Tenerife - 7th to 12th March 2023

[David M]

Tenerife Green Striped White - Euchloe eversi

This was probably the hardest to find of all. I'd been up to Teno Alto on the afternoon of 8th March and had scoured this slope which was replete with wild rocket and brassicae:

It was mainly sunny and warm, meaning that there were hundreds of Small Whites flying, making it an extremely difficult task to try to track down eversi on the steepish slope with lush and thick vegetation.

On my final day, I returned and decided to park further up the road and explore the hillside beyond as it was easier to navigate.

At the bottom of the hill the vegetation was especially dense, presumably due to any water run-off following rain. There was also a good view towards La Palma:

The Small Whites were again a problem with hundreds on the wing, but given the relatively flat terrain it was easier down here to pick up pace when anything with bolder black markings flew by. I did this on at least half a dozen occasions, but every time I found the butterfly I was chasing was a Bath White.

After an hour or so, I walked back up the hill and was less than 200m from my car when I saw what I presumed to be another Bath White resting wings closed on a stem. Only when I got within 10m did I notice that the wing pattern was clear green stripes!! I went for my camera, but the butterfly took flight and flew down the slope, although it was quite clear that its size and its appearance in flight were different to both rapae and daplidice.

Looking back, I wish I had stayed for another hour to find one I could get an image of, but the reality at the time was that I had a one and a quarter hour drive to look for American Painted Lady near Tacoronte and it was already approaching 12.30pm. Of course, I was unable to locate virginiensis meaning that it was effectively a wasted journey.

I will do better with this species next time I visit.

[David M]

I would say David that you did well to find and get close to christi. In my limited experience on the Canary Islands (2 trips to Tenerife and 2 to La Palma) I can count my encounters with this endemic on one hand - always singletons, and quite lively, unlike your co-operative example. It's by no means a guaranteed find!

Thanks for that, Pete. I didn't know christi was such a tough find (I had imagined it to be rather common so long as you visited the right habitat).

[David M]

Aside from the 9 target species I managed to find, there were several others that were about too.

Commonest by far was Small White. This island must be paradise for them as there seems to be wild cabbage growing all over the north of the island:

Small Copper was a regular companion too, especially at a site above Erjos where I counted 28 in an hour and a half:

Southern Brown Argus was another butterfly that you could rely on to be around quite regularly:

African Grass Blue is about near the coast:

I even saw Geranium Bronze, at 1,000m altitude and in a completely wild environment, away from any urban pelargoniums:

[selbypaul]

That's really interesting about Geranium Bronze, David. Do you think it was an individual dispersing, or that they use larval host plants other than pelargoniums?

[David M]

Hard to say, Paul. How naturally dispersive is this species? Maybe it had flown down the 1.5km pathway from Erjos that day. Was certainly a surprise to see one so far from an urban area.

[David M]

List of butterfly species seen....

As I mentioned at the start of this write up, there isn't a huge range of butterflies in Tenerife and were it not for Small Whites and Canary Speckled Woods, you'd probably feel a little short changed. Over the course of five full days and a brief period on arrival and departure day, here are all the butterflies I saw with an estimate of numbers:

Small White - 4,000+ (Ridiculously common)
Canary Speckled Wood - 500+ (practically everywhere in double figure numbers)
Small Copper - 40-50 (although that figure is somewhat skewed with the 28 I saw at one particular site)
Clouded Yellow - 30-40 (reliable in ones and twos in most places)
Southern Brown Argus - 25-30 (generally you'd see one or two in an hour)
Canary Large White - 15-20 (habitat specialist, but I'm sure if you spent a day in Barranco de Ruiz you'd hit 50 quite easily)
Long Tailed Blue - 10-15
Canary Red Admiral - 10-15
Red Admiral - 10-15
Bath White 10-15 (Had only seen one until the last morning when they proved tiresome in my pursuit of eversi)
Canary Brimstone - 10
African Grass Blue - 8
Monarch - 5
African Migrant - 3
Canary Blue - 2
Lang's Short Tailed Blue - 2
Canary Skipper - 1
Painted Lady - 1
Geranium Bronze - 1
Tenerife Green Striped White - 1

So, 20 species seen which isn't a lot, but out of those, there are 8 you won't find on the European mainland and another 3 that are not encountered there frequently.

[essexbuzzard]

20 species may not seem that many, but how many would you have seen had you stayed in Wales?

Probably none.

So I’d say that’s pretty good for mid March.

Your spontaneous decision to head abroad paid off!

[Padfield]

Hi David. I've been enjoying this very much. I did a similar thing way back in March 2001, when on the spur of the moment I decided to go to La Palma - a nearby island. I saw a similar range of species, including Canary speckled wood and plain tiger as additions to your list but not including any green-striped whites. And my brimstones, of course, were La Palma brimstone, G. palmae, rather than G. cleobule. Back then my old SLR was on its last legs and I got only poor shots of everything. I'd love to go back again and do it properly ... Perhaps I should try Tenerife next time! One of my regrets is that I didn't spend more time photographing the single T. christi I saw, near the central ridge of La Palma. Back in those days it was just a Lulworth skipper and so not worth wasting more than one shot out of my 36-shot roll of film! Remember those days, when you went on holiday with the potential for just 36 or 72 photographs in the whole trip? Now I take multiples of that in a single day.

Guy

[John Vergo]

20 spieces here in March on Tenerife, that is nearly “Full House” it is more than OK

[David M]

20 species may not seem that many, but how many would you have seen had you stayed in Wales?

Probably none....

Certainly none, Mark.

That's why I went.

[David M]

Hi David. I've been enjoying this very much. I did a similar thing way back in March 2001, when on the spur of the moment I decided to go to La Palma - a nearby island. I saw a similar range of species, including Canary speckled wood and plain tiger as additions to your list but not including any green-striped whites. And my brimstones, of course, were La Palma brimstone, G. palmae, rather than G. cleobule. Back then my old SLR was on its last legs and I got only poor shots of everything. I'd love to go back again and do it properly ... Perhaps I should try Tenerife next time! One of my regrets is that I didn't spend more time photographing the single T. christi I saw, near the central ridge of La Palma. Back in those days it was just a Lulworth skipper and so not worth wasting more than one shot out of my 36-shot roll of film! Remember those days, when you went on holiday with the potential for just 36 or 72 photographs in the whole trip? Now I take multiples of that in a single day.

Thanks, Guy. You're right, both the taxonomy and the photography are much changed over the last couple of decades.

I don't know how we'd cope without digital cameras in all honesty. They have transformed the approach we take to obtaining images of the natural world.

I'm sure you'd appreciate a visit to Tenerife - bottle of ice cold beer (routinely) for €1.50 in addition to all those endemics!

[David M]

20 spieces here in March on Tenerife, that is nearly “Full House” it is more than OK

Agreed, John. Realistically, I could only have added American Painted Lady and Southern Blue at this stage of the season.

[David M]

So, to sum up, this trip was just the prescription required for what's turning out to be the worst March since I moved down to Wales in 2008.

A good selection of endemics/desirables and warmth and sunshine in a beautiful part of this island, with canaries singing just about everywhere:

It's cheap too. Beer for €1.50, a packet of cigarettes for €3.10, 6 days vehicle hire for €190, a litre of unleaded €1.19, admission to botanic gardens for €3, etc...

Given how good the roads are, along with the general infrastructure, one is prone to question why we are paying significantly more for the same things in the UK. Normally, goods cost a little more on islands as there are additional transport costs to bear, but somehow Tenerife manages to remain cheaper even than mainland Spain, which probably explains why their shopping streets are bustling and the large numbers of restaurants and bars scattered about.

The population clearly must have more spending power (money left over after all monthly essentials). So, as a consequence, they can eat out regularly or spend a few hours in a local bar.

It was like going back to the 90s in Britain.

I will certainly return quite soon.

[OwenE]

This was a great read, I visited in February last year and even then there were small whites everywhere. I only had one dedicated day of hunting for wildlife and it was surprisingly rainy on that day unfortunately, cleaned up the endemic birds though, but I really loved the ones that I saw, the Canary Speckled wood is such a warm glowing thing.

[David M]

Thanks, Owen. It's a year round destination for butterflies, and I suspect Canary Speckled Woods are a constant presence.

[NickMorgan]

Hi David,
You did really well. We were in Tenerife at the same time, but unfortunately in a very sanitised hotel in the south of the island, so not ideal for butterflies. Our flight delay was rather longer due to a medical emergency and a diversion to Manchester Airport. We arrived at 5am on the 5th and later that morning a note was pushed under our door warning us of Storm Oscar. We were told to remain in our rooms and keep doors and windows closed, but Storm Oscar was no more than a pleasant breeze and a couple of showers! I delayed my car hire until the Thursday and headed for Anaga, but unfortunately it was fairly overcast most of the day. I ended up only seeing ten species this time, but I did see a Plain Tiger, which was a first for me in Tenerife.
It is great that you saw so many species. I enjoyed reading about your trip.

[David M]

Thanks, Nick. Plain Tiger is a surprise. I didn't know they were about on the island.

I really enjoyed Tenerife and will be back next March for another go.