18-8-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - 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.

This species is found mainly in grassland habitats, often near water. Most populations are resident, but some East Asian populations migrate south to warmer areas in winter. In the Himalayas, they ascend to about 1,900 m (6,200 ft) during summer but are below 1,300 m (4,300 ft) in the winter. This species is a rare vagrant to northern Europe, mostly as a spring overshoot. Its European range is generally expanding, although northern populations are especially susceptible to hard winters.

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. 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.

18-8-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - SQUACCO HERON (Ardeola ralloides)

The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering in Africa. It is rare north of its breeding range. The species has been recorded in Fernando de Noronha islands, and more rarely in mainland South America, as a vagrant. This is a stocky species with a short neck, short thick bill and buff-brown back. In summer, adults have long neck feathers. Its appearance is transformed in flight, when it looks very white due to the colour of the wings.

The squacco heron's breeding habitat is marshy wetlands in warm countries. The birds nest in small colonies, often with other wading birds, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Three to four eggs are laid. They feed on fish, frogs and insects.

18-8-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - BARN SWALLOW (Hirundo rustica)

The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world, occurring on all continents, with vagrants reported even in Antarctica. It appears to have the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometres globally.[not verified in body] It is a distinctive passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. In Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only member of family Hirundinidae called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".

There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Two subspecies, (H. r. savignii and H. r. transitiva) have fairly restricted ranges in the Nile valley and eastern Mediterranean, respectively. The other four are more widespread, with winter ranges covering much of the Southern Hemisphere.

The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally nests in man-made structures and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight.

This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by humans; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the barn swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration. The barn swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia. 

Population size

290-487 Mlnlnn

Life Span

3-8 years

Top speed

74

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

16-22

goz

g oz 

Length

17-19

cminch

cm inch 

Wingspan

32-34.5

cminch

18-8-2024 ULLAL DE BALDOVI, ALBUFERA - RED SWAMP CRAYFISH (Procambarus clarkii)

Procambarus clarkii, known variously as the red swamp crayfish, Louisiana crawfish or mudbug, is a species of cambarid crayfish native to freshwater bodies of northern Mexico, and southern and southeastern United States, but also introduced elsewhere (both in North America and other continents), where it is often an invasive pest.

P. clarkii is typically dark red, with long claws and head, small or no spines on the sides of its carapace just below the head, and rows of bright red bumps on the front and side of the first leg.

Male red swamp crayfish have bigger claws than females

The native range of P. clarkii is from northern Mexico and far southeastern New Mexico, through the Gulf States to the Florida Panhandle, as well as inland north through the Mississippi Basin to southern Illinois. It has also been introduced, sometimes deliberately, outside its natural range to countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and elsewhere in the Americas. In northern Europe, the populations are self-maintaining but not expanding, while in southern Europe, P. clarkii is multiplying and actively colonizing new territories at the expense of the native crayfish, Astacus astacus and Austropotamobius spp. Individuals are reported to be able to cross many miles of relatively dry ground, especially in wet seasons, although the aquarium trade and anglers may have hastened the spread in some areas (anglers using P. clarkii as fishing bait are thought to have introduced it to the state of Washington). Attempts have also been made to use P. clarkii as a biological control organism, to reduce levels of the snails involved in the lifecycle of schistosomiasis, leading to the dispersal of P. clarkii in, for instance, Kenya.

In Europe, P. clarkii is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

18-8-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

Population size

790,000-3.7Mln

Life Span

15-20 years

Top speed

64

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

1-2

kglbs

kg lbs 

Height

84-102

cminch

cm inch 

Length

84-102

cminch

cm inch 

The Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a large long-legged wading bird of the heron native to Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It lives in wetland areas and feeds on various aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water.

The plumage of the Grey heron is largely ashy-grey above, and greyish-white below with some black on the flanks. Adults have a head and neck white with a broad black supercilium that terminates in the slender, dangling crest, and bluish-black streaks on the front of the neck. The scapular feathers are elongated and the feathers at the base of the neck are also somewhat elongated. Immature birds lack the dark stripe on the head and are generally duller in appearance than adults, with a grey head and neck, and a small, dark grey crest. The pinkish-yellow beak is long, straight, and powerful, and is brighter in color in breeding adults. The iris is yellow and the legs are brown and very long.

18-8-2024 SOLLANA, ALBUFERA - COLLARED PRATINCOLE (Glareola pratincola)

The collared pratincole (Glareola pratincola ), also known as the common pratincole or red-winged pratincole, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. As with other pratincoles, it is native to the Old World.

This pratincole is 24–28 cm (9.4–11.0 in) long with a 60–70 cm (24–28 in) wingspan. It has short legs, long pointed wings, a long forked tail, and a short bill, which is an adaptation to aerial feeding. The back and head are brown, and the wings are brown with darker flight feathers. The belly is white. The underwings are chestnut, but look dark below.

Very good views are needed to distinguish this species from other pratincoles, such as the black-winged pratincole and the oriental pratincole, which may occur in its range. The latter species also has a chestnut underwing, but is shorter-tailed.

The collared pratincole is a bird of open country, and is often seen near water in the evening, hawking for insects. It is found in the warmer parts of Europe, southwest Asia and Africa. It is migratory, wintering in tropical Africa, and is rare north of the breeding range.

Pratincoles are unusual among waders in that they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground.

The species lays 2–4 eggs on the ground.

21-7-2024 VIGUR ISLAND, ICELAND - BLACK GUILLEMOT (Cepphus grylle)

The black guillemot is a circumpolar species distributed in the boreal, low arctic and high arctic regions of the north Atlantic and arctic oceans and breeding between 43° and 82°N. The 5 listed subspecies inhabit different parts of this range. In North America, they can be found as far south as the Gulf of Maine and New England and across parts of the northern coast of North America as far as Alaska, where they are replaced by the pigeon guillemot in the North Pacific. In Europe and Asia, they are found from the British Isles and Northward across the northern coast of Asia. They are one of the few birds to breed on Surtsey, Iceland, a new volcanic island. It is a fairly common breeding bird in western and northern Scotland and Ireland. In Great Britain, they only breed at St. Bees Head in Cumbria, the Isle of Man and on east Anglesey in north Wales. Approximately 40% of the population breeds in the high arctic where the largest colonies are found, 30% in the low arctic, and 30% in boreal waters. In the winter, some of the birds in the high arctic waters are forced south by the winter ice making them seasonal migrants, but in more temperate zones the species is essentially resident.

Typically restricted to rocky shores, black guillemots utilize the cliffs, crevices and boulders for their nests, hunting the inshore waters for benthic prey. Compared to other auks, they forage fairly close to the colony, in the breeding season mostly in inshore waters more than 50m in depth, farther afield in the winter months.

One of the early ornithologists that described aspects of the behaviour of the black guillemot was Edmund Selous (1857–1934) in his book The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands (1905). In the chapter titled 'From the Edge of a Precipice he writes for instance that sometimes the black guillemots carry a fish they have caught in their beak for hours. He also gives further details about the behaviour.

Black guillemots are coastal foragers with diets typically associated with benthic and kelp-forest prey. They dive between 15-20m to catch their prey, but can dive to a depth of at least 43m. They use their wings to propel themselves forward and their feet to steer.  Small prey are swallowed underwater whole. Guillemots bring larger prey to the surface to soften in their bill before swallowing whole.  Guillemots are single-prey loaders, meaning they bring single prey items back to their chicks during the chick-rearing period. This limits the spatial range that parents can forage for food, as chicks must receive a high number of energy-rich prey items throughout each day.  Black guillemot diets include sculpins, butterfish, rock gunnel, northern sandlance, herring, jellyfish, mollusks, and other small crustaceans. 

A number of threats face Black guillemots. Black guillemots have been shown to be vulnerable to several species of predators including American Mink, Great Skua, gulls, and Otter Lutra Lutra, as well as introduced species like the Brown Rat and feral cats.  One large colony on an island in the Baltic Sea (approximately 2600 individuals) was wiped out by American Mink in the early 2000s.  Because Black guillemots forage close to shore, they tend to be exposed to more pollution than further oceangoing seabirds. Additional sources of pressure include fisheries bycatch, habitat destruction, and climate change. 

15-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (MALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

 Slender warbler with long tail, short wings and pointed bill. Restless and alert with frequently raised crown feathers and dark eye framed in red. Male with black head, white throat, greyish upperparts and off-white underparts. Female less striking, with grey head grey-brown upperparts, distinct buff flanks and paler belly. Both sexes with white sides and corners to tail. Rarely sits exposed, and usually betrays itself by it's frequently used scolding call. Often just glimpsed when it dives into a bush, spreading it's tail and showing the white markings.

Scolding call a machinegun-like, short and harsh rattle. Usually consisting of 2-5 notes with some variation in timbre and delivery. Song a stream of varied, short notes, constantly interspersed with variations of the scolding call. Phrases 2-5 sec. long. Easily confused with several other sylvias, especially in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Rattling sound (in both song and call) differs from most other congeners by being considerably harder and more "smacking". Dartford Warbler most similar, but usually betrays itself by it's characteristic and frequently used contact call (also interspersed when singing).

14-8-2024 VILLALONGA, VALENCIA - FRAGRANT VIRGINS BOWER (Clematis flammula)

Clematis flammula, the fragrant virgin's bower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. This deciduous climbing plant is native to southern Europe and northern Africa, but it is cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant in gardens. It bears fragrant white flowers and small green achenes. When the flowers are newly opened they have a strong sweet almond fragrance. Clematis × aromatica, the scented clematis, is the result of a cross with Clematis integrifolia.

Clematis flammula grows in a tangled mass that is heavily sprinkled with flowers throughout the warmer months. It is popular with gardeners as a decoration along fences and trellises, or as ground cover. If it has no other plants or structures to climb on, it will climb on itself, forming a large, densely tangled bush. The plant sends out many shoots and can reach over five metres in height.

In some areas, this species has become a nuisance after its introduction. It is a weed outside of gardens and landscaped areas.

Clematis flammula var. maritima is a hardier variety that is adapted to sand dunes. It is currently being studied as an agent of soil stabilization on eroded sandy beaches.

15-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - CURVED HORN MOTH (Symmoca signatella)

Symmoca signatella is a moth of the family Autostichidae. It is known from most of western Europe, but also Lithuania, Croatia, Greece and southern Russia. It has also been recorded from California in North America.

The wingspan is 12–15 mm. Adults are on wing in late summer and autumn.

The larvae feed on dried vegetable matter. They have been recorded feeding on dry leaves and plant debris on the stem and branches of Rosmarinus officinalis. The accumulation of debris was connected by light webbing.

13-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - GREAT TIT (Parus major)

The Great tit (Parus major) is a widespread and common songbird throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and east across the Palearctic to the Amur River, south to parts of North Africa. It has adapted well to human changes in the environment and is a common and familiar bird in urban parks and gardens. It is also an important study species in ornithology.

The Great tit has a distinctive appearance that makes it easy to recognize. The nominate race has a bluish-black crown, black neck, throat, bib, and head, and white cheeks and ear coverts. The breast is bright lemon-yellow and there is a broad black mid-line stripe running from the bib to the vent. There is a dull white spot on the neck turning to greenish yellow on the upper nape. The rest of the nape and back are green-tinged with olive. The wing-coverts are green, and the rest of the wing is bluish-grey with a white wing bar. The tail is bluish-grey with white outer tips. The plumage of the female is similar to that of the male except that the colors are overall duller.

Great tits have a wide distribution across much of Eurasia. They can be found across all of Europe except for Iceland and northern Scandinavia, including numerous Mediterranean islands. In North Africa, they live in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. They also occur across the Middle East, and parts of Central Asia from northern Iran and Afghanistan to Mongolia, as well as across northern Asia from the Urals as far east as northern China and the Amur Valley. Great tits inhabit open deciduous woodland, mixed forests, forest edges, and gardens. In northern Siberia, they live in boreal taiga. In North Africa, they prefer oak forests as well as stands of Atlas cedar and even palm groves. In the east of their range, Great tits favor riverine willow and birch forest, as well as low scrubland and oases. 

21-7-2024 VIGUR ISLAND, ICELAND - ATLANTIC PUFFIN (Fratercula arctica)

The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) is a colorful seabird that belongs to the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean. Although it has a large population and a wide range, the species has declined rapidly, at least in parts of its range. Colonies of Atlantic puffins occur mostly on islands with no terrestrial predators, but adult birds and newly fledged chicks are at risk of attacks from the air by gulls and skuas. Sometimes, when a puffin arrives at its nest with a beak full of fish, a bird such as an Arctic skua or Black back gull can cause the puffin to drop all the fish it was holding in its mouth.

The Atlantic puffin has a black crown and back, pale grey cheek patches, and white underparts. Its broad boldly marked red and black beak and orange legs contrast with its plumage. It molts while at sea in the winter and some of the bright-colored facial characteristics are lost, with color returning again during the spring. The juvenile has similar plumage, but its cheek patches are dark grey. The juvenile does not have brightly colored head ornamentation, its bill is narrower and is dark grey with a yellowish-brown tip, and its legs and feet are also dark. Puffins from northern populations are typically larger than in the south and these populations are generally considered a different subspecies.

Atlantic puffins are birds of the colder waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. They breed on the coasts of northwest Europe, the Arctic fringes, and eastern North America. While at sea, puffins range widely across the North Atlantic Ocean, including the North Sea, and may enter the Arctic Circle. In the summer, their southern limit stretches from northern France to Maine and in the winter, the birds may range as far south as the Mediterranean Sea and North Carolina. Atlantic puffins spend autumn and winter out in the open ocean and breed on grassy coastal slopes and rocky cliffs.

Atlantic puffins spend most of the year far from land in the open ocean and only visit coastal areas to breed. They are sociable birds and they usually breed in large colonies. However, when out at sea, they prefer to stay solitary and bob about like a cork, propelling themselves through the water with powerful thrusts of their feet. When fishing, puffins swim underwater using their wings as paddles to "fly" through the water and their feet as a rudder. They swim fast and can reach considerable depths and stay submerged for up to a minute. They fish by sight and can swallow small fish while submerged, but larger specimens are brought to the surface. In the spring, mature birds return to land, usually to the colony where they were hatched. Each large puffin colony is divided into subcolonies by physical boundaries such as stands of bracken or gorse. On the ground, they spend much time preening, spreading oil from their preen gland, and setting each feather in its correct position with beak or claw. They also spend time standing by their burrow entrances and interacting with passing birds. The colony is most active in the evening, with birds standing outside their burrows, resting on the turf, or strolling around. Then, the slopes empty for the night as puffins fly out to sea to roost, often choosing to do so at fishing grounds ready for early-morning fishing. 

Atlantic puffins are monogamous and mate for life. The male spends more time guarding and maintaining the nest, while the female is more involved in incubation and feeding the chick. Upon returning to breeding grounds Atlantic puffins soon start to excavate burrows on grassy clifftops or may reuse existing holes, and on occasion may nest in crevices and among rocks and scree. Often, one stands outside the entrance while the other excavates, kicking out quantities of soil and grit. Apart from nest-building, the other way in which the birds restore their bond is by billing; the pair approaches each other, each wagging their heads from side to side, and then rattling their beaks together. Egg-laying starts in April in more southerly colonies but seldom occurs before June in Greenland. The female lays a single white egg and both parents incubate it for about 39-45 days. The first evidence that hatching has taken place is the arrival of an adult with a beak-load of fish. The chick is covered in fluffy black down and its eyes are open and it can stand as soon as it is hatched. The chick sleeps much of the time and also moves around the burrow rearranging nesting material, picks up and drops small stones, flaps its immature wings, and pulls at protruding root ends. The chick takes from 34 to 50 days to fledge and usually leaves the nest for the first time at night when the risk of predation is at its lowest. When the moment arrives, it emerges from the burrow and walks, runs, and flaps its way to the sea. When it reaches the water, it paddles out to sea and may be 3 km (2 mi) away from the shore by daybreak. It does not congregate with other puffins and does not return to land for 2-3 years. At the age of 4-5 years, it will become reproductively mature and will be able to breed.

12-8-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - VIOLET DROPWING DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Trithemis annulata)

Trithemis annulata, commonly known as the violet dropwing, violet-marked darter, purple-blushed darter, or plum-coloured dropwing, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in most of Africa, the Middle East, and southern Europe. These dragonflies are called dropwings because of their habit of immediately lowering their wings after landing on a perch. Males of this species are violet-red with red veins in the wings, while females are yellow and brown. Both sexes have red eyes.

Trithemis annulata is a robust medium-sized species with a wingspan of 60 mm (2.4 in). The mature male has a dark red head and a yellow labium with a brown central spot. The eyes are red with white spots on the rear edge, and the frons is dark metallic purplish-red. The prothorax is violet with slightly darker longitudinal stripes. The membranous wings have distinctive red veins, the pterostigma is orange-brown, and there is a large orange-brown splash at the base of the hind wings. The abdomen is fairly broad and is pinkish-violet, with purple markings on the top of each segment and blackish markings on the terminal three segments. Females are a similar size to males, but the thorax is brownish, and the abdomen is yellow with dark brown markings. The wings of females lack the red veins of males but have similar orange-brown patches. It is very similar in appearance to the red-veined dropwing (Trithemis arteriosa), but that species has a more slender abdomen and a wedge-shaped black area on either side of the tip of the abdomen.

11-8-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - EPAULET SKIMMER (MALE) (Orthetrum chrysostigma)

Orthetrum chrysostigma, the epaulet skimmer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi as well as Canary Islands, Israel, and Portugal. It was recorded in the Maltese Islands in 2010. One was also spotted in Tel Aviv, Israel in August 2022.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs. The adults prey on various flying insects. The bodies of adult males are blue, and those of young and females are yellow and brown.

9-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - VERGE CRICKET (Eumodicogryllus bordigalensis)

Eumodicogryllus bordigalensis inhabist coastal areas, fallow land, sandy regions, dry sites of all kinds.

The adults appear especially in spring (April to July), sometimes later.

Eumodicogryllus bordigalensis occurs in N-Africa, S-Europe and warmer parts of Asia. It is spreading northward due to climate change. It has already reached southern parts of W-Germany.

6-7-2024 ROTTERDAM ZOO, NETHERLANDS - VICUNA (Vicugna vicugna)

The vicuña (Lama vicugna) or vicuna (both /vɪˈkuːnjə/, very rarely spelled vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which lives at lower elevations. Vicuñas are relatives of the llama, and are now believed to be the wild ancestor of domesticated alpacas, which are raised for their coats. Vicuñas produce small amounts of extremely fine wool, which is very expensive because the animal can only be shorn every three years and has to be caught from the wild. When knitted together, the product of the vicuña's wool is very soft and warm. The Inca valued vicuñas highly for their wool, and it was against the law for anyone but royalty to wear vicuña garments; today, the vicuña is the national animal of Peru and appears on the Peruvian coat of arms.

Both under the rule of the Inca and today, vicuñas have been protected by law, but they were heavily hunted in the intervening period. At the time they were declared endangered in 1974, only about 6,000 animals were left. Today, the vicuña population has recovered to about 350,000, and although conservation organizations have reduced its level of threat classification, they still call for active conservation programs to protect populations from poaching, habitat loss, and other threats.

Previously the vicuña was thought not to have been domesticated, and the llama and the alpaca were both regarded as descendants of the closely related guanaco. However, DNA research published in 2001 has demonstrated that the alpaca may have vicuña parentage. Today, the vicuña is mainly wild, but the local people still perform special rituals with these creatures, including a fertility rite.[citation needed]

The vicuña is considered more delicate and gracile than the guanaco, and smaller. A key distinguishing element of morphology is the better-developed incisor roots for the guanaco. The vicuña's long, woolly coat is tawny brown on the back, whereas the hair on the throat and chest is white and quite long. The head is slightly shorter than the guanaco's and the ears are slightly longer. The length of head and body ranges from 1.45 to 1.60 m (about 5 ft); shoulder height is from 75 to 85 cm (around 3 ft); its weight is from 35 to 65 kg (under 150 lb). It falls prey to the cougar and culpeo.

10-12-2016 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - WHITE WAGTAIL (Motacilla alba)

The White wagtail is a slender bird with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail of its genus. There are a number of other subspecies, some of which may have arisen because of partial geographical isolation, such as the resident British and Irish form, the pied wagtail M. a. yarrellii, which now also breeds in adjacent areas of the neighbouring European mainland. The Pied wagtail exchanges the grey colour of the nominate form with black (or very dark grey in females), but is otherwise identical in its behaviour. Other subspecies, the validity of some of which is questionable, differ in the colour of the wings, back, and head, or other features. Some races show sexual dimorphism during the breeding season. As many as six subspecies may be present in the wintering ground in India or Southeast Asia and here they can be difficult to distinguish.

White wagtails breed throughout Eurasia, only being absent in the Arctic. They also breed in the mountains of Morocco and western Alaska. These birds are residents in the milder parts of their range such as western Europe and the Mediterranean, but migratory in much of the rest of their range. Northern European breeders winter around the Mediterranean and in tropical and subtropical Africa, and Asiatic birds move to the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. Birds from the North American population also winter in tropical Asia. White wagtails occupy a wide range of habitats but are absent from deserts. They inhabit grasslands, seashores, rocky shorelines, sand beaches, tidepools, rivers, lakeshores, farmland, gardens, and parks. They are also often found in towns and villages.

7-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - TYPICAL JUMPING SPIDERS (Pseudeuophrys vafra)

 Adopting an intricate hunting strategy, Pseudeuophrys vafra performs a tactical dance, relying on its keen vision to ambush its prey. This skilled leaper has evolved a unique morphology that allows for exceptional agility and precision, essential for capturing elusive targets. Predominantly active during the day, its diverse diet includes smaller arthropods, meticulously selected and subdued using calculated leaps rather than webs.