After taking Jayne and her two sisters into the centre of Ronda for a day of retail therapy and a nice lunch, I visited Peter Jones of Spanish Nature 
for a chat and a rummage around the web sites on the net. After a pleasant couple of hours I made my way to Sue and Clive's out nearer to Grazalema to have a rattle and see the newest member of the family Sam. We spent some time out in the garden, particularly down by the stream which boarders their land, a large part of one of the many trees fell of last winter and opened up a small area of 
ground and the bank of the stream. Almost straight away I had a new Dragonfly species for my list, Western Willow Spreadwing (Lestes viridis), several insects chased around in the dappled sunlight. Western Spectre (Boyeria irene) was also in the area but was 
only seen by Sue as she walked down the drive gates to let me out. Copper Demoiselle, (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis), Speckled Wood, (Pararge aegeria), Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus) and Blackcap (Curruca Capirotarda / Sylvia atricapilla) were all seen. They had just had visitors from Cornwall in the UK and had spent a week searching the area for 
Dragonflies. Over twenty species were seen but they were now back to work on the PCs keeping the Grazalema Guide and Wildside Holidays web sites up and running. After a cracking couple of hours I made my way back to Ronda to pick the girls up, we started to make our way towards home via a Vulture feeding station. On our arrival a few birds were sitting out in the field but that was about it, so we were just leaving when a tractor with a bucket load of offal left the near by village. What happened next surprised even me, within second two hundred plus Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) 
were circling the tractor as it turned of the road on to the track and made its way to the dumping site. As the vehicle stopped it was mobbed by birds, it tipped it's load and left the scavengers tearing the offal up and gorging them selves. We then drove back to the main road and got some distant views of the flock in flight as the tractor returned with the second course.
Photographs from the top: Western Willow Spreadwing (Lestes viridis), Copper Demoiselle, (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis), Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) on the ground and last two Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) in flight.
for a chat and a rummage around the web sites on the net. After a pleasant couple of hours I made my way to Sue and Clive's out nearer to Grazalema to have a rattle and see the newest member of the family Sam. We spent some time out in the garden, particularly down by the stream which boarders their land, a large part of one of the many trees fell of last winter and opened up a small area of 
ground and the bank of the stream. Almost straight away I had a new Dragonfly species for my list, Western Willow Spreadwing (Lestes viridis), several insects chased around in the dappled sunlight. Western Spectre (Boyeria irene) was also in the area but was 
only seen by Sue as she walked down the drive gates to let me out. Copper Demoiselle, (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis), Speckled Wood, (Pararge aegeria), Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus) and Blackcap (Curruca Capirotarda / Sylvia atricapilla) were all seen. They had just had visitors from Cornwall in the UK and had spent a week searching the area for 
Dragonflies. Over twenty species were seen but they were now back to work on the PCs keeping the Grazalema Guide and Wildside Holidays web sites up and running. After a cracking couple of hours I made my way back to Ronda to pick the girls up, we started to make our way towards home via a Vulture feeding station. On our arrival a few birds were sitting out in the field but that was about it, so we were just leaving when a tractor with a bucket load of offal left the near by village. What happened next surprised even me, within second two hundred plus Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) 
were circling the tractor as it turned of the road on to the track and made its way to the dumping site. As the vehicle stopped it was mobbed by birds, it tipped it's load and left the scavengers tearing the offal up and gorging them selves. We then drove back to the main road and got some distant views of the flock in flight as the tractor returned with the second course.Photographs from the top: Western Willow Spreadwing (Lestes viridis), Copper Demoiselle, (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis), Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) on the ground and last two Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) in flight.
1 comment:
Hi Mike,
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoy browsing your blog. I'd have loved to have seen those vultures - it doesn't matter how many times I pop out to Spain I always get a kick out of seeing these superb birds,
John Cantelo
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