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