Wednesday, 27 May 2020
Tuesday, 26 May 2020
25-5-2020 VILLALONGA TUNNELS, VALENCIA - IBERIAN GREEN FROG (Pelophylax perezi)
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The Perez's frog (Pelophylax perezi), also known as Iberian waterfrog, Iberian green frog or Coruna frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to southern France, Portugal, Spain, and has been introduced to the Canary and Balearic Islands, Madeira, the United Kingdom, and the Azores. In the Iberian Peninsula it is widespread and common.
Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, sandy shores, arable land, and urban areas. It is not considered threatened by the IUCN. A medium-sized, stout frog; snout-vent length is usually from 40 to 70 mm, but sometimes is longer than 10 cm (Docampo and Milagrosa-Vega 1988; González de la Vega 1988). The head is as long as wide, with prominent eyes located in dorsal position very close to each other. The tympanum is well marked, about 1/2 to 3/4 the eye diameter (Salvador and García-París 2001). Toes have well developed webbing. Skin is either smooth or slightly rough, with well-formed dorsolateral folds.
25-5-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - GREAT TIT (Parus major)
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The great tit (Parus major) is a small passerine bird, easily recognized by its black head and neck, striking white cheeks, olive upperparts, and vibrant yellow underparts. This bird is the most widespread species in the genus Parus, found across Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of North Africa.
Males are characterized by their bright plumage, with a black bib that extends down the belly, bordered by a lemon-yellow breast. Females and juveniles are similar but have duller coloration. The black line down the belly is also narrower and sometimes broken in these birds.
Great tits favor a variety of woodland habitats, including deciduous and mixed forests, forest edges, and even urban parks and gardens. They are also found in riverine woodlands and, in some regions, boreal taiga.
This species is resident throughout its range, which extends from the Iberian Peninsula to the Amur Valley, and from Scandinavia to the Middle East. It is generally non-migratory, except in harsh winters when it may move to more temperate areas.
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Great tits are known for their intelligence and adaptability. They exhibit a range of foraging behaviors and can solve problems with insight learning. They are also cavity nesters and are monogamous, with both parents involved in raising the chicks.
The great tit has a repertoire of up to 40 calls and songs, with the male being particularly vocal. A common call resembles the phrase "teacher, teacher," which is used to proclaim territory.
Breeding occurs once a year, with the female laying up to 12 eggs in a cavity nest. The female incubates the eggs alone, but both parents feed the chicks. In most years, the pair will raise two broods.
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The great tit can be confused with other members of the Parus genus, but its distinctive coloration and song usually make it easy to identify.
In summer, the diet is predominantly insectivorous, while in winter, it expands to include seeds and berries. Great tits are adept at handling large food items and are known to visit bird feeders in urban areas.
The great tit is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, with a stable and widespread population estimated to be between 300 and 1,100 million birds. It has adapted well to human changes in the environment and is not currently at risk.
Sunday, 24 May 2020
24-5-2020 GANDIA PUERTO, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN SERIN (MALE) (Serinus serinus)
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The European serin, or simply the serin (Serinus serinus), is a diminutive member of the finch family, Fringillidae. This sprightly bird is the smallest within its family, closely related to the Atlantic canary. It is characterized by its short tail and a length that spans a mere 11 to 12 centimeters. The serin's plumage is a tapestry of nature's palette, with upper parts dappled in dark-streaked greyish green and a conspicuous yellow rump. The underparts are a canvas of yellow breast and white belly, both adorned with heavy streaks.
When attempting to identify the European serin, look for the male's radiant yellow face and breast, which stand out against the greenish backdrop of its feathers. The male also boasts yellow wing bars and yellow tail sides, which can be quite helpful in distinguishing it from similar species. Both sexes share a buzzing trill of a song that resonates through their Mediterranean habitats.
The European serin is partial to open woodland and cultivated areas, often with a sprinkling of conifers. These environments provide the perfect backdrop for breeding and foraging.
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This species has a breeding range that extends across southern and central Europe and into North Africa. Populations along the southern and Atlantic coasts tend to be resident, while those in the north are migratory, seeking warmer climates in southern Europe during the winter months.
Outside of the breeding season, the European serin is a sociable creature, forming flocks that may sometimes mingle with other finch species. It is an active and often conspicuous bird, its presence easily announced by its distinctive trill.
The serin's song is a distinctive buzzing trill, a sound that becomes part of the ambient music in regions where these birds are common.
The European serin weaves its nest within the shelter of a shrub or tree, where it lays a clutch of 3 to 5 eggs. The chosen breeding habitats are often areas of open woodland and cultivation, with a preference for some conifers.
The diet of the European serin is predominantly seeds, but it does not shy away from including insects during the breeding season, providing essential protein for its young.
24-5-2020 GANDIA PUERTO, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)
Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.
V. cardui occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland, and from the Red Sea basin, via Israel and Cyprus, to Turkey in March and April. The occasional autumn migration made by V. cardui is likely for the inspection of resource changes; it consists of a round trip from Europe to Africa.
For decades, naturalists have debated whether the offspring of these immigrants ever make a southwards return migration. Research suggests that British painted ladies do undertake an autumn migration, making 14,500 km (9,000 mi) round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle in a series of steps by up to six successive generations. The Radar Entomology Unit at Rothamsted Research provided evidence that autumn migrations take place at high altitude, which explains why these migrations are seldom witnessed.
In recent years, thanks to the activity of The Worldwide Painted Lady Migration citizen science project, led by the Barcelona-based Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Catalan: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva), the huge range of migration has begun to be revealed. For example, some butterflies migrated from Iceland to the Sahara desert, and even further south.
V. cardui is known for its distinct migratory behaviour. In California, they are usually seen flying from north to north-west. These migrations appear to be partially initiated by heavy winter rains in the desert where rainfall controls the growth of larval food plants. In March 2019, after heavy rain produced an abundance of vegetation in the deserts, Southern California saw these butterflies migrating by the millions across the state.
Similarly, heavier than usual rain during the 2018-2019 winter seems to have been the cause of the extraordinarily large migration observed in Israel at the end of March, estimated at a billion individual butterflies. Painted lady migration patterns are highly erratic and they do not migrate every year. Some evidence suggests that global climatic events, such as el Niño, may affect the migratory behaviour of the painted lady butterflies, causing large-scale migrations. The first noticeable wave of migration in eastern Ukraine was noted in the 20s of April 2019. From May 15, numbers began to grow and it was possible to observe hundreds of this species in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, including in the city streets of Kharkiv.
Saturday, 23 May 2020
23-5-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - LARGE WALL BROWN BUTTERFLY (Lasiommata maera)
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Lasiommata maera, the large wall brown, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
The species is common in continental Europe. It is also present in the Urals, south western Siberia, Asia Minor, Syria, Iran, Central Asia and the Himalayas. It is absent from the United Kingdom. Its preferred habitats are edges of the forest, unmanaged clearings on forested areas, rocky dry areas and stony slopes, at an elevation of 0–2,000 metres (0–6,562 ft) above sea level.
Lasiommata maera has a wingspan of 44–56 millimetres (1.7–2.2 in). These large butterflies are quite variable in color and pattern. Usually the upperside is orange in the forewings and mostly brown in the hindwings. The forewings always show a single ocellus, while the hindwings bear two or three ocelli. The underside of the forewings is orange and the underside of the hindwings is marbled with gray brown. This species is quite similar to Lasiommata megera, that is smaller and has paler yellow-orange forewings. Seitz P. maera L. (= adrasta Dup.) (45 d). On an average larger than hiera, more evenly coloured, the black markings of the ground less prominent in the nymotypical form with a sooty brown disc; the forewing of the male more pointed, with longer costal margin and more oblique distal margin; on the underside of the forewing the distal band extends without interruption across the median veins to the hindmargin. The underside of the hindwing has a much purer ground-colour, i. e. there are less clouds and shadows between the various dentate lines which cross the disc.
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