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Thursday 18 October 2012

Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz Province.

A coach trip with the Amigas de Casa group from Trabuco.

Jayne and I drove over to Trabuco where we met 40 odd other people from the area and joined them on a coach trip over to Jerez for the day. During the journey over I picked up a few species from the window including 10+ Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) over the motorway near Antequera, Grey Heron (Garza Real / Ardea cinerea) on some road side floods, a male Peregrine Falcon (Halcón Peregrino / Falco peregrinus) which flew right along side the coach near Campillos and a small flock of Jackdaws (Grajilla / Corvus monedula) and Spotless Starlings (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) on Wires near by. The water level at Laguna Dulce was well up since my last visit and even at the speed we went passed I could see a few Greater Flamingo's (Flamenco Común / Phoenicopterus ruber), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Black-winged Stilt (Ciguenuela Común / Himantopus himantopus) and 2 Glossy Ibis (Morito Común / Plegadis falcinellus) which were flying low over the fields about to drop in to the lake. On a field between the Laguna and the town I also picked up a small flock of Little Bustards (Sisón Común / Tetrax tetrax) sat in the stubble. I did not see much then until we passed Villamartin when I added a group of around 20 Calandra Larks (Calandria / Melanocorypha calandra) to the day list and then came the first of the three Black-winged Kites (Elanio Común / Elanus caeruleus) I was to see going in this direction. Other species noted were Black-headed (Gaviota Riedora / Larus ridibundus), Lesser Black-backed (Gaviota Somria / Larus fuscus) and Yellow-legged Gulls (Gaviota Patiamarilla / Larus Michahellis) on floods near Jerez, Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer Domesticus), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Common Buzzard (Busardo Ratonero / Buteo buteo) and Cattle Egret (Garcilla Bueyera / Bubulcus ibis). We arrived in Jerez and were dropped off by the driver near the Tio Pepe Sherry bodega where we were later going on a guided tour and a tasting session. But to start with we had about 4 hour to have a wander around the older part of the city and have some lunch, we started off and were quickly joined by Jayne's friends from the craft group Bev and Cathy as we made our way around the Alcázar towards the Cathedral. Just past the Plaza del Arroyo the girls spotted a sign for a craft centre so we went and had a look around
there before finding a couple more churches and then made our way out into the main shopping area vai another craft type shop where a couple of purchases were made. Once out in the more modern end of the city we found a restaurant and had some lunch before meandering around the nice tree line streets seeing some of the sights. Just before 16:00 we arrive back at the entrance to the bodega just as the heavens opened for the first time during the day (it had been forecast for rain all day) so we dived for cover and were let into the reception of the bodega a little early to shelter. We started the tour with a very interesting film about the history of Tio Pepe sherry and then had a good wander around the buildings and storage sheds (the smell was great) before going into a large stroage building where we had our tasting and tapas. It was now 18:30 so we made our way back to the coach and we started the journey home, on the way the rain set in a little heavier but I still managed to see a few nice species on the way. They included anothe 7 Black-winged Kites, Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina), Southern Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis), Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata), Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica), Common
 Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulga / Falco tinnunculus), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinula Chloropus) and on a river that we crossed a single Avocet (Avoceta Común/ Recurvirostra avosetta). We arrived back at Trbouca at just after 21:30 and we made our way back to Huétor where we went into the 3 Calles bar and had something to eat and a couple of drinks and then went home. Thanks to the Ladies that organized the trip, we had a good time.
Photographs from the top: All general shots of the day.





Sunday 14 October 2012

Near Zafarraya, Granada Province.

A new Orchid for the Granada List along with a new plant for my Spanish list.

Autumn Lady's Tresses (Spiranthes spiralis).
I met Juan Perez, his wife Beatriz and their new dog Chica at the Cortijo de Tajar Hotel just off the A82 at exit 203. After a brief chat and fuss of Chica we made our way down towards Venta del Raya and then onwards down the side of Sierra de Loja to a site just north of Zafarraya. 
Autumn Lady's Tresses (Spiranthes spiralis).
Juan and I had searched this area on a few trips last year for the rare Autumn Lady's Tresses (Spiranthes spiralis) but with out success. We started our search on the side of the main road at a spot where we had seen many Orchids species in the past including some particularly nice spikes of Epipactis tremolsii
Beatriz and Chika.
We did not find any Spiranthes plants at this site but we did see and hear Cirl Bunting (Escribano Soteno / Emberiza cirlus), Woodlark (Totovia / Lullula arborea), Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia) and Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus). We continued on towards Zafarraya and stopped at the second site we knew off which was just along a dirt track off the main road and Juan very quickly found a single plant growing in a small grassy paddock, which was quickly followed by at least another20 plants further along the track. Some of these plants were starting to go over and all of them were out of the range of the lens behind a wire fence, so we continued to search. 
Sternbergia colchiciflora.
A little way along the road we discovered several more plants growing in amongst Oak trees and rocks and this gave us the opportunity to get some shots of this cracking little Orchid. We continued to check around this area and Beatriz than spotted three plants of the very rare Sternbergia colchiciflora in amongst the hundreds of the pink flowered Crocus serotinus (Southern Autumn Crocus) which was a very nice find and a new plant for me. 
Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina).
We then had a quick look at one more site but did not turn up any thing new before we returned to have another look at the Spiranthes and then head back to Huétor but we made one final stop to look at a very nice show of the other rare yellow Crocus Sternbergia lutea on the way.
Crocus Sternbergi.
Other species seen during the morning were Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica), Common Chiffchaff (Mosquitero Común / Phylloscopus collybita), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Pico Picapinos / Dendrocopos major), Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops), Jay (Arrendajo / Garrulus glandarius) and Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla). Butterflies were few but we did see a Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina) and several Small Whites (Artogeia rapae).