LESSER WHITETHROATS AT TÍAS GOLF COURSE. FIRST FOR THE CANARY ISLANDS

by Juan Sagardía Pradera

Into the context of my lucky week, in the morning of 22/X and again at Tías golf course, I found a Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca inside a lemon tree.

The bird was very shy and nervous, and was very difficult to obtain a clear image of it. But what was my surprise when I discovered that there was no even one bird, were two!

After some hours of efforts, I could take some pictures of both birds.

I made a telephone call to Francisco Javier García Vargas, and he visited the golf course in the afternoon joined by A. Unquiles Cobos, and they could find at least one of the birds, taking some photographs of it.

Those birds were observed inside a big fall of migrant passerines, involving Tree Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, Common Redstart, Whinchat, Common Whitethroat, Western Orphean, Sardinian, Subalpine, Sedge, Reed and Willow Warblers and good numbers of Spotted and Pied Flycatchers.

I returned to the golf course on 23/X and one bird was still there.

On 24/X and when I have left the island, F. J. García Vargas told me that the weather has changed, with strong NE winds, and the most of the migrant passerines were not present.

This will be (if accepted) the first record of this species for the Canary Islands.