Messing about in Andalucía; birds, butterflies, and other bichos
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Ventas de Zafarraya
Pyrrhocorax graculus (Alpine chough)
Oenanthe leucura (black wheatear)
Alhama de Granada and surrounding countryside with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains in the distance.
Fuente de Piedra and overwintering Grus grus (Eurasian crane)
Almond blossom is everywhere in Málaga province during spring
Northern face of the Sierra de Huma with the Guadalhorce reservoir in front
View back at the same reservoir from the Sierra de Huma
We came up here to see if the nesting egyptian vultures had arrived yet, but saw only griffon vultures (pics taken beginning of March)…
Circaetus gallicus (short-toed eagle) at rest before continuing its migration
Some pics from two excursions to the Straits of Gibraltar in early March. Plenty of raptor migration going on.
One of the most abundant eagles during this period of migration is C. gallicus. This species really seems to struggle crossing the water and often flies in quite low.
When they do eventually arrive, they are typically gasping for breath, as seen by the open beak here.
As if the physical exertion isn’t enough, they often have company for the last stretch of the journey…gull id would be appreciated.
“Why don’t you just shut up?”
Milvus migrans (black kite)
White and black storks (Ciconia ciconia and C. nigra); the former tend to form large groups whereas the latter arrive singly or in small bands.
Neophron percnopterus (Egyptian vulture) tend to arrive very high so no chance of a decent pic with my 200 mm lens.
Some of the raptor viewpoints on the straits.
Punto Carnero
Cazalla (with Africa behind)
Tráfico; first shot shows view across the straits to Africa, second one the view towards Tarifa and the Pacific Ocean
Short-toed eagle arriving at Tráfico with the African coastline as a backdrop. Really impressive scenes!
Sometimes, when the levante (easterly wind) is strong, the birds get blown out to sea and arrive further to the northwest, on the beaches west of Tarifa…
…or near the town of Bolonia and the ruined Roman town of Baelo Claudia.
Also close to Bolonia is this outcrop with nesting griffon vulture, eagle owl, and later in the year, egyptian vulture.
One for id. Maybe crested or thekla lark?
Thanks Olly and Jim, and glad you’re enjoying the pics! Olly, the birds are VERY scared of me, but am improving slowly.
In addition to migration over the straits and a lot of mountainous terrain, the interior of Andalucía also has some interesting steppe-like habitat. In Sevilla province, an area close to the town of Osuna provides the best opportunity to see the increasingly rare Otis tarda (great bustard) in these parts.
O. tarda is Europe’s heaviest bird and arguably the heaviest extant flying animal; males can weigh some 18 kg (!) and have a wingspan in excess of 2 metres. It is not easy to approach this species, and our views have mostly been very distant so far. Despite their size, the birds can be surprisingly tricky to spot…
Several females here, with a large sexually-mature male on the left.
Another male – what a massive, stunning creature. We were also lucky enough to see rival males displaying to each other.
The only close(ish) view to date. Three birds walked across the track in front of the car around 100m metres away. Unfortunately the light and heat haze made life difficult in terms of photography.
Some poor shots of bustards in flight.
Other stuff seen around Osuna.
White stork on nest
Record, i.e. crap, shot of Pterocles orientalis (black-bellied sandgrouse)
Berberomeloe majalis (red-striped oil beetle) – a large, toxic species with a remarkable life cycle
Upupa epops (hoopoe)
The very beautiful Passer hispaniolensis (Spanish sparrow). Male, female and a small stand of eucalyptus trees containing hundreds of nests of this species (many can be seen in the pic).
Nest of Cecropis daurica (red-rumped swallow) with typical entrance tunnel. In places where both species occur, these nests may be ‘appropriated’ by Apus caffer (white-rumped swift).
Recurvirostra avosetta (avocet)
NB: any pics labelled with a 2013 copyright in this thread should read 2015. Also apologies for the sometimes robotic tone; in many cases I am learning as I go.
Record shot of Cyanopica cyanus (azure-winged magpie)
SubadultTimon lepidus (ocellated lizard)
Habitat of the above species, close to Archidona
Río Alaminos, Málaga.
Squalius pyrenaicus
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