Another Bird Blog: Fuerteventura

Showing posts with label Fuerteventura. Show all posts

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Rain Stopped Play

There was time for a quick look at Pilling and Conder Green early on but when the wind and rains arrived I was back home for a late tea-and-toast breakfast. Too soon maybe as the sky then cleared leaving a bright but very windy and still showery day.

Near Lane Ends were a good number of post-breeding Lapwings, 25+ adults together with a small number of obvious juveniles, spiky-crowned and brightly edged feathers, but birds now well on the way to adulthood. I checked out a pair of Oystercatchers which seemed to be doing the business again after the original nest was rolled by Hi-Fly's farming operations; three eggs again in the sprouting maize crop so the oyks should be fine this time providing the Carrion Crows or mammal predators don't intervene.

Lapwing juvenile

Oystercatcher nest

Oystercatcher

I stopped briefly at the plantation where 2 Reed Warblers, a Blackcap and a Reed Bunting were in song and 2 Grey Herons out on the marsh.

At Conder Green the cool, windy conditions meant good numbers of hirundines and Swifts were dashing about the hedgerow again to give counts of 25+ Swift, 20+ House Martin, 15 Swallow and 6 Sand Martin. Late June can be when waders begin returning to coastal haunts and there seemed to be higher numbers of Redshank today with 30+ noted, although just 2 Black-tailed Godwit and 1 Curlew was consistent with recent sightings here. Fifteen Oystercatcher and 6 Lapwing was also normal.

Wildfowl - 3 Wigeon, a Shelduck with 5 small chicks, 14 Tufted Duck and the unseasonal Goldeneye again. The origins of the latter is a matter of some speculation as Goldeneyes normally feature in this area between October and March, the likelihood being that this immature male did not return north last autumn. Immature males do not attain their full black and white male plumage until their second winter. Whatever, the bird certainly appears wild enough and loafs about the pool with the tufties.

Goldeneye

Another returnee this morning was a Little Egret feeding amongst the Redshank and Mallards in the Conder channel. Unfortunately our UK Little Egrets are not as accommodating towards photographers as the species is in other parts of the world, in this case Fuerteventura.

Little Egret

Passerines this morning - 2 Tree Sparrow, 1 Pied Wagtail, 2 Greenfinch, 4 Goldfinch.

Another Bird Blog links today to Camera Critters and Anni's Blogspot .

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Wholly Whimbrel

Nothing much to report this morning and no new photographs so here's the Whimbrels promised recently.

The Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus is one the most wide-ranging shorebirds in the world, breeding in the Arctic in the eastern and western hemispheres, and migrating to South America, Africa, south Asia, and Australia. It is a smaller version of the curlew family of birds and breeds on moorlands and uplands but uses coastal habitats as it migrates south.

A Whimbrel is streaky, greyish-brown with long, blue-grey legs and a down-curved, kinked bill. It can be distinguished from the larger Eurasian Curlew by its shorter bill and strong face pattern with a dark crown, a pale stripe down the middle and dark eye-stripe.

It’s not often I get to see a Whimbrel close up. Here in the UK and probably in much of the Northern hemisphere they are a very wary species which keeps a safe distance from man, probably as a result of being a target for hunters.

When the opportunity recently arose in Fuerteventura to not only watch Whimbrels at close quarters, but also to take a series of photographs, I felt very privileged. No apologies then for over 30 pictures of Whimbrel in today’s post.

The following sequence of pictures was taken on two separate mornings, one of them sunny, the other quite dull. They show how a Whimbrel uses the down-curved bill to probe rocky crevices for food and how the whole bird can with a front view can look quite slim and with a side view can appear very elongated. One of the individuals is shown preening, resting and roosting in between bouts of feeding.

Clicking on the pics will give a close-up slide show of the action in a lightbox.

Whimbrel

This Whimbrel would stand more or less motionless, sometimes on one leg for a while before resuming feeding.

Whimbrel

Preening is the how a bird cares for its feathers and involves two different actions, nibbling and stroking. Preening serves the function of returning feathers to their correct position and shape, using the addition of oil to the feathers from the Uropygial gland. Wiping is simply wiping the feathers with the bill, pressing them into place and perhaps spreading some oil over them. The bird uses its bill to nibble along the edges of feathers straightening them out and ensuring the barbules are all zipped up.

Preening keeps birds feathers clean, waterproofed, and in optimum condition for flying. Birds spend a great deal of time preening because having feathers in tiptop condition is important in keeping the bird insulated and weatherproof, a condition which helps an individual's chances of survival. Birds usually preen after a bath and after feeding. Puffing up the feathers during the preening allows air to the feathers, letting them dry out from the grooming process.

Whimbrel

Time to air those newly groomed feathers.

Whimbrel

Time to resume feeding. Whimbrels feed a lot of the time by probing soft mud for small invertebrates and by picking small crabs and similar prey off the surface. Prior to migration, berries become an important part of their diet.

Whimbrel

More birds soon on Another Bird Blog, but probably not Whimbrels. Log in soon to see what.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

News On The Rocks

A quick visit to the feeding staion today relocated the Chaffinches, about 60+ of them together with 5+ Bramblings, although in the raging wind I couldn't find more than 2 Reed Bunting and 20 Goldfinch. A couple of the feeders were half full, probably as a result of the wind emptying the contents rather than any Goldfinches. Looks like the wind may subside later in the week allowing me to do a spot of ringing.

I haven’t quite finished with Fuerteventura, and during the currently wet and wintry weather, combined with the lack of local news and pictures, I’m posting mop-up pictures from the holiday of 12th to 26th January. As the post title implies, these pictures were taken along the rocky shores close to Costa Calma.

There was a Greenshank around for a day or two, an individual that allowed a slightly closer approach than the wary birds we see in the UK.

Greenshank

Ringed Plovers were sometimes around but never particularly accommodating.

Ringed Plover

Daily stars were the Sanderlings and Turnstones, in some spots the birds had become almost totally fearless of man.

Sanderling

Turnstone

Sanderling

One or two Whimbrels could be seen most days. More Whimbrel pictures soon when Another Bird Blog will devote a full post to the species based on a number of pictures.

Whimbrel

The Common Sandpipers I saw were just as wary as our UK ones, never allowing a close approach.

Common Sandpiper

Here’s a Fuerteventura rarity, an Oystercatcher, quite a way from its normal range. It was just a single bird seen on one day and not a very good picture into the sun.

Oystercatcher

It wasn’t all waders on the rocks. The Spanish Sparrows used the shore too, but just for a change on a foreign holiday, I didn't see any House Sparrows.

Spanish Sparrow

Yellow-legged Gull

Here's the Raven stealing monkey nuts from the ground squirrels.

Raven

Barbary Ground Squirrel

There's much more about Whimbrels soon from Another Bird Blog. Stay tuned to read all about it.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Exploring Fuerteventura And More

It was very windy today, limiting my birding to topping up the feeders at Out Rawcliffe where despite the strong gusts I found a number of birds close to my ringing spot: 32 Goldfinch, 60+ Chaffinch and 8 Reed Buntings being a good sign that birds are coming back after my absence. Also about the site were 800 Woodpigeon, 350 Lapwing and at least 2500 Pink-footed Goose. I left the geese in peace, not wanting to put them to flight into the path of shooters on the next farm. On my way off the farm one of the local Kestrels hung into the wind above the track, living up to its old English name of Windhover.

Common Kestrel

In the absence of more local news and to fill out today’s post I put together more images from the recent holiday in the Canary Islands, Spain.

Although holding a certain attraction, the beaches of Fuerteventura weren’t the sole interest in our recent holiday. A hire car for a few days gave a chance to explore the island although at approximately 650 square miles there’s a lot of ground to cover, and a pure white car isn’t the best colour for approaching cautious birds.

Remember to "Click the pics" for a close-up tour of the birds and the island.

Exploring Fuerteventura

Over the Plains Fuerteventura

The plains above Costa Calma and La Pared hold Houbara Bustards, Cream-coloured Coursers and Stone Curlew, but in a couple of tries we didn’t have much luck apart from 3 distant Stone Curlew and brief views of a running Courser.

Cream-coloured Courser

There were lots of Lesser Short-toed Larks on the dry, open plains with small gangs of Linnets and occasional Southern Grey Shrikes. The Linnets are very unapproachable, as are the Goldfinches that can be glimpsed in greener parts of the island.

Linnet

Southern Grey Shrike

Lesser Short-toed Lark

We journeyed through the centre of the island through the village of Betancuria and on to the highest parts of the island at 600 meters, giving a spectacular outlook on the landscape below and distant views of an Egyptian Vulture. This species is apparently now rare on the island as they are elsewhere in its range and we had just two sightings of the vulture in two weeks.

Egyptian Vulture

Exploring Fuerteventura

A walk exploring the outskirts and the village of Betancuria provided Sardinian Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Kestrel, African Blue Tit, Spectacled Warbler and Trumpeter Finch. The latter three were all new birds for me with the wary Trumpeter Finch a particular favourite, due to its slightly comical appearance.

Betancuria - Fuerteventura

Betancuria - Fuereventura

Trumpeter Finch

A few Spectacled Warblers were in song, and I guess the breeding season is quite early in these parts.

Spectacled Warbler

The so named Canary Islands Stonechat is actually found on Fuerteventura only where it is said to be best found in the dried up river beds, the barrancos, dotted around the island. I found them in a couple of locations where houses ran down to the beach, one time finding one feeding on the tide wrack with Berthelot’s Pipits, until I disturbed it whereupon it flew chat-like to the nearby fence. To me they appeared much like a very dark-headed Whinchat rather than a Stonechat.