14-8-2015 GANDIA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKBIRD (FEMALE) (Turdus merula)

The Common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird where this does not lead to confusion with a similar-looking local species. This common and conspicuous species has given rise to a number of literary and cultural references, frequently related to its song.

The adult male has glossy black plumage, blackish-brown legs, a yellow eye ring, and an orange-yellow bill. The bill darkens somewhat in winter. The adult female is sooty-brown with a dull yellowish-brownish bill, a brownish-white throat, and some weak mottling on the breast. The juvenile is similar to the female but has pale spots on the upperparts, and the very young juvenile also has a speckled breast. Young birds vary in the shade of brown, with darker birds presumably males. The first-year male resembles the adult male but has a dark bill and weaker eye ring, and its folded wing is brown, rather than black like the body plumage.

4-8-2015 CANAL DES FONTS OLIVA, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

The Grey Heron is a distinctive species with grey, black, and white plumage. It is often seen along rivers or lake margins, or standing in flooded fields.

In flight their large size, impressive wingspan, long legs, and folded neck give them an unmistakable silhouette. Largely silent away from colonies, flight is sometimes accompanied by a harsh ‘kraank’ call.

Grey Herons gather to nest in treetop sites called heronries, some of which have been occupied for many decades. These have been monitored in the UK since 1928 through the Heronries Census. Overall the UK's breeding population has increased, with numbers peaking in the early 2000, but with some more recent declines.

1-8-2015 LAGUNA DE GALLOCANTA, CUENCA - GREAT BUSTARD (Otis tarda)

The great bustard (Otis tarda) is a bird in the bustard family, and the only living member of the genus Otis. It breeds in open grasslands and farmland from northern Morocco, South and Central Europe to temperate Central and East Asia. European populations are mainly resident, but Asian populations migrate farther south in winter. Endangered as of 2023, it had been listed as a Vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 1996.

Portugal and Spain now have about 60% of the world's great bustard population. It was driven to extinction in Great Britain, when the last bird was shot in 1832. Since 1998 The Great Bustard Group have helped reintroduce it into England on Salisbury Plain, a British Army training area. Here, the lack of public access and disturbance allows them the seclusion they desire as a large, ground-nesting bird.

The adult male great bustard is amongst the heaviest living flying animals. A male is typically 90–105 cm (2 ft 11 in – 3 ft 5 in) tall, with a length of around 115 cm (3 ft 9 in) and has a 2.1–2.7 m (6 ft 11 in – 8 ft 10 in) wingspan. The male can range in weight from 5.8 to 18 kg (13 to 40 lb). The heaviest verified specimen, collected in Manchuria, was about 21 kg (46 lb), a world record for heaviest flying bird. In a study in Spain, one male weighed as much as 19 kg (42 lb). Larger specimens have been reported but remain unverified. Average male weights as reported have been fairly variable: in Russia, males weighed a median of 9.2 kg (20 lb); in Spain, males weighed a mean of 11.62 kg (25.6 lb) during breeding season and 9.65 kg (21.3 lb) during non-breeding; in Germany, males weighed a mean of 11.97 kg (26.4 lb); and the Guinness World Records has indicated that male bustards in Great Britain weighed an average of 13.5 kg (30 lb). Average weight of males is almost an exact match to that of male Kori bustards. Among all flying animals and land birds, male Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) may match or exceed the mean body masses of these male bustards but not their maximum weights. Furthermore, male swans of the two largest species (trumpeter and mute) may attain a similar average mass depending on season and region. Among both bustards and all living birds, the upper reported mass of this species is rivaled by that of the kori bustard (Ardeotis kori), which, because of its relatively longer tarsi and tail, is both longer and taller on average and is less sexually dimorphic. In terms of weight ranges reported, the great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) also only lags slightly behind these species.

30-6-2020 GANDIA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKBIRD (MALE) (Turdus merula)

26-7-2015 MONTE CORONA, ADOR - GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla cinerea)

The Grey Wagtail, with its glowing, bobbing, bright yellow undertail can be found close to rivers and other waterbodies across Britain & Ireland.

Primarily a bird of fast flowing water the Grey Wagtail can also be seen along slower moving rivers and around the edges of lakes and ponds in our towns and cities, where its hunts aquatic insects. It is widespread in Britain & Ireland, but is found less on higher ground in the winter months.

Grey Wagtail is a partial migrant. As such, it can be affected by freezing conditions and during the autumn can be seen flying over migration watchpoints on the way to warmer climes further south, as far away as North Africa. Its UK population has fluctuated and the species is currently on the Amber List.

24-7-2015 MONTE CORONA, ADOR - HOUSE SPARROW (JUVENILE) (Passer domesticus)

1-11-2006 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN MANTIS (FEMALE) (Mantis religiosa)

7-7-2015 REAL DE GANDIA, VALENCIA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (FEMALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

The Sardinian Warbler appears like the most widespread of the southern species of genus Sylvia. Very secretive, this pretty warbler frequents the maquis scrub. This is a bulky and robust warbler.

The adult male has dark ash-grey upperparts and wing-coverts, whereas mantle and scapulars are tinged brown. The flight feathers are blackish with grey edges. The tail is blackish with whitish edges and white tip.

The underparts are greyish-white. Chin and throat are white.

The head is glossy black. The bill is blackish with paler base of lower mandible. The eyes are red-brown, surrounded by reddish eye-ring. Legs and feet are brownish.

In non-breeding plumage, the male has more olive upperparts and less blackish head.

The adult female in breeding plumage is duller than male with dull grey head, brownish upperparts and cream-buff underparts with brownish-olive body sides. Bare parts are often paler than in male.

In non-breeding plumage, she has tinged brownish head and duller contrasts.

The juvenile resembles female but it is duller and browner. Its eyes are greyish with pale reddish eye-ring.

12-2000 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - BLUE WINGED KOOKABURRA (Dacelo leachii)

12-2000 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - EASTERN CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis ssp. coromandus)

12-2000 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - INDIAN BLUE PEAFOWL (Pavo cristatus

12-2000 SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - EASTERN GREY KANGAROO (Macropus giganteus)

1989 EVERGLADES NAT PARK, FLORIDA - WHITE PEACOCK BUTTERFLY (Anartia jatrophae)

Anartia jatrophae, the white peacock, is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. The white peacock's larval hosts are water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri), lemon bacopa (Bacopa caroliniensis), tropical waterhyssop (Bacopa innominata), frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora), lanceleaf frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata), and Carolina wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniana). The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks.

1989 EVERGLADES NAT PARK, FLORIDA - AMERICAN ALLIGATOR (Alligator mississippiensis)

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

28-6-2017 SOLLANO, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

28-6-2017 BONAIRE, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN BEE-EATER (Merops apiaster)

28-6-2017 TANCAT DE MILLIA, VALENCIA - BLACK WINGED STILT (Himantopus himantopus)

28-6-2017 TANCAT DE MILLIA, VALENCIA - BAR TAILED GODWIT (Limosa lapponica)

27-6-2017 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

28-5-2015 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - WAVE MOTH (Scopula submutata)

 

Scopula submutata, the Mediterranean lace border, is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is found in southern Europe, North Africa and the Near East. The habitat consists of open, dry grassland and rocky slopes.

The wingspan is 20–25 millimetres (0.79–0.98 in). There are two generations per year, with adults on wing from May to October.

The larvae feed on Thymus species and Origanum vulgare.

25-6-2017 FONT EN CARROS, VALENCIA - LITTLE OWL (Athene noctua)

25-6-2017 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN SERIN (FEMALE) (Serinus serinus)

25-6-2017 RAFELCOFER, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN SERIN (MALE) (Serinus serinus)

25-6-2017 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - RED VEINED DARTER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Sympetrum fonscolombii)

25-6-2017 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - PURPLE HERON (Ardea purpurea)

25-6-2017 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - LITTLE RINGED PLOVER (Charadrius dubius)