I have just returned from a family holiday in the Canary Islands, which are officially the southernmost part of Europe [hence the cunning title, above]. Terrific volcanic terrain, and many superb views - and very enjoyable birding, too....
The birds are an interesting mix of species familiar to Britain but in unusual surroundings; birds rare to Britain but abundant in the Canaries; and birds which never get anywhere near Britain.
Among the later were Trumpeter Finches - beautiful and very accommodating finches, with bright orange-red bills, and a smattering of reddish pink on their tails and rump. Their confiding nature reminds one of Dotterels.
An unusual looking pipit, with long, bright orange legs, turned out to be Berthelot's Pipit - the Canary Islands are one of its main strongholds. They were an odd mix of timid and tame, depending on the bird (and, I suppose, on what we were doing!). Spanish Sparrows, the males with spectacular black striped breasts, were another lifer.
A welcome sight which I have only seen a couple of times in the UK was Kentish Plovers. They already had their rusty brown heads, even though it was still winter; another example of the birds not always conforming to bird book norms.
One of the best sights of all was at the coastal capital of Lanzarote, the island where we were staying. We were just strolling along, having visited a castle and the shops [those who may remember my Cairngorms thread of a couple of years ago may recall that whilst my mum and I are birders, my dad and sister are not!]. Suddenly, I looked up and saw Cattle Egrets coming to land in a tree, and then more came to neighbouring trees, all at point blank range. It was an extraordinary sight, and it gave us fantastic views of them. They had the lovely yellow fringes round the gleaming white plumage. A lifer for mum, and very welcome to me too, even though I had taken advantage of a work trip to Sussex to see one of the Piddinghoe Cattle Egrets just a couple of weeks before.
Birds familiar to the UK but in unusual surroudings included Whimbrels strolling along the seashore amongst palm trees. At one point a group of Whimbrels took off and seemed to fly towards a pair of goalposts on the beach, as if they were going to take on a Tim Allwood XI....
Mum's highlight for the holiday was seeing superb, very close views of Hoopoes - another lifer for her, and my first since India several years ago. They were very accommodating, and posed very well for a long while - unlike the Great Grey Shrike we saw at the same time. We did, however, see Shrikes several more times, having to make do with perching on rocks rather than the bushes and small trees they like in the UK.
Other welcome sightings included Little Egrets (showing very well), Greenshank, Yellow-legged Gulls, Dunlin, Sandwich Terns, Stonechats, Turnstones, and one of favourite UK birds, Sanderlings. The views of most were excellent.
However, alas, no Canaries - they are found on most of the Canary Islands, but not Lanzarote, where the terrain is too rugged for them......
I don't know how many other reports from the Canary Islands have been on BF in the past, but hopefully this is a useful addition to them.