A Tenerife Diary by Eric Ennion

After ten years running their own Bird Observatory and Field Centre – Monks’ House at Seahouses in Northumberland – Eric and Dorothy Ennion spent January and February 1961 studying the birdlife at Bajamar on the northeast coast of Tenerife. Contrary to previously published accounts, the breeding season was already well underway and they devoted most of their time to studying the resident birds.

Although birds are at the heart of A Tenerife Diary, Eric spreads his net much wider in this lively account of their trip. He was an astute observer, not only of the fauna and flora – much of which was new to them both – but also of the local people and their way of life and customs, at a time when the tourist industry was about to bring major change.

At the end of May 1961 Eric and Dorothy headed south once more, this time to France for a two-week exploration of the Camargue and the Crau. They again found much to interest them in addition to the exciting birdlife and Eric’s account of this trip and his reflections on returning home form the final section of the book.

In the early 1960’s Eric Ennion was at the height of his powers as an artist and his illustrations beautifully complement his writing, forming an evocative record of less hurried and simpler times.

Edited, with an introduction, by Bob Walthew.

72 pages (300 x 240 mm), 18 colour illustrations, 14 in sepia and 4 line drawings. Limited edition of 750 numbered copies.

ISBN 978-0-9570465-1-1

£36

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Contents

Introduction

A Tenerife Diary
Gong South to Tenerife
The Fortunate Isles
A Peasant Cultivation
Dragon Trees & Dragonflies
Home Again
Trapping Sparrows

The Camargue & The Crau
Black Bulls & White Horses
June Comparisons

Acknowledgements