For our first morning on Tenerife we decided to go for a walk on the Monte del Agua. This is a typical location for birders visiting the island to try and see the two Canary Islands endemic pigeon species; Bolles Pigeon and Laurel Pigeon. We arrived nice and early and parked in the town of Erjos.
From there it was a short walk uphill to the Laurel forest where we hoped to search for the pigeons. The path went through an area of scrub and farmland, and here we found more Canary Islands Chiffchaffs and had brief views of the second target for the trip; the Canary Islands Chaffinch. Sadly it was a flight view only, and we could not find it perched. Also in this area we saw Atlantic Canary and our first Blackbird.
Once we reached the main track through the forest we very quickly found our first Bolle’s Pigeons, with a group of five perched in the bushes near the antenna. However, these were the only pigeons we were able to identify. We walked the trail but the canopy was too enclosed and we were only able to spot a few pigeons flying away as we flushed them from their silent perches. It was a little frustrating, as many eBird lists reported double figures of Bolle’s Pigeons as well as a few Laurel Pigeons, but we did not have anywhere near that many. We added the local flavours of Goldcrest and Robin on the trail, but little else.
The afternoon was a bit more chaotic, as we drove the spectacular but narrow roads around the town of Masca. For the driver it was mostly stressful, but the scenery was undeniably awesome. We did a short walk at the Mirador Altos de Baracán above the town, but it was too windy for anything much. Still, despite being in the wrong habitat, we still had a brief flyby Laurel Pigeon. Because of the wind, we descended the mountain a little and walked on the Pista Monte Del Agua instead, passing along the edge of the Laurel woodland, but we saw nothing different except for a Sparrowhawk.
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