2 Feb 2019: Spishing in Afrikaans

Headed out to Punta de Teno, the north-west point of Tenerife Is, at 4 o’clock in the morning, not realising the sun only rises three and a half hours later. On the positive side, I was the only vehicle on the road which was a distinct blessing to all other road users.

At sunrise I birded a gully filled with spiny vegetation and bushes, the typical flora of the Canaries. The gully reverberated with bird calls, but for the first hour I only saw fleeting movements of what I presumed to be birds. It was an uninspiring welcome to the vagrant twitcher, who then changed this title to the idiot birder. Spishing and pfishining did not induce any reaction, and I soon realised that Canary Is birds don’t spish in Afrikaans. As a last resort I played some bird calls and soon ticked the Canary Island Chiffchaff as my first endemic for the trip. A Sardinian Warbler and some Atlantic Canaries (the only Canary species in the Canaries) soon followed. Later, at the lighthouse of Punta de Teno, some Yellow-legged Gulls and a pair of Berthelot’s Pipits were ticked.

Atlantic Canary, Tennerife, Canaries

The evening was spent at Los Christianos, a beach resort on the north-eastern side of the island. Saw a few topless birds on the beach (in moult; not ticked), as well as the Common Blackbird and Eurasian Collared Dove. Spent the night in a hostel room with two other occupants – one snorer, one silent. Just another day in paradise; and I will have to learn how to spish in Spanish.