So I thought of doing a 'birds on this day' entry but decided on a simpler 'birds in this week/month'.
To start with, a non-birding trip to Fuerteventura over the last week of March 1994 with Sue, and intended as an early spring break of sun, swimming pool, sight-seeing with a little birding thrown in. Looking back, I totalled just 15 hours of 'proper birding' with some stuff recorded whilst driving around the various parts of the island.
We stayed in Caleta de Fuste which, in 1994 at least, had easy foot access into nearby desert which was ideal for early morning, pre-breakfast birding.
This local area produced singles of Houbara Bustard on two dates but,being on foot rather than having the ability to watch from a car on a gravel track, meant that it/they were a little distant; trying to get closer would have been fruitless. This same area also produced all the Black-bellied Sandgrouse, up to a dozen on each of three days plus great views of Cream-coloured Coursers, 5-9 birds with 4 elsewhere at Gorriones. A group of four were right by the roadside from the car on an day excursion to the south of the island.
Another local speciality, the Canary Islands Chat was common and easy to find here and at other sites totalling about 20 birds.
Other notables in this week were:-
Cory's Shearwater 52+
Egyptian Vulture 9
Barbary Partridge 3
Stone Curlew 1
Kentish Plover 12
Turtle Dove 30
Hoopoe 30
Berthelot's Pipit common
Great Grey Shrike L.e.koenigi 20
Plain Swift 2
Spectacled Warbler common, 50
Sardinian Warbler 12
Trumpeter Finch 25
Lesser Short-toed Lark 75
Only 52 spp in a week but not another birder in sight all week!
How things change with birders from the UK (and elsewhere) twitching the long-staying Dwarf Bittern/s on the island over 2017, 2018 and 2019. Is it still there now??
