Up the Volcano

This is my last post for the trip to Tenerife. Another bird that was found around the hotel was the Canary Island race of Blue tit which is quite different from the one here in the UK.

UK Version

Tenerife Version

Before setting off on my holiday I decided to pick a target bird for the holiday which was the endemic and scarce Blue Chaffinch which is only found on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. I did a bit of research before going and the Las Lajas Picnic site seemed to offer the best chance of finding one. So we hired a car and took the twisiting route up Mount Teide. We stopped off at the foot of the summit at an altitude of 2500m, to admire the spectacular scenery, where another endemic bird species was to be found the Berthelot's Pipit.

We carried on down off the mountain on the road to Villaflor and easily found the picnic site and the blue chaffinches.

Where there is water..

I always think a good tactic for getting photographs of birds in hot countries is to head for places of water, as something will turn up before long...

On the walk down to town I came across this pigeon or should I say rock dove which is the nearest I have found to a wild looking bird.

I found a square in the old part of Puerto de la Cruz with a fountain and sure enough some birds were visiting. A bird which frequently visits my garden back home, the Collared Dove

However of more interest to me were the Spanish Sparrow as I have not seen or photographed these before. Female amongst the flower beds.

but the males put on a better display

especially when they decided to take an afternoon shower in the fountain.

and to finish off this set a Grey Heron that I came across in a park pool.

More from Tenerife

Besides the Canary there were numerous other types of birds to be found around the back of the hotel during my stay. Large numbers of the Canary island race of ChiffChaff were present. They look very similar to the UK version but the song lacks the 'chaf'

A bird which I found really tricky was the Sardinian Warbler as they love to skulk in vegetation and I only had two opportunities to get a clear shot all week.


Another bird which I found of interest were the Turtle Doves as I have only seen one in the UK.


This one looking for seeds amongst the irrigation pipes in the flower beds

Birds of Tenerife

The reason for the lack of posts on the Blog over the last week is due to me a couple of thousand miles due south taking a holiday in North-West Tenerife with my better half. This was not a photographic holiday but as they say 'have camera will travel' and I had to take odd half hours here and there to get some shots with the 100-400mm (travel) lens. Fortuantely the hotel was on the outskirts of Puerto de la Cruz and around the back of the hotel were some formal gardens and an area of scrub for me to wander around. I will post the resulting efforts over several posts as I have quite a few shots to go through but will start with one of the most common birds to be found at the back of the hotel, wild canaries. This one was gathering seed to feed young.

A female
and a youngster

Gathering seed which can be thirsty work and to finish off, you certainly do not need an alarm clock in the Canary islands.

Mad as March one

Went out very early this morning for my first attempt at brown hare given that this is the time to try and photograph them. I was please with the results for a first try but will have to have another go at them to see if I can get some shots of them boxing.

Couple of back lit early first light shots to start

The Mere

I called into Martin Mere recently on a grey misty day with poor light. It has been while since I visited and I was surprised to see the Whooper Swan still on the main lake.

In amongst them was a black swan which I assume had some how made it there from the waterfowl collection on the other side of the fence.

I was hoping to see some Ruff close in to the hide but they not were present but a Pintail did leave the water and I think the first time I have seen one on dry land.

The reed bunting always look good in the spring and several males were visiting the feeders near one of the hides.

Passing Marshside RSPB on the way home, I stopped for a short while, but it was generally quiet in front of the hides except for a lone shoveler.

Lunchtime Dipper

There is a small stream very close to my office so I thought I would spend my lunch hour trying to get a shot of a dipper. Ate my sandwich, took some shots and then back to work. A rewarding way to spend the 60 minutes.

New birds arriving

Some new birds are starting to arrive at the woodland feeding station on the private site but as yet I have not managed to capture them, with both siskin appearing and the first sight of a brambling. Managed to get 3 shots in the during the very brief glimpse of the Brambling but none of them turned out. This is a shame as I have only ever managed to photograph one Brambling before, that unusually turned up in the back garden just over a year ago of which here are a couple of shots taken then...

and against the orange paint!!! of the garden wall

Hopefully I will have some new shots to show soon.

The woodpecker were busy and seem to be chasing each other around no doubt as a prelude to breeding and at one point there were four birds in on the feeders.

Apart from that just the usual birds coming in amongst which were...

Blue tit

Long tailed tit

and Goldfinch