Day 1 Saturday.
Sat in the departure area of Manchester airport early in the morning but no pre departure drink of vodka and coke this time nor any booze on the flight as i would be picking up my hire car in a few hours, the flight is about 4.5 hours from Manchester to Fuerteventura and went smoothly enough bar some turbulence and we landed on time. At the hire car desk it is very laid back and i am given instructions as to were to find the car i have hired from Auto Resin. I have got some nerves regarding driving on the wrong side of the road in a left hand drive car but within 5 Min's i have negotiated a roundabout, turned right, and motored on with no problems after 10 Min's. Ive even overtaken a slower car, i see a road sign leading to La Olivia and follow it, after a while i pull over into a lay by and see my first new bird of the trip a Berthlots Pipit just meters away from me and as i found out is very common on the island and is actually a nice bird to see. Onwards to La Olivia then took a left at a roundabout heading for
El Cottillo shortly after the roundabout i pulled into a parking area and stretched my legs walking into the barren wasteland within 20 Min's i have noted a Female Fuerteventura Chat then i spot a Male Fuerteventura Chat another bird is following the chat around a superb Spectacled Warbler. It was quite amusing to watch as the Fuerteventura Chat perched atop a bush then the Spectactled Warbler would fly to the same bush but lower down often on the ground. I drive on to El Cottillo then turn around and have a quick walk in another barren area and quickly see a Great Grey Shrike, superb 4 new birds in the bag in the space of a few hours.I drive back the way i have come and end up on the outskirts of Puerto del Rosaria and then onwards to my apartment at Caleta de Fustes called Las Pyramidis which took a bit of finding but once there it was an OK place to be, the complex is a square of self catering apartments surrounding a pool and i can imagine pretty busy in the high season but now it is fairly quite.
Las Pyramidis
I wander out of the complex and head up to the area which i drove past earlier and noted a few bars. Its a fairly windy walk and i needed a coat on even sat in my chosen bar which was an Irish style sports bar and seemed the busiest in the area. Most folk seem to know one another and i guess most are ex pats living on the Island, towards the end of the evening i order a takeaway kebab wrap from the sports bar, which i eat at my apartment and very tasty it was.
Day 2 Sunday.
Up early'ish and get my act together for a trip to Tindaya i am soon on the road and by now driving is no problem and i am actually enjoying it, the roads are very quiet. At Tindaya i head towards the back of the village and negotiate a rough track in 2nd gear looking for the Houbara Bustards that live in this area, after about an hour i come across 2 cars with British birders in them who have seen the birds some time ago i get directions from them and make my way to the area but upon arrival they are no longer there, i search some more on equally rough tracks and pull up at a small pool of water that is attracting Spanish Sparrows and Trumpeter Finches. The search continues and goes on and on track after track after 5 hours of looking i am beginning to think it will not be today, i take a rough tarmacked track full of potholes leading to the sea, when suddenly there's the bustard walking very close to the track i pull up and watch as he strides away and starts to feed in a clump of bushes. Yes its a Houbara Bustard fantastic.
Tindaya Houbara Bustard Site
Shortly after the bustard sighting i come across a huge flock of Lesser Short Toed Larks very close to the track and get great views of these birds.
Around Tindaya
Back at Tindaya i visit a local bar and restaurant and end up with a lovely toasted meat and salad sandwich, then back to my apartment for a clean up then onwards to the Irish sports bar for a booze up, a few bars down from the sports bar is a Chinese restaurant and i get a takeaway beef curry for supper.
Day 3 Monday.
Up early and on the road heading towards Los Molinos as i approach Los Molinos i note a feeding station for vultures perched on top of the barranco as i drive down to the village. At Los Molinos the view of the sea is really nice and again i bet this is a busy place in summer, i take a short walk around but cannot find a path up the barranco there are many paths along the coast as a noticeboard informs me but it is blowing a gale this morning.
Los Molinos
I drive back up the winding road away from the village till i reach the top of the barranco, park up and take a short walk so i can look down the barranco, no birds seen, as i make my way back to the car 2 Egyptian Vultures come into view flying and gliding low down right over my head.
Above Los Molinos
I drive on and make my way to the reservoir at Los Molinos as i arrive the wind has got stronger and it feels quite cold the wind has whipped up a dust storm.
At the reservoir there are many Ruddy Shellduck another colourful bird new to me which i also see in flight low down, another Egyptian Vulture puts in an appearance gliding low down the full length of the reservoir. I head off back to Tindaya and re visit the bar/restaurant where i got the lovely sandwich yesterday but alas there is a different lady in the kitchen and i ended up with a pretty boring sandwich instead, no matter i drive on to the tracks behind Tindaya but do not see any new birds.
My hire car at Tindaya
Back at my apartment i freshen up and head up to the sports bar its blowing a gale and the sea is quite spectacular as it crashes into the cliffs. I down a few beers then get salt and pepper beef from the Chinese it was superb.
Day 4 Tuesday.
I have a bit of a lie in this morning then treat myself to the breakfast at the apartment complex its an all you can eat breakfast for a set price and boy can some of them shovel it down, time and time again the same people are getting up to get more food. I drop the car of at the airport and await my flight, as it is blowing a full on gale i reckon the flight might be a bit bumpy but no we powered up into the sky with no turbulence problems, half an hour before reaching Manchester however turbulence was a big problem the plane was shaking about and getting tossed around by the wind i found it quite scary eventually the pilot descended a few thousand feet into calmer weather. At Manchester i looked out of my window and it is snowing.
Conclusions.
It was a great trip, i did not think i would enjoy Fuerteventura and its mass tourism but i did, i only went to see a few birds that you cannot see elsewhere in Europe and was successful with that, but i also enjoyed my time in the sports bar. Would i go again? I would and really i wished i had booked a few more days stay its a good place.
