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Visit your favourite destinations |
| A Report from birdtours.co.uk |
Fuerteventura, 16th-23st May 2004,
Myself & my Girlfriend took a one-week package
holiday to be allocated on arrival for £140 through First Choice. I did
little reasearch on where to go before hand and on arrival we were allocated
at Caletes de fustes on the east coast just south of the airport. We rented
a car for 3 days for 75 euros and I basically birded for two hours on 5 mornings
and an hour and half in the evening.
I found many good birds immediately in the desert around the resort of Cateles
de Fustes. The golf course here held Berthelot's Pipits, Souhern Grey Shrikes,
a family of Kentish plovers and Hoopes all down to a few metres. Behind the
last villas to the west behind the golf on the desert area I saw 10+ Canary
Island Chats, several Trumpeter Finches, Berthelot's Pipits, Lesser Short-toed
Larks, Black-bellied sandgrouse and Spectacled Warblers with excellent views
of all. Chats, pipits, Larks and Trumpeter Finches were seen at most places
around the island away from the immediate coast.
Just to the south of Caletes de fustes (2 km) is Las Salinas and a well vegetated
Embalse. The Embalse held good numbers of Spectacled & Sardinian warlers,
Chats and Hoopoes. I also saw Plain Swift and Eygptian Vulture here. In the
evening from the cliffs at Las Salinas 16 Cory's Shearwaters passed close inshore
in 20 minutes. Across the main road from the Embalse and village is flatter
sandy desert where I had excellent views of my only Cream-coloured Courser,
along with more Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Trumpeter Finches, Larks, Chats and
Pipits.
The other place I visited twice was Embalse des la Molinos. This area proved
very good and where I saw my only Houbara Bustard one late afternoon, and only
Barbary Partridge and Stone-curlew all on the deck. The area was quite good
for raptors with 2 Egyptian Vultures and several Kestrels. At the start of the
dirt track to the dam on the Embalse is a small farm here Lesser Short-toed
Larks (one ringed) and Trumpeter Finches fed around the car. On the Embalse
itself there were 20 Ruddy Shelduck, Marbled Duck, several Black-winged Stilts
& Little Ringed Plovers along with plenty of pipits, Southern Grey Shrike
and Plain Swift. There was also plenty of other swifts about.
Otherwise the commonest birds on the coast were Spanish Sparrows, Collared Doves
and Yellow-legged Gulls. Other birds included: Turtle Dove, raven, Coot, Linnet,
Swallow, House martin, Goldfinch, Ringed Plover and feral pigeons. Particularly
amusing are the plentiful Barbary Ground Squirrel. Some excellent birds without
manicly birding and plenty of time for boyfriend duties.
Mark Cornish
mlcornish502@hotmail.com
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