Tenerife

 Great to get away for a week in the sun , only bad news was my trusty Lumix blew up on the way out there . So phone shots only .The first few days were spent between the concrete hotels with the smell of food and sun tan lotion over powering. In the local park I counted 43 Canary Island Chiffchaff P .canariensis distinctive explosive call and quite different from our local birds. 2  Hoopoe were feeding on the track and a small flock of 7 Atlantic Canary Serinus canaria . flew over calling. 11 Blackbirds race  T.cabrerae feeding around the water sprinklers and 2 Kestrels race   F.insularum  were hunting along the roadside.100 + Plain Swifts overhead and plenty of  Gulls to looks through on the beach most seemed to be Asores  Gulls larus atlantis  with a few Lesser Black Backed  and Black headed Gulls  . Cory's / Scopolis  Shearwaters were seen in good numbers most days , most looked to have the extensive white inner primary' s...but tbh it was great to watch them in such abundance.....I did find 2 Berthelot's Pipits  between the hotels and the odd African Blue Tit of the Canarian race teneriffae .

A real bonus was the local population of Monarch Butterfly they were common and seen most days drifting around on a massive 4.5 inc wingspan  superb....African Grass Blue , Long tailed Blue , Bath White , Germain Bronse , , Red Admiral , Small Copper , Clouded Yellow , Painted Lady and Canarian species of Speckled Wood and Large White

   A car for a couple of days and a look round the Island for a few specialities started in the high mountain woods at Las Lajas  looking for Blue Chaffinch which was easily found , a flock of 10 Blue Chaffinch and 6 Atlantic Canary around the water taps. 3 Great Spotted Woodpecker , 2 Bussards , 30 + Ravens , African Blue Tit  and a pair of Sardinian Warblers. Then on to Mirador del  Ingles for Bolles Pigeon and Canarian Kinglet ,with also many Canaries Chaffinch tintillon .(below)

                                                         

The next day the aim  was to find the rare White tailed Pigeon which is found on the northern coast at Mirador  las Grimonas , a parking area next to a busy main road on very steep cliffs  but the easiest place to find the Pigeon...I had only been there for 2 minutes and an adult showed very well flying around showing off its white tail and then landed and scope views were excellent. In the area more Bussards , Plain Swifts , Cory's Sheawaters , Kestrels , Ravens and Atlantic Gulls, Atlantic Canarys and the odd Berthalots Pipit.

  The last Morning was spent at Palm Mar , the first bird here was Southern Grey Shrike Koenigi  and before long another 3 or 4 showed well , Spectacled Warbler , Lesser Short toed Lark , good numbers of Berthelots Pipit , Canary Island Chiffchaff  , Grey Wagtail and Sparrowhawk , 2 Barbary Partridge flew across the road and more birds could be heard calling all around.

                                                    Gallotia golloti

 

Bath White