Looking for butterflies and the setting some Moth lights out in the Barranco's near Baza.
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| The washed out Barranco after recent storms. |
After checking the Moths at the house Dave and headed North East out to the Baza area of Granada Province, on the way I fell behind due to having a very scary front tyre blowout as I passed through the Sierra de Huétor.
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| Looking out to the approaching Rain coming in from the west. |
I eventually caught up with Dave at the motorway exit near Baza and we continued on out to the site and parked, on the way in I had a nice male
Western Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia Occidental / Oenanthe hispanica) fly over the track. |
| The Habitat. |
Within a couple of minutes of arriving we bumped into friend Álvaro Peral of
Wild Andalucia with Richard Tripp, showed us some photo's of the MEGA rare
Spanish Greenish Black-tip (Euchloe bazae) they had seen half an hour before we arrived in one of the days only blasts of sun.
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| Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri). |
We got our kit together and went for a walk up the Barranco but as we went it got darker and windier so butterflies were pretty much none existent, Dave did see a
White and a
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) but I didn't see anything.
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| Linaria arvensis. |
Bird and plant wise I picked up
Thekla's (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) and
Mediterranean Short-toed Lark (Terrera Marismena / Alaudala rufescens),
Eurasian Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris),
Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax),
Stock Dove (Paloma Zurita / Columba oenas),
Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala) and
Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Curruca undata),
European Stonechat (Tarabilla Europea / Saxicola rubicola),
Song Thrush (Zorzal Común / Turdus philomelos),
Common Linnet (Pardillo Común / Linaria cannabina), Linaria arvensis,
Nonea echioides,
Eruca vesicaria,
Fumaria densiflora,
White Rockrose (Helianthemum apenninum) and Field Marigold (Calendula arvensis).
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| Nonea echioides. |
At around 15:00 we headed to the hotel, had some lunch and then I headed back to the same area and walked the Barranco again, it was still windy and the sun did come out a few times briefly but I still only managed to find a singe Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri).
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| One of Dave's Moth Lights. |
Later I returned to the hotel and then we headed back to the area to set up some Moth Lights, whilst we did this we saw
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real / Lanius meridionalis) and
Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura) before we headed back again and had a nice evening with Álvaro and Richard who were staying at the same place.
