Newsletter April 2017.

Newsletter April 2017.  

The first days of April saw John in the Sierra de Andujar with John, Janet, Frank and Andrew, looking for Iberian lynx. A paucity of rabbits meant that lynx had not been seen for several weeks and the possible sighting that John had was but fleeting, but as keen birders and naturalists, there was never any moment or watch without its excitement.

So much was spotted during the tour that I am grateful to John and Janet for allowing me to reproduce their list, rather than write all these down. 

	Iberian Lynx Watching In Sierra Morena 30th April 2017 to 3rd March 2017
		30th	31st	1st	2nd	3rd
Iberian Lynx					?
Rabbit		X	X	X	X	X
Iberian Hare					1
Red Fox					1
Red Deer		X	X	X	X	X
Fallow Deer				X	X	X
Iberian Ibex				1
Wild Boar			X		X
Mouflon				X	X	X
Greater Mouse Eared Bat			X	X
Daubenton’s Bat				X
							11 species
Mallard			X		X
Red Legged Partridge		X	X	X	X	X
White Stork		2				X
Black Stork				3
Cattle Egret		1				20+
Cormorant			X		X
Black Kite		200+				1
Red Kite		1
Osprey			1
Black Vulture		1	1
Griffon Vulture		X	X	X	X	X
Short-toed Eagle				2	2
Sparrowhawk		2
Goshawk		1	1
Common Buzzard		1		1
Golden Eagle				1
Spanish Imperial Eagle		2	2	1
Booted Eagle		4			1
Kestrel		X	X	X	X	X
Green Sandpiper			1

Yellow Legged Gull	X
Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon	X	X	X	X	X
Stock Dove				X
Woodpigeon	X	X	X	X	X
Collared Dove	X	X	X	X	X
Common Cuckoo	X	X	X	X	X
Little Owl	2		2	2-3	1
Scops Owl			1H	1H
European Bee-eater	3+	9		9	25+
Hoopoe	X	X	X	X	X
Iberian Green Woodpecker	X	X	X	X	X
Great Spotted Woodpecker		2		H
Crested Lark	X			X	X
Woodlark				H
Crag Martin			X	X
Swallow	X	X	X	X	X
House Martin	X	X	X	X	X
Red-Rumped Swallow	X	X	X	X	X
White Wagtail	X	X		X
Grey Wagtail		1
Meadow Pipit		1			H
Wren		X		X	X
Robin		X
Nightingale			X	3
Black Redstart			X
European Stonechat		X		X
Blue Rock Thrush		X	X	X
Blackbird	X	X	X	X	X
Mistle Thrush	X	X	X	X	X
Cetti’s Warbler		X		X
Dartford Warbler			X	X
Western Orphean Warbler				1
Sardinian Warbler	X	X	X	X	X
Subalpine Warbler				1
Blackcap		X	X	X
Willow Warbler				X
Western Bonelli’s Warbler			1
Chiffchaff	X	X	X	X
Pied Flycatcher				1m
Long Tailed Tit	X	X	X	X	X
Blue Tit	X	X	X	X	X
Great Tit	X	X	X	X	X
Nuthatch		X		X	X

Short Toed Treecreeper		X
Southern Grey Shrike	X	X	X	X
Woodchat Shrike			X	X
Golden Oriole					H
Chough		X	X	X
Magpie	X	X	X	X	X
Azure Winged Magpie	X	X	X	X	X
Jay	X	X	X	X	X
Jackdaw	X			X
Carrion Crow	X		X
Raven		8			3
Spotless Starling	X	X	X	X	X
House Sparrow	X	X	X	X	X
Rock Sparrow		1
Chaffinch	X	X	X	X	X
European Serin	X	X	X	X	X
Greenfinch	X		X	X	X
Goldfinch		X	X	X	X
Linnet		1	X	1
Rock Bunting		1		1
Corn Bunting	X	X	X	X	X
Cirl Bunting				H	H
						79 species
Iberian Pond Frog		X
Wall Lizard
Ocellated Lizard			X	X
Spanish Psammodromus			1
Ladder snake			1
European Pond Terrapin			X
Spanish Pond Terrapin				1
						7 species
Clouded Yellow	X	X	X	X	X
Brimstone
Orange Tip	X	X	X	X
Portuguese Dappled White		X	X	X
Small White				X
Red Admiral			X
Painted Lady	X
Small Copper			X

Brown Argus		X	X
Lang’s Short-tailed Blue			X
Small Heath	X		X	X
Spanish Festoon		X		X
Swallowtail		X	X
						13 species
Orchis champagneuxii			X
Ophrys tenthrebinifera			X

It

It was a pleasure for John to be with John and Janet again who had enjoyed a successful Watching for Wolves tour with us in 2016 and along with Frank and Andrew, the group boasted some depth of knowledge.

At one point during a watch at the dam, two short-toed eagles, three black storks and a Spanish ibex could be seen in one view! 

The weather was excellent throughout and afforded everyone fantastic views of Imperial eagle from the first night. 

Watches were often accompanied by Dartford and Sardinian warblers  with goshawk, black vulture, red-rumped swallow, hoopoe and a daily little owl showing well throughout the tour. A false alarm from Andrew did not produce the hoped-for lynx sighting but everyone got onto red deer because of this. 

Wild boar were spotted on two days of the tour with this family party providing particularly pleasing views.

 This is the best time of year to be here to experience the orchids and wild flower meadows.

On the last day there were good views of mouflon.

A fabulous ocellated lizard made its way across the road in front of everyone one evening in the glorious Sierra de Andujar.

The day after the Looking for Lynx tour John collected Story and her mum Ruth who had flown in from the USA solely for a Watching for Wolves tour. Once again John enjoyed the company of dedicated and knowledgeable enthusiasts.  Ruth and Story's Watching for Wolves tour sightings started straightaway with a black vulture above them on the road out of Madrid.

White stork returning to its nest atop the church at Otero de Sariego. Photo: Story Warren.

A stop off at Villafafila meant that John, Ruth and Story were treated to approximately 150 great bustards, some in full lekking mode, with red kite, raven and a superb booted eagle atop a dovecote, plus lesser kestrel at Otero de Sariego .Cormorant and otter were seen at the Rio Esla.

Ruth and Story's first wolf watch on the evening of 4th April was interesting with red and roe deer able to be watched clearly through the telescopes. The next morning Ruth, Story and John were excited by the skittish behaviour of the many red deer, as these creatures often serve as a barometer for wolf presence.

Photo: Story Warren

 The deer were rushing around in a type of panic which later subsided with a few left to play fight. Roe deer came into view plus good clear views of coal tit and two red kites. Ruth and Story found some excellent  wolf, deer, wild boar and badger tracks during their tracking that day plus fresh wolf scat, and a highlight of the day was a stunning sub-adult golden eagle flying just above them,carrying unidentified prey, along the Boya/Cional road.

Traditional farming methods happening just outside Ruth and Story's hotel.

The evening wolf-watch of 5th April began with a perky red fox popping up and down, in sight then out of sight, plus stags and roe deer and Story located a party of five wild boar in the decreasing evening light so we shared that view until darkness stopped our searching. Earlier that evening Ruth had also been fascinated by her find of several pine processionary moth caterpillars moving together in their line along the track looking extremely snake-like as is the intention.

There were two foxes at the viewing site the next morning and plenty of red deer plus some roe deer. One red deer could be identified several times during the tour because at that stage it had only lost one antler.

The date of Friday April 7th 2017 will remain highlighted in Ruth and Story's calendar as the day of their first Iberian wolf.But not just one, rather three individuals over the course of this day's wolf watches. At first, everyone at the morning watch was concentrating on a very large wild boar with its persistent foraging for food but John spotted a large wolf inside the wood.  A short stand-off occurred between the wild boar and the wolf before the wild boar went on its way and the wolf moved off to the right.
During the evening watch  another wolf, probably a female, was spotted in the heather fairly close to our watching site as it trotted in beautiful evening sunlight resolutely towards the edge of the wood. The heather there was low and we could all watch its progress through the vegetation, up onto the track and eventually to disappear into the darker depths of the trees. Relaxed smiles were on everyone's faces but our sightings for that night were not finished yet! Not long after this sighting we were all watching the large form of the dark male wolf in the gloom of the pine wood as it moved in measured steady pace between the tree. What a day!

In between these amazing wolf encounters John, Story and Ruth had enjoyed a fabulous trip to the Douro Gorge where they watched a spectacular display of a golden eagle mobbing a griffon vulture, tumbling down into the gorge only to regain aerial composure and return to the horizon to display to an interested female.

Egyptian Vulture. Photo; Story Warren.

The gorge also afforded everyone very close views of three Egyptian vultures, hoopoe with its crest erect, red-billed chough on three occasions with one particular pair flying very close by giving their characteristic "chow" call, red-rumped swallow, lovely views of crag martin, white stork, booted eagle, short-toed eagle, blue rock thrush, Iberian shrike, woodchat shrike and Moorish gecko. The following video shows one of the several griffon vultures with young on the crags at the gorge.

Ruth and Story were able to photograph a large, ocellated lizard and some Iberian water frogs plus black kite during explorations in the Gallegos area and then they moved on to enjoy the very pretty villages with fruit trees in full bloom. A most interesting walk behind these seemingly calm hamlets meant a hissing encounter for John, Ruth and Story with a Lataste's viper!

Ruth wrote the following testimonial about their Watching for Wolves tour and we are happy that our work here can elicit such good feelings and memories.

"For anyone who longs to really get away to experience nature, exotic wildlife and birds, culture at its oldest and finest, and some of the nicest people in the world, this is the trip to take. My daughter and I were treated to a custom exploration of the land of wolves in Spain, with morning and evening “stakeouts” to try to view wolves, and afternoon adventures to neighboring villages and Portugal. We did see wolves! And we met the local rangers, and learned much about how the Iberian wolf survives alongside humans and livestock in Northern Spain.  The sights were beautiful everywhere we went.  We have never seen so many enormous birds: Bustards, golden eagles, Egyptian vultures, white storks and more.  John is an expert birder and naturalist. The local people are welcoming, happy, and loud! The Remesal Hotel where we stayed was just lovely, and breakfast and dinner were delicious local foods.  John and Margaret are the best hosts ever, and we miss them already."   

During Easter week John and I went to Zamora to watch the film Cantabrico which is lauded as a " deep look into the hidden secrets of a wonderful place of the world." It demonstrates the beauty in all seasons of the Iberian peninsula and its variety of wildlife, with some particularly harrowing but mesmerizing footage of a pack of Iberian wolves bringing down a feisty stag.

At this time too John spotted a first for us in this area; an avocet wading and swimming in the lake at Cional.

The 20/23rd April saw the International Congress on " Wolf Management and Conservation in North America and Europe; An Unresolved Conflict." hosted at Puebla de Sanabria and John attended the whole congress.  He felt privileged to be the guide chosen to take Dr. David Mech amongst  others out on a wolf watch on the morning of Saturday 22nd April. The course was well attended and different viewpoints were aired and discussed in a constructive atmosphere.  As well as David Mech, there was an impressive field of speakers from around the globe and space limits me as I highlight only a few ; Dr Shannon Barber-Meyer, ( USA), Dr. Djuro Huber, ( Croatia), Dr. Juan Carlos Blanco Gutierrez (Spain),  Dr. Andrea Amici (Italy),Dr. Francisco Petrucci-Fonsecca ( Portugal) and Dr. Jose Angel Arranz Sanz (Spain).

Another busy month and I have enjoyed sharing these experiences with you here. Already as I publish this, John is experiencing great success with our Browsing for Bears tours in Asturias and I shall be highlighting some of the fantastic videos and photos from these tours in the next newsletter....already looking forward to it!

(With thanks to John and Janet for the use of their list and to Story for the use of three of her photos.)

Margaret. May 11. 2017.

Newsletter March 2017

Newsletter March 2017.

March has been a month of contrasting weather, with temperatures stretching from heights of 25'C when we are basking in the sunshine and considering our Spring planting to the depths of -7'C within a few days when the ground is hard and tracking is difficult. We welcome summer migrants as they start to arrive and display over this month, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear my first cuckoo call as early as 20th March this year.

However the weather took a chilly turn just as Keith and Alan arrived into Asturias airport and certainly the start of their Watching for Wolves tour produced some cold conditions for viewing. They were able to see some excellent fresh wolf tracks on their first wolf watch of 2nd March which made the brisk, early-morning start even more worthwhile. Good views of stonechat, woodlark, Dartford warbler and the local white storks on their nests proved fascinating too, but the highlight of this first full day of their tour was the opportunity to watch a wildcat stalking prey at close quarters before it darted off into the forest, unsuccessful on this occasion.

A family party of wild boar  were observed during the evening wolf watch on Friday 3rd, when the unusual behaviour of several stags running as if being chased through the woods very close to John, Keith and Alan gave credence to the feeling that wolf was not far away.

Later in the evening several roe deer made an appearance, but the wolf was elusive on this watch. During the Friday's visit to Villafafila, marsh, hen and Montague's Harriers were all seen along with red kite, lapwing, avocet, black-winged stilt, greylag geese, wigeon, pochard, mallard, teal, pintail, shellduck , crested lark and Keith's favourite the shoveller duck.

The great bustards were displaying in full force despite the strong wind and in total, over 300 of these amazing birds were seen by John, Keith and Alan.

The journey to Villafafila was broken at the Rio
Esla where Keith was delighted to photograph golden eagle and the river was alive with bird life, including two great white egrets, kingfisher, pochard, teal, mallard, chiffchaff, blue rock thrush, crag martin, barn swallow, common buzzard, cormorant, grey heron, raven, marsh harrier and red kite.

More wild boar were seen on Sunday,10 in total, plus many red deer stags and hinds as Keith and Alan could add red squirrel and long-tailed tit to their growing list.

The cold conditions braved at the start of the tour dispelled by Monday 6th and a fabulous day started out with the best news! During a bright morning watch John, Keith and Alan were all able to enjoy incredible views of a light-coloured wolf as it loped along the track at times with a slight limp and remaining well within everyone's view for several minutes.. As you will see from this video of John's, it then turns off into the heather and wags its tail as if greeting another wolf.  This clear view was treat enough for John, Keith and Alan as they congratulated themselves on such a good start to an exciting day. Certainly the visit to the Douro gorge was enjoyed in continued perfect conditions and no-one was disappointed with the sights on offer there. John, Keith and Alan were able to photograph and basically enjoy wonderful views of two golden eagles, Egyptian vulture, red billed chough, griffon vulture, crag martin, house martin, red kite, black kite plus  a flock of azure-winged magpies.  All this with the sound and movement of hundreds of bees  bringing the almond trees alive with the sound of their buzzing and their busy movement from blossom to blossom.

 

Alan's video of a natterjack toad was also relayed over dinner that evening along with the wolf video...what a successful day!

The last full day of the tour gave Keith and Alan the opportunity to explore local villages, including the atmospheric Santa Cruz de la Cuerregos with its wonderful ancient sweet chestnut trees displaying such intricate bark patterns.

Their list of sightings increased still further with good views of nuthatch, great tit, jay, red-legged partridge, crested tit, long-tailed tit, crossbill, robin, black redstart, corn bunting, Iberian grey shrike, blue tit, coal tit, rock bunting,goldfinch and rabbit and the Iberian water frogs could clearly be seen in all their variety of colours but all with their characteristic dorsal green stripe.

Elinor and her son Balthazar were decidedly unlucky with the weather conditions throughout their Watching for Wolves tour as it seemed to be persistently cold and damp, but they were always ready to go out and look for wolves and any signs of their presence.  Balthazar was delighted with his first sighting of a wolf track and I hope he managed to carry this treasure back to Kent in one piece.

Scat too was seen although this thankfully was not collected. Our hopes for a wolf sighting were high as everyone noted the presence of red and black kites and ravens near our viewpoint, but visibility was poor and the rain began in greater earnest. We were pleased to watch two Iberian hares during the morning's watch and we were able to stop to notice a little owl on a telegraph pole on the way to our evening's wolf watch.









The rain cleared at the right times for Elinor, Balthazar and John to get good sights of griffon vulture, red-billed chough,white stork, red-rumped swallow, hoopoe and crag martin during a day visit to the Douro gorge in Portugal after enjoying good views of a female hen harrier and several red deer on the morning wolf watch. The rain persisted however and the evening's wolf watch had to be from the Landrover, but we were delighted to listen to a blackbird singing across the vista while we all could see a cuckoo atop a nearby pine tree; a very special sight.

During our drive back to dinner that night as the darkness closed in, Balthazar spotted several red deer hinds just to the left of us, and we enjoyed some long, close views of these elegant creatures before they turned to return to the security of the woodland. Previously we had been lucky to observe two Iberian hares chasing each other in a mating ritual in the road directly in front of us.  How lucky we are here to be able to stop and spend time watching such behaviour without the concern of too much traffic to disturb our view!

 At the bridge en route to Villafafila Elinor had a quick glimpse of an otter and John saw a kingfisher before moving on to appreciate the interesting sight of the lekking of the great bustards. Elinor, Balthazar and John also saw Montague's harrier, marsh harrier,lapwing, red kite, black kite and crested lark during the visit that day plus this quick glimpse of a good looking fox carrying something in its mouth.

The next day had clearer patches and crested tit, linnet and goldfinch were three of the species Elinor and Balthazar enjoyed getting into their view, plus a great sight of a short-toed eagle landing on a nearby telegraph pole.

Each day had so much and despite the weather Elinor and Balthazar left with quite a collection of new and wonderful sightings and memories of this totally unique area. This final evening's wolf watch gave up something very special. As the weather cleared for a spell we were all watching intently and it was one of those very special moments when everyone is totally gripped by concentration, almost willing something to emerge! Just on eight o'clock Elinor, friend Inaki, Balthazar and myself immediately looked up from our scopes as we had all heard a howl;  not too distant but only too fleeting. This was not echoed by any other sound, in fact the whole wood seemed totally silent as we drew breath and realised that we had experienced that iconic sound of a wolf howl as the evening was closing around us. A wonderful finale!

I leave you with a little indulgence of my own; every March the neighbouring village of San Vitero hosts a donkey festival to celebrate the traditional Aliste donkey which is still a vital part of life here.This photo depicts four likely characters from this month's festival, against a backdrop of a clear blue sky which we enjoyed on the first weekend of  the Spring equinox. Along with the sound of the cuckoo, this heralds the arrival of Spring to this incredible area of Spain; the Sierra de la Culebra.

Margaret. March 2017.  All photos and videos taken during March 2017 by John.