Loja Wildlife, Granada Province, Spain.

Friday, 3 October 2025

Salina's area in Malaga Province, Cantera de Ofita in Granada Province and along the A92 in Malaga Province, Spain.

Visiting some old dragonfly sites, disappointing to see how degraded they were (getting used to it unfortunately).

I picked Lynn and Steve up from El Puerto del Jaral where heard or saw Common Woodpigeon (Paloma Torcaz / Columba palumbus), Iberian Green Woodpecker (Pito ibérico / Picus sharpei) and Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) before heading back up the motorway to Salinas area where we were going to check out a couple of sites we had not visited for a while.

Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua).

Our first stop was near the Arroyo del Nieblin where we checked a small pool which was basically dry apart from a dribble of water coming in and leaking straight underground again, here we had a very smart Little Owl (Mochuelo Europeo / Athene noctua) which was sat out on the nearby Cortijo ruin and in the dead thistle plants a few Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x10+.

Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

In the area around the cortijo and along the nearby ditches we added Southern Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvoides) x12+, Common Woodpigeon, Iberian (Rabilargo Ibérico / Cyanopica cooki) x50+ and Eurasian Magpie (Urraca Común / Pica pica), Spotless Starling, Iberian Green Woodpecker, Crested Lark (Cogujada Común / Galerida cristata) and European Serin (Serin Verdecillo / Serinus serinus).

Southern Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvoides).

We moved to a spot nearby along the side of the railway line where we checked out a small pool formed by a leak from the mains water system, here we saw Small Fleabane (Pulicaria vulgaris), Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus), Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi), Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina) x2, Crimson Speckled (Utetheisa pulchella) moths, Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii) x3♂, Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) x3♂, Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) x1♂ and at least 10x Keeled Skimmers (Orthetrum coerulescens) but only the exuviae.

Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus).

Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) ♂.

Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) ♂.

Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii).

We circled back around to the Cortijo as it had warmed up a bit more but we only found Large (Pieris brassicae) x1 and Small White (Pieris rapae) x2, Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) x2, Willow (Mosquitero Musical / Phylloscopus trochillus) and Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala), European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris) and European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).

We returned to the car and decided to go and check out a new site on the southern side of the Motorway, we found the entrance to Cantera de Ofita, a disuse quarrying site where we had some lunch and had views of 2 Golden (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos) and a single Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus).

Desert Darters (Sympetrum sinaiticum).

Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

We decided to have a look around what looked like it could be a very interesting area, whilst there we saw a Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius) x1, Desert Orange-tip (Colotis evagore) x3, Lesser (Anax parthenope) x2♂, Blue / Common (Anax imperator) x1♂ and Vagrant Emperor (Anax ephippiger) x1, Epaulet Skimmer x3♂ x1♀, Red-veined (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x2♂ x1♀, Common (Sympetrum striolatum) x5+ and Desert Darter (Sympetrum sinaiticum) x20+, Scarlet Darter x5♂, Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi) x4♂, a ♀ Northern Shoveler (Cuchara Común / Spatula clypeata), Eurasian Coot (Focha Común / Fulica atra), White Wagtail (Lavandera Blanca / Montacilla alba) and the 2 Golden Eagles again, this time we could see that the immature was carrying a radio tracker of some sort.

Golden Eagle (Águila Real / Aquila chrysaetos).

We returned to the car and started to head back to the Camp site as I was starting to feel the heat a tad but made a short stop at a ditch on the motorway service road where we saw Red-veined x1♀ and Common Darter x2♂ x1♀, Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera) x3, Southern Blue (Polyommatus celina) x4, False Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus ) x1 and then on the Northern side of the motorway where the water comes out again we had Common Darter x2♂ x2♀ and Wasp Spider (Arana Tigre / Argiope bruennichi).

Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera).

Wasp Spider (Arana Tigre / Argiope bruennichi).

Thursday, 2 October 2025

Almargen, Teba Back Track (Arroyo del Chumbo and Arroyo del Cañuelo) and Rio Guadalhorce North of Álora, Malaga Province, Spain.

Looking for Dragons in Malaga Province with Lynn and Steve.

We started the day with a drive across to the town of Almargen, at the camping spot we saw Eurasian Collared Dove (Tórtola Turca / Streptopelia decaocto), Mistle Thrush (Zorzal Charlo / Turdus viscivorus), Woodlark (Alondra Totovía / Lullula arborea), Spotless Starling (Estornino Negro / Sturnus unicolor) and on the way we added Booted Eagle (Aguila Calzada / Aquila penntuas) and Common Kestrel (Cernicalo Vulgar / Falco tinnunculus) to the day list.

Southern Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvoides).

We arrived at Almargen where we checked a spot on the edge of town, along a small rather smelly Arroyo hoping to find a late Yellow-Veined Skimmer (Orthetrum nitidinerve) but we didn't have any luck, we did however find a Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x1♀, Southern Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus malvoides) x1, Small White (Pieris rapae) x2, Eurasian Collared Dove, Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Gavilán Común / Accipiter nisus), Cetti's Warbler (Cetia Ruiseñor / Cettia cetti), House Sparrow (Gorrión Común / Passer domesticus), Spotless Starling, European Greenfinch (Verderón Común / Chloris chloris) and European Goldfinch (Jilguero Europeo / Carduelis carduelis).

We checked a couple more spots but didn't find anywhere worth checking out so we headed down towards Álora but took a track across country calling at Arroyo del Chumbo and Arroyo del Cañuelo, at the first spot we found Crimson Speckled (Utetheisa pulchella) moths, Blue / Common Emperor (Anax imperator) x1♂, Red-veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) x1♂ and x1♀, Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) x2♂ and x1♀, Perez's Frog (Rana Común / Pelophylax perezi), Common Kestrel, Zitting Cisticola (Cistícola Buitrón / Cisticola juncidis), Sardinian Warbler (Curruca Cabecinegra / Curruca melanocephala) and European Goldfinch.

Lynn and Steve at the Arroyo del Cañuelo.

Further along the track we stopped again at the Arroyo del Cañuelo and saw Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii) x1♂, Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) x3♂ and x2♀, Red-veined Darter x1♂ and x1♀, Desert Darter (Sympetrum sinaiticum) x1♂, Scarlet Darter x1♂ and Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi) x2♂, Small White (Pieris rapae) x3 and just before we reached the main road south a Short-toed Snake Eagle (Culebrera Europeo / Circaetus gallicus).

We continued on and were fairly quickly at a spot North of Álora where we had been several times before but this time things had changed as the old washed out bridge had been replaced making access a little harder but we managed to get down to the river where we were pleased to find Ringed Cascaders (Zygonyx torridus) still on the wing, in fact we managed to find 4♂ and 1♀ which was in tandem with one of the ♂s.

Ringed Cascaders (Zygonyx torridus) mating.

As we searched the area we also found good numbers of other dragon species including Copper Demoiselle (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis) x6♂ and x4♀, Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii) x2♂ and 1♀, Lesser Emperor 1♂, Western Spectre (Boyeria Irene) x1♂, Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) x60+♂ and x2♀, Red-veined Darter x5, Scarlet Darter x20+, Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata) x2♂ and 1♀ and Orange-winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi) x15+, Crimson Speckled, Water Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica), Stripe-necked Terrapin (Mauremys leprosa), Common Waxbill (Estrilda Ondulada / Estrilda astrild), Common Moorhen (Gallineta Común / Gallinulas chloropus), Grey Wagtail (Lavandera Cascadena / Motacilla cinerea) and Green Sandpiper (Andarrios Grande / Tringa ochropus).