Lanzarote residents are invited to participate in a project to plant species native to the island in the Lomo de San Andrés on Sunday 2nd December.

The project has been co-ordinated to be part of the Día Internacional del Voluntariado, everyone is welcome to help for 2 hours from 11:00 to 13:00. Organised by the Consejeria de Participación Ciudadana this is a chance to get involved with the local community and the biosphere of Lanzarote.

Lomo de San Andrés is situated in  read more »

The nesting season in Alegranza is coming to a close, the chicks are now starting to fly and it won’t be long before the fledglings start their first migration from the Canary Islands.

Photo: Eleanora’s Falcon Chicks courtesy of Lanzarote Active Club

There were 130 pairs of Eleanora’s Falcons who made the migration to Alegranza in 2012, sadly it’s not been a good breeding year, only 40% of the chicks have survived to date. We had a quick chance for a catch up on the latest news from the ornithologists from the WWF Campaña Chinijo this week during the marine reserve boat trip, where we paused at the lighthouse on the island to exchange food and supplies with the camp. Apparently, the Eleanora’s Falcons have suffered from a lack of food, their diet consists of small migratory birds, the lack of recent wind meant that their food supply ran short for a couple of weeks, thus the parents resorted to killing other chicks in order to feed their young.

The team are there to  read more »

This is a guest post from Julian who enjoys bird watching whilst during his holidays in Lanzarote.

Lanzarote has long been one of my favourite holiday destinations and as a birder I have always enjoyed my visits to the island. All my previous trips have been in late autumn or winter and have all produced good birding. The island specialities of Houbara Bustard, Cream-coloured Courser, Barbary Falcon, Trumpeter finch and Berthelot’s Pipit combined with the wading birds at Salinas de Janubio have made each visit worthwhile.

White-spotted Bluethroat

In March 2012 the annual family holiday coincided with the start of the spring  read more »

Flower Power is a fantastic garden centre situated in Mácher, Lanzarote they have very healthy well sized plants, at good prices.

We followed the progress of a landscape garden project that Flower Power have completed at a house in Haría. The work started back in November 2010, the lower level of this garden had not been cultivated and the area to be worked on was previously the builder’s rubbish tip.

The first job was to clear the land of  read more »

I was interested to read in Jules’s blog about the allotments available from Teguise council as I love to potter in the garden.

I get a huge sense of achievement when I cook what I have grown from the smallest of seeds, and there is just no comparison on the taste of freshly picked veg. I am by no means an expert though and feel my best successes come from plants which are able to survive my somewhat sporadic care and attention.

When we moved to our present house a few years ago the previous owner told us that she had had a huerta on the NE side of the garden but it had long been neglected. This terraced part of the garden is quite sheltered and very shady all afternoon. With our gradual refurbishment of the house we attempted a general tidy of the garden and I decided to plant a few veggies just for fun.

We started with a variety of plants but we have found those which are generally available in Lanzarote are obviously most suited to the climate and conditions.  Courgettes, pumpkin, melon and green beans all do well but do benefit from a daily visit. Our two older children both attended a school with a thriving veg patch and it was left to my older son to explain to me the finer points of a courgettes’ sex life!  read more »

The island of Lanzarote has blossomed, there are wild flowers along the roadsides, covering the pícon and volcanic landscapes and transforming them into fields of yellow, white, blue and red….Spring has arrived!

Máguez has an abundance of big beautiful daisies.

San Bartolomé has a vibrant red field full of poppies.  read more »

You may have noticed the line of men in orange uniform with white hats working the hillside when passing through Los Valles. They are planting the hillside as part of the project II Fase de Restauración Hidrológica y Forestal de La Cuenca Alta del Barranco de La Espoleta Hasta El Núcleo Urbano de los Valles TM de Teguise.

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I was intrigued to read recently that there has just been a 3 day International conference on the Phoenix Canariensis Palm tree in Santa Lucia, Gran Canaria. Who would attend one of these conferences and what would they discuss for three days?

The conference was held from the 18th to 21st November and had speakers from all over the world as well as local specialists from Spain and The Canary Islands such as Scott Zona from the Florida International University, Sarah Sallon from The Louis L Borick Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem, Donald Hodel from the University of California, Gabriel Alziar from the Natural History Museum in Nice, Victoria Soroker from the Agricultural Research Organization in Jerusalem and Didier Rochat from INRA Centre de Versailles in France.

Topics included the biology, ecology and cultivation of the Phoenix Canariensis and advice on how to control the dreaded red weevil pest (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus). Apart from the 25 hours of lectures, the delegates did get out from the hotel on the last day to stretch their legs and enjoy a walk to see some local palm trees followed by a meal in a restaurant before flying home.

Red Weevil

The Red Weevil is a destructive palm tree pest, a female weevil will lay about 300 eggs in separate holes on a palm tree, these eggs hatch within 2-5 days and the grubs bore into the interior of the palm feeding on the soft tissue. The larvae stage lasts from 1-3 months and then the grub pupates into a cocoon for 14-21 days when the adult weevil emerges.  read more »