A recent trip to the Rio Guadiaro at Estacion de Cortes, Andalucia, Spain
WEATHER: cloudless sunny sky, a lovely cooling breeze. Temp 25C
It has been hot since our arrival in Spain some two weeks ago, some days are too hot to go out in, however a recent spell of cooler weather has seen temperatures in the comfortable mid-to upper 20's.
Sitting under our favourite tree along the Rio Guadiaro, Dawn and I enjoyed a superb afternoon just watching the world go by. Later in the afternoon, John and Mary, our American friends, joined us.
the view of the Rio Guadiaro from under our favourite tree at Estacion de Cortes
I never expected to see many species of birds, the heat of the day and this time of the year is generally a quiet time for my feathered friends to be flitting about. We saw a few Linnets and Goldfinches coming down to drink by the river, which, in fact, was quite deep and quite still, due to the nearby dam.
It was butterflies and dragonflies that I expected to see a lot of, but even their numbers we down from previous years. Small Whites were common, Brimstones appeared with them feeding on Purple Loosestrife which grow along the river bank. I caught site of Lang's Short-tailed Blue but couldn't get a decent shot of one.
a male Brimstone Butterfly on Purple Loosestrife
Dragonflies were all along the river bank and on any rock protruding from the water. I saw four or five species: Broad Scarlet, Lesser Emperor, Violet Dropwing, Orange-winged Dropwing and Epaulet Skimmer.
Epaulet Skimmer
Violet Dropwing
Broad Scarlet
Other birds flitting along the river banks and overhead included: Barn Swallow, House Martin, Common Swift, Grey Wagtail, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, a Short-toed Treecreeper landed on the trunk of 'our' tree but it quickly disappeared. A few small Bee-eater flocks flew over, we heard them without a sighting.
juvenile Grey Wagtail
A juvenile Booted Eagle constantly called from the mature Eucalyptus Trees, but we never saw it once. After John and Mary had arrived we all went for a short walk, we added White Wagtail, Common Stonechat and a Melodious Warbler to our sightings.
Melodious Warbler
Lesser Emperor dragonfly ovipositing
A few days ago I had a 'lifer' Dragonfly tick in our garden in Gaucin!!! I found a moribund Western Spectre flying around in our courtyard. I soon realised that the poor beast wasn't very well, It was being attacked by ants and it finally landed on a drain cover. On close inspection I saw that most of its thorax was eaten away and the poor devil had very little time left on this planet, so I quickly took a few pictures whilst it was still alive, so that I could tick it, and let nature take its cause.
Western Spectre
Migration has been underway for quite a while now, we have had small numbers of Black Kites and booted Eagles drifting over or catching the thermal off the ridge behind gaucin Castle. More blogs will follow as the migration picks up.