This Blog contains Wildlife and Bird Photos from Walks, Safaris, Birding Trips and Vacations. Most of the pictures have been taken with my Nikon P900 and P950X cameras. On the right of the page are labels for each species of Bird/Animal etc. Click on a label to show all of the photos taken for that species. Information for each species is from Wikipedia. Just click on any image for a large picture.
Monday, 28 September 2015
29-9-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)
Saturday, 26 September 2015
26-9-2015 GANDIA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN PIED FLYCATCHER (Ficedula hypoleuca)
Thursday, 24 September 2015
19-9-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN MOORHEN (Gallinula chloropus)
24-9-2015 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - DISCRETE CHAPERON MOTH (Cymbalophora pudica)
Wednesday, 23 September 2015
22-9-2015 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (FEMALE) (Passer domesticus)
Monday, 21 September 2015
20-9-2015 LLUTXENT, VALENCIA - EURASIAN RED SQUIRREL (Sciurus vulgaris)
Saturday, 19 September 2015
19-9-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)
2-2-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla cinerea)
Friday, 18 September 2015
18-9-2015 OLIVA CAMPO, VALENCIA - EURASIAN KESTREL (FEMALE) (Falco tinnunculus)
Thursday, 17 September 2015
17-9-2015 RIVER JUCAR, VALENCIA - VIOLET DROPWING DRAGONFLY (Trithemis annulata)
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
29-9-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)
26-9-2015 GANDIA, VALENCIA - RED VEINED DARTER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Sympetrum fonscolombii)
15-9-2015 EL HIJO, CUENCA - CARDINAL BUTTERFLY (Argynnis pandora)
15-9-2015 EL HIJO, CUENCA - DARKLING BEETLE (Akis genei)
Monday, 14 September 2015
14-9-2015 CIUDAD DE ENCONTADA, CUENCA - COAL TIT (Periparus ater)
Sunday, 13 September 2015
14-9-2015 CIUDAD DE ENCANTADA, CUENCA - EURASIAN NUTHATCH (Sitta europaea)
The Eurasian nuthatch or wood nuthatch (Sitta europaea) is a small passerine bird found throughout the Palearctic and in Europe. Like other nuthatches, it is a short-tailed bird with a long bill, blue-gray upperparts and a black eye-stripe. It is a vocal bird with a repeated loud dwip call. There are more than 20 subspecies in three main groups; birds in the west of the range have orange-buff underparts and a white throat, those in Russia have whitish underparts, and those in the east have a similar appearance to European birds, but lack the white throat.
Its preferred habitat is mature deciduous or mixed woodland with large, old trees, preferably oak. Pairs hold permanent territories, and nest in tree holes, usually old woodpecker nests, but sometimes natural cavities. If the entrance to the hole is too large, the female plasters it with mud to reduce its size, and often coats the inside of the cavity too. The six to nine red-speckled white eggs are laid on a deep base of pine or other wood chips.
The Eurasian nuthatch eats mainly insects , particularly caterpillars and beetles, although in autumn and winter its diet is supplemented with nuts and seeds. The young are fed mainly on insects, with some seeds, food items mainly being found on tree trunks and large branches. The nuthatch can forage when descending trees head first, as well as when climbing. It readily visits bird tables, eating fatty man-made food items as well as seeds. It is an inveterate hoarder, storing food year-round. Its main natural predator is the Eurasian sparrowhawk.
Fragmentation of woodland can lead to local losses of breeding birds, but the species's range is still expanding. It has a large population and huge breeding area, and is therefore classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being of least concern.
Saturday, 12 September 2015
12-10-2015 CULLERA - EPAULET SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Orthetrum chrysostigma)
8-9-2015 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - VESTAL MOTH (Rhodometra sacraria)
7-9-2015 CANAL LES FONTS OLIVA, VALENCIA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)
7-9-2015 MONTE CORONA - PEARL MOTH (Dolicharthria bruguieralis)
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
7-9-2015 CANAL LES FONTS OLIVA, VALENCIA - SQUACCO HERON (Ardeola ralloides)
8-9-2015 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - BLACK RAT (Rattus rattus)
The black rat (Rattus rattus), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus Rattus, in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is now found worldwide.
The black rat is black to light brown in colour with a lighter underside. It is a generalist omnivore and a serious pest to farmers because it feeds on a wide range of agricultural crops. It is sometimes kept as a pet. In parts of India, it is considered sacred and respected in the Karni Mata Temple in Deshnoke.
Black rat bone remains dating to the Norman period were discovered in Great Britain. The black rat occurred in prehistoric Europe and in the Levant during postglacial periods. The black rat in the Mediterranean region differs genetically from its South Asian ancestor by having 38 instead of 42 chromosomes. Its closest relative is the Asian house rat (R. tanezumi) from Southeast Asia. The two diverged about 120,000 years ago in southwestern Asia. It is unclear how the rat made its way to Europe due to insufficient data, although a land route seems more likely based on the distribution of European haplogroup "A". The black rat spread throughout Europe with the Roman conquest, but declined around the 6th century, possibly due to collapse of the Roman grain trade, climate cooling, or the Justinianic Plague. A genetically different rat population of haplogroup A replaced the Roman population in the medieval times in Europe.
It is a resilient vector for many diseases because of its ability to hold so many infectious bacteria in its blood. It was formerly thought to have played a primary role in spreading bacteria contained in fleas on its body, such as the plague bacterium (Yersinia pestis) which is responsible for the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death. However, recent studies have called this theory into question and instead posit humans themselves as the vector, as the movements of the epidemics and the black rat populations do not show historical or geographical correspondence. A study published in 2015 indicates that other Asiatic rodents served as plague reservoirs, from which infections spread as far west as Europe via trade routes, both overland and maritime. Although the black rat was certainly a plague vector in European ports, the spread of the plague beyond areas colonized by rats suggests that the plague was also circulated by humans after reaching Europe.