Wildlife around Casa Vistas del Mar (August 2008)
The Canary Islands are well known to naturalists for the variety of endemic species (i.e. they are not found anywhere else) which inhabit the islands. Tenerife boasts a number of these species, some of which can be seen from the villa. The Atlantic Canary, a small streaky brown, yellow headed finch (not as yellow as cage bred Canaries!), can be seen and heard in the surrounding hillsides, often alighting in the trees and bushes around the villa. The Canary is only found as a wild bird in the Atlantic Islands. Overhead you can virtually always see Plain Swifts, which have a similar status to the Canary; they are slightly smaller than Common and Pallid Swifts which are much rarer on the island. The bushes are frequented by the Canary Island Chiffchaff which looks very similar to its close relatives but has a weak less accurate song – rather than singing it’s name it seems to forget the words and produce a string of “chiffs”! The dry ground also supports Berthelot’s Pipit – a small greyish brown bird with lightly streaked breast and white outer tail feathers, often seen scurrying on the ground and superficially resembling the common Meadow Pipit of much of Europe.
Some other more widely distributed species can also be seen from the villa including the Barbary Partridge – two or three males were seen and heard calling from prominent piles of rocks (including a pile just below the level of the pool!). This bird is resident in North Africa and Gibraltar and can be a problem to see in some parts of its range. The taxonomic position of the “Blue Tits” has been debated but those on Tenerife are usually considered to be the North African Blue Tit with their neat black caps, and were commonly seen in the garden. Other species of bird in the direct vicinity included Sardinian and Spectacled Warblers (the former being by far the commonest and recognised by it’s machine gun call), Grey Wagtail, Buzzard, Sparrow Hawk and Common Kestrel. At night time the eerie calls of Cory’s Shearwaters can be heard as they fly under cover of darkness to nesting holes in the Barranco des Erques, often flying low over the villa.
Two species of Dragonfly were seen at the Villa during our stay – the Red-veined Dropwing (primarily a North African species) and the Blue Emperor. Only 10 species of recorded are recorded from the Canaries.
Butterflies at the Finca were poor with Green Striped White and Canary Island Large White being the only species seen in the direct environs although other species were seen elsewhere including Monarch, Plain Tiger, Canary Island Blue, Cardinal and Cleopatra.
The Tenerife Lizard is abundant around the Finca with females and young outnumbering the larger males.
Journeys of less than one and half hours took us with ease to locations where the other endemic birds were to be found on the island – Canary Island Kinglet is common in the healthy scrub and woodlands on the island; Blue Chaffinch is easy to see at Las Lajas recreation area; Laurel Pigeon (4+) was seen below the El Lance viewpoint and Bolle’s Pigeon was seen in laurel forest near to El Bailadero where the local race of Chaffinch can also be seen with ease.
Different species will of course be seen at other times of the year but many of the above are likely to be seen year round.
With many thanks to Dave Allen
§ Canary Islands Checklist
One good thing about birding in the Canary Islands is that you can go at virtually any time of the year and still find most of the birds that you want to see. By combining just two islands, Tenerife and Fuerteventura, it is possible to see all the endemic species of this archipelago. You may, however, like to visit la Palma, Lanzarote or la Gomera, which are not without interest to the visiting birdwatcher.
Species to try for are Blue Chaffinch, Fuerteventura Stonechat, Canary Islands Goldcrest, Bolle's Pigeon, Laurel Pigeon (all endemics), Berthelot's Pipit, Plain Swift, Canary, Houbara Bustard, Cream-coloured Courser, Barbary Partridge, Trumpeter Finch, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Barbary Falcon, Ruddy Shelduck and Cory's Shearwater.
There is also much potential interest with seabirds, with Bulwer's Shearwater, Little Shearwater, Madeiran Storm Petrel, White-faced Petrel and Red-billed Tropicbird all possibilities, although good planning and some luck will be required to see any of them.
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