Tenerife Shenanigans (Part 2)

So I can tell you have literally been on the edge of your seat since reading my last blog post about my Tenerife trip. Well fear no more, this is the rest of my trip, here is part 2......

Day Three - Anaga Cloud Forest

Anaga Cloud Forest

For this day we travelled to the north-east corner of Tenerife to the Anaga Cloud Forest. This habitat is a relic of a habitats that, millions of years ago, was widespread across the Mediterranean basin. Today is found on Tenerife scattered across the island, only covering around 10% of its original area due to conversion to agriculture. Despite this it’s still an amazing habitat. 

We were undertaking a vegetation survey looking at how the types of vegetation changed with altitude. The range and size of some of the plants was incredible, there were heather plants the size of trees (unsurprisingly called tree-heathers) and huge ferns. The forests are almost always covered b clouds, of course when I was there it was clear. The conditions arise when the warm trade winds blow onto the island and the air rises when it hits Mount Teide, as it cools it form a layer of cloud that these plants exploit. A truly amazing ecosystem.

Of course I was looking out for birds. The day stared well with several Canary Island Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis) in the tress around however my main target species for the day were two near-endemic pigeon species: Bolle's Pigeon (Columba bollii) and Laurel Pigeon (Columba junoniae). I was very lucky and saw them both, I only had fleeting views however I was able to identify them by there distinctive tail patterns. 

Bolle's Pigeon (2a and 2b) and Laurel Pigeon (3a and 3b)

Day Four - Lizard Population Monitoring at El Medano

The Tenerife Gecko

Today was good fun, we spent the day trapping (and releasing) lizards to look at their populations and also temperature data. The site we went to had two lizard species: Southern Tenerife lizard (Gallotia galloti galloti) and Tenerife Gecko (Tarentola delalandii) both endemic to the island. We caught the Southern Tenerife lizards in bottle traps and the Tenerife Geckos were found by searching under rocks. This reflects the different lifestyles with the Southern Tenerife lizard being active in the day and the gecko being nocturnal. Once caught the lizards body size, internal and external temperature were taken as well the substrate and air temperate. 

After analysing the results it was found that the larger lizards came out later in the day, when it was warmer, this was expected. The data also showed the Southern Tenerife lizard actively maintained a constant body temperature throughout the day, by moving in and out of the sunlight whereas the geckos were able to function at any body temperature. Bird life was fairly thin on the ground, however good numbers of Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata) were seen and I saw a single Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) in the town afterwards. 

Day Five - ITER Wind Farm

The Muscovy Ducklings that were swimming around,
not something I've seen before in January

So, day five the final day. Today we travel to the ITER wind farm in the south of the island. ITER is a research facility for sustainable and renewable energy, mainly wind and solar power. The work that is being undertaken here is brilliant. There isn’t much more I can say as I’m no expert when it comes to renewables, but if you want to know more their click here for their website. In terms of birds all I saw were some captive Muscovy duck, but there were some rather sweet ducklings swimming around.

Now I’m not massively sentimental, but I will say this. We spent most of the week looking at geology and how the past event on the island have affected the habitats and species found across the island. It seemed fitting to finish with a day looking forward at the future of Tenerife and indeed the world.

The Week in Birding

So I have been giving you little updates on the birds seen each day. I can say it was a very good week of birdwatching, especially considering that it was not actually a birding holiday. I managed to see pretty much all my target species and all the endemic and near-endemic species. Below is the full bird list, obly 21 species but its quality not quantity:

1	Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus
2	Feral Pigeon/Rock Dove	Columba livia
3	Bolle's Pigeon	Columba bollii
4	Laurel Pigeon	Columba junoniae
5	Collared Dove	Streptopelia decaocto
6	Pallis Swift	Apus pallidus
7	Common Swift	Apus apus
8	Great-Spotted Woodpecker	Dendrocopos major
9	Grey Wagtail	Motacilla cinerea
10	Berthelots Pipit	Anthus berthelotii
11	Blackbird	Turdus merula
12	Canary Island Chiffchaff	Phylloscopus canariensis
13	Tenerife Kinglet	Regulus (regulus) teneriffae
14	African Blue Tit	Cyanistes teneriffae
15	Spanish Sparrow	Passer hispaniolensis
16	House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
17	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs
18	Blue Chaffinch	Fringilla teydea
19	European Canary	Serinus canaria
20	Serin	Serinus serinus
21	Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis
22	Southern Grey Shrike	Lanius meridionalis

Tenerife Shenanigans (Part 1)

So, I never intended for this to become a travel blog so please forgive me for telling you about my recent field trip to Tenerife. Which was by the way absolutely awesome. 

Before we get into what I got up to a bit about Tenerife itself. It is the largest of the seven Canary Islands measuring around 800 km sq with a population of about 900,000. The Canary Islands lie about 250 - 400 km of the coast of Morocco but are actually part of Spain. 

The Canary Islands were formed through volcanic activity, the oldest islands being those in the east (Lanzertote & Fuerteventura) and the youngest to the west (Palma and Hierro). Tenerife itself is around 7 million years old, originally it was three islands but continued volcanic activity shaped it into the island we see today.  Today the highest point on the island (and in Spain) is Mount Teide at 3718 m above sea level. This volcano actually formed as a result of a massive eruption of an even large volcano, Las Canadas, around 250,000 years ago. The eruption caused a massive landslide forming the Vale of Orotava and leading to a Tsunami on America's eastern seaboard.  Tenerife is considered volcanically active, with eruption occurring around once every 100 years. 

Tenerife is also important ecologically, containing many endemic (or near-endemic) species. This includes thousands of invertebrate species, 140 species of plants, 7 species of bird and several reptiles. The main reason for travelling to Tenerife was to study these unique species and how they were adapted to and interact with the environment. 

The scene is set, let’s find out about what I got up too.......

Day One - Mount Teide & the Pine Forest

Mount Teide

So the week began with a bang (if you’ll pardon the terrible pun) when we spent the day on Mount Teide. We arrived at the Rocks of Garcia and spent some time looking at the geology of the formation as well as the different types of lava flow found on the volcano. We walked around some of the caldera (volcanic crater) of Las Canadas and studied and made field sketches of some of the native flora. Due to the harsh conditions the plants found here are highly adapted and unique with many being endemic. 

Southern Grey Shrike

Whilst on the mountain I was keeping my eye out for birds, the highlights were very good close views of both Southern Grey Shrike (Lanius meridionalis) and Berthelot’s Pipit (Anthus berthelotii).

Bethelot's Pipit 

The Pine forest was also a very interesting place to visit. It was good to see a large area of completely natural pine forest as opposed to the plantations we are so familiar with in the U.K. The forest itself was also amazing due to the fact the it was so species poor. The pine trees (the native tree Pinus canariensis) actively inhibit the growth of other plants. Within the forest we saw a tunnel which is used to drain water from the volcanic aquifer under Mount Teide.

The Native Pine Forest

In the Pine forest I had fleeting views of Tenerife Kinglet (Regulus (regulus) teneriffae) as well as African Blue Tit (Cyanistes teneriffae) and Blue Chaffinch (Fringilla teydea).

Male Blue Chaffinch

Day Two - Malpais de Guimar

Canary Islands Spurge (it was at least 2.5 m tall)

We spent the second day undertaking transect surveys of vegetation at Guimar This is an area of lava flow produced by a small volcano on the southern coast. We were looking at the changes in vegetation from the coast inland. We found that in general the species diversity increased inland due to the lower levels of salt found there. Whilst we were here we had our first proper encounter with Euphorbia. These are a genus of plants that look similar to cacti but are not related to them (Cacti are found in the new world and Euphorbia in the old world). The most spectacular of these was the endemic Canary Islands Spurge (Euphorbia canariensis). 

In terms of bird life I had encounters with a Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) which had predated a lizard as well as a Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata). 

Stay tuned for part 2, coming very soon.......

If you go down to the woods today........

Unfortunately you will not find a teddy bears picnic. However what I am going to talk about in this post is, in my opinion, much more interesting. 

Imagine the scene; it was a Sunday morning in Ravensroost woods (a Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserve) where a bird ringing session is taking place.  At the end of one of the net rides I can see two shapes; from a distance one is obviously a Great Tit and as I get closer I realize that the other bird is nothing less than a Firecrest. 

The Firecrest

So why is this interesting? Well this bird was a new species to ring and process for me additionally my trainer Simon had never seen or heard a Firecrest in the woods before; despite visiting regularly since 1998 and ringing there since 2009. But more significantly, after speaking to the Wiltshire & Swindon Biological Records Centre it became apparent this was actually the first record of a Firecrest in Ravensroost Woods. 

The Firecrest holds the join title of the U.K's smallest bird (with the closely related Goldcrest), weighing around the same as a 10 pence coin. The U.K holds around 550 territories mostly in the south but birds also occur on passage up the east coast. They can be found in conifer and mixed woodland, as well as scrub and more open habitats. The Firecrest is a bird that is expanding its range northwards, historically being  considered a rare vagrant, even as recently as 60 years ago they were only seen as an annual visitor to the Scilly Isles and some southern counties. Breeding was first recorded in the New Forest in Hampshire with a gradual expansion northwards thought the country. 

In Wiltshire the first record of a Firecrest is from 1881 in Savernake Forest, where the bird was shot by a catapult! Birds then appeared sporadically up until 1966 after which Firecrests have been recorded almost annually in Wiltshire. However it was not until 1983 that it was first proved to have bred in the county. Between 1983 and 2000 singing males were recoded every year, with conformed breeding in seven different years. 1998 had 17 territories, the highest recorded in this period. The vast majority of territories were in the southwest of the county with smaller number in the northeast.

A typical view in Ravensroost,
showing the mixed tree species.

So the big question, could this bird have actually been living and even breeding in Ravensroost? Well Ravensroost is ancient woodland, in contains a mixture of board-leaved and conifer trees and has areas of recent coppice and scrub. So it certainly ticks all boxes in terms of habitat, as well as this Goldcrests (which have similar habitat requirements) are abundant in the woods. It is unlikely that breeding has occurred there before as this site is popular with birders and is monitored by a volunteer warden; a singing male Firecrest is likely to have been picked up at some point. So breeding is probably not occurring, yet. The bird was trapped and ringed and was then seen around a week later by the site warden, this suggests it is potentially using this habitat to over-winter. There is a precedent for this, Wiltshire has often played host to wintering Firecrests, mainly in south of the county, but again pushing northwards.

So, to conclude, after all this discussion only time will really tell what happens. With the Firecrest expanding both its wintering and breeding areas north it seems likely this bird could have been using the woods as a wintering area and there is no reason why this species shouldn’t do again in subsequent years. In terms of breeding it seems like it’s only a matter of time until the song of the Firecrest rings out across Ravensroost woods. Of course, if there are any updates I will let you know. 

To find out more about Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Ravensroost woods click here. For recent sightings in Ravensroost click here.