Fuertaventura Day 2

I spent the night sleeping on the Tindaya Plain, an open area of habitat on the North-West of the island. Here was the best place to find Houbara Bustard, so I figured by sleeping there I would already be in position for first light.

When daylight final arose, it was a case of driving around a number of dirt tracks and scanning the environment. The first bustard I was extremely close to the car, having clearly just crossed the road. Sadly, the light was a little lacking for photos, but it was still awesome to see the bird so close. I subsequently saw another three individuals but all were much further away from the road.

Other birdlife was pretty cool as well. I got good views of a number of Lesser Short-toed Larks but only had brief views of a single Cream-coloured Courser, a species which I had really wanted to see well and photograph. Still, I had finished off at the site by late morning so decided to head back to the river bed where the bittern was supposed to be

-Houbara Bustard

-Common Kestrel (Canary Islands Subspecies)

However, after an hour on site, in the heat of the day, I reached the conclusion that I was wasting my time with this bird, it not being seen now for over two weeks. As a result, I made the call to try a different site on the western side of the island where I hoped I might be lucky and find the last of my targets; Barbary Partridge.

The dried-out reservoir that I visited had a lot of nice vegetation, but sadly quite a few walkers, not ideal for partridges. Still, after an hour walking through the valley I flushed three Partridges from the dry river bed. I followed them, and on finding where they landed got exceptional views of the birds feeding. The site was also brilliant for Sardinian Warblers, of which there were many, and I also encountered a stunning alpestris Ring Ouzel, rounding off a brilliant days birding. 

-Fuerteventura Stonechat

-Atlantic Lizard

-Trumpeter Finch

-Canary Islands Green-striped White

-Barbary Partridge

-Sardinian Warbler

-alpestris Ring Ouzel

Species List:

Tindaya Plains: Ruddy Shelduck, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Houbara Bustard, Cream-colored Courser, Yellow-legged Gull, Eurasian Hoopoe, Common Kestrel, Great Grey Shrike, Northern Raven, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Spectacled Warbler, Spanish Sparrow, Berthelot's Pipit, Trumpeter Finch,

Barranco del Rio Cabras: Ruddy Shelduck, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Common Moorhen, Black-winged Stilt, Little Ringed Plover, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Yellow-legged Gull, Little Egret, Egyptian Vulture, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Hoopoe, Northern Raven, African Blue Tit, Lesser Short-toed Lark, Canary Islands Stonechat, Spanish Sparrow, White Wagtail, Berthelot's Pipit, Trumpeter Finch, Barbary Ground Squirrel, Painted Lady, Emperor Dragonfly, Sahara Bluetail, 

Vega de Rio Palmas: Ruddy Shelduck, Barbary Partridge, Feral Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Laughing Dove, Common Moorhen, Common Buzzard, Northern Raven, African Blue Tit, Common Chiffchaff, Sardinian Warbler, Ring Ouzel, Canary Islands Stonechat, Spanish Sparrow, Trumpeter Finch, Barbary Ground Squirrel, Canary Islands Green-striped White, Greenish Black-tip,