Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Sunny Days

This is a short post from Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain where Another Bird Blog is exchanging the UK winter for a few days in the sun.

There are scenes and birds from Lanzarote holidays past and I am back in the UK soon to relieve the house sitter of domestic niceties. In the meantime and subject to the island's attractions I’ll try to keep in contact with Blogger friends through my netbook and the hotel WiFi. 

Hotel Costa Calero, Lanzarote

The common pipit in the Canary Islands is the undistinguished Berthelot's Pipit, so named after the French naturalist Sabin Berthelot, a one time resident of the Canary Islands. The pipit can be unobtrusive, feeding away quietly in the often grey, volcanic landscape of Lanzarote. When it calls it is somewhat reminiscent of a Yellow Wagtail but of course looks nothing like one.  

 Berthelot's Pipit

There can't be a single tourist who's not been to the famous Teguise Market.

Teguise - Lanzarote 

A visit or two to the Salinas and the coastal Laguna of Janubio is usually worthwhile to see species like Black-winged Stilt and Kentish Plover plus commoner waders like Greenshank, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Grey Plover and Little Stint.   

Janubio - Lanzarote

Black-winged Stilt

 Common Sandpiper

The taxonomy of the Eurasian Kestrel Falco tinnunculus is undergoing current research. Here on the Canary Islands there are two subspecies, one in the Western Canaries F. t. canariensis  and one in the Eastern Canaries F. t. dacotiae. Here on Lanzarote I guess I'm seeing the latter but as a rather unapproachable bird it is difficult to see much variation from our nominate UK Kestrel.

 
Kestrel

Below is a picture of the ubiquitous Spanish Sparrow, although of course the House Sparrow is also to be found in the Canary Islands, so where Sparrows are about best to look at the males to be 100% certain which species I'm looking at.
 
Spanish Sparrow

The Green Lagoon, Charco de los Chicos, Lanzarote

More news and views from Lanzarote soon.

13 comments:

  1. Puedes ver en Órzola y La Graciosa una pareja de Rabijunco etéreo (Phaethon aethereus), es un ave espectacular. Felices vacaciones en mi país amigo Phil.

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  2. Had to laugh at the dog on top of the Donkey! Great bird shots, love the Stilt and the Sparrow.

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  3. Your "tourist" images of Lanzarote are exotic to say the least. I love the fluffy dog on the donkey in the market. And as always I love the birds. The Spanish Sparrow is quite a spectacular bird for a sparrow.

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  4. Phil, lucky you! I would love to escape the winter. Wonderful birds and I love the shot of the dog on the donkey.. Beautiful scenic shots too. Have a great holiday!

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  5. Phil, lucky you! I would love to escape the winter. Wonderful birds and I love the shot of the dog on the donkey.. Beautiful scenic shots too. Have a great holiday!

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  6. Have a nice holidays.. love passer hispaniolensis (Gorrión moruno).. :-)

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  7. Oh you sneaky dog, slipping off to Spain under cover of daylight. The only thing we share right now is the bright sunlight. Many years ago I visited Las Palmas a couple of times, but that's the extent of my travels to those enchanted isles. Que pases unas buenas vacaciones en las Islas Canarias!

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  8. looks like a lovely place to vacation!

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  9. Those Spanish Sparrows are very attractive.Lovely shots Of Lanzarote,..know it well.Have a good holiday.

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  10. Have a nice break Phil, looking forward to seeing the pics.............

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  11. You and Sue must have a special spot in your hearts for this beautiful place. Absolutely gorgeous and why is it that when you share shoreline shots from UK, the water is just not that amazing shade of blue that you show there in Spain...hmm, same holds true from me from Montana and Kentucky. Have a great ending to your week away, and safe travels home~

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  12. Fascinating place to visit! Love the hotel shot. And the donkey with his passenger. :-) Your bird shots are wonderful! Can't wait to see more!

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  13. Happy to hear you have found a bit of sunshine to soak up. What a splendid place to recharge those batteries!

    Enjoy the time, the different scenery and especially the birds.

    Take care and we look forward to a report from home once you return.

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