11-5-2016 ALCOY, ALICANTE - PLANTAIN FAMILY (Antirrhinum controversum)

Flower Color: Pale pink.

Flowering: February to November.

Ecology: Ruderal and rock-covered vegetation. It grows in fissures and rocky landings, on walls, on the edge of roads and in stony areas. It is indifferent to the substrate, with a marked preference for limestone. It grows in places with disturbed, rocky or stony soils, slightly nitrified, preferably in sunny to semi-shaded areas and in areas with mild winters.

Altitude range: 10 – 1,600 m.

Distribution: Iberian endemism . Dispersed throughout the southeastern third of the Iberian Peninsula.

11-5-2016 ALCOY, ALICANTE - SMOOTH GOLDEN FLEECE ( Urospermum dalechampii)

Urospermum dalechampii, the smooth golden fleece or simply the golden-fleece, is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Urospermum of the family Asteraceae.

Urospermum dalechampii reaches on average 25–40 centimetres (9.8–15.7 in) of height, with a minimum height of 10 centimetres (3.9 in) and a maximum height of 50 centimetres (20 in). This plant is quite hairy, with a single or branched stem. Basal leaves are usually arranged in a rosette of toothed leaves, while cauline leaves are just a few and smaller, more or less undivided and amplexicaul. The flowers are hermaphrodite. The flower heads are yellow sulfur, about five centimeter wide. Involucral bracts vary from seven to eight. Blooms are abundant throughout the Spring. The flowering period extends from March through August. The long, beaked fruit is an achene, and has a feathery, slightly reddish pappus.

This plant occurs in Western and Central Mediterranean from Spain to Dalmatia and North Africa.

These plants can be found on roadsides, dry grasslands or wastelands at 0–1,200 metres (0–3,937 ft) above sea level. They are commonly grown in drained soil and sunny places throughout the year.

11-5-2016 ALCOY, ALICANTE - MALLOW BINDWEED (Convolvulus althaeoides)

Convolvulus althaeoides is a species of morning glory known by the common names mallow bindweed and mallow-leaved bindweed. This flowering plant is native to the Mediterranea Basin, but it is occasionally seen in other areas of similar climate, such as California in the United States, where it has been introduced. This is a climbing perennial plant with solitary flowers on long peduncles. The flower is a funnel-shaped pink bloom three or four centimeters wide. The leaves are deeply divided into narrow, fingerlike lobes.

11-5-2016 ALCOY, ALICANTE - BROWN GARDEN SNAIL (Cornu aspersum)

Cornu aspersum (syn. Helix aspersa, Cryptomphalus aspersus), known by the common name garden snail, is a species of land snail in the family Helicidae, which includes some of the most familiar land snails. Of all terrestrial molluscs, this species may well be the most widely known. It was classified under the name Helix aspersa for over two centuries, but the prevailing classification now places it in the genus Cornu.

The snail is relished as a food item in some areas, but it is also widely regarded as a pest in gardens and in agriculture, especially in regions where it has been introduced accidentally, and where snails are not usually considered to be a menu item.

9-5-2016 PEGO MARSHES, ALICANTE - ZITTING CISTICOLA (Cisticola juncidis)

The zitting cisticola or streaked fantail warbler (Cisticola juncidis ) is a widely distributed Old World warbler whose breeding range includes southern Europe, Africa (outside the deserts and rainforest), and southern Asia down to northern Australia. A small bird found mainly in grasslands, it is best identified by its rufous rump; as well, it lacks any gold on the collar and the brownish tail is tipped with white. During the breeding season, males have a zigzagging flight display accompanied by regular "zitting" calls that have been likened to repeated snips of a scissor. They build their pouch nest suspended within a clump of grass.

The zitting cisticola is 10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.7 in) in length. It is brown above, heavily streaked with black markings. The underparts are whitish, and the tail is broad, white-tipped and flicked frequently, giving rise to the alternative name for the species. The adult males have less crown streaking and more back marking than the females, but there are no great difference between the sexes or the eighteen geographical races. The absence of a nuchal collar separate it from the golden-headed cisticola (Cisticola exilis ). In the non-breeding season, they tend to skulk within the grass and can be hard to spot

More than one brood may be raised. Females change their mates frequently and rarely stay within the same territory, while males are less mobile, maintaining non-overlapping song-territories which shift from day to day. Females can sometimes breed in their first year.

It is very small in size and has a characteristic, short and rounded tail, with striking terminal points. The body is sand-colored below and striped on upper parts. Breeding males have a dark beak and crown. It is found in open grasslands, meadows and agricultural areas. Very often it can be seen in the sky uttering its monotonous and repetitive song "tchip...tchip....tchip..." in an undulating flight.

Zitting cisticolas are very small insectivorous birds, sometimes found in small groups. The breeding season is associated with the rains. Two broods a year occur in many regions. Males are generally polygynous, but some are monogamous. The male builds the initial nest structure deep in the grasses, and invites females using a special display. Females that accept the male complete the nest. The nest is made by binding living leaves into the soft fabric of felted plant-down, cobwebs, and grass. The zitting cisticola's nest is a cup shape with a canopy of tied-together leaves or grasses overhead for camouflage; 3–6 eggs are laid. The female incubates the egg. The eggs hatch after about 10 days.

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - MALLARD (FEMALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - MALLARD (FEMALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - STONE PLANT (Family Aizoaceae)

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN HOOPOE (Upupa epops)

2-12-2015 JURONG SINGAPORE - YELLOW BILLED CARDINAL (Paroaria capitata)

The yellow-billed cardinal (Paroaria capitata ) is a bird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). It is not very closely related to the cardinals proper (Cardinalidae).

It occurs in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina and has been introduced on the island of Hawai'i. It breeds in moist shrubland. The yellow-billed cardinal could be easily confused with the red-crested cardinal. The yellow-billed cardinal does not have a crest.

14-3-2018 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

14-3-2018 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - WHITE WAGTAIL (Motacilla alba)

14-3-2018 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

14-3-2018 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

14-3-2018 ONDARA, ALICANTE - MUSKOVY DUCK (Cairina moschata)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_duck

28-3-2017 TARCOLES RIVER COSTA RICA - YELLOW HEADED CARACARA (Milvago chimachima)

The yellow-headed caracara (Milvago chimachima) is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, every mainland South American country except Chile, and on Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The yellow-headed caracara is 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 in) long. Males weigh 277 to 335 g (9.8 to 12 oz) and females 307 to 364 g (11 to 13 oz). Their wingspan is 74 to 95 cm (29 to 37 in). The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have buff to creamy yellowish white heads, necks, and underparts with a thin dark streak through the eyes. Their back and wings are blackish brown with a whitish patch at the base of the primaries that shows in flight. Their uppertail coverts and tail are buff with dusky bars and the tail has a black band near the end. Their iris is reddish brown surrounded by bare bright yellow skin and their legs and feet are pea green. Immature birds have browner upperparts than adults and their underparts have brown streaks. Subspecies M. c. cordata is a darker buff on the head and underparts than the nominate and has narrower bars on the tail.

Subspecies M. c. cordata is found in southwestern Nicaragua, western Costa Rica, and most of Panama, and in mainland South America from Colombia east through Venezuela and the Guianas, south through Ecuador and Peru east of the Andes, and across Brazil north of the Amazon River. The Nicaragua records are only since 2008, and there are also scattered eBird records as far north as Guatemala and Belize. Off the north coast of the South American mainland, it occurs on Aruba, Trinidad, and Tobago, and has visited Bonaire and Curaçao as a vagrant. The nominate M. c. chimachima is found from eastern Bolivia south through Paraguay into northern Argentina and east through northern Uruguay and Brazil south of the Amazon River. Its range overlaps with that of the chimango caracara in southern Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The yellow-headed caracara is a bird of lightly-treed open landscapes, like savannas with palms and scattered trees, ranchlands and pastures, gallery forests, and the edges of denser forests. In elevation, it mostly ranges from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), though it has been recorded at about 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Colombia's Cauca River valley.

14-3-2018 ONDARA, ALICANTE - MALLARD (MALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

15-3-2016 BARX, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN EAGLE OWL (Bubo bubo)

The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. These birds are found in many habitats where they hunt a majority of their prey. Eurasian eagle-owls are one of the most widely distributed. With a total range in Europe and Asia of about 32 million km2 (12 million sq mi) and a total population estimated in millions. Sometimes tame eagle-owls have been used in pest control because of their size to deter large birds such as gulls from nesting.

The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the largest living species of owl. This bird has distinctive ear tufts, with upper parts that are brown-black to tawny-buff to pale creamy gray. A narrow buff band, freckled with brown or buff, often runs up from the base of the bill, above the inner part of the eye, and along the inner edge of the black-brown ear tufts. The facial disc is tawny-buff, speckled with black-brown, so densely on the outer edge of the disc as to form a "frame" around the face. The chin and throat are white with a brownish central streak. The feathers of the upper breast generally have brownish-black centers and reddish-brown edges except for the central ones which have white edges. The chin and throat may appear white continuing down the center of the upper breast. The lower breast and belly feathers are creamy-brown to tawny buff to off-white with a variable amount of fine dark wavy barring, on a tawny-buff ground color. The tail is tawny-buff, mottled dark grey-brown with about six black-brown bars. The bill and feet are black. The eyes are most often orange in color.

14-3-2018 ONDARA, ALICANTE - EUROPEAN MOORHEN (Gallinula chloropus)

8-8-2017 NUREMBERG, GERMANY - BLACK GROUSE (FEMALE) (Tetrao tetrix)

                                             https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_grouse