Tenerife..........Hot, Hot Hot!!!!!!

Just back from Tenerife where we enjoyed an 'all inclusive' deal, staying in the Playa Olid Hotel for 11 nights in Costa Adeje on the Southern side of the island. After our disasterous 'Summer' in Scotland it was good to see the sun. However, temperatures in excess of 30 degrees made moving around a bit of a chore.

The beach at Costa Adeje

We had decided that it was going to be a chill out holiday and as such car hire was not envisaged and from a birding point of view this was limiting. On reflection I wish I had hired. Car hire for 3 days would have cost around 120 euros and we would have seen far more of the island and possibly some of the endemics such as Blue Chaffinch.

As for all inclusive I had visions of bulking up on chicken nuggets and diluting juice. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The food range was excellent and the quality overall was good. My only grumble was that the eating environment was somewhat akin to a canteen. We could easily have been in the refectory at Hairmyres Hospital as opposed to a hotel.

The room itself was good although at times a smell of sewage from the bathroom was a little disconcerting. With no air conditioning sleeping at night was a bit of a trial. The morning ritual of sunbed bagging showed how sad some people can be. I cannot believe that you would ever resort to queueing for a sunbed but that is what I witnessed every morning prior to breakfast.



View from the balcony at dusk



Bird life around the hotel was somewhat limited but included small parties of Plain Swifts, frequent Kestrels, lots of Collared Dove, Spanish Sparrow and a Peregrine on one occasion. Canary Islands Chiffchaff were also present. Calling frequently but quite frustrating to see as they kept low in shrubbery most of the time.

Canary Islands Chiff



Kestrel - Very Common on Tenerife

Kestrel Prey

One of the closest birding spots that I had read about prior to going was Costa Adeje Golf Course.
This site provided me with at least 2 Southern Grey Shrikes, 4 Barbary Partridge and Berthelot's Pipit.



Berthelot's Pipit

Costa Adeje at night is busy with many bars and restaurants. The harbour area is especially bustling but allowed some experimentation with slow shutter speeds with interesting effects:

 The harbour is also the leaving point for some of the whale and dolphin cruises that are advertised. 18 euros for a 2 hour cruise on which both Bottlenose Dolphins and Pilot Whales are guaranteed. Being a committed eco tourist I felt compelled and went armed with my big lens. Both species showed well. However, photographing Cetaceans from a small moving boat proved well beyond me. Cory's Shearwaters were a bit easier:

Cory's - up to 20 birds seen in 2 hours

Bottlenose Dolphins - from a 'big' boat off Mallaig

Other birds of interest seen on the trip included several Canaries, Sardinian Warbler and Canary Island Blue Tit.

Canary Islands Blue Tit