Fuerteventura24

A very easy week on an island we'd visited before (for a day); Simon had very fresh gen as he'd been leading a tour there just a fortnight before! We thoroughly explored the 'desert' areas of Tindaya and La Pared, finding African Houbara, Trumpeter Finch and Black-bellied Sandgrouse, but sadly dipping on Cream-coloured Courser (populations are apparently very low due to ongoing drought). The reservoir at Los Molinos was stacked with Ruddy Shelducks and held a few waders/wildfowl, and the old capital Betancuria was lovely as usual (if windy), turning up great views of Island Canaries.

We found the single island endemic, Canary Islands Chat, in several spots, and got good views of the degener subspecies of African Blue Tit, found only here and on Lanzarote. Hoopoes, Spectacled Warblers, Berthelot's Pipits and Great Grey Shrikes were all easy. We successfully twitched the long-staying vagrant Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Barranco de la Florida, too.

We identified a good number of endemic plants and insects (including the brilliantly named Histrionic Cloak-and-dagger Bee!), and after a very hazy day when a south-easterly wind blew in masses of dust from the Sahara, there was an obvious and very large influx of Striped Hawk-moths and Plain Tiger butterflies, many of the latter being unlike the local population in having white hindwings. This was the form alcippoides.