Archive for September, 2007
One in three deaths of whales, dolphins and porpoises in the Canaries Islands are caused by human activities (El Mundo). This is the findings of a study on 233 Cetaceans beached in archipelago between 1999 and 2005. 14% died from interactions with fishing, 9.4% associated with military maneuvers and 4.5% due to resulting pathologies The remaining 62% died from natural diseases or 4.3% for unknown reasons”. Antonio Fernández, the researcher in charge of the study noted that many deaths from natural causes may also result from a weakening of their immunodeficiency due to pollution, and suspects that the proven 4.5% could be the tip of the iceberg. The same team gained international recognition with their study published in nature on whale strandings due to military sonar in the Canary Islands. This cause of death appears to have fallen with the prohibition of sonar use within 50 miles of the Canaries.
Photo of beached Fin whale (rorcual común - Balaenoptera physalus) in Las Palmas
Canaries, Mammals, Sea mammals of Spain, Spanish coast, Spanish seas | |
A young alligator (70 cm) was caught in Barcelona in the River Besòs yesterday. The reptile was spotted by a local naturalist doing a study on birds. Experts believe the mild temperatures on the Catalan coast and the abundant presence of swamp crayfish may allow alligators to survive the winter here. This is the second alligator to be caught in just over a year near Barcelona, after the larger alligator caught in a pool in Collserola. (El Pais)
Barcelona, Catalonia, invasive species, reptiles & amphibians | |
The increasing demand for cereals in Spain and the EU is threatening birds associated with farming habitats. This has been heightened by the Ministry of Agriculture following the decision of the EU to eliminate temporarily the rule requiring EU farmers to leave 10% of their land fallow. Fallow land plays an essential role in preserving bird biodiversity. Much of the rise in prices is due to the demand for biofuels, bad weather and soaring demand. SEO/BirdLife has asked national and regional authorities to respect fallow areas at least in the high value natural areas such as those of Red Natura 2000. (SEO)
Red partridge in wheat stubble from here
Farming, birds | |
The River Guadix, a sub-tributary of the Guadiana Menor, which flows through the town of the same name must lay claim to world’s most tautological geographical name.
Wikipedia claims in tautological place names:
Río Guadix, Spain (The River River River - Río is “river” in Spanish, Guad < w?d? is “river” in Arabic and Ix is “river” in Phoenician)
Andalucia, Geography, Iberian languages, Iberian rivers | |
I came across this eerie and beautiful photo of Naranjo de Bulnes, the most famous peak of the Picos de Europa on this climbing page.
I also enjoyed the introduction from the same climbing guide:
“It is important to understand what Naranjo de Bulnes means to Spanish Mountaineers. It is our most precious jewel, and the most wanted summit. Every single Spanish mountaineer dreams on the possibility of looking from its summit. The beauty of this mountain is not only in what you look at, is has to do more with the magic of it. When you feel it you understand. It is very difficult to express in words how people feel about it. And all this does not means it has an easy way to reach its top, because it has not. Rock climbing technics and gear is necesary, even in the easiest route on the south face. There are about 70 routes on the mountain, and only a few of them are relalatively easy; the rest are long, difficult and exposed.”
Long, difficult and exposed it may be, but all Spanish climbers are in still awe of the peak’s first ascent. The first to conquer Picu Urriellu was Pedro Pidal, the Marques of Villaviciosa, in the summer of 1904, at a time when the contemporary fashion of the sport added a certain charm to the life of an aristocrat. He was accompanied by Gregorio Pérez acting as a guide, a shepherd from the village of Cain, who was known as ‘El Cainejo’. The gear of the two climbers was made up of a haversack with something to eat and a couple of ropes … The Marques wore gaiters and hunting boots and El Cainejo, espadrilles. One is reminded of the colonial relationship of Sherpa Tenzing and Edmund Hillary. El Cainejo in his espadrilles accompanies the Marques in his boots. Read Naranjo de Bulnes and the beginnings of Spanish conservationism
Asturias, Mountains, Outdoor pursuits in Spain, Picos de Europa | |
One of the most traditional economic activities associated with forests in Spain is the virtually extinct job of charcoal making. The job of the carbonero, the charcoal maker, was a hard one, requiring constant attention in all weathers. Whole families were often involved. Forestman has posted this video on the art, in this case on the common use of carrasco (holm oak). The 1984 film Tasio pays tribute to the Basque charcoal makers of the Sierra de Urbasa.
Human geography of Spain, Spanish forests, Traditional activities | |
Goya was one of the first landcape painters. He had other motives than depicting pretty scapes. Here below Attack on a Coach Asalto de la diligencia (1787 and 1783 below)
From Classical connections - commentary and critique “Goya (1746-1828) undermines faith in order, showing instead the isolated forest where disorder reigns: travelers plead for their lives to murderous but indifferent bandits whose ruthlessness is more a reflection of nature than inherently cruel. The dead bodies of coachmen bleeding away to senselessness are no deterrent to further savagery. Goya does not predict the outcome of this tragedy, rather invites viewers to speculate in clinical abstraction about the amoral motives of robbers and the plight of travellers. As the first of two similar scenes of robbers attacking carriages, the other a smaller canvas (43 x 32 cm) in 1793 set in a rocky landscape and now in Madrid, the scene “present a vision of Man’s helplessness before the forces of nature or human wickedness…” Goya’s pitiful surviving travelers have no recourse surrounded only by trees who seem to not hear the screams or last prayers any more than the musket shots and curses. Goya is not glorfying such attacks, only recording the abstract threat of rampant chaos to any civilization foolish enough to think it is safe. ”
Madrid, Paintings of Spain, Spanish landcape, history | Tags: Attack on a Coach, Goya|
Lisa of the iberianature forum has written this excellent piece on the Cantabrian brown bear for the Olive Press with which she begins:
“CANTABRIAN brown bears have developed a slightly different genetic identity to other brown bears, including the European. This is due to the geography of the Iberian peninsula effectively cutting them off from other populations to the North. However, they have not been recognised by the scientific community as a distinct subspecies, being referred to as simply Ursus arctos. Read
Lisa runs this rather nice guesthouse in the Picos. Go there and discuss bears over breakast with her. Photo of Cantabrian bear nabbed from here site.
Asturias, Cantabrian mountains, Mammals, bears | |
Three Iberian lynxes taken from Andújar in Sierra Morena are to be released in Doñana. Key to the transfer has been the control of feline leukemia within Doñana (Consumer). As far as I know this is the first time lynxes have been moved. It seems to me that before carrying out such drastic measures they should cut the number deaths of lynx in the Doñana, i.e. sort out the problem of traffic around the park first.
Andalucia, Doñana, Iberian lynx, Sierra Morena | |
I love these photos of the coast of Asturias by Oviedo photographer Iñigo Calles Here below Ría Villaviciosa and Verdicio.
Asturias, Spanish coast, Spanish landcape, photography | |
Some great wolf photos by Andoni Canela from this Sunday’s La Vanguardia’s magazine as part of an article on wolves in Spain. This year in Villardeciervos (Zamora)three wolves were auctioned for hunting in the Sierra de la Culebra, but this is coming increasingly into question with the rise of wolf watching tourism in the area. Come wolf watching with Iberianature from 11-16th October 2007.
Mammals, Sierra de la Culebra, Wolves | |
Oceana have warned of the disappearance of millions of Mediterranean corals due to pollution fishing practices and climate change. More than 200 species of corals, Gorfonacea and anemones live in the Mediterranean. Barely 1% are protected by international accords. (El Mundo)
Conservation, Spanish Mediterranean, Spanish seas | |
Juan García Gálvez is Cordoban photographer with an ability to capture that sense of inmensity you are sometimes struck with when you cross the Peninsula.
A castle
A hillside populated with cork, holm and gall oaks in the Sierra Morena.
Spanish landcape, photography | |
From yesterday’s Guardian “Scientists in Spain believe they have found the killer parasite that is responsible for wiping out bee colonies from California to Cannes. The assassin, they believe, is Nosema ceranae, an Asian parasite which has worked its way into hives across Europe and America, wreaking terrible damage on the bees’ internal organs. Read more Guardian
And CCD or no CCD, this year looks to be good for Galician honey at least. Rain and cool temperatures have led to the best honey harvest for 20 years.
Meanwhile on the iberianture forum Dr. Pedro P. Rodriguez notes in this very interesting piece that “CCD has given bee researchers a field day with huge money grants. This is also good for beekeeping because I am sure that most of them will discover remedies to the ailments that may be affecting honey bees. Some of them already have. For instance Mariano Higes, a Spanish scientist, isolated a Nosema variant that has been found in a great number of colonies seemingly affected by CCD. I live near Mr. Higes place of work and I have known him for over ten years. He is a talented and dedicated researcher who may have found another contributing factor to CCD. However, We should take into consideration that pathogens can inflict severe damage to their hosts when the host’s strength is weakened as happens when the bees are stressed. Spain had a severe drought two years ago which I am sure was responsible for a great number of honey bee colonies collapsing, and perhaps the newly discovered Nosema strain contributed to their losses but it is doubtful that it was the sole responsible factor. I keep my bee colonies in the area, Guadalajara Province, and my bees are not disappearing. I have fabulous bee populations in my colonies (See attached photograph). This statement is not meant to take credit away from my friend’s work, but to indicate that investigators must look further to other causes if we expect to arrive at a definite solution to CCD.” Read all
More about bees in Spain
Invertebrates | |
SEO report today here on the annual gathering of thousands of swallows in the Bahía de Santander in Cantabria before setting off for Africa. Between 5,000 and 6,000 swallows have been gathering since the end of August in the Marisma de Alday (Camargo) before flying off en masse in mid September. They spend the night in the reedbeds of these marshes and feed during the day off the huge numbers of insects flourishing on the post harvest stubble. Most of these birds are from the British Isles and stop off on the Cantabrian Coast to “refuel” before continuing onto Africa. SEO stresses the importance of the conservation of this type of wetland for bird conservation at a European level and notes the role played by the councils of Camargo, Astillero and Santander in helping to protect them.
Cantabria, birds | |
Henri Cartier-Bresson visited Castile and Aragon for Magnum Photos in 1963. More here. The photos are of landscapes in Segovia, somewhere in Castilla and Aragon near the Soria border (last two). It would be interesting to compare the treeless hills in the two photos of Aragon with today. They will be very probably be forested now.
Aragon, Castilla y León, Human geography of Spain, Spanish landcape, photography | |
The BBC has an interesting article today on Doñana and the lynx: How the EU saves, and kills, the lynx
Photo from Lynx Recovery Programme
from which I have snatched:
“Dr Astrid Vargas, famous for her work to save the lynx in Spain, shows me the control centre where they are monitored.
The lynx is like a domestic cat… with the hint of a tiger
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To my disappointment, I am not allowed to see the animals in the flesh: there is the risk of them catching diseases and becoming unsettled if there’s a stream of visitors.
But it’s entrancing enough watching them on the monitors, as Astrid tries to find the cubs by panning cameras and switching between angles.
Two cubs are out for a morning walk but eventually join their brother in their den. They cuff each other, bite and play.
A three-year-old is about the size of a cocker spaniel, and they have wonderful faces, a little like a domestic cat, but then the hint of tiger flashes through. There is something both fey and ancient about their faces, it’s probably the tufted ears and pointed beard that does it.
They are at risk partly because disease has killed their main prey, rabbits. But environmentalists say what really threatens them is that the wetlands of this national park are drying out.
“Encroachment by humans has been brutal. If we do not protect the lynx’s habitat, there’s no point in having them in captivity - the purpose of this programme is to re-introduce them into the wild,” Astrid says.
“The reason the lynx is going extinct is because of our pressure. The Mediterranean maquis is shrinking fast, the natural vegetation is slowly but surely being changed.”
Andalucia, Doñana, Iberian lynx, Water, Wetlands | |
The mating call of a female Iberian lynx Here from the BBC (real audio)
Iberian lynx, Mammals | |
The Monasterio de San Salvador in Cornellana, Asturias was founded in 1024 by Princess Cristina, daughter of King Bermudo II of Leon, also known as Bermudo el Gotoso (Gout-stricken). The gate into the vegetable garden is decorated with the relief of what is perhaps a female bear breast-feeding a human child. The legend goes that when Cristina was a young girl she got lost in the forest and was saved by a bear which fed and protected her.
Asturias, Spanish Icons, bears, folklore, history | |
The annual protest calling for the protection of the Cañadas Reales, the traditional grazing routes, brought 1,000 sheep to the Spanish capital on Sunday. Some of Madrid’s streets are still part of the cañada system, including La Castellana, and these sheep drives across the modern city is a reminder of the old practice. The cañadas are, in theory at least, legally protected from occupation and barring, but many of these routes have been devoured by property speculation.
This year, alongside farmers from across Spain shepherds from 40 countries took part, including Mongolia, India, Kenya and Mali. They have come to Spain to take part in the The World Gathering of Nomads and Transhumant Herders, which is meeting in Segovia this September, 8th - 16th
The Guardian noted “The environment ministry has warned that one-third of Spain risks being turned into desert because of over-grazing, modern farming techniques and property development….They came with a universal message - that their land and livelihoods are in the hands of governments and developers intent on modernisation at any cost. The farmers argue that as populations become more sedentary and pastoral farming dies out, so does the land, causing desertification and dwindling food supplies”.
Farming, Livestock, Madrid | Tags: Sheep in Spain, shepherds in Spain|
Image by FOP