We decided to drive south to look for Sandgrouse, Cream Coloured Coursers and Hoopoe Larks. We had breakfast and, while we were tidying up a young girl came to the door for the keys. We gave her them and explained that we had had a small accident with a glass. She shrugged, smiled and appeared to say don't worry. So we finished clearing up, collected our bags and left. AS we didn't have the keys we didn't have the clicker to get out but our neighbour was leaving at the same time so she let us out and we were on our way. What followed was unbelievable as I got several phone calls accusing us of trashing the place and threatening legal action. Eventually I stopped answering and they stopped.
The scenery on the drive down was very interesting, highlighting the lack of moisture and vegetation. It was very different to the north which had been very volcanic, this looked more like sandy ash.
We reached Morro Jable and were lucky to spot a couple of birders who gave us excellent instructions about where to go and look. We headed down the narrow, tracks towards Puerto de la Cruz where we saw a Grey Heron and some Cormorants, and then on to Punte Pesebre where we spent a lot of time searching the desert areas with nothing to show. There was a low light at the Punte and a few Yellow-legged Gulls but no desert birds. We decided to make our way back as time was getting on. We stopped at Playa del Matorral to scan over the marshy area between the road and the lighthouse when David spotted 2 Plain Swifts. We walked out across the boardwalk to the lighthouse scanning over the marshy areas where there were several Cattle Egrets. At the lighthouse we found several relatively tame Bertholet's Pipit and ground squirrels with Gulls sitting around on the posts.
On the way back we located some Monk Parakeets just up the road so we walked over there, passing the skeleton of a Sperm Whale that had washed up just down the beach. The parakeets were in the palm trees and coming down to an area where people were feeding them with peanuts and sunflower seeds. Collared Doves, Spanish Sparrows and a Raven were taking advantage of the drops.
We drove on towards the airport, stopping in a laybye by the zoo where there were a couple of White Wagtails but no Blue Tits. As time was moving on, we drove on to the airport, filled up at the garage, returned the car, checked in and went to the Burger King for a meal. We had just settled down to eat it when they announced last call for our flight so we gathered up the food, boarded our flight and left 15 minutes early.
We returned to Gatwick about half an hour early, caught the park bus and found the car. It started Ok but had no power so we limped along at about 20 mph and then decided to park up in a bus laybye and call the AA. The mechanic arrived in about 20 minutes but he couldn't sort it so he called out a tow truck which arrived at about 3.15 am. The driver got us into the warm cab, loaded the car and drove us all back home.
The scenery on the drive down was very interesting, highlighting the lack of moisture and vegetation. It was very different to the north which had been very volcanic, this looked more like sandy ash.
We reached Morro Jable and were lucky to spot a couple of birders who gave us excellent instructions about where to go and look. We headed down the narrow, tracks towards Puerto de la Cruz where we saw a Grey Heron and some Cormorants, and then on to Punte Pesebre where we spent a lot of time searching the desert areas with nothing to show. There was a low light at the Punte and a few Yellow-legged Gulls but no desert birds. We decided to make our way back as time was getting on. We stopped at Playa del Matorral to scan over the marshy area between the road and the lighthouse when David spotted 2 Plain Swifts. We walked out across the boardwalk to the lighthouse scanning over the marshy areas where there were several Cattle Egrets. At the lighthouse we found several relatively tame Bertholet's Pipit and ground squirrels with Gulls sitting around on the posts.
On the way back we located some Monk Parakeets just up the road so we walked over there, passing the skeleton of a Sperm Whale that had washed up just down the beach. The parakeets were in the palm trees and coming down to an area where people were feeding them with peanuts and sunflower seeds. Collared Doves, Spanish Sparrows and a Raven were taking advantage of the drops.
We drove on towards the airport, stopping in a laybye by the zoo where there were a couple of White Wagtails but no Blue Tits. As time was moving on, we drove on to the airport, filled up at the garage, returned the car, checked in and went to the Burger King for a meal. We had just settled down to eat it when they announced last call for our flight so we gathered up the food, boarded our flight and left 15 minutes early.
We returned to Gatwick about half an hour early, caught the park bus and found the car. It started Ok but had no power so we limped along at about 20 mph and then decided to park up in a bus laybye and call the AA. The mechanic arrived in about 20 minutes but he couldn't sort it so he called out a tow truck which arrived at about 3.15 am. The driver got us into the warm cab, loaded the car and drove us all back home.
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