randombirder

Tenerife is a spectacular place.  Avoid the southern sprawl, string vests, and soggy chips, and head for the hills.  For the hills hold beauty that a package holiday urchin can only begin to dream of while staring benignly into the spittle of an empty pint glass.  Jump on a plane, head south for four hours, and take it all in. El Teide National park, the open road stretches out into the distance, squeezed in by the volcanic backdrop of monoliths and hardened rocky screes, that were once molten, but now remain frozen in time.  The deep blue added to the beauty of the place. This is Poris de Abona, a quiet fishing village located just 30 minutes north along the TF-1 from Tenerife-South airport.  This is where we spent five nights, and it was a charming place, overlooking the eastern seas and free from artificial light that illuminated the night-sky. The island has some interesting birds, hardly overwhelmed by variety or large numbers, but inter

Another productive hour or so over the park with a Redpoll immediately over heading west which was then followed by a steady westerly stream of migrants that included; 320 Woodpigeon , 35 Chaffinch , 14 Redwing , 11 Fieldfare , a single Greenfinch , and a single Meadow Pipit .  The morning was topped by another calling Brambling that cruelly evaded my sight. Resident birds included a Great Spotted Woodpecker , a Goldcrest , and a count of 57 mobile Common Gull  within the grassy areas.

I had no regrets heading up to Pitsford Reservoir when news broke that the Cory's Shearwater had been sighted mid-morning.  The traffic was kind to me, always a bit of a risk when attempting to make use of three of our busy motorways. The Cory's was not seen again after the initial sighting, which then made for a relaxing few hours at this top inland site. It was teeming with wildfowl, best of which were four Greater Scaup of which one was a drake, but all of which were enjoying a late morning snooze.  Four Red-Crested Pochard were also present (three drakes), amongst the large groups of duck that included Wigeon , Shoveler , and Teal .  Decent numbers of Lapwing were present on the islands and shoreline.  A single Little Grebe was present off-shore. It was great to see my first Goldeneye of the season, at least a dozen here that included at least three drakes. A couple of Common Buzzard soared over being typically mobbed by the resident corvids, as did a Red Kite

Managed to drag myself out into the mirk of another weekend morning, it was raining on and off for the hour I could bear standing watching for anything of interest passing over the park. The first bird seen was a vocal Brambling heading west fuelling a bit of anticipation that it could be a good morning.  It was ok - remembering that this is my local park in the depths of East London. Observations from 0700-0800 included a single Siskin associating with a small flock of Goldfinch , 105 Redwing , and a fly through Great Spotted Woodpecker .  Common Gull numbers have now increased to 13. Two Goldcrest were busily skitting around a conifer near the Pavillion.