Just back from Tenerife a couple of hours ago. Fortunately the snow eased enough just in time to allow the runway to be cleared at Newcastle and after an hour of circling an impending diversion to Glasgow was averted at the last minute.
A group of women in the back began a spontaneous group song of 'For he's a jolly good driver' in praise of the pilot when he got us down on the runway. I reckon the ground crew deserve some applause too.
The fire damage around Las Lajas is more extensive than I thought. The picnic site itself is largely intact, but the forest is badly burned only 200 metres or so to the west of it and on the eastern part of the site there is fire damage within the park - although I didn't examine it in detail. The species were there that I expected - blue chaffinch, greater spotted woodpecker, Berthelot's pipit, canary and blue tit, but one species I failed on here was the kinglet - although it is a good spot for it in normal times. I found that while the various species were there, they were all there in smaller numbers than when I was last there 3 years ago at the same time of year - maybe the surrounding forest acts as a reservoir for birds that forage in the park and the fire has removed this option.
I found that the Zona Recreativo de Chio was much better than Las Lajas this time, both in species and in numbers - the kinglet wasn't hard to find, even on Sunday when the picnic area was like a mad house. The trees just up-slope were undisturbed and had all the species. We went back yesterday afternoon with the same result, but with added blue chaffinches right next to the car park.
The fire at Erjos is unrelated to the big fire that started at Vilaflor and burned for days up towards Las Lajas, but it has caused a lot of damage nevertheless. I had a good morning at the pools on Wednesday with Barbary Partridge, the local races of grey wagtail and chaffinch and the world's supply of Canary Islands Chiffchaff which are singing all over the place. A local robin put in an all too brief show.
I failed on Bolles at Las Mercedes, but had three in a short spell at Chanajiga in low cloud. They've barred off the track just beyond the playground and picnic area for repairs to fire damage from 2007, but parking at the no entry sign for the works produced the goods by looking up the spur valley just to the north of the track next to the sign.
If you're going to Punta del Teno take an apple. The local Atlantic lizards there are very tourist-savvy and approachable, but if you throw them a piece of apple they'll be on it in a flash and we had them eating from an apple core dropped at my wife's feet. Photo ops a-plenty.
The mirador at Fraille has had wooden posts installed that prevent cars driving onto it, so park at the lay-by a couple of hundred metres to the east and walk up to the mirador. We had a pair of Barbary falcons there after only ten minutes waiting, flying along the cliff top and perching on the cliff - no repeat this time of our views that were so close we could hear the wind in their flight feathers as they stooped on a flock of feral pigeons that flew past at road level in 2010.
The land between the abandoned tomato farm and the punta had spectacled warbler and Barbary Partridge, but the sea was devoid of life - wrong time of year and the wrong wind direction.
