BIRDWALKERMONDAY WILDLIFE BLOG

This Blog contains Wildlife, Plants and Bird Photos from Walks, Safaris, Birding Trips and Vacations. Most of the pictures have been taken with my Nikon P900 and P950X cameras. Just click on any image for a larger picture. On the right column under the Blog Archive are the entries by date. Below that under Animal categories all the diffent species of Animals, Birds, Insects and Plants contained in the website are listed. Clicking on any entry will show all the entries for that species.

Sunday, 31 May 2020

31-5-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SMALL PURPLE BARRED MOTH (Phytometra viridaria)

Phytometra viridaria, the small purple-barred, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759. It is found in central and southern Europe, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and further east across the Palearctic to southern Siberia.

The wingspan is 19–20 mm. The length of the forewings is 9–11 mm. Forewing olive brownish; the costa at base, and an outer and terminal fascia deep rosy purple; the outer band varying in width; a pale line of ground colour between them; hindwing olive with a median and terminal darker band more or less tinged with purple; in ab. fusca Tutt the purple tints are replaced by dark brown; —ab. aenea Hbn. the ground colour is olive grey or fuscous instead of green; ab. suffusa Tutt is a rare form, blackish fuscous with a still darker terminal border.

The moth flies from April to August depending on the location.

Larva green with darker pale-edged dorsal line; the other lines pale, the subspiracular becoming white on anal segments.

The larvae feed on Polygala vulgaris, Polygala serpyllifolia and Pedicularis sylvatica.

31-5-2020 POTRIES, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN TURTLE DOVE (Sternula albifrons)

The European turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) is a member of the bird family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It breeds over a wide area of the south western Palearctic including north Africa but migrates to northern sub-Saharan Africa to winter.

Smaller and slighter in build than many other doves, it measures 26–28 cm (10–11 in) in length, 47–53 cm (19–21 in) in wingspan and weighs 100–156 g (3.5–5.5 oz).[11] The European turtle dove may be recognised by its browner colour, and the black-and-white-striped patch on the side of its neck. The tail is notable as the bird flies from the observer; it is wedge shaped, with a dark centre and white borders and tips. When viewed from below, this pattern, owing to the white under-tail coverts obscuring the dark bases, is a blackish chevron on a white ground. This can be seen when the bird stoops to drink and raises its spread tail.

The mature bird has the head, neck, flanks, and rump blue grey, and the wings cinnamon, mottled with black. The breast is vinaceous, the abdomen and under tail coverts are white. The bill is black, the legs and eye rims are red. The black and white patch on the side of the neck is absent in the browner and duller juvenile bird, which also has the legs brown.

The turtle dove is a migratory species with a western Palearctic range covering most of Europe and the Middle East and including Turkey and north Africa, although it is rare in northern Scandinavia and Russia. It winters south of the Sahara.

The turtle dove, one of the latest migrants, rarely appears in Northern Europe before the end of April, returning south again in September.

31-5-2020 POTRIES, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH (Carduelis carduelis)

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

31-5-2020 POTRIES, VALENCIA - LULWORTH SKIPPER BUTTERFLY (Thymelicus acteon)

The Lulworth skipper (Thymelicus acteon) is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. Its name is derived from Lulworth Cove in the county of Dorset, England, where the first specimens in Great Britain were collected in 1832 by English naturalist James Charles Dale.

The species occurs locally across Central Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa, where its population is considered stable. Its numbers have declined in Northern Europe, leading to its European status of "vulnerable". Its range in Britain is restricted to the south coast of Dorset, however it is locally abundant and its numbers currently are perhaps at their greatest since its discovery there.

With a wingspan of 24 to 28 millimetres, females being larger than males, the Lulworth skipper is a small butterfly, the smallest member of the genus Thymelicus in Europe and among the smallest butterflies in Britain. Aside from the size difference, the sexes are distinguished by females having a distinct circle of golden marks on each forewing. Due to their likeness to the rays around the eye of a peacock's feather, these are often known as "sun-ray" markings, and they can faintly appear on males.

Friday, 29 May 2020

29-5-2020 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (FEMALE) (Passer domesticus)

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

29-5-2020 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - GREYLAG GOOSE (Anser anser)

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

29-5-2020 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - EURASIAN COOT (Fulica atra)

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

29-5-2020 GANDIA PLAYA, VALENCIA - SAND STOCK (Malcolmia littorea)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/132206-Malcolmia-littorea

29-5-2020 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN SERIN (MALE) (Serinus serinus)

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

29-5-2020 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - YELLOW IRIS (Iris pseudacorus)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47779-Iris-pseudacorus

29-5-2020 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - BEAR'S BREECHES (Acanthus mollis)

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/70045-Acanthus-mollis

29-5-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - BURNET MOTH (Zygaena lavandulae)

Zygaena lavandulae is a species of moth in the family Zygaenidae.

This species can be found in Southern France, eastern Spain, Portugal and Italy (only in central and western Liguria), as well as North Africa, including Morocco.

Zygaena lavandulae has a wingspan of 31–36 millimetres (1.2–1.4 in) in males and of 35–37 millimetres (1.4–1.5 in) in females. The head is black. The thorax is black with a white collar. Also the abdomen is black, with a slight blue gloss. Forewings are bluish, with five red spots surrounded with black or dark blue. Hindwings are bluish-black with a very large distal red spot. Colorations of the females are rather similar to males, but their forewings are usually bluish-green, with larger spots.

These moths mainly inhabit rocky places, dry woods and grove rich grasslands. They are present in the Maquis shrubland, characterized by the widespread presence of Cistus species.

There is one generation per year (univoltine). The larvae feed on Dorycnium pentaphyllum and Anthyllis cytisoides. They develop until April without real dormancy. Adults are on wing from April to June.