A few photos from Portugal and Spain

[moloch]

Greetings all,

I have just returned from a 3-week work trip to Spain. Work was intense so I was not able to get out except on the weekends when I went on a few walks. I started and ended the trip with a night in Mertola, Portugal. I found Mertola on the net when looking for a place to stay near the Spanish border. It turned out to be a lovely area and well worth a visit.

The weather was good overall with the first week in the mid-30s. On my second weekend, a cold front passed over Europe and temps dropped to a chilly 10C for a couple of days before again warming. May is spring in that part of the world so there were many flowers in bloom and birds were in full song. Days were long with sunrise near 7am and sunset after 10pm.

Here is a map that shows the location of Mertola. I found it on the net while looking for a place to stop before heading into Spain.

Mertola was a pretty place with an old Moorish castle and walls around the town.

It was especially beautiful at night with its soft lighting:

Street views in town. White-washed buildings with red-tile roofs were the standard in both Portugal and nearby Spain.

It was interesting to see a flock of Lesser Kestrels that roosted each night on the castle. Spotless Starlings, House Martins, Swift, Great Grey Shrikes, House Sparrows and Blackbirds were all common in town.

The surrounding hills were dry and often overgrazed. Reptiles including snakes were obviously numerous based on the number of DORs that I saw, but I only spotted one live snake briefly before it disappeard into cover. Lacertid lizards were numerous.

River valley where I spent a few hours. European Bee-Eaters, Eurasian Golden Orioles and Azure-winged Magpies were both numerous here. Birding was pretty good in this area with sightings of many Red-legged Partridges, Crested/Skylarks, Serin, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, White Storks, Jay, Sardinian Warbler, Dartford's Warbler, Red-rumped Swallows, Barn Swallows, Common Buzzard, Hoopoe and others.

I saw these turtles in the river but could not get close to them so I don't know the species.

I saw a single live Montpellier Snake (Malpolon monspessulanus) and a number of DOR including the one photographed here. The live animal was sighted mid-morning along a dirt track but it quickly raced into cover before I could stop and jump out of the car. I could not relocate it.

Large Psammodromus (Psammodromus algirus) were the common Lacertidae of the area. I also saw a large, green lacertid on the road while driving but I was unable to take photos.

At the start of the trip, there were many flowers on the roadsides. Three weeks later, though, they were mostly gone.

Lavenders must be native to this area and they were in full bloom on the hillsides.

flowers:

Lycaenids:
1. Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)
2. Short-tailed Blue (Leptotes plinius)
3. Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera)
4. Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera)

Butterflies in the subfamily Satyrinae were abundant. I did not see many species of these but there were larger numbers of individuals on the roadsides.
1. Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia)
2. Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia)
3. Southern Gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia)
4. Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathseba)

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)

1. Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
2. Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina)
3. Wall Brown (Lasiommata megera)
4. Essex Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)

Day-flying moth:

White Storks were abundant here. In some areas, it seemed like there was a nest on top of every telephone pole.

Stonechat:

... Almonaster la Real (Spain) will be next

 

[moloch]

Here is a map that highlights Almonaster La Real where I spent most of my time. I worked out at a copper/polymetallic mine not too far from the village.

Almonaster La Real was a lovely area with live-oak forest and pine plantations in the surrounding hills. The dominant feature in the village was an old monastery that was originally built by the Moors around 1000AD.

My wife arrived during the second week of my stay. We climbed Cerro San Cristobel behind the village one day. The view from the summit was nice and I could see the mine where I worked (two white domes at 11 o'clock). I was surprised to see how near the village it was considering that it was a 40 minute drive along winding country roads.

habitat near the apartment where we stayed:

Interesting pentatomid:

Scorpions were common beneath rocks. These were big animals.

Large Psammodromus (Psammodromus algirus) were fairly common:

Large Psammodromus (Psammodromus algirus) were common lizards in the hills.

females:

males:

Spring flowers included these vibrant red poppies:

Here are a few more shots of the flowers. They were colourful and of course attracted many insects including butterflies.

Small Coppers (Lycaena phlaeas) were common.

More lycaenids:
1. Adonis Blue (Polyommatus bellargus)
2. Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)
3. Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)
4. Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

1. Spanish Purple Hairstreak (Laeosopis roboris)
2. Spanish Purple Hairstreak (Laeosopis roboris)
3. Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera)
4. Southern Brown Argus (Aricia cramera)

Spanish Marbled White (Melanargia ines)

more satyrinae
1. Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathseba)
2. Spanish Gatekeeper (Pyronia bathseba)
3. Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)
4. Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)

Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina) were the most numerous butterfly in the hills.

Speckled Wood (Parargea egeria)

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Spanish Fritillary

Pierids:
1. Clouded Yellow (Colias crocea)
2. Cleopatra (Gonepteryx cleopatra)
3. Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri)
4. Western Dappled White (Euchloe crameri)

Skippers
1. Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae)
2. Marbled Skipper (Carcharodus lavatherae)
3. Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae)
4. Mallow Skipper (Carcharodus alceae)

My wife and I drove to a few of the surrounding villages on the weekend. Here is a shot of Cortegana, a little town about 6km from Almonaster.

Aroche, a little town in Spain near the Portuguese border:

... and the habitat near Aroche:

Here are a final few shots from Lisbon. Lisbon was beautiful and it reminded me of San Francisco with its hills, cable cars, bay and "Golden Gate" bridge. The old quarter of the city was especially nice.

Portuguese egg tarts were excellent as were their other pastries:

I found a shop dedicated to anchovies. They also had this shrimp paste. I wonder if it is as effective as blachan at attracting butterflies?

That is it for photos from this trip.

Regards,
David