4 Feb 2019: Pigeons for Breakfast

La Gomera is a beautiful, relatively small island with very narrow, winding roads leading up craggy volcanic mountains to the Garajonay National Park. I left the Air B&B before sunrise to be in the high laurel forests of the park at dawn. This did not work out so well, because I had to stop in a small village for a double expresso to calm my nerves and give me some caffeine courage to negotiate the hairpin bends and gorges.

The target birds were the two endemic pigeons of the Canaries, the Laurel Pigeon and Bolle’s Pigeon. I stopped at a few viewpoints with no success, but then had a stunning fly pass of a Laurel Pigeon over the forest. Bolle’s Pigeon is more difficult to find, but later, while walking on a forest path, I heard the call and soon located the pigeon hiding high in a tree. A very obliging European Robin posed for a few photos.

Bolle's Pigeon, La Gomera, Canaries

My flight to Fuerteventura was cancelled due to the runway being covered in sand. The airline put me up in a very luxurious hotel which would have been way above my budget, so I didn’t complain at all. Dinner and breakfast were included. I really overindulged myself and made the best of the opportunity! Unfortunately I had to spend most of the next morning at La Gomera airport and lost a day of birding on Fuerteventura.