Some of you reading this may be aware that before my family holiday to France we took a week's holiday to Tenerife in May. You may also know that I have posted findings of my past trips to Tenerife in 2011 and the last one in 2014 coming in 6 instalments. Although there were some holiday highlights (drive visit to Candelaria and Santa Cruz), this trip fell well short of the heights of that 2014 adventure and as a result it will be relatively short and sweet .
A big part of the disappointment/frustration was getting a hire car that had a button handbrake (why oh why change tried and trusted things that work?) The amount of stressful parking and hill-start situations plus a load of other 'irritating quirks' ensures I will never hire a VW again
Our Club-la costa destination was Monterey Royale. Having been to Monterey before (2011) I knew that the waste ground around the complex was good for Long-tailed Blues; African Grass Blues and the odd Canary Blue too. After the first night where we watched a fabulous firework display from our balcony I was up early the next morning (while the others slept), and getting straight down to business.
Nothing had changed since 2011. Even a tramps' hideaway, of old boards and plastic barrels amongst a bushel of palms and cacti was still as I remember it. I wondered whether I twigged a memory nerve when he saw me (that 'strange tourist' again) searching the ground but this time with a big DSLR and not a compact camera hanging round my neck.
Eventually my searching paid off with the first LTB individual, an expected female, having large chunks missing from her hind-wings.
Others were eventually found that was in slightly better nick . All the long-tailed Blues I saw were females.
Another thing I noticed were what looked like a caddis larval cases halfway up grass stems (though not a drop of water anywhere) anyone know what it might be
Next morning we all went on a submarine safari which was great fun if a little expensive. I took loads of (poor) pictures of the fish through the thick Perspex portholes my favourite being a Duck-billed Ray (not in the submarine centre's spotter charts so took some time to identify later).
Determined to see some butterflies after the submarine excursion, I left the ladies at their request at the resort and made a return 25Km journey or so, to the butterfly hunting area behind Club Marina Las Galletas. This area had been kind to me in the past yielding over 6 butterfly species as well as interesting birds, moths, wasps and spiders. This time the only butterfly reward were a handful Bath Whites which were far more alert and much more difficult to approach than I remember them being previously.
Undeterred I did some walking and my usual exercise climb of the steep hill Montana Amarilla for a few view shots and watched the swifts race the incoming airliners
Among the opuntias in the butterfly area were the Black & White tent web spiders (Cyrtophora citricola) and Beet Moth (spoladea recurvalis) (posted in the 2014 report) and a bird which I need to identify:-
The next day we took a trip out to Masca in the Teno mountains taking the normal 'easy' less tortuous route than we had to make in 2014 . So far the weather had been cloudy over the hills which although not cold to some extent spoilt the views. The cloud was to be a consistent feature of that whole week in May .
Having visited out favourite restaurant and coffee bars and done our amble around the picturesque village I did my best to find some wildlife to photograph but was not having too much luck. In fact things were so bad that I was reduced to photographing the feral cats which my daughters delighted in making up names for them.
One species that did prove more frequent than on 2014 was the Canary Speckled Wood, but even then things just seemed to conspire to make the photo capture difficult for one reason or another.
Also seen and pictured was an Emperor Dragonfly and a Bordered Straw moth
The Bordered Straw is a migrant to the UK and this year (2015) has been turning up in light traps for just about everyone I know bar me
Phil
Holiday to Tenerife part 1
Re: Holiday to Tenerife part 1
Looking forward to part 2 after some great shots of Bath Whites and LTBs
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Have a goodun
Wurzel
Re: Holiday to Tenerife part 1
It may be a distant shot, Phil, but you can clearly see the white streak on the Canary Speckled Wood.
Re: Holiday to Tenerife part 1
Hi Phil,
Great photos and report of your holiday in Tenerife. We may be experiencing (almost ) Tenerifian temperatures in the UK at the moment but I doubt if they can compete with our rainfall !
I would suggest the bird in question is Canary Islands Chiffchaff ( Phylloscopus canariensis ). Common on the Canary Islands and now considered a separate species to Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita).
Jenks.
Great photos and report of your holiday in Tenerife. We may be experiencing (almost ) Tenerifian temperatures in the UK at the moment but I doubt if they can compete with our rainfall !
I would suggest the bird in question is Canary Islands Chiffchaff ( Phylloscopus canariensis ). Common on the Canary Islands and now considered a separate species to Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita).
Jenks.
Re: Holiday to Tenerife part 1
Thanks Wurzel . Butterflies were a bit thin on the ground this time around so I’ve had to pad the report out with some island scenery.Wurzel wrote:Looking forward to part 2 after some great shots of Bath Whites and LTBs
Thanks David . This was the best I could manage at Masca as he kept at distance on the wrong (garden) side of a dry-stone wall. Definitely xiphioides though .David M wrote:It may be a distant shot, Phil, but you can clearly see the white streak on the Canary Speckled Wood.
Thanks Jenks . It crossed my mind it could be a Chiffchaff and as a result likely to be the Canary species/form (like the Tintillon Chaffinch and Tenerife Blue-tit). Although I normally do some internet searching to find out for myself, this time I thought it would be quicker to throw it to the knowledgeable people on here . Having now looked it up it may be that the ‘Common Swifts’ Apus apus I saw are “Plain swifts” apus unicolorjenks wrote:Hi Phil,
Great photos and report of your holiday in Tenerife. We may be experiencing (almost ) Tenerifian temperatures in the UK at the moment but I doubt if they can compete with our rainfall !
I would suggest the bird in question is Canary Islands Chiffchaff ( Phylloscopus canariensis ). Common on the Canary Islands and now considered a separate species to Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita).
Jenks.
I'm hoping that the Tenerifian weather holds for a couple of weeks more as we are off to Fuengirola in Southern Spain over the Christmas period (due to no Club-la Costa availability in the summer months). Dec/Jan not an ideal time to be seeing butterflies I suspect
Phil
Re: Holiday to Tenerife part 1
For the larval case I'd suggest Amicta cabrerai - at least as one possibility. I don't know what the options are.
Re: Holiday to Tenerife part 1
Thanks JKT. I reckon you're right on this .
I should've had some idea as to narrow it down I have an interest in moths which includes the 'micros' but I haven't as yet come across any of the Psychidae bagworm family (to which Amicta cabrerai belongs) in the UK. I have to say the cases the bagworm larvae construct are fascinating
Only examples of Amicta cabrerai I can find on the net are from La Gomera a short hop from Tenerife. Will look properly into it when I get back from holiday.
Thanks again.
Phil
I should've had some idea as to narrow it down I have an interest in moths which includes the 'micros' but I haven't as yet come across any of the Psychidae bagworm family (to which Amicta cabrerai belongs) in the UK. I have to say the cases the bagworm larvae construct are fascinating
Only examples of Amicta cabrerai I can find on the net are from La Gomera a short hop from Tenerife. Will look properly into it when I get back from holiday.
Thanks again.
Phil
Re: Holiday to Tenerife part 1
Your'e welcome!
It took me quite a while before I found the ID for my - pretty much identical - picture from La Gomera. And I'm not limited to butterflies either.
It took me quite a while before I found the ID for my - pretty much identical - picture from La Gomera. And I'm not limited to butterflies either.