Wildlife and birdlife is fairly sparse on La Gomera, especially in the winter. But for those keeping their eyes peeled, there are still some special birds to be seen. While staying in La Puntilla, with a view from our balcony directly onto the rocky shore, an egret and a whimbrel were a daily delight. Amazingly, the tourist walking along the shore were completely oblivious of their presence.
It was wonderful (and relaxing!) to just watch these birds looking for food while wandering along the rocky shore and dodging the incoming waves. The egret looks predominantly for fish in the incoming waves, while the curlew spends his energy poking its long beak in the holes in the volcanic rocks, looking for little crustaceans. Unfortunately, both were mostly too far away to get any decent photos.
One morning, with a lot of patience and careful negotiation around some large volcanic rocks to remain out of view, I managed to get close enough to take a couple of photos of this lovely little egret, before it was scared away by the tourists congregating on the pavement along the shore, wondering what I was up to with that big camera and lens.
I will share some photos of the whimbrel in the next post.