A day in the hills with Kate and Jim from the UK.
Kate and Jim Day One.
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Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia). |
Kate and Jim had arrived a couple of days earlier but due to Kate being unwell this was our first day in the field and we started with one of my favourite place, Sierra de Loja.
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Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia). |
We started on the slopes just past the Abades service area and soon started to find interesting species including
Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia),
Spanish Brown Argus (Aricia cramera),
Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina),
Panoptes Blue (Pseudophilotes panoptes),
Small White (Artogeia rapae),
Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus),
Short-toed Treecreeper (Agateador Común / Certhia brachydactyla),
Rock Bunting (Escribano Montesino / Emberiza cia),
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Panoptes Blue (Pseudophilotes panoptes). |
Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto),
Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus),
Common Chaffinch (Pinzón Vulgar / Fringilla coelebs),
Blue Alkanet (Anchusa azurea),
Blue Hounds-tongue (Cynoglossum creticum),
Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas),
Common Snapdragon (Antirrhinum major),
Eruca (Eruca sativa),
Ground-pine Germander (Teucrium pseudochamaepitys),
Mallow-leaved Bindweed (Convolvulus althaeoides),
Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum),
Navel-wort (Omphalodes commutata),
Pitch Trefoil (Psoralea bituminosa),
Rabbits bread (Andryala integrifolia),
Rosy Garlic (Allium roseum),
Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum),
Bellardia trixago,
Southern Knapweed (Centaurea pullata ssp pullata),
Southern Red Bartsia (Parentucellia latifolia),
Star Clover (Trifolium stellatum),
Wild Gladiolus (Gladiolus illyricus) and
Yellow Phlomis (Phlomis lychnitis).
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Cerastium boissieri. |
We moved on up to the lower quarry and walked back down the track, during this stroll we found
Dartford Warbler (Curruca Rabilarga / Sylvia undata),
Turtle Dove (Tórtola Europea / Streptopelia turtur),
Jackdaw (Grajilla / Corvus monedula),
Red-billed Chough (Chova Piquirroja / Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax),
Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Sylvia melanocephala).
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Blue Spotted Hairstreak (Satyrium spini). |
Butterflies included
Provence Orange-tip (Anthocharis euphenoides),
Southern Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus boeticus),
Blue Spotted Hairstreak (Satyrium spini),
Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathseba),
Large White (Pieris brassicae),
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas).
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Pyramidal Orchid (Orquidea Pyramidal / Anacamptis pyramidalia). |
We also had
Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalia),
Mediterranean Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria),
Southern Wild Tulip (Tulipa sylvestris ssp. australis) seed pods,
Centaurea boissieri,
Cerastium boissieri,
Dianthus brachyanthus,
Brown Bluebell (Jacinto bastardo / Dipcadi serotinum),
Curry Plant (Helecrisum stoechaes) and plenty of 5611
Synaphe diffidalis.
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Lythria sanguinaria. |
Again we moved on up passed the crags picking up
Black Wheatear (Collalba Negra / Oenanthe leucura),
Common Stonechat (Tarabilla Común / Saxicola torquata),
Linnet (Pardillo Común / Carduelis cannabina),
Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor),
Thekla Lark (Cogujada Montesina / Galerida theklae),
Serin (Verdecillo / Serinus serinus),
Iberian Magpie (Rabilargo / Cyanopica cooki),
Jackdaw,
Goldfinch (Jilguero / Carduelis carduelis) and
Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus).
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Ocellated Lizard (Lacerta lepida). |
Once we were up to the top of the crags we checked the flat area out and had 8222a
Lythria sanguinaria a very smart looking day flying moth,
Alpine (Vencejo Real / Apus melba) and
Pallid Swifts (Vencejo Pálido /Apus pallidus) and several
Spanish Marbled Whites (Melanargia ines).
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Ocellated Lizard (Lacerta lepida). |
We drove fairly quickly over to a small dell near to Charca del Negro just stopping a couple of times seeing a huge
Ocellated Lizard (Lacerta lepida) sat on a rock with really leathery looking folds in his neck and a smaller nicer looking one on the track as well as several
Black-eared Wheatears (Collalba Rubia / Oenanthe hispanica),
Common Swift (Vencejo Común / Apus apus),
Hoopoe (Abubilla / Upupa epops),
House Martin (Avión Común / Delichon urbica),
Red-legged Partridge (Perdiz Roja / Alectoris rufa) and
Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua).
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Southern Mountain Argus (Aricia montensis). |
At the dell we found
Knapweed Fritillary (Melitaea phoebe),
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas),
Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus),
Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina),
Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina),
Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera),
Red-underwing Skipper (Spialia sertorius),
Lizard Orchid (Himantoglosum hircinum),
Upland Peony (Paeonia coriacea),
Large Psammodromus (Lagartija colilarga / Psammodromus algirus) and
Corn Bunting (Triguero / Emberiza calandra).
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Southern Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus boeticus). |
We next stopped at Charca and had a short walk but we only added
Crag Martin (Avión Roquero / Ptyonoprogne rupestris),
Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Carduelis chloris),
Rock Sparrow (Gorrión Chillón / Petronia petronia),
Black Redstart (Colirrojo Tizón / Phoenicurus ochruros) and
Wren (Chochin / Troglodytes troglodytes). In the same area there was a fantastic show of
Andalusian Storksbill (Erodium recorderi),
Blue Hedgehog Broom (Erinacea anthyllis),
Buckler Mustard (Biscutella frutescens),
Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) and
Sharp-ribbed Salamander (Pleurodeles waltl).
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Erodium cheilanthifolium. |
We went on just a short way past the Goat / Fossil caves and parked, here Jim and I searched for what I thought were
Spanish Argus (Aricia morronensis), we saw them but failed to get shot but we succeed later in the week and were surprised with our find.
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Upland Peony (Paeonia coriacea). |
In the same area we did see
Erodium cheilanthifolium, Southern Mountain Argus (Aricia montensis),
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui),
Clouded Yellow (Colias croceus),
Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra) and
Blue-rock Thrush (Roquero Solitario / Monticola solitarius) before we made our way steadily down the hill and back towards the house.
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