Winter Fun on Fuerteventura

The fun started yesterday morning - with an early morning charter flight with the lovely Thomson airline, a company that I'd been delayed by 56 hours with in Israel a few years ago. This time though, things were smooth - apart from some twat that the stupid air hostesses had allowed to buy 12 cans of Stella on the flight. Lee and I therefore arrived on the island just after midday and away we went, and off on the trail of rectifying a bird that had been taken from me by a white van man and a cunning Englishman who didn't know a word of Spanish.

Heading south after picking up the extremely cheap rent-a-car, first notable bird was an adult Egyptian Vulture over Barranco de la Torre - but this was just the sideshow. In no time at all, we'd pulled into Rosa de Catalina Garcia, a tidy little reservoir/pool that was full of birds in the otherwise waterless landscape.

Rosa de Catalina Garcia, Fuerteventura

Ruddy Shelduck

Berthelot's Pipit

Ruddy Shelducks were pretty obvious - at least seven (most seen at once), but probably more came and went during the afternoon - and so too were those pesky Stilts, LRPs and lots of Berthelot's Pipits mincing around and about. A small group of Teal held something more interesting - a nice Blue-winged Teal, that spent most of the afternoon alert and on the move with its slightly smaller congeners. I always enjoy vagrants from across the pond, no matter where I am, so this was a bonus. However, after an hour of no show - and Hans and Bosse arriving - I was starting to get worried about the main prize.

BWT - upperwing

BWT - underwing, belly and legs

It was all well and good that I'd seen some nice bits and bobs, but with the books not marking themselves back home, there was only one reason why I was on this pretty rancid island - and after patiently waiting, the Allen's Gallinule flew out of the reeds and then proceeded to feed on the more distant muddy edge. It looked something like this... presumably an adult bird, with a rather dull bill. If you want to see it up close and personal then have a look at this shot from my mate David Monticelli.

The gallinule for most of the afternoon remained fairly elusive, though did spend periods of time probing on the reed fringes for food. Other birds included Ruff, Spotted Redshank, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper... a nice assortment of waders. Also good to remember where I was by the fact that Lesser Short-toed Larks and Trumpeter Finches came down to drink at the pool, and Spectacled Warblers were pretty common too. Oh yeah, this bad boy showed late on too.

Not too well-versed with what's what in terms of historic Canaries records, I can't imagine there have been too many Great Bitterns? There was also a 1st-winter Spotted Crake in the reedbed last thing in the evening, before the sun set and I got whisked off to some shit hole of a resort called Caleta de Fuste (where I'd stayed in 2003) and to The Trafalgar Pub for dinner. It was the first time I'd ever been to an English bar abroad - I thought bloody Johnny Vegas and his Benidorm crew were about to walk out any second. At least the beers were cheap.

I only had a hour or so of birding light this morning before the flight, and being on the island perhaps for the last time, it was rude to leave without its endemic chat. So I old-schooled it and went down to Barranco de la Torre, the place I'd seen them most consistently 8 years ago. And though the tamarisk clumps had grown considerably two Canary Islands' Chats were found in the time available - a male and a female. 30 Trumpeter Finches and a few scratchy Sardinian Warblers were in the mix too.

The Ryanair flight left on time, and I was back home in my London flat for just after 5pm. It's remarkable what you can do in a weekend.

Bedugal and back to the beach

Dawn over Lake Bratan looking from Bedugal

Today was a long day. Up at 4.30am and headed inland for an hour and a half to arrive at Bedugal Botanic Gardens just before sunrise. Lovely temperature, and the first time since Java that I've had to wear a 2nd layer on top of my t-shirt. A nice sunrise, with a view over Lake Bratan and the distant volcanic peak though the action started quickly.

Indonesian Honeyeater

Not 100% familiar with all the Asian sounds, I know a Barbet when I hear one - and though it took a bit of time to see, I did manage to get good views of a Flame-fronted Barbet early doors. Then there was some more quality, in the form of a Fulvous-chested Jungle Flycatcher that was just warming itself up in the morning gloom. A Little Pied Flycatcher was nearby while Short-tailed Starlings and Javan Grey-throated White-eyes were both fairly numerous. The Botanic Gardens were a beautiful place to walk around, and I pretty much had the whole place to myself from 6am until 8am, when a few workers etc started to arrive.

Dark-backed Imperial Pigeons were impressive, both in terms of their size and bellowing call. However, once I'd settled into the site and had my fill of the 'common' species at this altitude (Mountain Leaf Warblers and Blood-breasted Flowerpeckers were both easy here, despite not having seen them anywhere else), it was time to get grafting and go for a couple of specialities. The first one, Sunda Warbler, was found in some low scrub adjacent to a dried riverbed, busily feeding away and showing off its white eye ring on rather chestnut head. However, as I kind of thought before I set out, the last one would be a real struggle... Sunda Thrush. Typically a skulking Zoothera, I'd fortunately been given a fairly specific site within the gardens to search and, after some time of hearing leaf litter being flicked about, one revealed itself on the forest floor before bombing off never to be seen again! Excellent stuff.

Javan Pond Heron - a roadside bird in Bali

It was now 9.30am and activity was dying down a bit, so I travelled the short distance to the shores of Lake Bratan for a quick look. As usual with the type of habitat, loads of Javan Pond Herons flopping about as well as more unusually a nice Yellow Bittern that flushed from a small lakeside rice paddy.

Yellow Bittern

I took in a quick stop at Bedugal market on the way back. The fresh fruit and vegetables out here put the stuff we eat in the supermarkets back in the UK to shame. And predictably, it's a damn site cheaper too.

Back on the beach in Sanur for the afternoon, the first couple of birds that I saw were Lesser Frigatebirds; I knew that others had seen them here from trip reports, but these were the first of my trip so always nice to see. After having the usual Mie Goreng I walked to the southern extremity of the beach and found a stinking mangrove channel where, alongside the rabid dogs, I managed to find a Barred Buttonquail on the deck as well as a couple of Javan Plovers in the channel just as the tide was going out.

Lesser Frigatebird - note the white belly patch extending onto axillaries

Barred Buttonquail on the beach at Sanur