A beautiful courtship display from a male Blue Rock Thrush - enough to impress any!
I spent some time up in the Serrania de Ronda last week with my pal Peter Jones. Peter, a biologist, has spent years in the Ronda area studying wheatear groups, their breeding as well as ringing this and many other wonderful mountain species. It was good just to have a 'boys time' together, exploring the sights, sounds and clean air of the higher limestone folds that work their way from the coast at Barbate up to Grazelema and beyond, separating Africa from Europe. The thing is, this is an ongoing geologcal phenomena and the Sierras just get higher and higher...
A Blue Rock Thrush male dances in the sun
Andalucia has some of the most stunning and varied habitats for all kinds of wildlife. As Monarch Butterflies emerge in the warmth of our garden close to the coast, the birds from Northern and Central Europe fly South and mix together in the southern Sierras of Andalucia.From October to March, the warmer valleys and ridges of the southernmost mountains in Europe provide food and shelter for thousands of Alpine bird species like Ring Ozels, Water Pipits and Alpine Accentors.
Water Pipits are particular favourites of mine within this delicate group of very pretty birds.
I'm lucky enough to be able to watch them in Winter in Andalucia as well as when I lead tours to the mountains of the Pyrenees, as well as the Eastern Austrian Alps and the Wetterstein chain of the Bavarian Alps close to the German border with Switzerland.
The Water Pipit, (
Anthus spinoletta), is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of Southern Europe and southern temperate Asiaa across to China. It is a short-distance migrant moving to wet open lowlands such as marshes and flooded fields in winter. Some birds migrate north to Britain for winter, taking advantage of the warm oceanic climate.Like most other pipits, this is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and dark streaked buff below. It has dark legs, white outer tail feathers and a longish dark bill. In summer it has a distinctive breeding plumage, with a pinkish breast, grey head and pale supercilium
The Water Pipit is also much less approachable than the Rock or Meadow Pipit, rising high and quickly leaving the vicinity when approached. I took these photos from the Land Rover
There was great light on this Woodlark. It's just a pity that it was singing from the this unsightly barbed-wire fence. I wanted to show the long hind claw and slender, delicate bill.
The Woodlark (Lullula arborea) is the only lark in the genus Lullula. It breeds across most of Europe, the Middle-East, Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations of this passerine bird are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range, many birds move south in winter. This is a 13.5-15 cm long bird of open heath with some trees, and other open woodlands, especially those with pines and light soil. Its generic name derives from its sweet plaintive song, delivered in flight from heights of 100 m or more.
Like most other larks, this is an undistinguished-looking species on the ground, mainly brown above and pale below, but with distinctive white superciliar meeting on the nape. In flight it shows a short tail and short broad wings. The tail is tipped with white, but unlike the Skylark, the tail sides and the rear edge of the wings are not edged with white.
The nest is on the ground, with up to 6 eggs being laid. Food is seeds supplemented with insects in the breeding season.
A few years ago the handsome Southern Grey Shrike was split taxonomically from it's cousin the Great Grey Shrike. The subtle warmth of it's pink breast always reminds me of what a special and unique Iberian and Canary Island species we have down here.
This medium-sized passerine hunts large insects, small birds and rodents. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder". The plumage is generally similar to Great Grey Shrike apart from the differences noted above.
The Spanish Ibex is an impressive animal - even more so when photographed like this, standing proudly atop a limestone outcrop. Measures are in force to prevent this animal becoming over-hunted.
The
Iberian ibex,
Spanish ibex,
Spanish wild goat, or
Iberian wild goat (
Capra pyrenaica) is a species of ibex with four subspecies. Of these, two can still be found on the Iberian peninsula, but the remaining two are now extinct. The Portuguese subspecies became extinct in 1892 and the Pyrenean subspecies became extinct on January the 6th 2000.
Feeding on Hawthorn berries on the lower slopes (where the fruits ripen first of course), a Sardinian Warbler watches me, watching her!
An adult Alpine Accentor looks out from an outcrop
The Alpine Accentor, Prunella collaris, is a small passerine found throughout the mountains of southern temperate Europe and Asia at heights above 2000m. It is mainly resident, wintering more widely at lower latitudes, but some birds wander as rare vagrants as far as the UK. It is a bird of bare mountain areas with some low vegetation. It builds a neat nest low in a bush or rock crevice, laying 3-5 unspotted sky-blue eggs. This is a (European) Robin-sized bird at 15-17.5 cm in length, slightly larger than its relative, the Dunnock. It has a streaked brown back, somewhat resembling a House Sparrow, but adults have a grey head and red-brown spotting on the underparts. It has an insectivore's fine pointed bill.
Sexes are similar, although the male may be contrasted in appearance. Young birds have browner heads and underparts.
Although a resident and fairly common on the continent of Europe, Winter sees huge flocks in the South, feeding in all kinds of habitats. It's such a lovely looking bird but it has a rather frenetic song.
Rock Buntings are always great to watch and this male was very confiding
Male and Female Ring Ouzels feeding (Turdus torquatus)
Slightly smaller and slimmer than a blackbird - male ring ouzels are particularly distinctive with their black plumage with a pale wing panel and striking white breast band. They tend to be shyer than other thrushes, although they will often associate with them after the breeding season. Their recent population decline make them a Red List species.
Winter berries are a most important food source for lots of animals. Cutting back hedges and bushes too early this year could starve birds of late autumn berries. The mild weather has meant birds are feasting on insects later this year. They have not had to turn to autumn fruits yet, so many hedgerows are still bursting with berries.
The Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) is a European member of the thrush family Turdidae.
It is the mountain equivalent of the closely-related Common Blackbird, and breeds in gullies, rocky areas or scree slopes. It breeds in the higher regions of western and central Europe and also in the Caucasus. Most populations are migratory, wintering in the Mediterranean and North Africa region, particularly in the Atlas mountains where a winter food source is Juniper berries. (The Juniper berry is quite fascinating to read about - here.)
The Ring Ouzel is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, rodents, lizards and berries. It nests in bushes or amongst rocks, laying several pale blue eggs, mottled with brown, in a neat cup-shaped nest.
It is territorial and normally seen alone or in pairs, although loose flocks may form on migration. When not breeding, several birds may also be loosely associated in good feeding areas, such as a fruiting tree, often with other thrushes.
The adult male is all black except for a white crescent on the breast and a yellowish bill. The wings have a silvery appearance due to white feather edgings. The male sings its loud and mournful song from trees or rocks.
The female is similar but duller, and younger birds often lack the breast crescent. The juvenile has brown plumage. Birds in Southern and Central Euope belong to a sub-species group, alpestris and show a paler and very scaled breast and flanks. In the photo a male from Northern and Western Europe shows a mostly dark breast.
"Ouzel" (or "ousel") is an old name for Common Blackbird from Old English osle. "Ouzel" may also be applied to a group of superficially similar but unrelated birds, the dippers, the European representative of which is sometimes known as the Water Ousel. As with the English name, the scientific name also refers to the male's obvious white neck crescent, being derived from the Latin words turdus, "thrush", and torque, 'torc' (neck ring).
A male Ring Ouzel looks down the valley
Montejaque - one of the 'white villages or
'pueblos blancos' of Andalucia's Serrania de Ronda
Lovely scenery
Sporting a ring, this male Black Redstart met up with Peter Jones me thinks....
