After visiting two towns it is time for our nature outing. We really want to see the endemic pigeons here and after yesterday we didn’t see anything we hope that Barranco de Ruiz, the Ruiz Ravine, will allow us to do just that. It comes highly recommended and we decide to take the trail that goes into the ravine and hopefully we can see at least one of the two species.
The trail is going up and up and soon we have some nice views of the area from where we started climbing. The initial climb is on an access road to a house and we assume soon we will have to leave the road and follow a trail.
And our guess is correct, the trail is quite narrow with a cliff on one side and nothing on the other side, except luckily some protective fences. The views are also great even though we are surprised how much we have climbed in just a few minutes.
And then there are stairs and stairs and here our relative decides to wait while we continue searching for the pigeons who do not want to show themselves.
And on we go but try as we might we cannot see the pigeons so we give up and return to the parking, there is one more chance to see them a bit further up the road.
Given the complete lack of pigeons in the Barranco de Ruiz it is time to try our backup location nearby, the Mirador de la Grimona. The mirador/viewpoint is to overlook a beach but we are more interested in the street side with cliffs and trees where supposedly we can see laurel pigeons.
And after a passing kestrel we notice something flying in the trees. After finally putting the binoculars on the bird we notice it is what we were looking for, the laurel pigeon. There are a few of them and we are able to make some reasonably good photos and now satisfied it is time to return to Garachico for the last stop of the day.
