and regular sightings of a group of blue-crowned parakeets. On the March 06 trip it was great to make regular sightings of Osprey over the apartment complex and near the harbour. I often set my telescope up overlooking the fish rearing cages at los Gigantes during Nov 04 because of the large colony of gulls and little egrets (I counted 58 one evening) in this area. There was always the chance of seeing the wild dolphins that are attracted to feed around the cages as well.
I have listed the other sites I visited as they are shown in the C&C guide.
'The South' site 1- El Medano. I only visited here in March 06. Three sanderling, a ringed plover and a whimbrel by hotel windsurf and a grey plover and several ringed plover on the rocky shore in El Medano. At ‘Montana Roja’ I saw eight kentish plover on the old airfield by the aerial but no birds by the pool. I did see a very dark/black shearwater or petrel harassed by juvenileYL gulls, until it landed on the sea. Unfortunately I could not relocate it with my telescope. The size and flight action suggest sooty shearwater or Bulwers petrel and after looking at flight video footage I believe it was a Bulwers petrel. There was a pipit in the scrub on the side of Montana Roja which I believe was a tawny pipit. I have no previous experience with this pipit but from the guides and video footage I think this is the only option.
'The South' site 2-Embalse de Ciguana. I tried to get access to this site in March 06 but the road surface is now well above the land adjacent to the road. There is an access track 100m further north on the west side but this had regular heavy traffic and it was not possible to park safely.
'The South' site 3 - Golf del sur. No birds seen on my visit in Nov 04 but ring necked parakeet, grey wagtail and to my surprise a calling turtle dove in the palms on the access road in March 06.
'The South' site 4 - Amarilla Golf. I visited here on the Sunday 7th Nov 04. The best area was the pond on the way in but as soon as it got light and people started to use the road, at about 7.45, most of the birds, including a pair of spoonbills (one ringed as a nestling in The Netherlands), flew off. I saw Bethelots pipit, grey wagtail, rock doves and ringed plover on the course in March 04 and only Bethelots pipit and a little ringed plover in March 06.
'The South' site 5 - Guargacho No. 1 & 2 - Dry at time of visit in Nov 04. In March 06 there was plenty of water but no birds at No1 on the 3 occasions I passed. At No. 2. There was water in March 06 and on my first visit here there was only one green sandpiper and on my second visit a snipe, two little egret and a grey heron.
'The South' site 7 - Las Galletas. There were Whimbrel and gulls present both visits and sandwich terns in Nov 04. At the eastern end of the town there is a small bay with a hotel swimming pool at the end and a slope leading into the sea. Here I saw, turnstone and ringed plover.
'The South' site 8 - Roquito del Fraile and the surrounding scrub. I advise taking the surfaced road just after the petrol station, not the unsurfaced one before (as in C&C), go to the ‘T’ junction and turn right. On the access road there are now plantations on both sides of the road. The red and white barrier described in C&C is now a large green metal gate and it is necessary to climb over the wall to the side of the gate, through a hole in the fence. Immediately inside the gate I saw barbery partridge in March 06. The rest of the site is much as described in C&C but the plantation now goes right up to the reservoir. In the dessert scrub there were GG shrike, spectacled warbler, hoopoe and in March 06 a stone-curlew. I also heard a trumpeter finch on the access track in Nov 04 but could not locate it in the poor light. The reservoir was very good for waders and ducks in 2004 but not so in 2005 when there was an abundance of fresh water around the island. I didn’t have time to go to the lighthouse.
We also visited a quiet village and beach on the south coast called Abona, I think. There is a nice plaza of restaurants here and I had excellent views of Corys shearwaters whilst eating my lunch. We went snorkelling and also walked to the lighthouse at Punta de la Ternera. On the track I saw Berthelots pipit, GG shrike and a female Sardinian warbler.
'The Northwest' site 2 - Santiago del Teide No rock sparrows on either visit but sardinian warbler, kestrel, canaries, linnets and chiff chaffs.
'The Northwest' site 3 - Erjos Ponds - The ponds were almost dry in Nov 04 but there were 5 fullish ponds in March 06. The water birds are very flighty at this site and the best way I found to view the ponds without disturbing the birds was from above, alongside the main road. Midway between the 'Restaurante Fleitas' and the bus stop, at the 17km marker, is a dirt pull over area in a hollow in the hillside. Walk across the road carefully and go through the gap in the barriers to overlook the ponds. I also drove down to the ponds and saw the land based species but all I saw of the waterbirds and waders was some splashing as the 30 or so birds hid in the reeds. Only coot and moorhen on the ponds but robin, linnet, canary and Sardinian Warbler in the bushes. Kestrels , buzzard and raven passed overhead during both trips.
'The Northwest' site 4 – Erjos /Monte del Agua – The track here is very bumpy and a car with good ground clearance or 4x4 is needed. I found the best area for good views of Bolle's pigeon, and goldcrest, was 100m or so after the left hand bend by the red and white aerial, just before entering the laurel forest. This area appeared to be a regular flight route and I had excellent views of birds sat in the tops of dead trees in the valley below, to the north on both visits. I also visited a site 1.4km along the track from the road. The track bends sharply to the left and the track is wide enough to park. Follow the overgrown track to the right to get to an open area overlooking the valley. This gives an excellent vantage point over the laurel forest and is opposite the green rain gauge rock mentioned in C&C. I spent 1 3/4hrs from daybreak on 3 days in this area in Nov 04 and saw about 220 Bolle's but no Laurel pigeons! The pigeons always seemed to stop moving at about 8.45-9.00am when they would become invisible and silent. I visited here one morning in March 06 but only saw 30 Bolles pigeons, although I had excellent views of blue tit, goldcrest and chaffinch. In hindsight I should perhaps have moved further on to the rain gauge site but my time was limited and the track is very bumpy!
'The Northwest' site 7-Punta de Teno. Time was limited but I did manage to view the sea cliffs after the tunnels to see barbery falcon in March 06. I was lucky enough to see two adults and a juvenile on the cliff above the road after the long tunnel. I had planned to go back to find the rock sparrows but high winds and a car incident prevented this.
We also spent an afternoon on the rocky shore south of Playa de la Arena near Callao Chico in November 04 where I saw turnstone, little egret, ringed plover and grey plover, whilst being impressed by the surfers.
'The North' site 1 - Los Realejos Reservoir was only visited in Nov 04 and would have proved a challenge to find from the directions in C&C but was very visible coming down from Mount Teide. Since the book was published there has been quite a bit of road upgrading and number changing. The directions given in another report say the road to Cruz Santa is now the TF 324 and the mini-roundabout is now a much larger affair planted out with shrubs and flowers. The reservoir was nearly empty and there were only 4 grey herons present.
'The North' site 2- Chanajiga- Visited once on March 18th 05. This site was easy to find using the directions in C&C but was a 2 hour hard drive from Los Gigantes. This meant I arrived too late, 8am, to see the pigeons active because the hillside gets the early morning sun. I would aim to be here in the afternoon on future visits, if I had a choice. Other laurel forest species were very visible during my brief visit though. The track and the view over the forest were much better than at Monte del Agua.
'Central' site 5 - Las Lajas, zona recreativa - Blue Chaffinch and canary were abundant at this site and the greater spotted woodpecker were very friendly, one flew onto a tree trunk less than 2m away from me!
We booked a trip over to La Gomera on our penultimate day in March 04. I only saw Corys shearwaters and 3 pods of pilot whales on the crossings. I had hoped to see laurel pigeons on the island but as soon as we arrived at the island it started raining, very heavily. It rained heavily for the rest of the day, through the night and until we caught our plane the next day. Traffic problems, in part caused by the closure of the Guia Isora road, from the Adeje roundabout, on the road to Los Christianos meant that coaches were allowing an extra 2 hours travelling so we did not attempt to go to La Gomera in Nov 06.
We had two really nice relaxing breaks and I managed to squeeze in some early morning birding. I would have liked to see the white tailed laurel pigeon but it does appear to be a difficult one, for me anyway, to get on Tenerife. The only real downside to the 2004 trip was the very heavy rain on the last 2 days but at least most of the reservoirs should have had water in them for that winter! The March 2006 trip was also relaxing but the traffic problems on the coast road meant that I had to leave the apartment no later than 6am to avoid the huge traffic queue to the southern sites. The island was very windy on most days in 2006 and this meant pigeons were not as active, although this may have also been due to nesting activity.
bbyatt@tiscali.co.uk
Bulwers petrel? Bulweria bulwerii. A dark shearwater /petrel, seen being harassed by 4 juvenile YL gulls off El Medano March 06. Bird ½ to 2/3 size of the gulls with all dark appearance gliding very close to the water surface before being forced to land on the sea.
Cory's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea borealis - seen from shore both visits and numerous during ferry crossing to La Gomera and pilot whale trip 2004.
Cormorant Phalocrocorax carbo. Seen taking off from Roquito El Fraile March 06.
Little Egret Egretta garzeta -58 at Los Gigantes on fish farm cages, 2 at Roquito El Fraile ponds, Amarillo golf pond, Gaurgacho 2 and several places around the coast.
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea - 1 seen at Roquito El Fraile both trips, 4 at Los Realejos Reservoir 04, 1 at Gaurgacho 2 2005 one on a small dam near El Medano 2005.
Spoonbill Platelea leucorodia - 2 at Amarillo golf lagoon (ringed) Nov 04.
Pintail Anas acuta - 1 at Roquito El Fraile on 7th Nov 04.
Muscovy duck domesticus - 2 at Amarillo golf lagoon on the 7th Nov 04.
Pochard Aythya ferina - 1 at Roquito El Fraile on 5th Nov 04
Buzzard Buteo buteo insularum - single seen above Erjos Ponds most visits.
Osprey Pandion haliaetus. One regularly seen around Los Gigantes harbour and two seen near nest on sea cliffs, from a whale watching boat, south of Punta de Teno.
Kestrel Falco tinnunculus canariensis - Daily around island.
Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus. One seen several times over cliffs of Los Gigantes March 06.
Barbery falcon Falco pelegrinoides. Cliffs at Punta de Teno March 06
Barbery partridge Alectoris Barbara. Two near track to Roquito El Fraile March 06.
Moorhen Gallinula chloropus - 10 at Erjos Ponds and also at Roquito El Fraile
Coot Fulica atra - 10 at Erjos Ponds and 20+ at Roquito El Fraile both years, 4 at Los Realejos on 12th Nov 04.
Stone- curlew Burhinus oedicnemus distinctus. One in scrub on the way to
Roquito El Fraile March 06.
Little ringed plover Charadrius dubius. One Amarillo golf March 06
Ringed plover Charadrius hiaticula - 4 at El Fraile, 6 at Las Galletas and 7 on rocks at Callao Chico in 04. 6 El Medano and 1 Las Galletas March 06.
Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus.- 8 ‘Montana Roja’ March 06
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola - 1 Playa la Arena 04. 1 El medano Nov 04.
Knot Calidris canutus - 1 at Roquito El Fraile Nov 04.
Sanderling Calidris alba - 1 at Roquito El Fraile Nov 04. El Medano and Los Gigantes 06.
Dunlin Calidris alpina - 4 at Roquito El Fraile on the 5th 2 on 7th Nov 04.
Snipe Gallinago gallinago. 2 at Erjos ponds 1 at Gaurgacho 2 in March 06
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus - 2 at Las galletas and 3 on rocks at Playa del Arena on 7th in 04. El Medano and Las Galletas in 06
Redshank Tringa totanus - 1 at Roquito El Fraile Nov 04, 1 March 06.
Greenshank Tringa nebularia - 2 at Roquito El Fraile November 04.
Green sandpiper Tringa ochropus. 1 Erjos ponds and 1 Gaurgacho 2, March 06.
Common Sandpiper Actites hypoleucos - 1 at Roquito El Fraile (leg ring) Nov 04
Turnstone Arenaria interpres - 8 at Los Gigantes 04 and 06. Las Galletas both trips.
Black-headed gull Larus ridibundus - 1 at Roquito El Fraile Nov 04.
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus - 2 on sea off Los Gigantes Nov 04.
Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinnans atlantis - very common around the coast.
Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis - Up to 3 seen regularly on fish cages at Los Gigantes 2 at Las Galletas seafront Nov 04.
Common Tern Sterna hirundo. 2 regularly seen at Los Gigantes harbour March 06.
Rock Dove Columba livia - Live on the escarpment and caves behind our hotel. Flock of 20 on Amarillo Golf Nov 04.
Feral Pigeon Columba livia feral - As above but 50 to 100 seen daily
Bolle's Pigeon Columba bollii - 220 at Monte del Agua/ Erjos Nov 04, 30 March 06. 10 seen at Chanajiga March 06.
Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocta - Widespread and abundant
Turtle Dove Streptopeli turtur. 1 in palms on access road to Golf del Sur March 06
Ring necked Parakeet Psitacula krameri - 3 seen in trees at northern end of Los Gigantes in. Nov 04. 1 at Golf del sur March 06.
Blue-crowned Parakeet Aratinga acuticaudata. 6 seen flying over Los Gigantes in. Nov 04 and regularly in Los Gigantes March 06.
Black-headed (Nanday) Parakeet Nandayus nenday. 2 in Playa de las Americas March 06
Long eared owl? Asio otus canariensis. A probable seen in Los Gigantes harbour at night in Nov 04. Largish very uniformly dark coloured owl.
Plain Swift Apus unicolor - 2 seen above Los Gigantes in 2004 and numerous in March 06.
Pallid swift Apus pallidus brehmorum. One seen in Los Gigantes but a large number of swifts was visible on the island in March 06 but I did not scan closely.
Hoopoe Upupa epops - several at Roquito El Fraile and 1 at Amarilla golf Nov 04.
Great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major canariensis - Las Lajas on the both visits, incredibly close views.
Tawny pipit Anthus campestris. One at ‘Montana Roja’ March 06
Berthelot's Pipit Anthus berthelotii berthelotii Near Mount Teide lift station, Common near south and west coasts and Las Lajas.
Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea canariensis - A pair seen regularly around Los Gigantes. Also in Tamaimo, Amarillo golf, Golf del sur and at Erjos
Robin Erithacus rubecula superbus 2 at Erjos ponds 04 & 06 several monte del agua 06.
Blackbird Turdus merula cabrerae - Widespread and abundant around the island
Spectacled Warbler Sylvia conspicillata orbitalis - often heard but only 1 seen near Amarillo golf on in 04 and 2 Roquito El Fraile March 06.
Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala - 2 at Erjos Ponds and 1 at Santiago del Teide in 04. 1 Erjos ponds and one near Punta de la Ternera lighthouse in 06.
Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla heineken. 1 possible in Tamaimo and one in the Crab island area of Los Gigantes March 06.
Canary Islands Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita canariensis - Widespread
Canary island Goldcrest Regulus teneriffae - several at Monte del agua and Las Lajas.
African Blue Tit Parus caeruleus teneriffae – Widespread, with up to 4 seen daily around Los Gigantes. Common at Las Lajas in March 06.
Great Grey Shrike Lanius excubitor koenigi - 3 in scrub near Roquito El Fraile in Nov 04 two in March 06 and one at ‘Montana Roja’, one near Punta de la Ternera lighthouse March 06.
Raven - Corvus corax tingitanus. Seen above Santiago del Teide/ Erjos both trips
Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis - Common around island
Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs tintillon - at Erjos/Monte del Agua both trips.
Blue Chaffinch Fringella teydea teydea - at Las Lajas recreation area.
Canary Serinus canaria - Abundant and widespread around Erjos Ponds. Also at Las Lajas recreation area.
Greenfinch Carduelis chloris - 6 on 6th Nov 04 at Erjos ponds
Linnet Acanthis cannabina meadewaldoi - numerous around Erjos Ponds Nov 04 and Mar 06. Several Santiago del Teide Nov 04
Trumpeter finch Budanetes githagineus amantum Heard on the track to Roquito El Fraile at day break on 5th Nov 04 but too dark to locate.