Tenerife Birding Trip Report - Day 3 (Thursday 20th April 2017)

Our third morning on Tenerife dawned slightly greyer than our previous two days, with thick cloud cover enveloping Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Américas where we were staying. Unperturbed and with Barbary Falcons to track down, we decided to head back up to the north of the island and search any likely sites where these hard to find birds of prey might be likely to occur. 

The view from the Barranco de Ruiz

Our first point of call was the well-known Barranco de Ruiz, a small viewpoint off the side of a twisting mountain road near Las Rosas that offered extensive views of the valley below. A huge gorge dating back millions of years and sporting an impressive list of endemic flora and fauna due to the high humidity and falling fog moisture the area receives, Barranco de Ruiz is also a key site for both Bolle’s and Laurel Pigeons. Right on cue, it wasn’t long before several of the latter powered in to view, swooping lower down in the ravine and touching down in the depths of the thick tree canopy lining the rocky outcrops. 

Laurel Pigeon in flight - one of many

White tails and dark bodies visible even at such a long range, we had around 8 birds in total during our visit, but yet again not a single Bolle’s – that first bird at Mirador de La Grimona had proved vital! 

Barranco de Ruiz also provided us with our best views of Plain Swift to date, with hundreds of birds swirling en-masse right above our heads at the top of the steep gorge, taking advantage of the glut of insects the low cloud was bringing out, shrieking and playing manically. Impossible to photograph due to their sheer speed and close proximity, we had to make do with a memory card full of blurred dark shapes as they whizzed by! 

Plain Swift

With the usual Canary Island Chiffchaffs and Atlantic Canaries joined by a small charm of Goldfinches flitting through the trees by the car, a singing Quail was a nice surprise, its familiar “Wet my lips” call emanating from somewhere further down the rocky slope but remaining well hidden in the thick, lush vegetation. 

Once more however, it seemed that the Barbary Falcons were going to evade us yet again, a solitary Buzzard and a pair of Kestrels the only birds of prey in the area. Just as we were giving up hope and with a thick mist and clouds descending rapidly over the valley, a slightly larger pair of falcons caught our eye, circling in the far distance over the furthest cliffs bordering the ocean. Straining our eyes through our scopes they looked extremely good candidates for Barbary, but the distance was just too extreme and we failed to pick out any distinguishing features. There was therefore only one thing for it, and we were soon heading back down the mountain to the coast in an attempt to intercept and catch up with our possible Barbary Falcons.

Charco Verde - prime Barbary Falcon habitat

Hurtling down the TF-342 to try and reach the spot it looked like they had been circling over (it was extremely hard to get our bearings from where we were looking at the top of the Barranco!) it came as a huge surprise when at the bottom of the road a mid-sized falcon came barrelling over the road just feet above our car, peachy buff undersides in plain view and with distinctive thick pointed wings reminiscent of a Peregrine - surely a Barbary. Vanishing over the small rocky crags on the opposite side of the road and out of sight, we made an emergency detour down one of the small farm tracks at Charco Verde, scouring the skies above the extensive banana plantations for further signs of our falcon. 

Not the most picturesque of locations!

Eventually, we caught sight of it again at the end of the track overlooking the ocean, frustratingly flying out of view again over the banana plants before we could get better looks or photos. Thankfully, our luck was in, as after a few minutes not one, but two birds soared back in to view, one individual exceptionally close over the adjacent bananas and providing crippling views. 

Barbary Falcon - finally!

Taking a look through bins the distinguishing features were obvious, each bird sporting a rusty brown and black cap and the buff hue of the underside we saw earlier again clear to see. With Peregrines only very rarely occurring on Tenerife, but with a handful of records making it over, it felt good to positively nail the ID 100% and secure much better views – finally Barbary Falcon as a bogey bird had toppled.

With the afternoon ahead of us and having mopped up all our targets, we decided to head over to the nearby Charco del Viento for a spot of seawatching, stopping off at the Cepsa petrol station near the Mirador de La Grimona for a quick snack before we left and scoring an impressive 15 Laurel Pigeons swooping along the cliff face in the ten minutes we were there.

Laurel Pigeon perched outside the Cepsa petrol station

Having chosen this location due to its proximity near to Las Aguas, Charco del Viento seemed as good a spot as any to try for Barolo (Little) Shearwater, famed as being an extremely difficult species to get on Tenerife. 

Roque de Garachico nearby - once the site of breeding Barolo Shearwaters

Traditionally looked for on the Tenerife – La Gomera ferry, even this failsafe option has become very hit and miss in recent years, with fewer and fewer birds seen and many visits drawing a blank. With a number of recent records emanating on the northern coast around the seaside town of Las Aguas where birds have been reported as heading out to feed towards the early evening, we set up position and waited for the sun to start to set. 

Two Canary Islands Chiffchaffs flitting amongst the fleshy cactus stems kept us company as we waited, while a pair of Berthelot’s Pipits surprisingly took a fancy to a crumbled up lemon muffin we’d put out optimistically, providing our best views yet of the Macronesian speciality. 

Berthelot's Pipit enjoying a lemon muffin

A constant stream of Cory’s Shearwaters passing by also kept us entertained, and we notched up counts of over 200 birds over the course of the afternoon. As the sun started to set, almost on cue we had our first ‘non Cory’s’ of the day that sparked our excitement – a small Manx type powering east over the waves. Just about managing to keep it in the scope as it sped past, the bird was just too fast and distant to get any of the key features expected of Barolo (the rounded wings, white face with dark eye standing out, nor the silvery-grey edges to the wings). 

Barolo Shearwaters will also usually fly low down over the waves and often raise their heads in a bobbing motion during flight, again a feature we just couldn’t make out. Over the course of the evening we counted a further 14 individuals, all following the same pattern and exhibiting the same flight style, height, colouration and size. At no point did any of the birds observed scream out “Barolo Shearwater” and at no point did we wonder If we’d got one – they all just looked like bog standard Manx Shearwaters.

Checking out other observers notes and observations it was clear that Manx Shearwaters are not uncommon in Canary Islands water, and without anything to suggest otherwise, we were both confident in saying that we definitely didn’t have any Barolos fly past during the evening. 

With the last of the blood red rays of the sun setting behind the Atlantic expanses and the hopes of finding any Barolos extinguishing with them, we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. Despite the disappointment on the shearwater front we were more than pleased at having scored with our Barbary Falcons, and were more than ready to tuck in to a well-earned meal of Indian spiced chicken and seafood pasta at the next door Pizzeria – delicious. With all our targets now safely under our belts this meant we could take our foot off the gas and relax for our final two days, exploring the scenery and beaches that Tenerife offers at our leisure. 

Tenerife Birding Trip Report - Day 2 (Wednesday 19th April 2017)

Arising early for our second day in Tenerife, we ascended once again to higher altitudes, this time in search of the two speciality pigeons that reside on the island – Bolle’s and Laurel. Tricky to connect with if you don’t have the right site information, we headed straight to the best location on the entire island for Laurel Pigeon and a place almost guaranteed to score a sighting – Mirador de La Grimona on the north coast. Quite unassuming if not in the know, this roadside location is THE place to connect with both Laurel and Bolle’s pigeons, with the birds flying across the mountainside on regular occasions throughout the day. 

The best slope on the island to look for the endemic Laurel and Bolle's pigeons

An hour away from our hotel in the south, the clouds and mist soon appeared as we headed higher up in to the mountains, leaving behind the sparkling sunshine as our car slowly became enveloped in fine fog, the only bird of note being a fleeting glimpse of a female Chaffinch (the North African subspecies) as it flew out of the path of our oncoming vehicle.  

Mist - hindering our vision over the edge of the road to just a few metres

Arriving at the roadside pull in opposite the Mirador de La Grimona viewpoint, it was merely a case of sitting and waiting for our pigeon targets to appear. Several Canary Islands Chiffchaffs and African Blue Tits called from the surrounding trees to keep us entertained, while a small handful of Atlantic Canaries chattered away as they fluttered from shrub to shrub. 

Looking up at the cliffs of Mirador de La Grimona

Keeping an eye on the cliffs, several Feral Pigeons swirling around the rocks got our pulses racing for a moment, and it was only a few minutes later that Alex called that he’d had a possible Bolle’s fly out from one of the trees. Not 100% sure if it definitely was one, we scanned the cliffs in the hope that there was more than one bird, and sure enough, the slightest of movements in the scope soon revealed itself to be a fine Bolle’s Pigeon - extremely well hidden sat amongst the branches and luckily showing well enough and at an angle where the diagnostic tail patterns were clearly visible.

Bolle's Pigeon - note the thick black band on the tail

Woodpigeon-like in coloration and sporting a three striped dark tail with a characteristic thick light grey band in the centre, this was in complete contrast to the all-white tail of a Laurel Pigeon, and we had good scope views of what actually proved to be the rarer of the two species as it sat unobtrusively on the slopes. 

Watching the Bolle’s until it eventually flew off and out of sight, we kept a lookout up the mountain, a further movement on the cliffs soon catching our eye as several all dark shapes powered in to view before disappearing in to the trees – surely Laurel Pigeons! After a few minutes wait our suspicions were proved correct as a second wave of birds broke in to the open – their all dark bodies and diagnostic thick white tails clear to see before these too disappeared out of view over the ridge. It was only a matter of time before a Laurel Pigeon landed in view however, and sure enough, after around ten minutes or so one of the birds ungainly touched down on a precariously thin twig at the top of a shrub and allowed for some very distant phonescoped record shots. 

Laurel Pigeon - the white tail and dark body was obvious

Enabling us to get a good look as it wobbled to and fro on a branch that was clearly not quite sturdy enough to support its hefty weight for too long, the large all white tail was especially clear even at long range, while the dark, almost black tones of the body were a much warmer and deeper shade than the Bolle’s Feral/Woodpigeon colouration. 

With more Laurel Pigeons perching throughout the morning and several others flying through in small groups, we eventually had up to 10 individuals, possibly more – it was impossible to tell in some cases if it was just the same group of birds going back and to. As expected, the Bolle’s proved much harder to find, and it was extremely fortunate that we had connected with the single bird earlier on and what proved to be our only bird of the entire trip. 

The Canary Islands subspecies of Buzzard- Buteo buteo ssp. insularum

With several more Plain Swifts soaring over the cliffs beside the roadside, along with a female Kestrel that made us look twice for the features of Barbary Falcon, a single Cory’s Shearwater powering east during a brief spell of seawatching was the only other bird of note, and having cleaned up on both our endemic pigeons in just over an hour, we headed over to our next site of Punta del Fraile and Punta de Teno in the hopes of catching up with our final ‘realistic’ target of the trip – Barbary Falcon. Having missed these African falcons during our trip to Fuerteventura 6 months earlier, Tenerife offered a second chance to catch up with these impressive birds, and with e-bird indicating they were actually much more numerous on Tenerife, we were relatively hopeful. 

Sadly, it wasn’t to be however, and despite a lengthy search for the remainder of the afternoon at the apparent favoured spots for Barbary Falcon along the cliff lined road to the lighthouse, it was becoming clear that this particular species was turning in to a bit of a ‘bogey bird’ for us. 

The cliffs at the end of Punta de Teno

Despite the lack of our sought after falcon however, we nevertheless spent an enjoyable lunch feeding the resident population of West Canaries Lizards that make Punta de Teno their home, watching on as dozens of these impressive reptiles scurried over to each pringle morsel we dropped over the wall to them.

West Canaries Lizard

The lizards seemed to have a real appetite for BBQ Pringles... who knew!

With a supporting cast consisting of the usual suspects – Canary Islands Chiffchaff, Atlantic Canary, Plain Swift and Berthelot’s Pipit were all in attendance – we also caught up with our first Sardinian Warbler of the trip, an impressive male foraging in a low down coastal shrub, red eye blazing out against the soot grey plumage.

Cutting our losses with the non-existent Barbary Falcons and with large drops of rain now starting to coat our windscreen, we decided to call it a day, a picturesque and scenic drive back down to the hotel along the Masca mountain trail creating plenty of narrow hairpin bends that Alex had to expertly manoeuvre around. Several Turtle Doves perched on the wires in the mountain towns were a reminder of how times once were back in Britain, while the ever abundant Canary Islands Chiffchaffs called non-stop from the lush vegetation in the higher altitudes. 

Turtle Dove - sadly a rare sight now back in the UK

With a delicious evening meal at the local Chinese restaurant finishing the day nicely, we were able to reflect on another successful day on the island, both our target pigeons in the bag and ready for a fresh attack on finding our elusive Barbary Falcons the next day.

Mirador de La Grimona – parking and access

Mirador de La Grimona and the nearby Cepsa petrol station are two of the best spots on Tenerife to look for Laurel Pigeons (and in smaller numbers Bolle’s). Parking up at the layby at the Grimona and merely looking up across the road at the slopes should result in flybys of several Laurel Pigeons as they move across the mountainside. 

Stopping off for petrol at the Cepsa Petrol Station a few hundred yards west can also yield large numbers of Laurel Pigeons moving across the valley, with several birds often seen perching in the small shrubs. Indeed we had around 15 birds here in just a short ten minute period in the middle of the day. 

The cliffs opposite the Cepsa Petrol station

Parking at the Mirador de La Grimona consists of a small roadside lay-by off the TF-5 (just before the tunnel if heading from the west) with a larger area of gravel to view from. Be careful if driving in from the west as the TF-5 is a fast paced road and a left turn in to the layby may not be possible if traffic is busy. Indeed, we carried on to the outskirts of Los Realejos to turn around and headed back in from the east. 

The parking layby at Mirador de La Grimona

The post code for the viewpoint layby is TF-5, 3, 38414 Los Realejos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain while the Cepsa petrol station is at Paraje El Terrero, s/n, 38410 Los Realejos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain (only accessible if travelling from the east). A simple search in Google Maps for Mirador de La Grimona will produce the exact location. 

Tenerife Birding Trip Report - Day 1 (Tuesday 18th April 2017)

Tenerife, the largest and most well-visited location in the Canary Islands archipelago, enjoying both the scorching West-African climate and the well-developed tourism infrastructure of mainland Europe. 

A rugged but well-vegetated volcanic landmass consisting of two very different northern and southern climates, this famous holiday destination also boasts a series of specialised island endemic bird species along with an impressive list of interesting flora and fauna. Having visited Fuerteventura the previous autumn for the arid desert loving specialities, the following spring saw us complete the Canary Islands trip double in an effort to catch up with the montane and laurel forest specialists that make Tenerife their home. 

Housekeeping

Our trip to Tenerife involved travelling around both the northern and southern sections of the island, incorporating a range of habitats including Mount Teide, Mirador de La Grimona, Barranco de Ruiz, Charco del Viento and Punta de Teno with specific targets of Tenerife Blue Chaffinch, both Laurel and Bolle’s Pigeons, Atlantic Canary, Barbary Falcon, Plain Swift, Barolo Shearwater and Canary Islands Chiffchaff.  

7 lifers and 34 species in total were seen during our 5 days in Tenerife (with us missing out on just the Barolo Shearwaters), covering the 17th April – 22nd April 2017.

Tenerife Blue Chaffinch

We hired a car for the duration of the trip from Hertz and flights were direct return from Manchester to Tenerife South Airport. We had no specific route during our journey, and instead travelled sporadically to a number of sites in both the northern and southern sections of the island. From our base in Playa de las Américas we had easy access to both Los Cristianos and Mount Teide, while expeditions to the more lushly vegetated northern half of the island took no longer than an hour and a half. We stayed in one hotel for the duration of the trip – Hotel Olé Tropical Tenerife – part of a resort complex complete with outside pool.

The panoramic view from our balcony at Hotel Olé Tropical Tenerife

Daily Diary

Landing at Tenerife de Sur on the Monday evening, our late arrival sadly left no time for birding, a calling Canary Islands Chiffchaff outside the hotel the only indications of the upcoming endemic specialities that lay in wait for us.

With blue skies and bright sunshine dawning the next morning, we made a relatively early start getting to our first and main birding site of the trip – the picnic site at Las Lajas on the outskirts of the impressive Mount Teide. Renowned for its showy and approachable population of the endemic Tenerife Blue Chaffinch (Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch has recently been split) Las Lajas is a must for any visiting birders taking a trip to Tenerife. 

The famous Las Lajas picnic site

Making our way up the winding mountain roads on the ascent up Mount Teide, our first stop of interest came in the form of a small flock of Plain Swifts, playing excitedly around a row of stone buildings and swooping at speed up the arid cactus covered slopes. 

Plain Swift - our first of many

Having not seen any Plain Swifts on our visit to Fuerteventura the previous autumn, this was my first encounter with this endemic species of swift, and we spent an enjoyable period of time watching their antics before moving up Mount Teide. 

Originally concerned they may have been hard to come across during our trip, we needn’t have worried as these delightful swifts were dotted across the island in relatively good numbers, some even gracing the skies outside out hotel with their aerial acrobatics. 

The picnic table clearings of Las Lajas that the Blue Chaffinches call home

Arriving at the pine forests of the Las Lajas picnic site clearing, we immediately set to work locating our target Blue Chaffinches, eyes peeled and ears alert for any motion or sounds. Catching sight of a slight movement in one of the low down pine bushes, our first bird of note quietly came in to view – a Canary Islands Kinglet. 

Canary Islands Kinglet.... aka just a Goldcrest nowadays

Identical to our Goldcrests and now having been lumped back together again after previously being split, this was our only bird of the trip, and despite not being an official ‘tick’ it was still nice to admire as it bumbled through the pine needles.

Thankfully, a movement in the tall pines and around one of the picnic tables caught our attention, and we were soon admiring our first Tenerife Blue Chaffinch – a handsome male taking advantage of the small scraps and crumbs left behind by the previous day’s picnickers, soon joined by a slightly drabber female. 

Tenerife Blue Chaffinch! What a stunner

Hopping around the wooden tables, the delicate powder blues and slate grey in the feathers appeared silky smooth in the light, and we watched on in awe as up to four male birds proceeded to parade around us mere feet away hoovering up the titbits – an incredible experience.

Seemingly quite used to visitors and clearly habituated to human presence due to the sheer volume of holidaymakers stopping for a lunch break or snack at Las Lajas, it was refreshingly easy to get some point blank images of this spectacular endemic – no obstructing branches or leaves making for a welcome change. 

The female - much drabber in colouration

For anyone visiting Las Lajas (probably the easiest site for Tenerife Blue Chaffinch on the island) a quick walk around the picnic tables to the right of the car park should soon reveal this Tenerife speciality. 

The picnic tables the Tenerife Blue Chaffinches favour

Another point of note is that we also saw several birds visiting the small stone water taps dotted around the site, with both males and females regularly coming down to drink.

It was surreal to see them so close on the picnic tables - like House Sparrows behave back home

With Tenerife Blue Chaffinch well and truly in the bag, we explored the site a little further, notching up the Tenerife subspecies of Great Spotted Woodpecker on several occasions, perched up on the pine tree trunks and like the Tenerife Blue Chaffinch, bold enough to come down to the water taps for a drink. 

Great Spotted Woodpecker - the Tenerife subspecies Dendrocopos major canariensis

A pair of African Blue Tits called incessantly from the tops of a pine before eventually giving themselves up, while a loud cronking overhead revealed our first Ravens of the trip. 

African Blue Tit - the Tenerife susbpecies Cyanistes teneriffae teneriffae

Raven - Corvus corax canariensis - the Canary Islands subspecies

Sadly, a calling Canary Islands Chiffchaff wasn’t quite so accommodating as the African Blue Tit, and despite careful searching, I still hadn’t clapped eyes on this island chain endemic.  

Taking a wander a bit further down the track resulted in our first Canary Blue butterfly sunning itself on a wall next to a small patch of delicate purple flowers, while several larger yellow butterflies remained unidentifiable as they powered over the taller shrubs. 

Canary Blue Butterfly...not looking particularly blue!

Our first West Canaries Lizards also made an appearance, emerging tentatively from their burrows just long enough to capture a quick photo before they scurried back to safety. 

Male West Canaries Lizard peeking out of the rocks

The females lack the blue colouration of the males

With nothing further of note we headed back to the main picnic site for lunch, our third new bird of the day finally revealing itself as we disturbed a small flock of around 5 Atlantic Canaries that had been feeding busily underneath one of the tables. 

Atlantic Canary - not in a cage!

Waiting quietly amongst the trees they soon returned, chattering noisily between themselves as they hopped along the ground in the search for undiscovered crumbs. 

Nowhere near as approachable as the Tenerife Blue Chaffinches, we found it difficult to get close, the flock flying off to a different area of the picnic site if we got too near, but we eventually secured good views as one particular individual hopped up on to one of the tables to feed. 

After a quick break for lunch (hand feeding BBQ Pringles to a Tenerife Blue Chaffinch at my feet was not something I expected to do during the trip!) we were slightly concerned to find that the car next to ours had been broken in to, the back windows smashed by a large boulder now lying on the back seat and all the valuables inside taken by thieves, much to the distress of the German tourists who had hired it. Luckily we’d not left anything on display, but most definitely a word of warning for anyone visiting – don’t leave anything on show and certainly don’t leave any scopes or cameras in the car. 

The car park at Las Lajas

With a successful trip to Las Lajas under our belt, we proceeded up to the summit of the impressive Mount Teide – the highest point above sea level in the islands of the Atlantic. 

The impressive Mount Teide

An active volcano that last erupted over 100 years ago and now a dedicated UNESCO World Heritage site, the surrounding landscapes of the Teide National Park offered some truly stunning views, and as we approached the summit the slight scent of sulphur filled the air. 

With the birds here few and far between, a tame Berthelot’s Pipit and a Southern Grey Shrike were the only birds of note, while a pair of Kestrels looked on from the thorny shrubs. The views however were spectacular and we drank in the scenery of the island below.

The views from Mount Teide

Deciding not to head up the cable car itself, we enjoyed a quick snack in the café before heading down again, Canary Red Admiral and Green-striped White welcome additions to our butterfly list.

Canary Red Admiral - very similar to our British Red Admiral but differs by being a darker shade of red and by having black patches interspersed among the red upper-wing colour blocks

With the majority of our targets for the day checked off, this just left Canary Islands Chiffchaff (ironic as they are supposed to be everywhere) but the final piece of the jigsaw fell in to place on our descent near La Escalana when a roadside stop to admire the 30 strong flock of Plain Swifts dashing across the road soon has us searching the bushes to locate a very close-by calling Canary Islands Chiffchaff. 

The Canary Islands Chiffchaff roadside

Within moments our luck was in, and we enjoyed point blank views of this tiny warbler just feet away in the adjacent fig tree, almost near enough to reach out and touch. 

Canary Islands Chiffchaff

Joined by a second individual, the pair called continuously, providing a great opportunity to take note of the subtle differences in call from our own Common Chiffchaff back home, being much more varied and rich than the two toned “chiff” “chaff” of our British birds. 

Bath White - another new butterfly for our list

With the day a success and our main target of Tenerife Blue Chaffinch safely in the bag, we headed back to the hotel happy, tucking in to pizzas at the nearby pizzeria (slightly disappointing and a tad soggy!) ready for our next day tracking down the elusive Tenerife speciality pigeons of Laurel and Bolle’s.