Late January leaving the wet and cold weather behind, we hopped on a plane and headed to Fuerteventura the largest of 8 main Canary Islands which make up this Spanish archipelago nestled in the Atlantic Ocean 100 km North-west of Africa. Staying in Costa Caleta in typical apartments located 600 m from the rugged coastline and set in gardens of pican, Spanish sparrow and Collard dove were abundant, with the occasional visit from a pair of confiding Hoopoe foraging for breakfast.
Caleta de Fuste. The sea at low tide along this coastline reveals rock pools are populated with Wading birds, Gulls and Terns. The coastal track can be walked north towards Costa Antigua or south towards Salinas del Carmen. This proved to be a very productive stretch along the rocky outcrops, around the Marina and Port and at the artificial lake at Centro Atlantico.
Here we had regular sightings of Spoonbill, Sandwich tern, Yellow-legged gull, Lesser black-backed gull, Little egret, Grey heron, Ringed plover, Little-ringed plover, Whimbrel, Greenshank, Redshank, Green sandpiper, Common sandpiper, Sanderling, Turnstone, Kentish plover, Grey plover, Trumpeter finch, Swallow, Pallid swift, Plain swift, Ruddy shelduck and Raven.
Barranco de Río Cabras. Several dam walls provide shallow pools, there's a fresh water stream and scattered shrub and tree cover, this Barranco is a hotspot for Dwarf bittern sightings and something of an attraction to birders. Parking 50m from a recycle plant and crossing an arid expanse we headed towards the edge of a very steep precipice where we followed a rough track down to the bottom and made our way to the location of the last known whereabouts of the Bittern.
Unfortunately the Bittern had gone, however we did have sightings of Trumpeter finch, Fuerteventura chat, Common buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Berthelot's pipit, Spanish sparrow, Raven, Little egret, Black-winged stilt, Ringed plover, Little-ringed plover, Green sandpiper, Ruddy shelduck, Rock dove, White wagtail, Kestrel, White stork, Common snipe, Grey heron, African blue tit, Barn swallow, Hoopoe, Spectacled warbler and Red-rumped swallow.
Recycle processing plant Returning to the car we noticed the fenced off area was attracting large numbers of Gulls and Raptors, the Gulls were on a huge rubbish tip and looked to be mainly Lesser black-backed gull and Yellow-legged gull. Egyptian vultures circled with some landing on nearby pylons, at distance we could see a falcon, most likely Barbary. Much closer there was Kestrel and Common buzzard while in shrubs next to the roadside there were a flock of around 50 Trumpeter finch, several Linnet and a foraging Hoopoe.
Tindaya plain Montaña de Tindaya is the impressive backdrop to a vast flat plain which spans from the base of the mountain down to the ocean and is a prime destination for any birder on Fuerteventura. Close to La Oliva and El Cotillo and connected by a series of tracks which cut through and across the plain, many of the desert species can be found here.
Houbara bustard, Cream-coloured courser and Black-bellied sand grouse were on our target list of birds and we had great view of all of them and seeing 8 Houbara bustard was probably the highlight of our trip. Other sightings included Berthelot’s pipit, Spanish sparrow, Great grey shrike, Trumpeter finch, Kestrel, Common buzzard, Lesser short toed lark, Linnet, Spectacled warbler, Hoopoe, Raven, African blue tit, Black-bellied sandgrouse, Ruddy shelduck, and Yellow-legged gull.
El Cotillo North of the island this town has impressive views out to sea with rocky outcrops and some great beaches and is ideal for sea watching from the headland, Red-billed tropicbird is frequently seen from here. Taking the track which runs along the rugged headland towards the Tindaya plain we parked up and began a sea watch, after a few hours we hadn't seen anything of note so headed for the El Toston lighthouse for a few photos, sightings in the area were Yellow-legged gull, Lesser Black-backed gull, Turnstone, Berthelot's pipit, Common buzzard, Raven, Spectacled warbler, and Great grey shrike.
La Oliva The village and rural agricultural area of the Fimapaire valley are good areas for Barbary partridge, one of our target species, and Laughing dove and on arrival in the town we headed down the two accessible tracks which cross through the area of the valley. Sightings here were Barbary partridge, Spectacled warbler, Berthelot’s pipit, Sardinian warbler, Great grey shrike, Trumpeter finch and Spanish sparrow while back in the town we had Hoopoe, Kestrel and Laughing dove.
Salinas del Carmen. The Museo de la Sal is a renovated area of salt pans, now a working museum, located on the rocky shore next to a small fishing harbour and beach. This is an ideal habitat for waders and gulls, birds of prey often frequent this area with regular sightings of Barbary falcon, while Egyptian vultures are known to breed at the nearby Barranco de la Torre.
Sightings here were Black-winged stilt, Ruddy shelduck, Ringed plover, Little-ringed plover, Ruff, Berthelot’s pipit, Redshank, Rock dove, Kestrel, Whimbrel, Greenshank, Common sandpiper, Green sandpiper, Little egret, Grey heron, and Yellow-legged gull.
Costa Calma From here we continued south to the popular holiday resort of Costa Calma which has a large park area, entering the town at the roundabout we saw a pair of Cattle egret on the traffic Island and more Cattle egret in the park area. Returning home we saw Egyptian vulture and Southern grey shrike.
Barranco de la Torre. Reached from the coastal track which heads through Salinas del Carmen towards the small beach at Puerto de la Torre, taking the right hand fork at the beach which runs alongside the Barranco. This is a rough track and is best driven using an SUV and as we didn’t have one we parked at the beach and followed the track on foot. This is a protected area for breeding Egyptian vultures and may be closed.
Sightings here were Spanish sparrow, Whimbrel, Litte-ringed plover, Green sandpiper, Fuerteventura chat, Spectacled warbler, Swallow, Red-rumped swallow, Sardinian warbler, Chiffchaff, Berthelot’s pipit, Hoopoe, Barbary partridge, Egyptian vulture, Rock dove, Kestrel, Common buzzard, Raven, Swift, Houbara bustard and Trumpeter finch.
Los Molinos Reservoir The largest body of freshwater on the Island which can be reached by a track coming off the FV207. The reservoir has an observation hide a dam wall and a goat track which you can walk taking you along the top of the ridge. The birds here are skittish and take off en mass at the slightest disturbance as we soon found out.
Sightings here were Common buzzard, Spanish sparrow, Trumpeter finch, Hoopoe, Ruddy shelduck, Black-winged stilt, Grey heron, Spoonbill, Little egret, Pintail, Teal, Little-ringed plover, Little stint, Tufted duck, Mallard, Coot, Fuerteventura chat, Kestrel, Berthelot’s pipit, Great grey shrike, Egyptian vulture and Black-bellied sandgrouse.
Betancuria. A contrasting change from the usual arid landscape with its lush green and fertile valley this was once the capital of Fuerteventura and the Canaries and now popular with tourists. To reach here you have to pass through some impressive viewpoints with great vistas like the Mirador Corrales de Guize with its two large bronze statues, we stopped here for photos before dropping in to the town.
Sightings here were Sardinian warbler, Spectacled warbler, African Blue tit, Goldfinch, Spanish sparrow, and Chiffchaff. From here we picked up the hiking trail Camino Parra Medina and walked up to the castle ruins. Sightings here were Kestrel, Common buzzard, Barbary partridge, Egyptian vulture, and Great grey shrike, on the FV30 we stopped at the viewpoint Mirador Las Peñitas for Barbary ground squirrels and Ravens.
This was the end of our trip and it had been thoroughly enjoyable, some of the other sightings worth noting is the aforementioned Barbary ground squirrel which are everywhere, as are Atlantic Lizard, we also spotted several Rabbit along with Monarch, Plain tiger and Painted lady butterflies, Red-veined darter, Scarlet darter and Emperor dragonflies. At Puerto Caleta we saw Red rock crab and Mullet.
Acknowledgements.
Many thanks to Paul Coombes who’s knowledge and information proved invaluable.
Thanks to Mike King and Peter Garrity for the Dwarf Bittern information.
Reference.
Birdwatchers guide to the Canary Islands – an old book but still a useful reference.
Collins bird guide 2nd edition