Many thanks for going to the trouble Chris.Nice report as ever Nick, glad you got the Chaffinch & Sparrow, a pity about the Crake! Thanks for taking the time to write it up.
Chris
sorry Nick I wasn’t clear, it’s been removed from the SEO list because they no longer believe it to have ever been properly established in Spain, rather than any taxonomic reasonI know IOC still hold it as a species, hence I don't really follow each Country's own decisions. Not arguing against what they say mind you but my world list is IOC-based.
I do think that in the Canary Islands there must be a lot of hybridisation though. Part One of this Birdforum video report looks closely at the issue of African and European Collared Doves.
Worth a look perhaps................https://www.birdforum.net/threads/gran-canaria-june-2023-trip-report-video.442395/
I get very easily confused James. Cheers.sorry Nick I wasn’t clear, it’s been removed from the SEO list because they no longer believe it to have ever been properly established in Spain, rather than any taxonomic reason
Cheers
James
Giant lizards...I did find it very interesting actually....................but not as much as things that move.
Maybe I shouldn't believe the current headlines about the Canarian economy being under strain and at breaking point. Might well be a false headline Mike.I wasn’t aware that there were too many tourists in the Canary Islands.
I was in Lanzarote a month ago, plenty of empty rooms in the hotel we used and getting a restaurant table on "the front" at Playa Blanca was easy - just walk in !
Birding was pretty slow, though
Well, we’re back there in early April (my partner’s sons have booked as a "big birthday" treat) it’s school holidays so could be a tad busier !Maybe I shouldn't believe the current headlines about the Canarian economy being under strain and at breaking point. Might well be a false headline Mike.
Sorry if I've caused a bit of unnecessary and probably unwarranted concern Mike, I'm sure that it will be no different to usual. Sensationalist, headline-grabbing nonsense on my newsfeed more likely.Well, we’re back there in early April (my partner’s sons have booked as a "big birthday" treat) it’s school holidays so could be a tad busier !
Maybe I shouldn't believe the current headlines about the Canarian economy being under strain and at breaking point. Might well be a false headline Mike.
Don’t worry, we’re taking a couple of kids in the family group so we hope it is busy for extra playmatesSorry if I've caused a bit of unnecessary and probably unwarranted concern Mike, I'm sure that it will be no different to usual. Sensationalist, headline-grabbing nonsense on my newsfeed more likely.
Tenerife and Gran Canaria are a world apart from Lanzarote and especially fuerteventura. The reason is already in the name: strong winds in the flatter islands of Lanzarote and fuerteventura make them popular with windsurfers, hippies and other castaways, but less so with sunseekers. The problem with tourism on Gran Canaria and Tenerife is not only the peak volumes but more and more permanent residents take up a lot of space more permanently and change the character of the islands.Sorry if I've caused a bit of unnecessary and probably unwarranted concern Mike, I'm sure that it will be no different to usual. Sensationalist, headline-grabbing nonsense on my newsfeed more likely.
I don't think the ring was blue on the Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch that I saw - I can't recall now unfortunately. Maybe not countable to some -.Interesting read about the ringed Blue Chaffinch you saw at Pajonales; I read before that birds at Llanos de la Pez were ringed / partly reintroduced, so if one would want to count a non-ringed / truly wild bird, it had to be at Pajonales (a reason I went to see one there after seeing them easily at Llanos de la Pez). Birds ringed at Pajonales are maybe from a scientific project, who knows (or also from reintroduction, the blue color of the ring could be the indicator of that)?
Endemic ssp. on Gran Canaria, NOT shared with other islands, are: African Blue Tit (ssp. hedwigae), European Robin (ssp. marionae) and Great Spotted Woodpecker (ssp. thanneri), so good to read you saw all of those, but you didn't see ssp. superbus of European Robin as that one is only on Tenerife...!
For those interested, there is a small population of reintroduced Laurel Pigeons in one of the last pockets of native Laurel forest still on the island, namely at Los Tilos.
All details about my (short) stay are here, and a longer time on fuerteventura where the top bird imho is Slender-billed barn-owl: https://www.cloudbirders.com/be4/download?filename=DETEMMERMAN_Canaries_11_2020.pdf