Salinas and near Trabuco, Malaga Province.

An afternoon of Dragonfly chasing.

Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum).

Jayne was going over to the craft group meeting at Trabuco so I went with her and dropped her off at the bar before heading to a small pool near Salinas just off the side of the A92 motorway. I arrived and on the main pool I soon had good views of a very nice male Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea), quickly followed by a male Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) and Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma). I then had a look on a small water flush which ran off the fields and along the road and within seconds had increased the Dragon by finding several Mercury Bluet's (Coenagrion mercuriale), Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum), Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathinerum) and Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum).

Dainty Damselfly (Coenagrion scitulum).

Birds included Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Common Moorhen  (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Iberian  Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki), European Bee-eater (Abejaruco Común / Merops apiaster) and Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula). In and around the trees which ran along the stream I saw several False Ilex Hairstreaks (Satyrium esculi), Clouded Yellow (Colias corcea), Small White (Artogeia rapae), Southern Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus boeticus) and a Iberian Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides feisthameli). I then moved further along the stream and located a male Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope), several Iberian Water Frogs (Rana Común / Rana Perezi) and a couple of nicely marked Viperine Snakes (Culebra Viperina / Natrix maura). From here I headed back towards Trabuco but called at a pool on the way, the track to the site was in very bad condition so I had to park and walk the last couple of hundred yards through the Oak woodland. On the way up I had several more False Ilex Hairstreaks, a Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra) and lots of Spanish Gatekeepers (Pyronia bathsheba).

Dainty Damselfly (Coenagrion scitulum).

When I reached the pool I was pleased and surprised to see that the water level was very high and the size of the pool had increased greatly. This did not make getting around the surrounds easily so I took to wading and was soon out amongst good numbers of Dainty Damselflies (Coenagrion scitulum) which were on top of a great many of the reed stems. In the same area there were a couple of cruising Lesser Emperor's (Anax parthenope), several more Black-tailed Skimmers and some very bright male Broad Scarlets all of which I was pleased to see. A couple of moments later a couple of medium sized Viperine Snakes (Culebra Viperina / Natrix maura) shot into the water where I was standing and one swam between my legs, which was something I was less happy to see, in total I saw 30+ of these snakes during my walk around the lake and along with these there were hundreds of Iberian Water Frogs (Rana Común / Rana Perezi). 

False Ilex Hairstreak (Satyrium esculi).

On and over the water there were good numbers of birds which included Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Common Pochard (Porrón Común / Aythya ferina), Mallard (Anade Azulón / Anas platyrhynchos), Red-rumped Swallow (Golondrina Dáurica / Hirudo daurica), Reed Warbler (Carricero Común / Acrocephalus scrpaceus), Little (Zampullín Común / Tachybaptus ruficollis) and Great Crested Grebes (Somormujo Lavanco / Podiceps cristatus), Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Crested Lark (Cogujada / Galerida cristata), House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica), Turtle Dove (Tórtola europea / Streptopelia turtur) and Bonelli's Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli). In the same area I also saw Cleopatra (Cleopatra / Gonepteryx cleopatra), Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathsheba), Common / Southern Blue (Polyommatus icarus / celina), Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii), Small Red-eyed (Erythromma viridulum) and a very nice tandem pair of Migrant Spreadwings (Lester barbarus).