Clayheads on Tour 2012 - Tenerife (Part 2 - Erjos and The Whales)

Due to the fact that it didn't really get light until 07-15hrs, we were a little restricted this holiday with how much birding we did. We were back early on from our day out on the 7th August, and so we popped out in the afternoon sun to the famous Erjos Pools. Fortunately, the was a little bit of cloud cover, so the heat wasn't that intense. Its true what it says in most reports - it is not an easy place to find, but on our second attempt, we found the narrow track down.

Erjos Pools - quite dry!

We soon added Tenerife Moorhen and Tenerife Coot to our lists, but then we spotted a pigeon at the back. Eventually it came down to drink, and we realised it was a Bolle's Pigeon. As we stood, we realised there were more roosting, and we were soon watching eight Bolle's - a most unexpected bonus. The area was also full of Linnets and Atlantic Canary.

Bolle's at Erjos

Atlantic Canary

One other interesting trip we did was a whale watching trip out of Los Gigantes. A most enjoyable trip on an almost flat sea saw at least 15 Pilot Whales at extremely close quarters, some even swimming under the boat. One member of the party likened it to being in a wildlife programme. As we came back closer to shore, we saw four White-sided Dolphins.

Short-finned Pilot Whales

Atlantic White-sided Dolphins.