During a family holiday on Tenerife I managed a few hours birding on 21 December 2012. As I only had a few hours before sunset I went straight to
Golf del Sur on the south side of the island only 20 minutes drive from our hotel in Los Christianos.
The golf course itself was very quiet so I went down to the small
pond to scan the assortment of wild and feral wildfowl. On the lake there was 1 Bar-headed Goose, 1 leucistic female Mandarin Duck, 10+ Muscovy Ducks and 37 Fulvous Whistling Ducks. Does anyone know if Fulvous Whistling Duck breed ferally on Tenerife?
There were also good numbers of Coot, Moorhen, Cattle & Little Egret. Genuine good wintering birds or vagrants on Tenerife included 1 male Mallard (or was it also introduced?), 3 Eurasian Teals and a nice 1cy male Blue-winged Teal.
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| Blue-winged Teal showing off its spectacular wing coverts |
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| Note that even though faint is aready beginning to 'ghost' the white lateral rump patch indicating toghether with the male-like upperwing the sex |
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| A mix of wild and feral wildfowl plus a single Moorhen walking in the background |
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| Does anyone know if Fulvous Whistling Duck breed ferally on Tenerife? |
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| Leucistic female Mandarin Duck. What is the history of this? |
