The cycle of life continues down in the huge depression of La Janda, once a giant freshwater lake, now a mechanised agricultural area. The huge fields of now ripened sunflowers are cut and harvested early in SW Andalucia. After we returned from our break in Scotland, many of the fields had already been cleared. The […]
Author: Stephen Daly
Scotland – The Bass Rock
The Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) is a truly impressive bird. It is the largest seabird in the North Atlantic as well as being the largest member of the Gannet family, Sulidae. Whilst on a family holiday to my native Scotland, we took a nostalgic boat trip from town of North Berwick, sailing around the Bass […]
Avian Action at La Janda
As the sun set over Vejer de la Frontera in Cadiz province, Andalucía , the surrounding area below this white village or ‘pueblo blanco ‘ known as La Janda had been receiving thousands of new migrant birds that arrive in the southern tip of the European mainland and feed up in preparation for their onward […]
Early Migration over the Parched Earth
A Rufous Bush Robin (Cercotrichas galactotes) makes a great subject against a splash of colour, perching amongst the ripening sunflower heads As the summer tourist season get underway here in south-western Andalucia , the baked countryside is at its greatest risk from wild fires. In the north of Spain around Girona , forest fires have […]
Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus)
An early start to the autumn migration saw the arrival of thousands of waders to western Andalucia. It was a delight to have good views of Red-necked Phalaropes at the Salinas de Bonanza on the Guadlaquivir river I took this shot to compare the diminutive phalarope’s size with Black-winged Stilts. The Red-necked Phalarope has an […]
Mediterranean Chameleon
He’s back! Our Mediterranean Chameleon that visits our garden casually strolled across the grass as I was working outside yesterday. He looked up at me and walked slowly up to my leg. Amazed, I stared talking to him like some mad man. I then picked him up to see how he was and saw that […]
Mint – Attracting Insects at Home
Small Copper butterfly A Small Copper Butterfly feeds on the nectar from mint flowers in our garden Mint…just say the word and cool, refreshing images come to mind: frosty glasses of lemonade garnished with curly sprigs of spearmint; the clean, chilling taste of an extra strong mint. Even chewing gum, mouthwash, and toothpaste companies use […]
Shearwaters, Petrels, Large Whales and other Cetaceans
I had a lovely day out on Saturday with a group of friends in a charter yacht on The Strait. The outing had been organised by Alexandra Farrell and we all met up at Tarifa’s port and boarded our vessel the Aroha Rahi for the day and met the skipper Pepe Fernandez. Calm waters meant […]