Fuerteventura : 14th February 2015

Fuerteventura : 14th February 2015

We got 9am Armas ferry from Playa Blanca to Correlejo ( €95 Inc 10% discount for using the car hire firm). From  Correlejo we drove down to the Antigua plain, specifically with the hope of seeing Black-bellied Sandgrouse at a location we got from Dave Gosney’s book “Finding Birds in the Canaries”. Specifically some “sand pits” which are actually artificial water reservoirs. They are located at 28.4419N, 14.0065W. We found the location easily and pulled into the lay-by going on foot from there.

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It has to be said that my id skills let me down badly, first as we tried to id a bird calling loudly from the top of a bush. It had the bill of an seed eater and was rather lark-like but we just could not figure it out. We also had problems with two flocks of a birds. The first may have been Black-bellied Sandgrouse but the pictures we got were rather poor and I will need to do some homework on this. Another flock of birds, these ones much smaller, mystified us in equal measure. Their behavior was like Linnets or other finches and may have been Trumpeter Finches. Again more research will be needed.

The site we stopped at featured two reservoirs that looked like they had been made by bulldozing mounds of earth into position to catch water. It was not particularly evident but from Google Maps you can see that these are next to field systems that they presumable irrigate. We started off by ascending the earth wall of the left-hand reservoir on the side nearest the road but this put us right on the horizon so we decided it would be less obtrusive to walk round the far side of the reservoir which enabled us to enter the area via a gap in the surrounding wall. Inside was a sizable body of water and it is here that the Sandgrouse come for a drink in the morning. Our presence seemed to have scared them off (it may have been them we saw flying around as we approached) if they had not already gone when we arrived.  Walking back to the car we saw both flocks of birds again but it was no clearer to us what they were. What we could be sure of was Berthelot’s Pipits, Ravens and probably some Larks.

Somewhat disappointed we returned to the car. On reflection we really should have explored the other reservoir but we weren’t quite sure when we would be “trespassing” on the farmers fields so we preferred to be cautious. We next drove up the hills to the village of Bentacuria.  En route we stopped at the Mirador del Morre  (28.437957, -14.050348) where I managed to see a Fuerteventuran Blue Tit (I think this is taxonimically the same as the African Blue Tit and has a black, rather than blue, cap). We had hoped for more at Bentacuria but all we managed was a Barbary Duck and a Spectacled Warbler.

We continued on to another site mentioned by Gosney, the Mirador overlooking Las Penitas (28.3870N, 14.0924W) Gosney says that you can probably get Fuerteventuran Chat from here without leaving the car. Well, we managed to miss this bird completely. What we did get were magnificent views of two creatures that attend the car park to be fed, Ravens and Barbary Squirrels. It has to be said you will not get too many chances to photograph a Raven at ten feet. We also saw a couple of the local variation Buzzards (insularum) and a probable Egyptian Vulture on a tree in the lake.

A bit disappointing really and a mistake on our part to think that the 4pm ferry would give us enough time. However, sometimes you just have to put it down to experience and know better next time. I really should have researched the whole thing much better.

Bird Sightings : Fuerteventura 14 February 2015