With not a sniff of a swift or hirundine at any point on the trip (and knowing that they were generally hard to come by in these circumstances), we'd pretty much forgotten about them by the last day, which we used by dropping in on a few east coast sites at a relaxed pace en route to the airport.
Cue suddely animated scenes when Rich picked up what looked like a couple of Swallows feeding over a thickly vegetated compound within the airport grounds from his side of the car; a rapid halt at the roadside and a now stationary viewing opportunity did indeed reveal a couple of Swallows, but also - much better still - a group pf Swifts, which looked instantly interesting....
Aware that Plain Swifts - restricted to the Canaries and Madeira as a breeding bird - were a possibility, but also that Pallid were the most likely (and with Common also in the frame), and that Plains were erratic and hard to come by on the island - we took our time, but after plenty of good views and a few half-decent shots, happily concluded they were indeed this elusive endemic. A great way to sign off on a hugely enjoyable trip.
