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| A Report from birdtours.co.uk |
Tenerife, visited 19. - 26. December 2004,
Hello all birdwatchers!
The trip to Tenerife was mostly a holiday, but there was also some birdwatching most days. Below you will see a full list for all the birds we saw, with the maximum number for the trip and some other details, so I will just mention a few sites of importance.
Most of the sites is reach by renting a car, which is the best way to travel around the island. A good advice is to make sure that the car company has full insurance for your car, just in case you should get in trouble or an accident. Read the contract carefully! We rented a Citroen Saxo for six days for 105 Euros.
In front of the trip I bought the book "A birdwatchers' guide to The Canary Islands" by Tony Clarke & David Collins. This is a good book, and most of the sites are described here.
We lived in a hotel in Puerto de la Cruz, on the north side of the island, and for 3 days I saw the plain swift from the balcony! Other common species in the city was canary, monk parakeet, collared dove and spanish sparrow, and. yellow-legged gulls in the harbour. We did also saw the introduced African collared dove in Plaza del Charco, and Audouins gull was seen on the beach Playa Jardin.
We didn't search for the two endemic pigeons, but we were lucky to see three other endemics at the same site. La Caldera/ Aguamansa are probably one of the best sites for blue chaffinch, and we were lucky to see two males and one female at this site. We also got the chaffinch ssp. tintillon, Tenerife goldcrest and African blue tit here, so we were lucky at this place.
The most "valuable" site for us was the Tejina Ponds in the northeast. Here we were lucky to see four species of herons at the same time, and also in a great number! The rarest of them, the great white egret, is only accidental in the islands.
Other sites are mentioned in the observations below.
Best Regards!
Ola Nordsteien, Norway.
Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis: 30+ ind. (all herons seen at Tejina ponds on 25th)
Little egret, Egretta garzetta: 50 + ind.
GREAT WHITE EGRET, Egretta alba: 1 ind.
Grey heron, Ardea cinerea: 1 ind. (captivity birds?)
Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos: 12 ind. at Tejina ponds on 25th (captivity birds?).
Buzzard, Buteo buteo insularum: Up to 7 ind. at Erjos ponds on 23rd
Sparrowhawk, Accipiter nisus granti: 1 ind. on 24th
Kestrel, Falco tinnunculus canariensis: Daily with up to 20+ ind.
Barbary partridge, Alectoris barbara: Up to 8 ind. at Tejina ponds on 25th
Moorhen, Gallinula chloropus: Up to 21 ind. at Erjos Ponds on 23rd
Coot, Fulica atra: Up to 4 ind. at Erjos ponds on 23rd
Ringed plover, Charadrius hiaticula: 1 ind. at El Medano on 21st
Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus: 10 ind. at El Medano on 21st
Grey plover, Pluvialis squatarola: 1 ind. at El Medano on 21st
Sanderling, Calidria alba: 6 ind. at El Medano on 21st
Turnstone, Arenaria interpres: Up to 3 ind. at El Medano on 21st
Common sandpiper, Actitis hypoleucos: 1 ind. at Tejina ponds on 21st
Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus: 1 ind. at Playa de las Americas on 21st, and 1 ind. at Puerto de la Cruz on 25th
Common snipe, Gallinago gallinago: 2 ind. at Tejina ponds on 25th
Audouin's gull, Larus audouinii: 1 subad. at Puerto de la Cruz on 25th
Yellow-legged gull, Larus michaellis atlantis: Daily up to 80+ ind. on 20th
Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus intermedius: 2 ind. at Puerto de la Cruz on 25th
Lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus graellsii (probably): 1 ad. in Puerto de la Cruz on 25th
Sandwich tern, Sterna sandvicensis: 6 ind. at El Medano on 21st
Collared dove, Streptopelia decaocto: Daily up to 60+ ind. at Puerto de la Cruz on 19th
African Collared-dove, Streptopelia roseogrisea: 1 ind. at Puerto de la Cruz on 19th
Rock pigeon, Columba livia: Daily, mixed with flocks of feral pigeons.
Feral Pigeon, Columba domestica: Daily, mixed with flocks of rock pigeons, up to 500+ ind.
Plain swift, Apus unicolor: Only seen in Puerto de la Cruz, with up to 12 ind. on 23rd
Hoopoe, Upupa epops: Only seen at Embalse de Ciguana, with up to 4 ind. on 22nd
Monk parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus: Only seen in Puerto de la Cruz with up to 10 ind. on 20th
Great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopos major canariensis: 1 ind. in Santiago del Teide on 22nd
Berthelot's pipit, Anthus berthelotii: Up to 5 ind. on 22nd
Meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis: 1 ind. in Santiago del Teide on 22nd
Grey wagtail, Motacilla cinerea canariensis: Up to 3 ind. on 23rd
Robin, Erithacus rubecula superbus: Up to 2 ind. on 20th and 23rd
Blackbird, Turdua merula cabrerae: Almost daily, with up to 15+ ind. on 23rd
Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla heineken: Up to 2 ind. in Icod de los Vinos on 22nd
Blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla ssp.: Up to 7 ind. on 23rd
Spectacled warbler, Sylvia conspicillata orbitalis: 6 ind. at Tejina Ponds on 25th
Canary Islands Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus canariensis: Daily with up to 30+ ind. on 24th
Chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita: 1 ind. on 22nd and 1 ind. on 24th
Tenerife goldcrest, Regulus teneriffae: 4 ind. in Aguamansa/ La Caldera on 22nd
African Blue Tit, Parus teneriffae: Almost daily, up to 15+ ind. on 24th
Spanish sparrow, Passer hispaniolensis: Almost daily, with up to 10+ ind. on 24th and 25th
Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs tintillon: 3 ind. in Aguamansa/ La Caldera on 22nd
Blue chaffinch, Fringilla teydea: Up to 3 ind. in Aguamansa/ La Caldera on 22nd
Greenfinch, Carduelis chloris: 3 ind. in Santiago del Teide on 22nd
Serin, Serinus serinus: Up to 20+ ind. on 24th
Canary, Serinus canaria: Daily up to 70+ ind. on 20th
Total = 48 species.
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