Lynxes in Doñana need between 70 and 100 times more the present number of rabbits to survive. Lynx only present in 25% of National Park. 65% of Doñana lynxes live outside the Park, and none of these latter lynxes have survived for more than five years. Most, as you probaly know by now, have died on roads. The species could well disappear in 10-15 years in Doñana, one the world two remaining outposts. A new suplementary feeding programme is to try and tackle the issue. (CSIC) See also Iberian Lynx News
9-minute extract on the Short-toed eagle from the essential “El Hombre y la Tierra”, by Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. As you will see in full gruesome detail , Águila culebrera its Spanish name (snake eagle) is well chosen. And as De la Fuente puts it in his indomitable style “even the lynx, the prince of the predators of the Mediterranean forest, stands in awe at such a feat” Remarkable.
11/02/2007 Temperatures set to rise 4-7ºc in summer Spain by 2070, one of the worst hit places in the world. The country’s geographical position makes it particularly vunerable to climate change.
09/02/2007 More heat, less but more torrential rain Semi-tropical climate within several decades. Rise 1-2 in winter and 2-4 in summer. Less rain in all seasons apart from Autumn.
Agriculture not excessively affected though heat will allow warmer crops to thrive. The famous “huerta murciana” would move north to Asturias. Irrigation would be needed.
Livestock farming, an essential element of Asturian landscape, threatened by less grass growth.
Flooding along Asturian coast, especially in points such as Ría de Villaviciosa and Ribadesella. Disappearence of some dune systems
17 new marine specieshave been detected in recent years in Asturian Cantabrian Sea. Sardines are moving north to British Isles
Lusher forests and benefits for bears. Bad news for much of the planet, but bear expert Roberto Hartasánchez of Fapas, often quoted by iberianature, is less catastrophic seeing acid rain as more urgent problem for forests in region. Bears, at least in Asturias, could benefit from milder climate. More here from La Voz de Asturias See also Climate change in Spain
27/01/07Las Montañas del Lobo: Another wolf documentary from Spanish TV. This one looks at outcast wolves – subordiante animals which are expelled from the group. It tells the tale of a pair, one old and one young, which strike out alone after being denied food. Stunning photography. 52 minutes. Watch. See also Wolves in Spain.
21/07/2007 Effects of climate change in Catalonia this winter
Jellyfish normally leave the coast in winter, but they’ve stayed this year because of the high temperatures of 15ºC (rather than 12-13). Winter rains which reduces the coastal sea’s salt level and pushes jellyfish out to deeper waters, have been sparse and so jellyfish have stayed. Banks of Pelagia noctiluca seen off Costa Brava. See also Spanish jellyfish
More and more hoopoes and storks are wintering in Catalonia instead of flying south. Previously rare Catalan species ( black-shouldered kite, thekla lark & orphean warbler) are increasingly turning up. More here (El Periodico) . See also Climate change in Spain
Update (23/01/06). Effects of climate change in Galicia: many butterflies, dragonflies and amphibians active. Oak tress keeping their leaves along coast (Voz de Galicia)
21/01/2007 These photos of wallcreepers were sent to me by bird guide Johan Bos of Natura Aragon -don’t be put put off by the Dutch- he also runs trips for English people. Johan notes:
“Wallcreepers in spring or summer: a difficult species for every birdwatcher. Annoying even. They can be anywere high up in the mountains. But in winter: they are sometimes very easy to see, like at Los Mallos de Riglos in Aragon. Just scan the sunny walls and, especially, look in the shady parts: they’ll be there searching for slow insects and caterpillars hiding in the cracks. Wallcreepers migrate vertically: from the high mountains to the lower region, were the climate is much milder. Sometimes you’ll even find them on ancient churches. Taking pictures is always difficult because they move around so quickly. On the other hand: they aren’t particularly shy and are even used to climbers”. Thanks Johan, Nick. Note, in Spanish there known as trepariscos (crag-climbers, if you like)
21/01/2007 I’ve been given the enjoyable job of translating this excellent and complete webpage on the reintroduction of peregrine falcons in Barcelona. At the moment it’s only in Catalan but Spanish and English versions will be available soon. Persecution drove the peregrine to extinction in the city in 1973, but a reintroduction programme has successfully brought the bird back using hacking, and there are now four pairs of peregrines in Barcelona (Montjuic cliffs, Mouth of River Besós, Santa Maria del Mar and Sagrada Familia). A couple of interesting snips adapted from the web:
During the hacking work in 1999 in the Church of Santa Maria del Pi, a pair of kestrels (Falco tinnunculus) nesting in the same bell tower brought food both to their chicks and the peregrine chicks inside the nest box. They almost always brought swifts (Apus apus) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus ). When the young peregrines left the nest box, they lived together with the young kestrels and could often be seen perched together. Update The person in charge of the programme had looked for suitable sites in the year in question, but hadn’t realised this one had kestrels nesting “next door”. When their own chicks had fledged – which was early, before the peregrines- the adult kestrels heard the peregrines and started to feed them – but they couldn’t see them as they were in a box. They dropped headless swifts and sparrows through the letterbox. They also continued to feed their young, now-flying birds. When the peregrines emerged both species seem to have got on fine, and were frequently seen perching together. The next year they repeated the hacking in the same site, but on this occasion the kestrels hatched and fledged later than the peregrines, and the adult kestrels did not feed the young peregrines.
This phenomenon is somewhat surprising if we consider that both kestrels and peregrines are highly territorial species which zealously and aggressively protect their offspring. Moreover, peregrines will occasionally capture and eat kestrels.
Of particular interest in the diet of Barcelona ‘s peregrines is the presence of many migratory species, some as difficult to see as Baillon’s Crake (Porzana pusilla), revealing the importance of the city as a point along the migratory routes of many species. Other species include scops owl, snipe, bar-tailed godwit and teal. A total of 29 different species of prey have been recorded since 1999, although pigeons make up 52% of their diet. Clearly, however Barcelona’s four pairs of peregrine make no dent on the city’s 180,000-strong army of doves. (Photos by Roger Sanmartà ) See also older piece on Kestrels and peregrine falcons in Barcelona
BBC Radio 4 Costing the Earth “Portugal: Species Wipe Out” Listen (30 minutes) Website
No one pays the ubiquitous Monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) much attention any more in Barcelona, unless they’re unlucky to have a raucous communal nest near their window. Once considered exotic, they’re now just another noisy element of city life. The Mitred parakeets (Aratinga mitrata) , on the other hand, still turn heads. Every Christmas, in the busy San Antonio neighbourhood, shoppers look up in surprise as squadrons of up to 40 of these large green and red birds descend into the streets. They’re attracted by the round black seeds of the Celtis australis (European nettle trees, almez), plentiful in this area and more resistant to pollution than the other Barcelona staple, the plane tree. This year’s seed crop is particularly plentiful. The parakeets settle in the trees and work along the branches, stripping them methodically. From below, you hear an incessant cracking as they open up the seeds to get at the kernels and litter the pavements and parked cars with husks. They’re handsome birds, deep green with red markings on the head, and larger than the Monk parakeet. While feeding they keep up a subdued squawking, which rises to a crescendo when on a signal every member of the group takes off, instantly falling into formation. In a few seconds they’re gone, the cacophony fading away. When they regroup, they generally head in the direction of Park Ciudadella, so I suspect that’s their base. Their annual visits to the neighbourhood give the impression that their city population is stable, unlike the more invasive Monk parakeet. By Lucy Brzoska. See also Natural History of Barcelona + Blue-fronted Amazon in Barcelona
13/12/2006 An enjoyable morning in the Delta del Llobregat today with Juan Carlos Fernandez of Grupo de Aves Exóticas de Catalonia. There was too much water and so not much variety birdwise, though I’d never seen a short-toed eagle there before.
Juan Carlos told me about his grandfather who lived in the Sierra Tejeda in Granada. When the Civil War ended, Juan José Fernández alias José Patillas (José Sideburns) and thousands others in the defeated Republican Army had to walk back home. It took him months. Life in post-war Andalusia was harsh, and hunger rife. As everywhere, the cats in his village were soon eaten - herein, I think, the Spanish expression dar gato por liebre (literally to give a cat for hare: to take somebody in). José kept his family of seven children alive by trapping in the hills with nets, snares and gin traps. He carried a wicker sack (capacho), with the catch stuffed inside, and a bunch of grapes on top to fool the Guardia Civil, for game was only for the rich. Most of the birds and rabbits he sold to buy oil, pulses and bread. Sometimes he’d trap a beech marten or a badger. The fur was sold and the meat eaten. One day he caught a lynx. After hanging it out in the moonlight, just as you have to do with a village cat, the family ate the animal they called gato clavo (clavo – sharp/nail - after its pointy ears). He took the skin to a fur merchant who offered him a good price -some 500 lynx skins were sold every year in Madrid until the 1940s- and said if he had two he could have made a waistcoat. Although poor and in need of money, a lynx-fur waistcoat was too much to resist, and why should only the rich have the best! He declined the offer and a few months later, he trapped another lynx, and wore the coat until he came to Catalonia in 1965. At first, the family lived in a shack along a railtrack in Barcelona. There were many other Andalusians, and also Hungarians. He worked as a bricklayer and when he had enough time and money he built a house in Terrassa. Old habits died hard. He used to take a young Juan Carlos, today a fervent defender of birdlife and an expert ornithologist, out netting for songbirds for the pot. One day they caught a badger. They ate badger stew that night and after they made shaving brushes from its hairs. Other times. Juan Carlos still nets birds, but as a ringer for ICO.See Iberian Lynx
12/12/2006. Another great trip to the Sierra de la Culebra, that immense, empty landscape on the north-east frontier with Portugal, organised by Galanthus. Iberian newt tadpoles. salamanders, some 30 red deer, 2 foxes, and 5 black vultures flying over the place we were staying. On the way back we stopped off at Vilafafila for ten minutes and I saw my first long tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), a rarity at that site, and a throng of fifteen great bustards, the heaviest flying bird in the world. Oh and we also watched a big male wolf moving slowly through the scrub, as ravens picked at an animal it had presumably killed, and a fox struggled to drag off a piece of the carcass. More on this and some great photos also not by me soon.
Following on from news of possible return of bear to Galicia, here’s a photo of an alveriza (known as cortines in Asturias). These old constructions were built to protect beehives from bears. Note, the hives were positioned together to capture the maximum amount of sunlight. Photo from here. More on bears and bees. Christmas present idea. Fapas in Asturias will install your very own sponsered unprotected beehive so bears can gorge on it. 413 sponsered so far. 57 euros here.
Don Quixote mounted without replying, and, Sancho leading the way on his ass, they entered the side of the Sierra Morena, which was close by, as it was Sancho’s design to cross it entirely and come out again at El Viso or Almodovar del Campo, and hide for some days among its crags so as to escape the search of the Brotherhood should they come to look for them. He was encouraged in this by perceiving that the stock of provisions carried by the ass had come safe out of the fray with the galley slaves, a circumstance that he regarded as a miracle, seeing how they pillaged and ransacked.
That night they reached the very heart of the Sierra Morena, where it seemed prudent to Sancho to pass the night and even some days, at least as many as the stores he carried might last, and so they encamped between two rocks and among some cork trees.(Trans John Ormsby, 1829-1895) Don Quijote library. See alsoEpistemology in Don Quixote + Dehesas de Sierra Morena
26/11/2006 150 new species are discovered every year in Spain
An interview with Mario GarcÃa ParÃs of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in today’s (El Pais) . I paraphrase.
“There are some 60,000 species of animals in Spain, of which some 40,000 are insects. And we are incapable of knowing how many are catalogued. A species is a group of animals which are genetically compatible. There are worms which look the same but are different species and frogs which are as similar as an egg to chestnut tree, but which can breed.
It is impossible to know how many species are still to be recorded. One knows when most of the biological wealth of a country has been recorded when the rate of discovery slows down. This does not seem to be likely in the short term in Spain. We’ve been discovering some 150 new species a year since the late 1970s. And this rate has continued unabated. Since 1978, 3,627 new species have been discovered in the Peninsula, with a further 1,417 in the Canaries at an almost constant rate of 150 a year. “In the distribution maps of species there are dark areas around Madrid, Barcelona and Las Hurdes, in Extremadura. The county of Las Hurdes appears because several people from the museum spend their holidays there”.
There are even big gaps in knowledge with groups such as amphibians despite the legions of amateur naturalists out and about recording them. “A year ago we discovered a new midwife toad which only lives in the fountains of villages. We called it Alytes obstetricans pertynas. “Pertinacious†because while most amphibians are becoming extinct, this one is resisting in human settlements”.
Spain because of its geographical position and the variety of its climate is particularly rich in biodiversity, but much of this being lost. “In the county you can’t hear anything anymore. Ten years ago you heard and saw lots of insects. Now they are spraying everything and all is quiet. When I look at my field notes from 15 years ago describing swarms of bugs I think I must have been exaggerating, but the truth is I was only describing what I saw. When we visit Morocco today we see animals everywhere, just as it was here years ago. If a Goya is burnt. It’s a national tragedy, because it cannot be replaced. The same is true for a species but nobody seems to care”. See also Montseny Brook Newt
Wild weather of recent years has opened up Collserola’s woods, and one of the most rapid colonisers of the new clearings has been the rock rose, especially Sage-leaf Cistus. This May everywhere you look, hundreds and hundreds of white flowers are shining in the sunlight. The yellow base of each petal emphasizes the thick clump of stamen, […]
Here are a few words and expressions in Castilian Spanish that don’t exist in English, and perhaps could be borrowed. Foreigners speakers of Spanish in Spain certainly use so of them with alarming frequency with other English speakers in Spain, as do our Spanish friends and spouses. The list does not include food terms (covered […]
Among the most interesting gravestones in the Fossar de la Pedrera is that of about German brigader Hans Beilmer who had managed to escape from the Dachau concentration camp in 1933, after throttling an SA guard and putting on his uniform, earning him a huge popularity in anti-fascist circles. Three years later, he came to Spain […]
