Canary Islands minitrip 2024

In the early spring of 2024, I was presented with the opportunity to visit one of the last places in my country where I had never been, the archipelago of the Canary Islands. Nestled in the middle of the Atlantic next to the African coast, the Canaries are home to a multitude of endemic and unique species of fauna and flora, with unique landscapes very different from both the Iberian peninsula and the neighboring African coasts themselves, both of which I already know well. 

I was offered to join this adventure by my friend Max Benito, returning to travel together after a couple of years since that last Moroccan expedition. Completing the team were two other good friends and great herpers, Jesús Jiménez, from Córdoba, and Andrés Pérez, Venezuelan but now a neighbor of mine in Valencia. The main objective of my three mates was to see the reptile species endemic to the islands and taking good photographs. In my case, of course lizards were a main objective but I could also see many species of birds new to me, as well as enjoy the rich marine life of the islands. 

Yes, this time the only group photo we have is on a late night pizza stop after hard herping.

From right to left: Max Benito, Andrés Pérez, Jesús Jiménez and Luis Albero.

The first island we visited was Gran Canaria, located in the middle of the archipelago, and which harbors a wide representation of all the different ecosystems of the Canary Islands, from semi-desert areas on the south, to the humid laurel forests on the north, which receives moisture from the trade winds. A variety of landscapes with peaks of up to 2,000 meters on the highest mountain tops. In this case, since the birds were not an important objective for my fellow travelers, I decided to arrive a day earlier in order to have a day off, taking my time to bird in peace and look for various endemic species. So, I landed on the evening of March 19th, and after a little odyssey I got a rental car (since I booked for 10 am instead of the evening... and had to make another one) and went to rest to get up early the next day.

I left my accommodation before first light to arrive at dawn at the habitat of my main avian target, the Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch (Fringillia polatzeki), the only bird found only on this island. It is a very endangered species that lives in the pine forests of the Canary Islands, and until a few years ago when it was released in more places, it only inhabited a single pine forest in Gran Canaria, in the pine forests of Inagua, Ojeda and Pajonales. Although I read that they are perhaps easier to see in the new release areas, I preferred to look for the species in its original habitat, so that I could see purely wild specimens, without rings, and get to know these ancient and well-preserved pine forests. So, I headed for the pine forest of Inagua and began my route. Soon I was able to see the first endemic birds, such as the abundant Canarian chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis), the Canarian blue tit (Cyanistes teneriffae), the Canarian great spotted woodpecker (Dedrocopos major canariensis), and others, but the endemic chaffinch resisted. It took me most of the morning and a good walk through the forest to find him, but I finally managed to see a beautiful male for a few minutes, not at an ideal distance but well viewed. Satisfied that I had achieved the most difficult of my targets I moved on to the next one.

Crossing the beautiful landscapes of Gran Canaria, I headed towards the humid north of the island, noticing a remarkable change in the landscape, going from arid environments similar to those I might have seen in Morocco to green and flowery hillsides that reminded me of the humid north of Iberia or even Costa Rica. Impressive to have such a variety of landscapes on such a small island. Thus, I arrived at the best preserved redoubt of laurel forest on the island, the Los Tilos Forest Reserve. The laurel forest is a typical Macaronesian forest with evergreen leaves and subtropical affinity, a relic of the type of forests that used to cover Europe in more calid and humid periods on the Tertiary era. I really wanted to visit a laurel forest long ago, and more with the target of another endemic bird, this time reintroduced here, the white-tailed laurel pigeon (Columba junionae). And not only I enjoyed the walk around this misty forest, the pigeons were easy to see and I could enjoy they display flights, such a cool species. I finished my walk on Los Tilos happy and still with time for another target. 

Having finished with my target endemic birds, I had time now to look for local rarities, so I headed to the opposite part of the island, near Maspalomas, to look for a visitor from the African Sahel that was on the island for some time, the golden sparrow (Passer luteus). It took not a long time to find it, eating on the flowers of a garden tree, such a cool bird for being a sparrow. The last time of the day I tried to see some seabirds from the coast with my spotting scope, but only saw Cory's shearwaters (Calonectris borealis), really common breeders on the Canarys. I also lifted some stones and saw the first herps, the Gran Canaria skink (Chalcides sexlineatus) and gecko (Tarentola boettgeri), but of these I would have nicer views on the coming days... 

The next day, I finally met up with my mates (except for Andrés who would arrive later) and this time we went in search of herps, starting with perhaps the most beautiful and striking, the Gran Canaria skink. This skink has two subspecies distributed in the two halves of the island (SW and NE) that could well be different species based on their coloration, although apparently genetics suggest otherwise. In the southwestern part, we find the nominal subspecies Chalcides sexlineatus sexlineatus, characterized by a very striking metallic blue tail. This was the first one we went to see, with great success thanks to the help of our friend Antonio Gómez, resident on the island. We were able to enjoy multiple specimens of these beautiful lizards, in addition to seeing the first Gran Canaria giant lizards (Gallotia stehlini), but only juvenile specimens. 

On the afternoon, we went to another spot on the opposite part of the island, to look for the subspecies Chalcides sexlineatus bistriatus. This skinks are quite different, having no blue tail but some also striking orange coloration on the underparts and the throat, and also two golden lines across the back. Again with the help of Antonio, and in spite of the weather getting cloudy and rainy, we found tons of this little lizards and even caught a male giant lizard, but very late and with bad light for photographs. We also take our time photographing the local geckoes (Tarentola boettgeri), similar to the mainlad Tarentola mauritanica but with a more slender form, smooth skin and a characteristic dorsal line.   

Next day (March 22) Andrés finally joined up and the team was complete. We first return to the skink spots for Andrés to see them, and after that we focused on a harder target, to see and catch a big male Gallotia stehlini. First, we went to an area in Maspalomas recommended by a friend, and yes we saw plenty of them, some huge and very trusty, because the area was full of people, so impossible to catch one for photographs without attract a lot of attention. I did not bring my camera with the telelens there, which was a mistake because I only could take mobile shots. Later we tried other areas, but lizards were scarce or very elusive. The cloudy and rainy weather that continued from the previous day did not help either, and finally there was no way to catch any large individuals. In the evening, we tried to see one of the causes of the increasing scarcity of lizards on the island, the invasive California King Snake (Lampropeltis getula californiae). In the Canary Islands there are no snakes naturally, but unfortunately this species arrived by the pet trade, due to a very soft legislation on this issue, because in my opinion should be banned the possession of these exotic herps, and more on islands. Anyway, with the rainy and cold weather for this island, we didn't manage to see any either. We were doing roadcruising and looking at cisterns, from where we rescued some lizards, even if we had to escape from some loose big dogs, also typical from this islands.

On the last day on the island, being Saturday, I arranged with Antonio, that had the day off, to do some snorkeling and get to know the marine life of Gran Canaria. My trip mates, on the other hand, preferred to continue their search for a large lizard for photos. As we were planning to go into the sea, I left my reflex at the accommodation, taking only the compact camera and taking advantage of the opportunity to use for the first time an underwater cage which I intend to use for photographing marine life. It was a pleasure to meet here with Antonio after several years, he is from Valencia, partner and co-founder of the Timon Association, but he went to study Marine Sciences on this island years ago and is now well established here. Of course he has a good knowledge of the places to see some of the most emblematic animals of the Canarian seas, such as the elasmobranchs, and in particular the rays, animals that I had not yet been able to see in the wild more than once. 

So, we went to a small and comfortable beach, where as soon as we dived in, I could see many new species of fish that are not present in the Mediterranean, as well as a couple of colorful nudibranchs (Felimare picta). The rays, however, were a long time coming, but finally a couple of roughtail stingrays (Bathytoshia centroura), impressive fishes of more than 200 kilos and 2 metres long, appeared, passing very close to us. We were also able to see one individual of the beautiful butterfly ray (Gymnura altavela), resting on the bottom. Very happy with our observations, we spent the rest of the morning exploring some intertidal pools, seeing some interesting animals such as a sea hare (Aplysia sp.), as well as the local lizards, some of which were of a very good size, and I again without my camera to take proper pictures... 

After dinner, the other three herpers joined back, having catched and photographed a big lizards, so success also for them. We took a coffee with Antonio and the rest of the afternoon was spent doing another unlucky try with the invasive Lampropeltis. So finally, I left Gran Canaria without good photographs of the giant lizards, but I enjoyed my time on this island very much all the same, with almost all the targets accomplished.

The second of this two-island trip was Fuerteventura, on the ester-most part of the archipelago. This one is quite a flat island, and with no mountains to retain humidity from the trade winds, which results in arid landscapes similar to the neighboring Moroccan coast. Here we can also find three endemic reptiles, two very easy to find and one very very hard, as we could prove. And the island also harbors some new bird species for me, which in this case, in the absence of a free day to go and get them, I would have to look for them between herp and herp and in some free time left by my colleagues.

The first thing to say about our stay on Fuerteventura is that the (very atypical) conditions of cloud, wind and rain continued throughout the days there, which resulted in us seeing virtually no active reptiles, and we all had to search for them by lifting rocks and other shelters. This further complicated the search for the already difficult "lisneja" (Chalcides simonyi), the endemic skink of this island and neighboring Lanzarote. A really secretive species that very few people have managed to see in its natural habitat. So, we spent the whole first day in some of the areas of the island with the most records, with no luck at all, although we did see the other two local herps, the Atlantic lizard (Gallotia atlantica), which seemed to me to be a sort of desert version of a Podarcis muralis, and the gecko Tarentola angustimentalis. Looking for reptiles I could also see the only endemic bird of the island, the Fuerteventura stonechat (Saxicola dacotiae), again with no camera on, in spite of seeing the bird just a couple meters close...

The next day we followed a similar plan, trying the elusive lisneja all morning with no luck. Very exhausted, at midday my mates decided to get some sleep while I took the opportunity to take the car and head for Tindaya plains, in search of steppe birds such as the Canary Island Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata fuerteventurae), and seabirds such as the red-billed tropicbird (Phaeton aethereus) on the nearby cliffs. But the weather was not giving me any respite, and I was hit by heavy rain, so I didn't get to see many birds. That afternoon we continued in search of the damn reptile, even though we were beginning to hate it a lot, this time checking pools and cisterns for any that might have fallen until late in the evening, when we gave up again. At night, we went to the cliffs where Cory's shearwaters breed, to hear their strange calls and we even were able to see them entering the colony thanks to the full moon, flying just meters away from our heads, truly a magnificent spectacle for seabird fans as I am. We also had some time on the nights to go to local bars to have a few beers, play a bit of billiard and forget our sorrows with the damn skink.

On the last full day on the island, I, tired of looking for that f*****g lisneja, decided to go scuba diving as I really wanted to see some marine life here as well. Once again I had to make this plan alone, because although Max also dives, his hardcore herpetologist soul preferred to try one more time with that elusive skink. So I was dropped off in Morro Jable, one of the best diving spots on the island, where I had already booked a double dive trip for the morning. This dive site is one of the best for spotting angel sharks (Squatina squatina), a species that has almost disappeared from the European coasts. The dives did not disappoint, and I was able to see two angel sharks, one of them swimming freely, my first sharks in the wild. I saw also a lot more of marine life, such as garden eels, black moray eels, trumpet fish, large groupers, butterfly rays, electric rays and many other species. The pity was that I must not have closed the camera housing properly and water got in when I went down on the first dive, so from then on it was impossible to use it and I could not take any photos, although the camera was not damaged. When I rejoined my mates they have failed again and given up with the skink, so we relaxed a bit on a beach enjoying the landscapes before spending our last night.

Finally, the last morning I got up early to give one last try with the birds on Tindaya, specially the red-billed tropicbird, my most wanted species on the island. It costed a lot of patience, but finally a couple ones appeared on the spot, flying from the sea to the cliffs where they breed. Although I didn't get to see them as closely as I would have liked, what a spectacle of a bird, with unrivalled elegance, a recent colonizer of these islands from the tropical seas. I finished the morning with a very good sighting of a pair of Barbary falcons (Falco peregrinus pelegrinoides), which again proved to be much more confident than the mainland falcons, allowing themselves to be spotted at very close range. 

The Canary Islands were the last corner of my country I had yet to reach as a naturalist, and on this trip I was able to combine the two islands with perhaps the greatest variety of habitats and species, resulting in a handful of lifers. It is true that in terms of successful targets, Gran Canaria was better than Fuerteventura, also because I had a whole day free for birding and because I didn't have such a difficult herp as the lisneja (the Lampropeltis, being invasive, I didn't mind not seeing it). It's also a pity about the photographic failures that prevented me from documenting some of the greatest moments of the trip, such as the giant lizards or the dives in Fuerteventura, but that's the way it is, the important thing is to have lived and enjoyed the moments. The weather wasn't great either, but we saw most of what we wanted to see even so, and for the few days of the trip it's a result we can be proud of. Just for those beautiful volcanic landscapes, the wild coasts and the archaic forests, this archipelago is worth visiting, and I hope to be able to return soon for the remaining endemic species, to dive again in its waters and enjoy its good food. Thanks also to my colleagues for inviting me for this trip, to Antonio for his hospitality in Gran Canaria and to the rest of the people who helped with herping or birding places, like Xurxo Piñeiro and Carlos Rossi in Gran Canaria, and Alberto Ucero and Martín Rey in Fuerteventura. Thanks also to you for reading this report, and see you all next time!

Herp species list (yes, short but it's almost all island endemics): 

Pelophylax perezi

Tarentola angustimentalis

Tarentola boettgeri

Chalcides sexlineatus

Gallotia stehlinii

Gallotia atlantica

eBird trip report with complete bird list: https://ebird.org/tripreport/245787