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Saturday 8 October 2011

Granada and the Cacín Valley, Granada Province.

Bargins and Birds.

Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax).
Jayne and I set off up towards the City of Granada to visit the large Saturday market as we were hoping to do a car boot sale on the Sunday morning when the other Granada market is on. On the way up I saw a small flock Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki) which were raiding the remains of next doors grape vines, a very dark Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo) which flapped low over the road by the A92 and a small flock of around 20 Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) on a motorway side field.
We spent the next 2 ½ hours having a wonder around the market and both picked up a couple of bargins!
Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea).
On the way home we went via La Malahá and Ventas de Huelma on the way over to Cacín, on the way I added Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua), Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula) and another Common Buzzard but this time right at the other end of the colour scale as it was almost white below with just two dark brown bars.
We dropped down into the Cacín Valley and headed North stopping at the Embalse for a while, here I picked up Eurasian Teal (Cerceta Común / Anas crecca), Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Anas clypeata), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Common Pochard (Porrón Europeo / Aythya ferina), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinula Chloropus), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Great Cormorant (Cormorán Grande / Phalacrocorax carbo) and 3 Grey Herons (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea). 
Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra).
In the surrounding fields and bushes I caught up with Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros), Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa), Thekla (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae) and Crested Larks (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), Long-tailed Tit (Mito / Aegithalos caudatus), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Cetti’s Warbler (Ruisenor Bastardo / Cettia cetti), Common Magpie (Urraca / Pica pica), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus).
Our last stop was out on the El Temple agricultural area nearby, here we only managed to pick up 3 new chat species for the day list, these were Whinchat (Tarabilla Nortena / Saxicola rubetra), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata) and Northern Wheatear (Collalba Gris / Oenanthe oenanthe).

Near Huétor Tajar, Granada Province, Spain.

Moth Trapping.

Euchromius vinculellus.
Another three new species caught on what was a nice warm October night, moth numbers were up possibly due to a thin layer of cloud.
Hydriris ornatalis.
The new species were Euchromius vinculellus, Hydriris ornatalis and Euchrognophus murcidaria with a few more still to ID. 
Euchrognophus murcidaria.
Autographa gamma (Silver Y).
Other intersting species were singles of both Autographa gamma (Silver Y) and Trichoplusia ni (Ni Moth), plus loads of Rhodometra sacraria (The Vestal) 30+, Cladocerotis optabilis, Episema glaucina, Leucochlaena oditis (Beautiful Gothic) 10+, Ethmia bipunctella, a second Peribatodes umbraria after the first on the 6th and Pyrausta aurata.
Trichoplusia ni (Ni Moth).

Thursday 6 October 2011

Near Huétor Tajar, Granada Province, Spain.

Moth Trapping.

Cynaeda dentalis.
As usual I decided to run the 15w trap and was pleased to find a drastic drop in the number of the black beetles which had been infesting the trap recently. 
Peribatodes umbraria.
Along with a few beetles there were a number of new species for the garden, these included Cynaeda dentalis, Peribatodes umbraria, Scopula ornata (Lace border) and Stilbia andalusiaca.
Earias insulana (Egyptian Bollworm).
Other species were Trichophaga tapetzella (Tapestry Moth), Hellula undalis (Old World Webworm), Microloxia herbaria, Cladocerotis optabilis, Leucochlaena oditis (Beautiful Gothic), Episema glaucina, Pseudozarba bipartita, Idaea degeneraria (Portland Ribbon Wave), a dozen or more Earias insulana (Egyptian Bollworm), Coscinia cribraria f. chysocephala (Speckled Footman) and Utetheisa pulchella (Crimson Speckled).
Stilbia andalusiaca.
Photographs from the top: Cynaeda dentalis, Peribatodes umbraria, Scopula ornata (Lace border), Stilbia andalusiaca and Earias insulana (Egyptian Bollworm).