Whiskered Tern

Greenland-type Wheatear - Orcombe Point.

Orcombe Point from 0630 - c40 Swallows through, 4 Wheatear, 6+ Whitethroats, 2 Meadow Pipits, 9+ Chiffchaffs,  4 Blackcaps and 5+ Willow Warblers.
Mudbank - 10 Black-headed Gulls, 12 Sandwich Terns, 1 Arctic Tern (upriver at 1150), 12 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 20 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 3 Redshank and 1 male Red-breasted Merganser.
Yesterday off there - 20 Whimbrel and 27 Sandwich Terns. My first Whitethroat of the year on a very quick visit to Orcombe.
This afternoon I broke my no twitching rule and popped up to Durleigh Reservoir in Somerset for the Whiskered Tern - a favourite species of mine that I've not seen  in the UK for 20 years (I saw James Diamond's Exe bird on 9/5/05 and before that - one on the Camel estuary, Cornwall on 10/5/95 and one on the Hayle estuary on 19/6/89. 

Sat on a buoy when I arrived and nobody else was around. After a few minutes it started dip-feeding amongst c80+ Sand Martins. I'd almost forgotten just how stunning a species it is. I watched it for about half an hour as it continued feeding, even in torrential rain. I left as the rain intensified and the bird had started flying around really high up, by which time a few other birders had arrived.

Fuerteventura

African Houbara.

Lu and I have just got back from a week on Fuerteventura. Somewhere I've wanted to go for as long as I can remember. We were based in Corralejo at the northern tip of the island. We hired a car for three days to explore the northern half of the island but did a lot of walking thereafter. I think it's fair to say that we both fell for it's unique charm and beauty. Lots of very arid, rocky volcanic terrain but the changing light and open landscape produced a multitude of desert colours that contrasted wonderfully with the blues of the Atlantic. The wildlife was great too.

Displaying male African Houbara - south of El Cotillo.

The uninhabited Lobos Island from the beach south of Corralejo. Beyond Lobos lies Lanzarote.

Barbary Ground Squirrel.

Mediterranean Short-toed Lark.

Great Grey Shrike - east Canary Islands ssp koenigi.

Hottentot Fig.

Male Spanish Sparrow. Very common pretty much everywhere we went.

Female - Betancuria.

Male Spanish Sparrow - El Cotillo.

Atlantic Canary (male) - Betancuria.

Red-veined Darter.

African Collared Dove ? - Corralejo. I havent't yet quite got to grips with the status and/or purity of this species on Fuerteventura but finding this bird required checking the (grey) undertail coverts of an awful lot of Eurasion Collared Doves!

Male Black-bellied Sandgrouse - Tindaya. Expertly picked out by Lu!

After a lot of searching along rough tracks, from the car, I picked out two or three Cream-coloured Coursers. Unfortunately pretty distant. The temptation to leave the car and get closer views was pretty strong but I resisted.

Slender-leaved Iceplant - Mesembryanthemum nodiflorum.

Crystalline Iceplant - Mesembryanthemum crystallinum.

Berthelot's Pipit - south of El Cotillo.

Mount Tindaya with Tindaya Village to the right after early morning rain.

A variety of migrant waders were seen along the rocky shoreline of Corralejo such as this Whimbrel (above) and Bar-tailed Godwit.

Other migrants were very thin on the ground but this Black Kite came in off the sea from the direction of Lanzarote.

Banded Sable Spoladea recurvalis. Masses of these found - mostly in weedy patches on the edges of carparks!

Geranium Bronze.

African Grass Blue.

Eublemma cochylioides.

Crimson Speckled.

Plain Swift - Corralejo. Really difficult to photograph. I spent some time at the top of a bell tower to get these record shots. Two birds were racing around palm trees, only occasionally breaking the skyline in fast and erratic flight. Note the dark coloration compared to Pallid Swift and lack of a pale throat patch.

Pallid Swifts were far more common, less hurried, more vocal and broader-winged.

East Canary Gecko.

Sally Lightfoot Crab.

Desert Sand Grasshopper.

Fuerteventura Atlantic Lizard.

Cattle Egret with East Canary Gecko.

Yellow Broomrape Cistanche phelypaea.

Canarian Aizoon Aizoon canariense.

Spectacled Warbler - El Cotillo.

Trumpeter Finch - La Oliva.

African Blue Tit ssp degener - Betancuria. Photographed while eating lunch in a restaurant, this bird was feeding alongside a male Sardinian Warbler.

Betancuria Village from just below the Morro Velosa viewpoint.

Egyptian Vulture - east Canary Islands ssp majorensis. One of three seen.

Female Kentish Plover - Corralejo.

Hoopoe - Corralejo.

Stone-curlew - Corralejo.

Canary Samphire Astydamia latifolia.

For a while I thought I wasn't going to see the endemic Canary Islands Stonechat but eventually I discovered this beautiful male in a barranco that I stumbled across - Barranco del Cavadero.