16-1-2015 CARTAGENA, MURCIA - MUSKOVY DUCK (Cairina moschata)

16-1-2015 CARTAJENA, MURCIA - MONK PARAKEET (Myiopsitta monachus)

14-1-2015 VILLALONGA BRIDGE, VALENCIA - EURASIAN GREAT CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax carbo)

12-1-2015 BARX, VALENCIA - DARTFORD WARBLER (Sylvia undata)

The Dartford warbler (Curruca undata) is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is dull reddish-brown below except for the centre of the belly which has a dirty white patch. It has light speckles on the throat and a red eye-ring. The sexes are similar but the adult female is usually less grey above and paler below.

Its breeding range lies west of a line from southern England to the heel of Italy (southern Apulia). The Dartford warbler is usually resident all year in its breeding range, but there is some limited migration.

The species is naturally rare. The largest European populations of Curruca undata are in the Iberian peninsula, others in much of France, in Italy and southern England and south Wales. In Africa it can be found only in small areas in the north, wintering in northern Morocco and northern Algeria.

It inhabits open fields with degraded scrub brush and is common in heather. In winter it may visit urban areas, but always feeds within shrubs in these areas. It nests in bushes with thorns and near the ground. These warblers are mostly insectivorous, eating caterpillars, butterflies, beetles and spiders.

The song of the Dartford warbler is a distinctive rattling warble.

2-1-2015 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKCAP (FEMALE) (Sylvia atricapilla)

4-1-2015 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - MEDITERRANEAN SPOTTED CHAFER (Oxythyrea funesta)

Common name “White spotted rose beetle”.

This beetle is present in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, and in the Near East.

Larvae are up to 30 mm long, they feed on plant roots and can remain until next spring in the soil.

The adults appear early in the spring, they grow up to 8–12 millimetres (0.31–0.47 in) and can mostly be encountered from May through July. They are considered an insect pest that do not just feed on pollen, but rode the floral organs, especially damaging light in color buds and flowers.

Their colour is black, more or less bronzed. Most of the specimens show six white spots in two longitudinal rows on the pronotum and many others on the elytra. They are completely covered with white pubescence (easily visible in profile). Older specimens usually have no hairs, as they are rubbed off with time.

31-12-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer domesticus)

29-12-2014 RIVER JUCAR, VALENCIA - GREAT CRESTED GREBE (Podiceps cristatus)

                                    https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/4208-Podiceps-cristatus

29-12-2014 RIVER JUCAR, VALENCIA - BLACK REDSTART (MALE) (Phoenicurus ochruros)

25-12-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer domesticus)

4-12-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (FEMALE) (Passer domesticus)

13-5-2015 EBRO DELTA, TARRAGONA - HOUSE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer domesticus)

Cheeping flocks of House Sparrow once tumbled from untidy nests and wallowed in urban dust baths. Now the species is in decline and has been on the UK Red List since 2002.

Colonial nesters, the male House Sparrow is resplendent with grey head and black bib, while the female and young are more uniformly brown. Very much associated with the dwellings of man whether urban or rural, House Sparrows enjoy a mixed diet, and in the summer will readily forage for insects in hedgerows and meadows providing they do not have to fly too far from their nests.

House Sparrows are found year round throughout Britain & Ireland, except for on the highest peaks. The species has declined in the UK since the mid-1970s, with losses most notable in the south and east.

12-12-2014 MOROS MARJAL, SAGUNTO - SMALL WHITE BUTTERFLY (Pieris rapae)

12-12-2014 MOROS MARJAL, SAGUNTO - IBERIAN GREY SHRIKE (Lanius meridionalis)

11-12-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN ROBIN (Erithacus rubecula)

10-12-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (MALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

3-12-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (FEMALE) (Passer domesticus)

17-11-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - BLACK REDSTART (MALE) (Phoenicurus ochruros)

28-11-2014 PEGO MARSHES, ALICANTE - EUROPEAN STONECHAT (Saxicola rubicola)

27-11-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - GREAT TIT (Parus major)

17-11-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - BLACK REDSTART (FEMALE) (Phoenicurus ochruros)

8-10-2014 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SLANT FACED GRASSHOPPER (Euchorthippus chopardi)

8-10-2014 BARX, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH (MALE) (Carduelis carduelis)

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