A weekend in Castilla-la Mancha

In early December 2024 I flew to Madrid for the weekend. This was a repeat trip to an area I have been to before, the hills to east of Madrid near Guadalajara and the plains to the south, near Toledo. Getting to Spain is so ridiculously cheap and the birding (and weather) so much better than the UK that it is an easy decision for a short winter trip. This time I took Mick with me as he was keen to try for Wallcreeper and Bonelli's Eagle, both species I had seen last time. We flew on Friday afternoon, arriving too late for any birding, and drove east to the small town of Sacedon which was close to the main area I wanted to go birding the following morning. This is the gorge to the west of the Embalse de Entrepenas, and where I'd seen both of the birds above last time. Wintering Wallcreeper hadn't been reported this year, but Bonelli's Eagle is still regular in the area. 

We awoke to heavy fog! Heavy enough to have a nice coffee and breakfast in a local cafe knowing we wouldn't be missing anything. Sure enough once we got there it was still heavy enough that you couldn't see across the gorge. This also made it very cold and rather miserable, not quite what I had had in mind! We gave it a go anyway, walking down the track from the dam to the bridge, a gentle slope with the gorge on your right. There was plenty of bird activity despite the murky weather, with Rock Bunting, Coal Tit and Crested Tit in the pines around the car park at the top end, and Crag Martins leaving roost on the cliff above and heading down the river. We found Firecrest, Nuthatch and Short-toed Treecreeper as we descended, and near the bridge as the landscape widened out I finally ticked Dunnock for Spain! There were Cetti's Warblers down here as well, a Grey Wagtail, and a Kingfisher flew up the river. We walked back up, were we imagining it or was the mist perhaps slightly thinner? It must have lifted a little as we were able to see Chough and our first Griffon Vulture. Of Wallcreeper there was no sign, and talking to a couple of local birders they confirmed that the regular wintering bird had not returned. So much for that plan! Last time it had been pure fluke, I had booked the trip without knowing about the bird, and few weeks or so before I travelled I had scanned eBird and been amazed to see this pin very close to where I had been going anyway. Oh well.

By now it was midday and time to try a new spot. We bought some provisions to make sandwiches in a local town and then drove the short distance to the Embalse de Buendia and walked down to the shore, a fair old hike of about a mile. Here we realised that not having a scope was really going to hold us back, the reservoir was enormous and the waterfowl mere dots! I used the camera to zoom in on various of these specks and in this way was able to positively identifty Cormorant, Grey Heron, Great Crested Grebe, Mallard and Gadwall, but it was pretty hopeless and rather unsatisfactory. We put down a particularly bright Chiffchaff as Iberian and were later shot down by the local eBird reviewer, fair enough really, it hadn't made a sound. Other than that we recorded a few Crested Lark, a pair of  Black Redstart, a Raven and Common Sandpiper. In the fields and hedges either side of the track were large numbers of Finches and Corn Buntings. At a speculative roadside stop a short distance away we added what turned out to be a flock of Spotless Starling and some Sardinian Warblers.

Mid afternoon we arrived at Hoz Angosta, a narrow gorge above the Embalse de Entrepenas. This had seemed a very productive eBird spot but we couldn't replicate the success of previous birders. Of note was a huge kettle of Griffon Vultures, and within this a single Bonelli's Eagle for a short while which we confirmed with photographs. We moved on to a further spot, the Arroyo del Canizar, but this was equally unproductive. Sometimes birding is just like this, the time of day or the particular weather conditions just don't work. It hadn't been a bad day, far from it, but it had felt like hard work for the 56 species we had seen. We needed a new plan.

That plan was to drive to totally different area and to go birding somewhere else. We didn't need to go especially far, I think it was under two hours, heading south to the plains southeast of Toledo near Alcazar de San Juan. We found a cheap hotel in Miguel Esteban close to the first pin, a series of shallow lakes that had a good list of birds.

The following morning we went directly there, a matter of minutes east of the town. Whilst you cannot get into the lakes there are series of viewing portals (of terrible design!) that allow you to look in, just about. As expected our trip list began to increase rapidly, with Shoveler, Water Rail, Moorhen, Greater Flamingo, Marsh Harrier, and my top Spanish target, Wigeon!  

We headed south to the Laguna de Salicor. Once again a scope would have been ideal, but we managed to positively identify Pintail, Shelduck, Redshank and Lapwing from the crest on the north side, and along this track was a flock of Great Bustard in a rocky field. Once on the southern and eastern edges we were able to get a lot closer to the water and found a small group of Little Stint, another Spanish tick. Better still we jammed in on a flock of Pin-tailed Sandgrouse in a field, and in trying to get a better view of these found a Little Bustard in the same place entirely by accident. Add in a covy of Red-legged Partridge and this was clearly a top spot for gamebirds. Red Kite were especially common in this area, we had a brief Spanish Eagle and some Common Buzzards, and Larks were all around - Crested, Calandra and Skylark. Oh, and the small matter of hundreds of Common Crane flying overhead! The Spanish steppes are simply wonderful.

Pin-tailed Sandgrouse

Outside the town of Alcazar de San Juan lie the Laguna de la Veguilla and the Laguna del Camino de Villafranca. The latter is vast but is quite dry, the former has more water and thus more wildfowl. Huge numbers of Shoveler were present with perhaps 75 White-headed Duck and 50 Pochard. We couldn't find the rumoured Ferruginous Duck buth there were plenty of places it could have been hiding. Also here were eight Black-necked Grebe, double figures of Little Grebe, and five Marsh Harrier. The best place to look from here is the hide on the east side, which is reached either by foot from the south or by car from the north. At the much larger Laguna slightly north were hundred of Gulls, 120 Dunlin, 80 Little Stint, 100+ White Stork, a Water Pipit and a small number of Ruff.  

Common Crane

Heading north we stopped to look at the Laguna Grande de Villafranca de los Caballeros. The main lagoon had hundreds of Coot but little else, but from a hide on an island at the north end reached via a short boardwalk we found a small flock of Red-Crested Pochard and a Great White Egret. Further on, at the Laguna de Tirez, the dominant species was Common Crane, with flocks of hundreds all over the place. Also here were a small number of Kentish Plover, a pair of Hoopoe, Iberian Grey Shrike and three Kestrel. 

All of these lagoons were very close to each other, we were still some distance from Toledo let alone nothern Madrid where Barajas is located. We needed to be there by 4pm and so approaching half one we needed to make some ground. If we made good time there might be an opportunity to get a final birding session in, even with Mick's crazy notion that you need to get to an airport at least four days before a flight! So it was that we found ourselves at the Parque Forestal Valdebebas near Barajas. It was quite hard to find the way in, but I managed it eventually and in doing so added Iberian Green Woodpecker to the trip list. Mick spent five minutes taking rubbish pics of Monk Parakeet and then went and sat in the car itching to leave. Once I returned 20 minutes later I shredded his already mangled nerves by driving in circles around Barajas trying to find the car rental return, which I think I managed on about the third attempt. We just about made the flight with only two hours to spare....

Monk Parakeet

In total we saw 97 species. Had our time in the mountains gone better we would have cleared 100 but you cannot have it all your own way. Spain is fabulous for birding. The sites we visited were so easily accessible and not very far away from major cities, yet we saw virtually nobody all weekend. This is the way I like it. That there were Bustards, Cranes, Harriers, Larks and Wildfowl was simply an added bonus. 

When in Spain

So now that I was in Spain what did I get up to? In a word, or rather two words, not much. I went shopping. Shopping for the kind of nice European food that is extremely hard to find on this impoverished island, so now we have all sorts of goodies available for the festive season - if they last that long..... 

Spanish supermarkets are wonderful. I am kicking myself that I did not take any photos of the fish counter, the incredible range of fruit and veg, or the special jamon section. Suffice it to say that every time I go to Europe I realise how impoverished we are here, and how much delicious food we miss out on with our narrow view of what constitutes nourishment. Not in this house, that is all I can say, and certainly not for a while after my little raid on Carrefour in Hortaleza.

I think it is the seafood, so easily obtainable there, so hard and expensive here. Unfortunately I couldn't bring much of that back, but my next trip to Europe is in the car and I hope to do a somewhat better job. I've studied all the new regulations post Brexit regarding what you can and can't bring back, and actually there are almost no restrictions provided that it is all for personal use. What is restricted is wine, which is a huge shame, but I hope that I can use my 24 bottle allowance wisely. Anyway, back to Madrid.

I filled a large rucksack with goodness, and then headed to my nearby hotel. I hadn't landed until 7pm, so the plan on paper had been to quickly buzz round the shops before they closed and then head into the centre of Madrid for some tapas etc. Unfortunately I think I am still recovering from the virus, so what actually happened is that I had a shower and then fell asleep. By the time I woke up it was too late to bother heading in, so I just had a bite to eat locally and went to bed again. Rock and roll.

The next morning, refreshed, I was up before dawn. I was going birding! I had identified a number of large local parks that were between where I was staying and the airport, researched their potential on eBird, and worked out my route. What I hadn't really taken into consideration was that I would be carrying a large rucksack of food - it was exhausting - ie exactly how I remember most of my holidays being. I cracked on.

I spent most of my time in the Parque Juan Carlos I in the north east of the city. It was fantastic - loads of Iberian Green Woodpeckers, flocks of Monk Parakeet feeding on the ground in the olive groves, and Tree Sparrows everywhere. A pair of Egyptian Geese were a Spanish tick, as were the numerous Siskins. Black Redstarts and migrant Song Thrushes flitted about, and generally everything was extremely pleasant other than the massive weight on my back. There is not much to say really, I just went birding and I really enjoyed myself. Nothing spectacular, no huge rarities, just run of the mill birding with no great expectations in a place unfamiliar to me and therefore fun. This is the kind of thing I used to do pre-pandemic, and have not done for months and months. I have missed it more than I knew, and to be able to get back to it no matter how briefly just felt really good. Furthermore I have proved to myself that travel is possible, painful but possible, and that moping at home need not be the default. I can't sit in Wanstead forever. I suppose that for much of 2020 and 2021 there was a lot less certainty and planning trips was far more fraught, and that along with being unvaccinated is why I didn't even attempt to travel for nearly a year and a half. But things are a bit easier now, I've had both jabs, I've sensibly topped them up recently with the real thing, and a booster is now on the horizon too. This is not over, not by a long shot, but I can see some light.

...in Spain

Can you spot Anakin?

February has not so been particularly birdy or bloggy, but when I looked at my calendar earlier in the year that was immediately obvious. Once again I have barely stood still, with a trip to Hamburg, an intense period at work, and more recently nearly a full week in Spain en famille. This latter is all I really have to talk at the moment, my blog has descended into "my life, by me" which is a bit sad. I still have the death of the high street tucked away, which I wrote in jest about a day before our local butcher went bust. There is now a very sad empty shop on in Wanstead with a "To Let" sign on it. 90 years they had been going, a proper multi-generational family business. No doubt it will soon be yet another fried chicken place, it's next to Costa and there's already a Starbucks a few doors down so unless Nero fancy their chances I think we can discount coffee. Tescos is already here having taken over the Woolies a few years ago. Is the demise of A G Dennis a coincidence? On the plus side the Allied Irish office has turned into a pub, and we now have a proper fishmonger, so it isn't all bad news. Still, I felt it was slightly insensitive to post it so soon after this loss, when all I am really doing is complaining about people going shopping and thus getting in the way of my Strava record attempts!

When I got home from Spain there was some really bad news though! I have written a fully-fledged blog piece on the stupidity of bird books as a follow-up to the one I did on how my decluttering was going. This was basically ready to go, penned on the London to Madrid flight, but when I got home I discovered that somebody had beaten me to it!  Now you will probably have noticed that a fair few of the blogs I read are written by similarly-aged men. I might [nearly] be one too, although I am confident I am the youngest of the lot! Anyhow, this writing collective being essentially one super-organism nearly always agrees with everything written by any of them, and one post can frequently spark a post in reply and so on. It would be going too far to say that they're all the same as they're not, each one has a distinct style and different humour, but you do sometimes feel like you're reading a set. Thus I cannot possibly now post something about how on earth I've ended with 50 unread bird books, and so that one has to remain in draft too until everyone has forgotten about Gavin's post. And Steve's.... 

Which leaves me with Extramadura, Seville and Madrid. All in Spain, but just like our writers all very different in their feel and the experiences they afford. This was a family holiday - binoculars came but were used on just two days out of six. Yes, only a third of the holiday contained birds! Despite this abject failure I still racked up a pretty respectable list in quiet moments, but as Mrs L might read this I'll need to stay silent on that for now. Black-winged Kite!! Shhhhhh! You will also have to excuse me for this being a rather photo-heavy post. Think of it as compensating for the lack of birdiness... I took my rejuvenated (read fixed at great expense) 5D3 with me, confirming it's a wonderful tool for my kind of travel.

Trujillo is a lovely place. If you come just a little later you can see the colony of Lesser Kestrels at the bullring. We were too early though, and had to wander round the town until the kids got bored.

Our first day was in Trujillo in a gale. We had a very leisurely local breakfast, and then wandered around the medieval town. The kids practiced their spanish in various shops, and Mrs L and I were happy just to see them getting to grips with a new place. After an excellent picnic lunch in the countryside where we devoured all the hard-communicated produce, we went for a walk on the plains. Or more accurately we were blown across the plains, the wind was quite ridiculous. With leaden skies mounting worryingly fast we fought our way back to the car just in time to escape a monumental rain storm. 

Shortly after I took this it landed on us, but we were safely in our car by then, The landscape is incredibly impressive, and there are birds everywhere.

The following day after another stupidly long breakfast we made our way to Monfrague National Park. Henry, who had been before with me, took on the mantle of expedition leader, and so the whole family saw Vultures, Blue Rock Thrushes, Azure-winged Magpies and a host of other lovely birds set in dramatic scenery. Another lengthy and satisfying al fresco lunch took place, after which we decided we would visit Portugal on the way to Seville. This we did, heading west at Barajoz and discovering that the Portugese economy is in far worse shape than Spain's. A bit sad really to wander around a run-down town, being served out-of-date fruit juice with mould in the bottles. To be fair it's probably not like this in Lisbon or Faro, but on the far edges of the country you do feel like you have hit a rather neglected area.

If I lived in Extramadura and my house didn't have a Stork on it I would have to move to one that did.

Even Mrs L with her bird phobia could not fail to be impressed with the Griffons at Salto del Gitano. Confession time, my large lens did come too, but was used very sparingly indeed.

The jangling of Serins is never far away. Another failure for this country. Bring on Global Warming I say.

Back into Spain we woke up the next day in Seville, and spent all of the next two days exploring this wonderful city, stacked to the gills with fantastic moorish architecture and open spaces, narrow streets with doorways leading to palatial courtyards. Everywhere was tiled, everywhere was delightful. Amazing food at all corners, we ate a lot of it but equally walked miles and miles. Oranges are everywhere, they appear to grow on trees. There is a whole municipal department devoted to picking them up and throwing them away, as they fall faster than they can be used. And they're delicious to boot, and absurdly cheap. We saw where Star Wars was filmed. More interestingly we saw where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. I can't recommend it highly enough as a city break. If you do one thing, go to the Alcazar. Or the Casa de Pilatos. Or......I'll let the photos do the talking I think.

Behind wooden doorways along the narrow streets you often got a glimpse of the charms within. It is simply a different style of living.

This is where we were lucky enough to be staying. Horrible isn't it?

I certainly didn't like it at all as it provoked feelings of pure rage.

These are known as the mushrooms. Whoever designed it had been on them I think.

The sheer intricacy of the Alcazar was breathtaking. Hundreds of years old. The gardens were tranquility apart from the demented Mallard that thought it was a Peacock.

Don't go to southern Spain if you don't like tiles and glazed ceramics would be my advice

On our final day we went to Madrid. I cunningly booked a very long connection which allowed us about six hours in the city, and so by 9am we were eating breakfast overlooking the Royal Palace, and then were able to bimble at leisure for a few hours. We explored a few markets, and revisited a couple of Tapas places I had enjoyed solo on a previous trip, saw a tubby Spiderman and considered the purchase of a life-sized fibreglass Jesus, the most impressive of countless pieces of devotional crud that are ubiquitously available in Spain. We filled a suitcase with salami, cheese, oranges, ham, chocolate, vegetables and olive oil, and were home in Chateau L by supper time.

Ah, supper - I could not write about Spain without talking more about the food. Just to wander around the markets is enough to make you weep. We bought a kilo of prawns for about three quid. In England even finding a prawn is hard work. To walk past the rows of bodegas and not go into every single one of them is a super-human feat. The fruit looks and tastes amazing, the vegetables make what we get here seem a poor excuse. As mentioned above we brought back what we could, but it's no substitute for being able to simply nip out and grab an entire delicious meal of fresh ingredients for a fraction of the price that here simply gets you drab uniformity. Have a look at the next few photos and salivate....

Boquerones, frequently filleted and soaked in oil and vinegar for extra deliciousness.

A small selection of a dizzying amount of Tapas routinely available almost anywhere you went. The UK's reputation for a poor diet is very well founded.

There is nothing to say.

Unlike poor A G Dennis, Spain has thousands of thriving small niche food businesses

To complete lunch.....

This is actually a skip of oranges. Council workers were gathering these from the ground at Seville Cathedral and dumping them in bucketloads. What happens to them I have no idea. Once they have no taste I expect Tesco take them.

Not food, but in case you didn't believe me.

And no "trip report" would be complete without this to finish up with. A Tapas place in Madrid that only did shrimp in garlic. And white wine.

Tenerife - Trip Report

Logistics

·        A three-and-bit day trip in mid November (15^th – 18^th) timed to recover from what I knew would be a very draining period at work. Simple goals of seeing the endemic and the sub-species, and then taking photos of anything that I could get close to. With the exception of Berthelot’s Pipits that were uniformly and incredibly tolerant of people, this proved harder work than I anticipated. Usually birding properly and taking photos properly are mutually exclusive, but with the small number of species on the island, this proved no barrier at all.

·        Tenerife is a very small island, but even so I birded primarily the south and central parts, with one trip right through the middle and on to the Anaga Peninsula in the north-east. I also undertook a dismally bad for birding but very pleasant for lounging around in the sun pelagic to La Gomera one afternoon, during which I saw one seabird. Not one species, one individual.

·        British Airways flight to Tenerife Sur (TFS) from Gatwick departed 0855 on Saturday morning, arriving at 1315; a four hour flight and there is no time change. It cost me around £300 because I flew business class due to the length of flight. I could no doubt have got it a lot cheaper economy as every budget airline under the sun flies there, but you know what, I’m worth it.

·        Car hire via Avis was a dinky little 1.2L VW Polo, that coped admirably with every hill I threw at it (and there are loads), and only used half a tank of petrol in the three days I had it, which included a full round-the-island trip as well as loads of buzzing around the south. I can’t remember what it cost, but was in line with what you would expect.        

·        Accommodation was booked for three nights at the “Green Park/Parque Verde” in the middle of the Golf del Sur. Booked online prior to departure for £71.50 for three nights, it was very basic and a little tired, but it had a pool and I got a whole apartment with a little kitchenette. I therefore did a quick supermarket shop at a nearby Lidl, and as such my living expenses were £23 for my entire trip. It was like being a student again. Fully justifying my choice of green and verdant (and cheap) location were three Hoopoe foraging on the grass next to my car one morning. One downside was that the hotel was directly under the flightpath to the nearby airport.

·        Research consisted of reading a pile of trip reports and so working out which sites to target for the endemics, and then arming myself with a copy of the “Clarke and Collins”. This is pretty out of date in places being nearly 20 years old, but nonetheless was pretty useful for ideas on where to go. My advice would be use it for directions to some specific out of the way places like Chanajiga, but not rely on it any longer for decent site information and instead go with more recent information on the web. Like here - I've provided coordinates for some of the more difficult places in blue.

·    Sunrise at this time of the year is a fairly laid back 7.30am. On my first day I got up at 5am in a fit of enthusiasm and was up in the mountains staring at inky blackness at 6am for a full hour…..

Itinerary

Day 1: Birded around Amarilla Golf in the remaining three hours of light

Day 2: Early start up to the Corona Forestal for the pine forest specialities. Some sight-seeing through El Tiede NP, and then the rest of the afternoon devoted to the laurel forests in the North and North-east.

Day 3: A slightly less early start in the pine forests, then scrub birding in the south. Afternoon “pelagic”……

Day 4: Morning birding around the Golf Courses and wastelands in the South, mid-afternoon departure.

Main Sites I went to

Golf Amarilla – A dry gully immediately to the west of the course and alongside the stables was full of Barbary Partridge, and the area north of the clubhouse had a Stone Curlew. An area of scrubby waste ground just west of this gully, and south of a banana plantation had loads of Berthelot’s Pipits, and a pair of Southern Grey Shrikes. If you take the minor road that winds north from the club house, after about 1.5km you come to a small reservoir next to where the industrial estate starts. This has a variety of plastic, but also Spoonbills, Little Egrets, and a chance of a wader.

Golf del Sur – I never went on the course, but the scrubby area immediately north of the course, to the east of Avenida J M Galvan Bello and with three obvious water tanks, had millions of Barbary Partridge, at least two Shrikes, and lots of Spectacled Warblers and Berthelot’s Pipits. You can also peek into the ponds at this end of the Golf Course for various Egrets and the rare Moorhen.

Las Lajas Picnic area - 11km north of Vilaflor on the TF21 - 28.189417, -16.666071. Blue Chaffinches galore, Tenerife Crest, teneriffae Blue Tit, Canary Islands sub-species of GS Woodpecker, and Atlantic Canary. No need to go more than about fifty yards from the car in any direction, but the area on the opposite side of the road seemed to have more Blue Tits and Canaries.

Chanajiga – Laurel Forest area immediately south of Los Realejos. Difficult to find, but the simplest way seemed to be from the TF21 then TF326 descending from El Tiede, via Benijos but before you get to Palo Blanco. It's signposted Las Llanadas - if you put "Carretera las Llanadas, Los Realejos, Spain" into Google Maps it places you on exactly the final road you need to be on, and you drive west from that point, turning off the tarmac road right, and past a picnic area - 28.343957, -16.584146. Dump the car there and proceed on foot along the wide track past a playground on your left, before heading into the laurel forest. Bolle’s Pigeon during a break in the clouds, trillions of Canary Island Chiffchaff.

Mirador Lagrimonas layby - many previous trip reports mentioned this spot on the westbound TF5, immediately after two close together small tunnels west of Los Realejos, and marked by large bollards (28.392775, -16.608832), as the definitive place to see Laurel Pigeon. I had two within two minutes of arriving, it really is that simple. Park up (not much room) and simply look up the hill side for movement with the naked eye before gloriously resolving Laurel Pigeon in your scope.

Anaga Pensinula/El Bailadero – Clarke and Collins out of date for the key site near El Pijaral as the signposts are now missing, but it is roughly 1.5km past the bar on the minor road off the TF12, and in any event all the valleys in the area seem eminently suitable for the Pigeons. Naturally I didn’t see a single one. The spot is approximately 28.552055, -16.192199.  The scenery is breath-taking however, especially from Pico Ingles.

Fraile/Las Galletas – another area of waste ground, replete with mounds of fly-tipping. Park at the walled five-a-side Football pitch on Calle Fuerteventura, off Avenida del Atlantico -  28.010880, -16.672226, and then walk towards the sea. Loads of all the regular birds you would expect in this habitat, including five Shrikes together, probably a family party. Also spectacular views of a Barbary Falcon eating a Pigeon on the wing. There are also some saline pools that hold a small number of waders immediately opposite Las Galletas beach and marina. Note that the Punta de Rasca area as described in C & C by turning right before the Repsol petrol station is no longer accessible due to ever more covered banana plantations, and seems completely fenced off now, including the concrete-walled reservoir that is noted as productive. I was able to view it from a mound of rubble, my reward being two Coots. Wow.

Los Christianos – San Sebastian La Gomera Ferry. Lovely, but a complete waste of 50 euros/41 gbp (return foot passenger), with a single Cory’s Shearwater seen on the outbound journey, and nothing at all on the way back. Do not bother at this time of year. Note that the ferry car park is extortionate, so try and park in town instead. Note also that you need your passport to book a ticket.

Day by day account

Saturday 15^th

The flight landed at around 1.15pm, and by the time I was sat in my rental car it was nearly 3pm – TFS is full of geriatric travellers who don’t have the faintest clue how to do anything, as such it was carnage. With perhaps three hours until dusk, I elected to stay local to both the airport and my hotel. I went to the hotel first to dump my stuff, finding Canary Island Chiffchaff in the process (these were abundant) and also did a very rapid shop for provisions – water essential. And junk food, obviously, what else fuels birding?

With little time I went for a walk around the top end of Amarilla Golf, including walking a barranco (a dry gully) just to the NW of the clubhouse that tracked the western edge of the course. Merely by walking down the track I flushed at least 20 Barbary Partridge, and it wasn't long before I'd found my first Berthelot's Pipit, along with a Grey Wagtail, near the Stables. Whilst here two Hoopoe flew across the track, and a nearby Kestrel showed well. It being mid afternoon, the fairways were pretty busy, so instead I crossed the barranco and went up onto some scrubby waste ground near a covered banana plantation (which are abundant in southern Tenerife). This was excellent for birding, and I got my first photos of some very confiding Berthelot's Pipits, as well as finding a pair of Southern Grey Shrikes and a Spectacled Warbler. With the light fading I retraced my steps back to the car which I had left in the clubhouse carpark, and returned to the hotel for a spot of light cooking. I was asleep by half eight. Rock and roll.

Sunday 16th

I set the alarm for 5am, and was showered and out by half past. First stop was Las Lajas for the Blue Chaffinch, and it's about 45 minutes away up some incredibly steep and winding roads. I had completely misjudged sunrise however, and so was sat in darkness in the car for well over an hour before starting to investigate the site. I did get a Long-eared Owl on the way up though by way of reward. Birds everywhere is the bottom line, with the Chaffinches really easy to find. They much prefer shade, so getting a decent photo was next to impossible. They tended to really like being under picnic tables, which was obviously problematic for me. In addition to the Chaffinches there were quite a few Blue Tits, and I could hear though not see Great Spotted Woodpecker. Canary and Ravens here too. Chasing the Chaffinches around ate up probably two hours, and so it was only at 9.30am that I left, heading further up the mountain to check a few of the other sites mentioned in Clarke and Collins. Worth noting that at this time on a Sunday I was still completely alone at a site which apparently is very busy at weekends.

At the first fork in the road I stopped to admire the view of the volcano, at which point a Southern Grey Shrike flew across my view. Remarkably I managed to pish this in, but not expecting it to work I was massively under-prepared, and had left my monopod in the car. In deep shade I resorted to handheld, and such is my rock-steady grip that it all worked out nicely. Pleased with this success I carried on the right-hand fork, the TF21, towards Las Canadas. Amazing scenery, few birds that I could see, but to be honest I was focused on getting over to the laurel forests by this point, so drove past most of the sites mentioned.

I arrived at Chanajiga for around 11am in clear weather, but that did not last long. My impression of the weather is that it starts off quite clear, but that cloud builds up as the day progresses. That said, at the higher altitudes like the Chaffinch site, you're at 2100m and thus above the clouds. As most people stay on the coast, when they look up towards the centre of the island they could be forgiven for deciding to give it a miss, but it appears that the cloud seems to exist in a narrow band between say 800m and perhaps 1800m. This means you're all good for Chaffinches and the pine forest species, but is unfortunately prime Pigeon zone..... So what had been looking ideal for Pigeon-spotting soon became a cloud. I could hear Pigeons wing-clattering, but could see nothing. Luckily for me a flying bird coincided with a brief break in the murk after around an hour, but this was very flukey and whilst I did see all the endemics in a day, I wouldn't want to guarantee it. Buzzards called overhead.

With Chanajiga a write-off by this point, I descended to the coast to seek out the Mirador Lagrimonas, the no-fail site for Laurel Pigeon. This was very easy to find, and sure enough within barely a couple minutes of parking up I was onto one, and then two birds. Great scope views, but unless you have a scope it would be hugely unsatisfactory. The beauty of this site is that you're almost at sea level, and the slope where the Pigeons are is no more than a couple of hundred metres up so there are no issues with cloud formation. Bolle's can be seen at this site too, but I didn't manage that. If doing this again I would probably go to Lagrimonas early morning and try and clear up, giving Chanajiga a miss. Loads of lounging lizards here on the rocks the other side of the layby.

With the main birds done by now, I decided to explore the Anaga Peninsula, the north-east tip of the island. The Clarke and Collins mentioned several sites there that were reputed to be good for perched Bolle's Pigeon, and wishing to see one better I decided to give it a go. To cut a long story short, I barely saw a bird (though I did hear Yellow-browed Warbler!), and the whole place was heaving with people. Pigeons smigeons. Amazing views though, worth it for that alone really. Easy drive back down the east coast motorway and another gourmet supper with Easyjet and Ryanair shaking my room every few minutes. 

Monday 17th

I felt I could do better on the Chaffinches, and with the main birds done I was feeling a lot more relaxed. Learning the lesson of yesterday, I left a lot later and timed my arrival perfectly. More or less the same birds as yesterday, but decent views of the Tenerife Goldcrest, and amazing views of the Woodpecker. The Chaffinches refused to play ball again though, very frustrating.

I probably spent another three hours here, and then was caught in two minds as to what to do next. Either go up to the north-west tip, Punto del Teno, or return down south in order to catch the 2pm La Gomera Ferry from Los Cristianos. In the end I plumped for the latter, and got down to the Fraile area for around midday. With an hour or so to kill I tried the Punta de la Rasca area, but found that there were now so many more banana plantations that it was difficult to get to the right place as mentioned in the C & C book. I did however find a Barbary Falcon engaged in eating a Pigeon on the wing, which was sensational. Also here were more Berthelot's Pipits, Spectacled Warblers, and another Southern Grey Shrike. Pretty much any habitat of this nature held these three species - essentially open ground with low level scrub. Disappointing was the amount of fly-tipping in evidence, most places immediately adjacent to either agricultural or tourist development simply become areas where people dump unused building materials, or older interior fixings following refurbishment. Consequently close to hotels are huge piles of rubble, old tiles, decrepit poolside furniture etc, and next to covered banana plantations you find huge piles of rocks from levelling thr ground, and heaps of discarded fabric rolls that they've used and then simply discarded. So unnecessary, and ruins the landscape. There were plenty of birds, though whether there would have been even more had the habitat been treated with respect I can't say.

Anyhow, with an hour or so to go I headed for the ferry terminal at Los Cristianos, and jammed a parking spot very nearby, but not in the terminal car park which would have set me back 20 euros. The return crossing as a foot passenger set me back an eye-watering 50 euros, but given I was going to be seeing gazillions of Cory's Shearwaters at close range I figured it was still worth it. Two things birders should note - 1) you want the Armas Naviera "traditional" ferry, not the Fred Olsen Express catamaran. You can stand on deck on the former, but not on the latter. 2) You need your passport to buy a ticket.

At this point I really wanted to be writing about the most awesome pelagic I've ever been on, with Cory's at touching distance, Little Shearwaters and Bulwer's everywhere. Unfortunately it was utterly dire, with a single Cory's seen on the outward journey and not a single bird of any description seen on the way back. I had not done my research, and talking later to a local birder, November ain't the time. It was pleasant enough in the sunshine on deck, but not 50 euros pleasant. I consoled myself with a beer in San Sebastian, and didn't really bother looking too hard on the way back. Fabulous sunset as we docked back at Tenerife.

Tuesday 18th

Final day, and I was sticking down south as the flight departed mid-afternoon. From dawn I started very close to where I was staying, birding the scrub immediately north of Golf del Sur, where there are three obvious water tanks. I'd put up 30 Barbary Partridge before I'd even got to them, and passed a really nice couple of hours seeing all the usual species in wonderful light. I probably saw 50 Partridges here as I ranged widely across the area. I then moved on to an area close to Las Galletas, where I concentrated on getting a few more Berthelot's Pipit images. Yet more Barbary Partridge here, as well as five Shrikes together, possibly a family group. I then checked out some saline pools near the harbour for a few waders to add to the trip list, before heading back to my hotel to have shower, pack up and check out. I ended up checking out late due to some Hoopoes feeding in the hotel grounds close to the car - wonderful. 

My final hour was spent back at Amarilla Golf, where I found yet more Partridges and a Stone Curlew. Then it was off to the airport to catch my return flight. All in all a really productive three days, seeing all my target species and getting a few photos along the way. Photographing the Pigeons was sadly impossible, but I managed a few keepers of some of the other specialties. 

Trip List - 41

Barbary Partridge - any suitable thicker scrub, tended to like gullies

Cory's Shearwater - at sea 15 minutes out of San Sebastian

Cattle Egret - 3 at Golf del Sur

Little Egret - 9 at Amarilla Golf

Grey Heron - rare, only one seen flying over Golf del Sur

Spoonbill - 3 at Amarilla Golf

Common Buzzard - above Chanajiga

Sparrowhawk - one seen off TF5

Kestrel 

Barbary Falcon - one at Fraile

Moorhen - Golf del Sur

Coot - El Fraile reservoir

Stone Curlew - Amarilla Golf

Ringed Plover - 9 at Las Galletas

Turnstone - Las Galletas

Common Sandpiper - Amarilla Golf

Yellow-legged Gull

Rock Dove

Laurel Pigeon - Mirador Lagrimonas

Bolle's Pigeon - Chanajiga

Collared Dove

Long-eared Owl - hills near San Miguel de Abona

Hoopoe around Golf del Sur

Great Spotted Woodpecker - Las Lajas

Berthelot's Pipit - any suitable open ground

Grey Wagtail

Robin

Blackbird

Blackcap

Spectacled Warbler - any suitable scrub

Canary Island Chiffchaff - omnipresent in all habitats

Yellow-browed Warbler - Laurel forests on Anaga

Goldcrest teneriffae - Pine forests

African Blue Tit teneriffae - Pine forests

Southern Grey Shrike koenigi - any open area

Raven - high altitude

House Sparrow

Blue Chaffinch - Las Lajas

Linnet

Goldfinch

Canary - Pine forests and on volcanic plateau