First up, one I forgot from Fuerteventura… Great (Southern?) Grey Shrike of the race koenigi. These were relatively abundant on Fuerteventura, and we saw quite a few on the other islands too. In some cases, individuals were pretty spectacularly tame, showing down to under 10m. Relative to the birds I’m used to in the UK, these were notable for having a particularly dark grey mantle.
The Blue Tits were superb value again (note that the wingbars have disappeared!), and we regularly noted a very Crested Tit-like purring call.
This last shot was taken at Las Lajas, the best known Blue Chaffinch site, where the chaffinches and various other birds were attracted in to drink from a dripping tap and adjacent puddle. Another regular visitor was this Great Spotted Woodpecker – the local race was particularly dusky grey underneath:
Around the laurel forest, Grey Wagtail were fairly common, and again relatively confiding. I don’t recall getting this close to one with a camera in the UK.
And finally, the much-maligned Rock Dove. On Fuerteventura, some biggish flocks were heavily tainted by Feral Pigeon influence, containing some really grim looking piebald birds. However, on Tenerife and La Gomera, though, we did run into a few candidates for pure birds – this rather dozy individual was one of a pair at Las Lajas again.
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