I am fortunate that we have the use of a private apartment in Los Cristianos, so whilst this is a bit of a cheaper family holiday, its also in about the worst location for birding that I've ever stayed in - bear in mind I don't do car rentals when abroad. But the wife and kids love it and I can't get my own way all the time.
To date the best birdy highlights have been a Barbary Falcon over the apartments, ditto an Osprey that rather took me by surprise when I looked up from my sunbed one day. Berthelots Pipits down near the coast, a regular phalanx of Little Egrets flying to a roost spot somewhere and best of all, Corys Shearwaters when on a whale watching trip.
This year was to be no different. I again had a Barbary Falcon over the apartment, but that was all. However one evening we did hear a Corys Shearwater, and the night after my daughter picked one up when we were out browsing at a shopping centre - its white underwings reflecting the lights of the shops below. Everything else really came on a whale watching trip. Once again there were masses of Cory's Shearwaters some coming quite close. Sadly my photography skills were not up to getting the best shots on what was quite a choppy sea. I also had a single Osprey over a fish farming area, along with a Grey Heron and numerous Yellow-legged Gulls. On a non birdy theme we saw a single Pilot Whale (a bit disappointing as last time we saw several pods) and several Dolphins - I am assuming they were Common Dolphin but if anyone can confirm I'd appreciate it.
Cory's Shearwater
Pilot Whale
Dolphins
All, very nice and bonny, but then an example of the dreaded human influence on the sea. A sea turtle - again no idea of species yet so suggestions appreciated - with a plastic bag stuck in its mouth! A stark reminder of what happens to discarded plastic bags!
Sea Turtle
On a different note, I had chosen a slightly different style of book for my reading entertainment this year: The Invention of Nature! The biography of Alexander Von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf.
I'm nowhere near finished but so far this book is fantastic. It has made me incredibly jealous thinking of all the 'stuff' that was out there waiting to be discovered, and this man went on to do just that. Its also fair to say that this guy was well ahead of his time. He identified issues such as climate change, problems with de-forestation, bad agricultural practices etc etc. He appreciated the links between all ecosystems, he identified predator/ prey relationships, keystone species and so much more. Its also clear that politics hasn't evolved much since Alexander's time in my opinion, and many of the political observations he made could be true now or at least recently. It was fascinating to read that he visited Tenerife in the late 1700's and climbed Mount Teide - something I have done too. Humboldt visited in mid June compared to my visit in mid July, but he found it freezing cold and yet the ground burned his feet. I definitely didn't experience that when I climbed it even though it was a month later! I can thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in wildlife or scientific discovery. Its not something to read in one go I don't think. It needs to be absorbed in short blasts of a chapter or two at a time. But once you are into it its brilliant.
