Fuerteventura Stonechat

There are tales, way back in birding folklore, of birders flying into Fuerteventura airport and getting a taxi to Willis' Barranco, seeing a chat and flying out again on the next aircraft. Well I guess you could still do that but parking at the barranco is now awkward and if you left post haste then you would be missing some cracking birds that inhabit this desert environment. I would describe the following two venues as certainties  and if you are on the Island and would like to see the chat then give them a go.

The Fuerteventura Stonechat, Saxicola dacotiae is a sedentary resident found only on the island of Fuerteventura. It has similarities with both the European Stonechat and the Whinchat   Its upperparts are generally coloured as the Whinchat, but more contrasting, dark brown with a blackish head and back streaks. It has a purer white supercilium reaching behind the eye and white neck sides, and a light orange/chestnut breast becoming duller and paler on the underside towards the whitish belly. The rump and tail are dark, the latter with a white pattern visible in flight. There is also a white wing band. The female is similar to a washed-out version of the male, with a brown, black-streaked head and no white neck patches.

Valle de Fimapaire

The track that enters the Valle de Fimapaire is called the Camino La Oliva Caldereta and you can drive it on Google maps - just follow the link. The entrance is on the left hand side of the FV102 road that leaves La Oliva  in a south east direction. In November 2016 the track was generally in good condition and certainly passable in a compact car. The only dodgy bit was on the left hand fork just after the dog kennels. This is a well documented area for the chat and we had to check it out.

We had success immediately after we entered the track, a male in the scrub on the left hand side of the track, after heavy rain there is a large puddle that forms on the triangular shape piece of land and it is worth checking for other birds - particularly Spectacled Warblers.

Further down on the left hand side of the track there is a small copse of trees, it is obvious that there is water here as the whole area is greener than the rest and there are patches of Great Reed, Arundo donax? here. The smallholding opposite has loads of iron poles and these normally have a male chat occupying one of them.



This one came to investigate me when I got out of the car.

 If you are doing photography then time of day can be crucial, I found the morning best but the birds will pose at some stage, unfortunately going off road here isn't possible - the dogs are large and mean.



They are happy to come close but not always down sun.

 

 

Next location is where the track divides

Where the track divides taking the left track - dog kennels in the middle.

The right hand track going to La Caldereta - oddly Caldereta is the local name for the bird.
 

Looking back up the track from the dog kennels
 

The most productive area - particularly the iron poles around the smallholding

Oddly enough we saw two females on the left side of the road and two males on the right side but never the other way round

 

 

Barranco de los Molinos

Getting to the dam at the Embalse de Los Molinos is a doddle - turn left off the FV221 just before you enter Las Parcelas - just take care on the track as it is rough in several places. When you have finished scanning the myriad of Coots and Ruddy Shelducks that inhabit the lake take a look back down the track. Approximately 100 metres back there is an obvious track leading down to the barranco, sometimes this gets washed out but the weekend activity of the 4x4 off roaders will normally flatten it out again. If you go down then be aware that it can get mighty warm at the bottom as you are in full sun and the wind disappears.Google Earth view

The first pair of chats occupy a territory half way down to the river bed, the male can be found singing from the dead tree shown in photograph 4. Another pair can be found about 100 metres down the barranco from the concrete cill shown on the far right of photo three.  Each time I have visited I have flushed the birds up into the barranco cliffs but sit quietly and they soon return.

1. The barranco from the dam wall - goes all the way to Puertito los Molinos

Parking at the restaurant at Puertito los Molinos and walking up the barranco can be productive, we didn't visit in November because when we arrived the car park was full - popular restaurant!



2. Start of the path - far right of picture

3. The concrete cill far right, easy path along the barranco but sometimes muddy

4. Favourite perch - dead tree

If you are going birding in Fuerteventura there are two things that I heartily recommend. The first is a copy of Dave Gosney's  "Finding Birds in the Canaries", - get it here. Easybirder. With its accompanying DVD it is without doubt the best value birding investment that I have ever made. It is worth its weight in gold as the information is spot on - don't travel without it!

The second required item is a mobile "hide" - we had a Citroen C4 (colour optional) courtesy of Avis, ours was diamond white and the birds didn't seem to mind. It will inevitably develop  a distinct "lava dust pink"  hue by the end of the week.

Secondly, the "Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia" by Eduardo Garcia-del-Rey is also a very handy book to have available.