A day in the hills and along the valleys nearby.
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Griffon Vulture (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus). |
I met John and the others at the Cortijo de Tajar up near the motorway and we headed out to the Sierra de Loja entering the site via the town track.
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Yellow Bee Orchid (Ophrys lutea). |
Our first stop was just below the building site which I am informed is going to be a new visitors centre for the Sierrs, if it ever actually opens.
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Cliffhanger (Chaenorhinum villosum). |
At this point we found lots of spikes of the beautiful
Yellow Bee Orchids (Ophrys lutea), a few
Mirror (Ophrys speculum),
Fan-lipped (Anacamptis collina) as well as
Andalusian Storksbill (Erodium recorderi),
Cliffhanger (Chaenorhinum villosum),
Dove's Foot Cranesbill (Geranium molle),
Field Madder (Sherardia arvensis),
Field marigold (Calendula arvensis),
Fleshy-leaved Thymelaea (Thymelaea hirsuta),
Mediterranean Catchfly (Silene colorata),
Rusty-back Fern (Ceterach officinarum),
Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum),
Star Clover (Trifolium stellatum) and
Common Grape Hyacinth (Muscari neglectum).
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Bonelli's Eagle (Aguila-azor / Hieraetus faciatus). |
We also started to pick up a few bird species including
Bonelli's Warbler (Mosquitero Papialbo / Phylloscopus bonelli),
Blackbird (Mirlo Común / Turdus merula),
Blue Tit (Herrerillo Común / Parus caeruleus),
Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto),
Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs),
House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus),
House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica),
Barn Swallow (Golondrina Común / Hirundo rustica),
Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus),
Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus),
Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor),
Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus) and
Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes).
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Looking for a flowering Tulip. |
We move further up seeing several spikes of
Giant Orchid (Himantoglossum robertiana) but they were just going passed their best.
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Southern Wild Tulip (Tulipa sylvestris). |
Again we moved on and parked on the roadside before walking up to the small disused quarry above the motorway, on the way the plant list grew as we added
Viola dementria,
White Mignonette (Reseda Alba),
Wild Clary (Salvia verbenaca),
Tassel Hyacinth (Muscari comosum),
Spring Rockcress (Arabis verna),
Southern Wild Tulip (Tulipa sylvestris ssp. australis),
Southern Red Bartsia (Parentucellia latifolia),
Shepherds Needles (Scandix pecten-veneris),
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Purple Bugloss (Echium plantagineum),
Mediterranean Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria),
Torcal Toadflax (Linaria anticaria),
Grey-leaved Cistus (Cistus albidus),
Common Snapdragon (Antirrhinum major),
Common Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis),
Common Asphodel (Asphodelus albus) and
Man (Orchis anthropophora) and
Sawfly Orchids (Ophrys tenthredinifera).
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Naked / Italian Man Orchid (Orchis italica). |
Birds were more difficult but we did see or hear
Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris),
Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata),
Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura),
Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros),
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus),
Great Tit (Carbonera Común / Parus major),
Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis),
Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris),
Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula),
Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa) and
Sardinian (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala) and
Spectacled Warblers (Curruca Tomillera / Sylvia conspicillata).
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Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia). |
We also started the butterfly list with
Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus),
Large (Pieris brassicae),
Small (Artogeia rapae) and
Bath Whites (Pontia daplidice),
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas),
Provence Orange-tip (Anthocharis euphenoides) and
Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus).
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Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica). |
Up on top of the highest crags we had a couple of
Spanish Ibex (Cabra pyreaica hispanica) right on the skyline.
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A distant Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush (Roquero Roja / Monticola saxatilis). |
We moved on up the track along the crags but made a quick stop to have a look at a new orchid for my site list in the shape of a single
Naked / Italian Man Orchid (Orchis italica) and whilst we were stopped we had
Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki),
Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus) and a very distant calling
Common Cuckoo (Cuco Común / Cuculus canorus).
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A Storksbill meadow. |
We again continued on heading for Charca del Negro, on the way we had good views of a soaring
Bonelli's Eagle (Aguila-azor / Hieraetus faciatus),
Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina),
Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae),
Black-eared Wheatear (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica),
Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia),
Iberian Grey Shrike (Alcaudón Real Meridional / Lanius meridionalis),
Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) and
Pallid Swift (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus).
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Conical Orchid (Neotinea conica). |
Once we were at Charca we picked up the
Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush (Roquero Roja / Monticola saxatilis) and had good views of it several times along with the commoner
Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius) and
Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia) and on the rocks there were the remains of
Narcissus bugei and in the pool we saw several
Sharp-ribbed Salamander (Pleurodeles waltl) as they came up for breath.
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Pink Butterfly Orchid (Anacamptis papilionacea). |
We continued on to the furthest crags and picked up
Woodchat Shrike (Alcaudón Común / Lanius senator),
Orphean Warbler (Curruca Mirlano / Sylvia hortensis),
Robin (Petirrojo Europeo / Erithacus rubecula),
Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and just as we started to drive back down the hill we picked up two very nice
Griffon Vultures (Bultre Leonado / Gyps fulvus) which past right over head.
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Common Grape Hyacinth (Muscari neglectum). |
We dropped down the hill and then went for something to eat in Venta del Raya and the moved down the road to see the
Montagu's Harrier (Aguilucho Cenizo / Circus pygargus) but they were inactive so we moved on down the road to a spot in the Oak woods where we again looked for plants and notched up a nice list again including
Conical (Neotinea conica) and
Southern Early Purple Orchids (Androrchis Olbiensis),
Sword-leaved Helleborine (Cephalanatera longifolia),
Blue Hounds-tongue (Cynoglossum creticum),
Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris),
Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas),
Eruca (Eruca sativa),
Yellow Gromwell (Neatostema apulum),
Southern Daisy (Bellis cordifolia),
White Rockrose (Helianthemum apenninum) and the only new bird species was
Firecrest (Reyezuelo Listado / Regulus ignicapillus).
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Sword-leaved Helleborine (Cephalanatera longifolia). |
Our last stop of the day was just down the road and we only added a single butterfly,
Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina) and a couple of
Orchids to the list but the show of
Pink Butterfly Orchids (Anacamptis papilionacea) was a really nice way to end this first day along with a single spike of
Small Woodcock Orchid (Ophrys picta).
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Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina). |
1 comment:
je weet de schoonheid heel mooi te onderscheiden.
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