We wake up relatively late after a tiring previous day followed by a breakfast and then it is time for our only attraction of the day before our relatives come later in the afternoon. We want to go to the Erjos Water Mountain Trail to look for the two species of endemic pigeons, Bolle and Laurel and other endemic birds. It is an one hour drive and we are happy to find parking in the busy village and then it is to take trail up the mountain.
It is midday by this time and the trail is exposed as we start climbing and it is really hot, we are happy we have enough water as we stop multiple times to enjoy the views and just rehydrate.
And the trail doesn’t let up with stairs and tough climbing until we reach the top where we learn that the actual trail through the vestigial laurel forest starts.
Now the trail is level and we enjoy the cooling shade from the trees, it is quite pleasant really. There are some non-native trees including an eucalyptus tree, why really, but otherwise we really start looking around for the endemic birds that prefer the laurel forest.
There is a viewpoint and some benches but as much as we look and poke and prode we don’t see any endemic pigeons, too bad really.
And at least we see some endemic butterflies and birds, starting with the Canary Speckled Wood and the quite common here Canary Island Chaffinch, that we see multiple times on the trail.
We also see our first African Blue Tit and the endemic subspecies of Goldcrest, quite a beautiful bird. And then it is time to return back to the car and to the airport to pick our relative.
