26th Nov. Exactly the same feelings as last year: I looked forward with such anticipation to this Winter break - three weeks in glorious Tenerife - that I could hardly imagine it would live up to the hype. And yet, exactly like last year, it has so far. I think this is about the 6th time here and the last few years we have stayed at the same hotel, GF Noelia. It is far from swish but is relatively cheap and has what it laughably describes as self-catering rooms which amount to little more than a fridge below a couple of hot plates (electric) and a kettle. No microwave, no oven. A few pans. There is a filter coffee machine from the 1970s and a kettle. We usually buy decent bowls and mugs as the cupboard of crockery is a bit school dinners.
It is basic but we keep coming back because it is across the road from the bus station, the supermercado and the 400m dirt track is 200 yards away. The public cinder track has been planted with more and more succulents, flowering plants, cactus and shrubs of myriad sort over the last few years that it is one of the premier spots for butterflies, insects and dragonflies in Puerto de la Cruz if not the whole of Tenerife. It is the main reason we return every year about now. Well that and the Scottish weather.
going through Mammon with the airplane staff
pre-dawn joys
dressed in Winter clothing here - to land 5 hrs later back in Summer
goodbye Scotland!
The flight was about as bearable as it gets. I think a following wind helped us beat the 5hrs+ schedule and with more luck we were through the airport and onto the transfer minibus in 45mins. Having left our flat at 5.15am we arrived at our hotel earliest ever, did a quick unpack and were at the sports track before 3pm. Just for a quick reminder (and photo of a monarch, the largest butterfly here) then off for a supermarket sweep to set us up for first day breakfast and a couple of bags of essential shopping for cooking meals. Last year we did far more eating out especially at lunchtimes and got into the lamentable habit of lunchtime beers. Given we had beer AND wine MOST evenings (because holiday) this resulted in pushing the boat (as well as the waistlines) a little too far out. This year we’d try for a little more discipline. Especially as we weren’t both fully run fit but building on recent improvements. Let’s at least start with good intentions!
monarch
frangipani flower
broad scarlet dragonfly (f)
a new sight at the track this year
cattle egrets were regulars - usually in pairs or more
I suspect they are the reason the lizards are more cautious this year
African grass blue
red-veined darter (f)
Joan and Colin at the track
Day 1 and we quickly acclimatised to the dramatic change of weather. Gloves and buffs swapped for sun screen and running vests. We arranged to meet Joan and Colin at the track. They had arrived a couple of weeks ahead of us and would leave before us. They have a very similar set of enthusiasms to ourselves: running and butterflies and birds and drink and sunshine and outdoors and swimming and hot countries where you can photograph nature.
Naturally they love the track too. They let us know the current state of affairs, which changes each year without warning or explanation. Which butterflies were spotted where and which were still on the most wanted list. The big news was that Plain Tigers had been seen at the track. The second largest butterfly in Tenerife (although African Migrants are similar in size but not beauty) they are highly prized specimens and have never been seen trackside before. Perhaps drawn by the ever expanding selection of plants and flowers being cultivated around the track circuit. Most days there is at least one person with a hose or a spade doing gardening work here and it is slowly becoming one of the premier outdoor spots to lift weights, throw hammers or run laps. Or hunt butterflies.
clouded yellow
Colin also let us know there were regular sightings of clouded yellows. This is also a top notch butterfly that is slowly becoming more of a regular in Puerto. While we have seen them at the track, last year we discovered a waste-ground spot 2 miles away where they regularly attended small yellow flowers. I have never seen one in Scotland although many were spotted this year. They are slowly becoming a migrant species and next will start to breed in Scotland if the climate continues to warm. They have become far more normalised in mid and South Englandshire due to the great Summer weather and could almost be taken for a native species. With that we turned around to see one breezing across the sports track and walked over to photograph it. I set the camera to Pre-burst mode to capture the open wings, otherwise difficult to see as they nectar with closed wings.
the light dots on the dark wing tips mean this is a female
little did we know it at the time but numbers of clouded yellows
dropped right off and far fewer were seen subsequently
as we were leaving I noticed this emperor dragonfly (female)
land in the upper branches of a shrub
Emperors are the largest dragonfly here, as they are in the Uk. They seem to be known as Blue Emperors here although the Latin name Anax imperator is the same as the UK counterpart. The females (as above) are more green in colour than the bright blue body of the males.
Red-veined dropwing (f)
males are bright scarlet
more cattle egrets
kestrel
there are lots of kestrels wherever there is waste ground
and grassy terraces
we went up to (last year’s) clouded yellow hotspot,
sadly it did not yield any butterflies this year
often this occurs - as things change year on year
Weirdest thing happened on the way back to our hotels. A car pulled over and the window rolled down to reveal Nick and Lou. We knew they were staying near Los Gigantes on the other side of the island and had arranged to see them the following day. However they had hired a car and were driving about the island to get the feel of the place. The chances of bumping into them in a random street in Puerto (not directly beside waste-ground or deserted terraces where butterflies hang out,) was slim to none, yet here we all were! To use an overused word it was surreal. It was the first time Lou had met Mary even though they live in the same town. Here they were 2,600 miles away from home now meeting! After a quick chat we all headed off to our hotels. A great start to a great holiday!
Lou and Nick!
