9-5-2016 PEGO MARSHES, VALENCIA - BARN SWALLOW (Hirundo rustica)

The Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it has the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometers globally. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".

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

9-5-2016 PEGO MARSHES, VALENCIA - SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (Muscicapa striata)

Spotted flycatchers are one of our summer migrants that spend the winter in Africa. They are one of the latest migrants to reach us, with a few trickling into the country from late April and most arriving from mid-May.

Despite arriving relatively late, spotted flycatchers manage to rear two broods of young before departing at the end of August. The success of the second clutch is increased by fewer eggs being laid, meaning less mouths to fill. They will nest in gardens but the nest is usually well hidden on ledges or behind climbing plants.

Spotted flycatchers prefer large flying insects, including flies and butterflies. However, if the weather is cool and insects aren’t flying, they will take smaller invertebrates from leaves and branches. If poor weather persists, many nests fail as these smaller invertebrates tend to be eaten by the parents rather than fed to the young.

In order to reduce the chances of their invertebrate prey escaping, spotted flycatchers have a series of modified feathers, like bristles, down the sides of the bill. They have also adapted to catch stinging insects. They rub the sting end on their perch to remove it, making the prey safe to eat.

The spotted flycatcher is red listed due to its rapid and consistent population decline with an 89 per cent decrease between 1967 and 2012. Evidence suggests that this is due to poor annual survival rates of first year birds, but conditions in their wintering grounds in Africa may also have contributed to the decline.

Spotted flycatchers are fairly drab birds, with brown-grey upperparts. Below they have dull white plumage with pale streaking, and there is streaking on the head. Juveniles are similar but have pale spots on their upperparts. Despite their dull appearance, they are easy to spot as they like to perch on exposed posts or branches from which they catch their prey.

As well as looking plain, the spotted flycatcher’s song is pretty unremarkable. It is squeaky, mostly unmelodic and very soft. The squeaky part of the song is part of its territorial defence, and the more musical sequences are aimed at potential mates.

9-5-2016 PEGO MARSHES, ALICANTE - EUROPEAN SERIN (FEMALE) (Serinus serinus)

The European serin, or simply the serin (Serinus serinus ), is the smallest European species of the family of finches (Fringillidae) and is closely related to the Atlantic canary. Its diet consists mainly of a combination of buds and seeds.

The European serin is a small short-tailed bird, 11–12 cm in length. The upper parts are dark-streaked greyish green, with a yellow rump. The yellow breast and white belly are also heavily streaked. The male has a brighter yellow face and breast, yellow wing bars and yellow tail sides. The song of this bird is a buzzing trill, very familiar in Mediterranean countries.

It breeds across southern and central Europe and North Africa. Southern and Atlantic coast populations are largely resident, but the northern breeders migrate further south in Europe for the winter. Open woodland and cultivation, often with some conifers, is favoured for breeding. It builds its nest in a shrub or tree, laying 3–5 eggs. It forms flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches.

The food is mainly seeds, and, in the breeding season, insects. This small serin is an active and often conspicuous bird.

9-5-2016 PEGO MARSHES, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

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.

Grey herons occur in most parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Over much of their range, these birds are resident, but populations from the more northerly parts of Europe migrate southwards; some remain in Central and Southern Europe, and others travel on to Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Grey herons can be found anywhere with suitable watery habitats that can supply their food. Although most common in the lowlands, they also occur in mountain tarns, lakes, reservoirs, large and small rivers, marshes, ponds, ditches, flooded areas, coastal lagoons, estuaries, and seashore. They sometimes forage away from water in the pasture, and can even be found in desert areas, hunting for beetles and lizards. 

9-5-2016 PEGO MARSHES, VALENCIA - BLACK WINGED STILT (Himantopus himantopus)

Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) are very long-legged wading birds. They are found in both warm and hot climates, feed on small aquatic creatures, and nest on the ground surface in small colonies.

Adult Black-winged stilts have long, pink legs, and a long, rather thin black bill. They are generally black above and white below, with a white head and neck. Males have a black back, often with a greenish gloss or sheen. Females' backs have a brownish hue, contrasting with the black remiges. In populations where the top of the head is normally white (at least in winter), females tend to have less black on the head and neck the entire year round, while males often have much more black, particularly in summer. This difference is not clear-cut, however, and males usually grow all-white head feathers in winter. Immature birds are grey, instead of black, and have a markedly sandy hue on their wings, with light feather fringes appearing as a whitish line in flight.

Striking large black-and-white wader with a thin, straight bill and bright pink legs, found in wetlands with open shallow water throughout much of Africa and Eurasia, often in brackish habitats. Some populations are migratory, departing northerly breeding grounds for warmer southern regions. Often forms noisy colonies on bare ground near water. Essentially unmistakable throughout much of its range, but compare with Pied Stilt in parts of Southeast Asia. Feeds by wading in water, picking from the water surface with its needle-like bill. In flight, long pink legs stick out far beyond the tail. Calls loudly and stridently, especially when alarmed during the breeding season.

The black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) is a widely distributed, very long-legged wader in the avocet and stilt family Recurvirostridae. Its scientific name, Himantopus himantopus, is sometimes used to generalize a single, almost cosmopolitan species. Alternatively, it is restricted to the form that is widespread in Europe, Asia and Africa, which equals the nominate group of H. himantopus sensu lato. Meanwhile, the black-necked (H. mexicanus) and white-backed stilts (H. melanurus) both inhabit the Americas; the pied stilt (H. leucocephalus) ranges from Australasia and New Zealand. Today, most sources accept between one and four actual species. The taxonomic name Himantopus comes from Greek, meaning "strap-foot" or "thong-foot".

8-5-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - COMMON NIGHTINGALE (Luscinia megarhynchos)

It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in Europe and the Palearctic, and wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is not found naturally in the Americas. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related thrush nightingale Luscinia luscinia. It nests on or near the ground in dense vegetation. Research in Germany found that favoured breeding habitat of nightingales was defined by a number of geographical factors.

less than 400 m (1,300 ft) above mean sea level

mean air temperature during the growing season above 14 °C (57 °F)

more than 20 days/year on which temperatures exceed 25 °C (77 °F)

annual precipitation less than 750 millimetres (30 in)

aridity index lower than 0.35

no closed canopy

In the U.K., the bird is at the northern limit of its range which has contracted in recent years, placing it on the red list for conservation. Despite local efforts to safeguard its favoured coppice and scrub habitat, numbers fell by 53 percent between 1995 and 2008. A survey conducted by the British Trust for Ornithology in 2012 and 2013 recorded some 3,300 territories, with most of these clustered in a few counties in the southeast of England, notably Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and East and West Sussex.

By contrast, the European breeding population is estimated at between 3.2 and 7 million pairs, giving it green conservation status (least concern.

8-5-2016 MONTE CORONA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (MALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

The Sardinian warbler (Curruca melanocephala ) is a common and widespread typical warbler from the Mediterranean region. Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has a grey back, whitish underparts, black head, white throat and red eyes. Plumages are somewhat variable even in the same locality, with the intensity of a reddish hue on upper- and/or underside that varies from absent to (in some subspecies) pronounced. The female is mainly brown above and buff below, with a grey head. The Sardinian warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is very characteristic of the Mediterranean areas where this bird breeds.

It breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe and just into Asia in Turkey and the eastern end of the Mediterranean. This small passerine bird, unlike most "warblers", is not particularly migratory, but some birds winter in north Africa, and it occurs as a vagrant well away from the breeding range, as far as Great Britain.

This is a bird of open country and cultivation, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3-6 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit.

Compact, robust, and big-headed warbler. Males are striking with a black hood contrasting with whitish throat, gray back, and red eyering. Females duller with a gray hood, white throat, and buff body. Common in many typical Mediterranean habitats including tall bushes, open woodlands, gardens, coastal scrub, and plantations; also in oases, acacia woodlands, and scrubby desert in non-breeding range. Usually first detected by its song, a fast, angry-sounding rattling "ctret-tret-tret-tret-tret" or "tetwtweer-tik-tik-tik" with whispering in between. The call is a dry "tseck."

Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala) is a striking and distinctive bird that belongs to the family Sylviidae, which comprises various species of Old World warblers. Some of its closest relatives include Subalpine Warbler (Sylvia cantillans) and Spectacled Warbler (Sylvia conspicillata). Known for its bold black or dark gray head, bright red eye ring, and contrasting white throat, Sardinian Warbler is relatively easy to identify in the field, making it a favorite among birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts.

Native to the Mediterranean region, Sardinian Warbler can be found in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, such as Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and North Africa. They inhabit a variety of environments, including scrublands, woodlands, and gardens, and are well-adapted to the region’s warm and temperate climate.

Sardinian Warbler plays an important role in the natural ecosystem as an insectivore, helping to control insect populations and maintain the delicate balance within its environment. As we delve further into the captivating world of Sardinian Warbler, we will explore its physical characteristics, habitat preferences, diet, breeding habits, and the importance of conservation efforts to ensure its continued presence in our world.

4-5-2016 DENIA, ALICANTE - EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH (MALE) (Carduelis carduelis)

The European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) is a small passerine bird that is native to Europe, North Africa and western and central Asia. It has been introduced to other areas, including Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay. The goldfinch is often depicted in Italian Renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child.

Males and females of this species are very similar, with a red face, black and white head, warm brown upper parts, white underparts with buff flanks and breast patches, and black and yellow wings. Males can often be distinguished by a larger, darker red mask that extends just behind the eye. The shoulder feathers are black, whereas they are brown on the females. In females, the red face does not extend past the eye. The ivory-colored bill is long and pointed, and the tail is forked. Goldfinches in breeding condition have a white bill, with a greyish or blackish mark at the tip for the rest of the year. Juveniles have a plain head and a greyer back but are unmistakable due to the yellow wing stripe. Adults molt after the breeding season and at this time appear less colorful until the tips of the newly grown feathers wear away.

European goldfinches are native to Europe, North Africa, and western and central Asia. They are found in open, partially wooded lowlands, forest edges, thickets, heaths, streams, riverine and marshy areas with bushes and trees, grasslands with scattered trees, scrub, orchards, gardens, and parks. These birds are resident in the milder west of their range but migrate from colder regions. They also make local movements, even in the west, to escape bad weather.

European goldfinches are social birds especially in the winter when they group together to form flocks of up to 40 individuals and sometimes even more. These small colorful birds are diurnal and cover great distances every day in search of food. They usually feed by hovering from plant to plant and are often seen to feed upside down. When night comes, they roost in groups on tree branches or in thick bushes. European goldfinches communicate with each other vocally and their common call is a melodic "tickeLIT", and the song is a pleasant tinkling medley of trills and twitters, but always including a "teLLIT-teLLIT-teLLIT".

3-5-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR - COMMON SANDPIPER (Actitis hypoleucos)

The common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos ) is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper (A. macularia ), make up the genus Actitis. They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize. Hybridization has also been reported between the common sandpiper and the green sandpiper, a basal species of the closely related shank genus Tringa.

The adult is 18–20 cm (7.1–7.9 in) long with a 32–35 cm (13–14 in) wingspan. It has greyish-brown upperparts, white underparts, short dark-yellowish legs and feet, and a bill with a pale base and dark tip. In winter plumage, they are duller and have more conspicuous barring on the wings, though this is still only visible at close range. Juveniles are more heavily barred above and have buff edges to the wing feathers.

This species is very similar to the slightly larger spotted sandpiper (A. macularia ) in non-breeding plumage. But its darker legs and feet and the crisper wing pattern (visible in flight) tend to give it away, and of course they are only rarely found in the same location.

The common sandpiper breeds across most of temperate and subtropical Europe and Asia, and migrates to Africa, southern Asia and Australia in winter. The eastern edge of its migration route passes by Palau in Micronesia, where hundreds of birds may gather for a stop-over. They depart the Palau region for their breeding quarters around the last week of April to the first week of May.

3-5-2016 MONTE CORONA - HOUSE SPARROW (FEMALE) (Passer domesticus)

The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. It is a small bird that has a typical length of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a mass of 24–39.5 g (0.85–1.39 oz). Females and young birds are coloured pale brown and grey, and males have brighter black, white, and brown markings. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the house sparrow is native to most of Europe, the Mediterranean Basin, and a large part of Asia. Its intentional or accidental introductions to many regions, including parts of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas, make it the most widely distributed wild bird.

The house sparrow is strongly associated with human habitation, and can live in urban or rural settings. Though found in widely varied habitats and climates, it typically avoids extensive woodlands, grasslands, polar regions, and hot, dry deserts far away from human development. For sustenance, the house sparrow routinely feeds at home and public bird feeding stations, but naturally feeds on the seeds of grains, flowering plants and weeds. However, it is an opportunistic, omnivorous eater, and commonly catches insects, their larvae, caterpillars, invertebrates and many other natural foods.

2-5-2016 ROTOVA, VALENCIA - 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. 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.

2-5-2016 ROTOVA, VALENCIA - COMMON HOUSE MARTIN (Delichon urbicum)

The Common house martin (Delichon urbicum) is a migratory passerine bird which breeds in Europe, North Africa and across the Palearctic; and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia. It feeds on insects that are caught in flight, and it migrates to climates where flying insects are plentiful. Both the scientific and colloquial names of the bird are related to its use of human-made structures. It builds a closed cup nest from mud pellets under eaves or similar locations on buildings usually in colonies.

The Common house martin is steel-blue above with a white rump, and white underparts, including the underwings; even its short legs have white downy feathering. It has brown eyes and a small black bill, and its toes and exposed parts of the legs are pink. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile bird is sooty black, and some of its wing coverts and quills have white tips and edgings.

2-5-2016 CASTELLONET, VALENCIA - IBERIAN GREEN FROG (Pelophylax perezi)

The Perez's frog (Pelophylax perezi), also known as Iberian waterfrog, Iberian green frog or Coruna frog, is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is native to southern France, Portugal, Spain, and has been introduced to the Canary and Balearic Islands, Madeira, the United Kingdom, and the Azores. In the Iberian Peninsula it is widespread and common.

Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, sandy shores, arable land, and urban areas.

It is a big (up to 10cm of total length) anura (amphibian without a tail in adult stage). It has a long and wide head, with a rounded snout and a very visible eardrum. The hind limbs are highly developed, adapted for diving and swimming, with large inter digital membranes. The skin is smooth or slightly grainy and the colour pattern can vary a lot, from greenish tones to brown. It usually presents a clear vertebral line (which divides the back longitudinally into two symmetrical parts). The larva reaches a large size at the end of its development (up to 7 cm of total length). The body is somewhat depressed and the tail has a small caudal ridge and ends in a tip. The dorsal colouration is brownish or greenish, with irregular dark spots. The ventral area is white.

This species can be found in practically any water point, although it prefers places where water is maintained during spring and summer, where its larvae develop. Its presence is independent of the environment surrounding the water point. It is the typical inhabitant of rivers and streams, as well as channels and irrigation pools.

It is the most aquatic amphibian, with both daytime and nocturnal habits. It usually sunbaths on wetlands shores, where it is very present. Although its presence becomes more noticeable during the mating period and the warmest months, it can be active all year long. Adult frogs feed on a wide variety of invertebrates (insects, spiders, earthworms, etc.), while tadpoles consume organic algae and debris.

The reproductive period generally ranges from March to July, although it may start in January or February depending on the rainfall that occurred during the year. Males sing night and day. The females lay bubbly masses of hundreds of eggs that remain attached to the aquatic vegetation or deposits in the wetland bed. A week later, the larvae hatch and develop for about three months until the metamorphosis occurs. Baby frogs (2 to 3.5 cm long) lose their gills and acquire lungs. Most of the little frogs appear in summer, although some larvae can spend winter in permanent water points with abundant food, to reach larger sizes and delay the metamorphosis to the following year. That is why it is not difficult to observe this species’ larvae throughout the year.

2-5-2016 ALMISERA, VALENCIA - RED EARED SLIDER TERRAPIN (Trachemys scripta ssp. elegans)

The red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (Trachemys scripta elegans) is a subspecies of the pond slider (Trachemys scripta), a semiaquatic turtle belonging to the family Emydidae. It is the most popular pet turtle in the United States, is also popular as a pet across the rest of the world, and is the most invasive turtle. It is the most commonly traded turtle in the world.

The red-eared slider is native from the Midwestern United States to northern Mexico, but has become established in other places because of pet releases, and has become invasive in many areas where it outcompetes native species. The red-eared slider is included in the list of the world's 100 most invasive species.

Invasive red-eared sliders cause negative impacts in the ecosystems they are introduced to because they have certain advantages over the native populations, such as a lower age at maturity, higher fecundity rates, and larger body size, which gives them a competitive advantage at basking and nesting sites, as well as when exploiting food resources. They also transmit diseases and displace the other turtle species with which they compete for food and breeding space.

1-5-2016 VILLALONGA RIO SERPIS - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

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.

1-5-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR - EUROPEAN SERIN (Serinus serinus)

The European serin, or simply the serin (Serinus serinus ), is the smallest European species of the family of finches (Fringillidae) and is closely related to the Atlantic canary. Its diet consists mainly of a combination of buds and seeds.

The European serin is a small short-tailed bird, 11–12 cm in length. The upper parts are dark-streaked greyish green, with a yellow rump. The yellow breast and white belly are also heavily streaked. The male has a brighter yellow face and breast, yellow wing bars and yellow tail sides. The song of this bird is a buzzing trill, very familiar in Mediterranean countries.

It breeds across southern and central Europe and North Africa. Southern and Atlantic coast populations are largely resident, but the northern breeders migrate further south in Europe for the winter. Open woodland and cultivation, often with some conifers, is favoured for breeding. It builds its nest in a shrub or tree, laying 3–5 eggs. It forms flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixed with other finches.

The food is mainly seeds, and, in the breeding season, insects. This small serin is an active and often conspicuous bird.

1-5-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR - MALLARD (FEMALE AND YOUNG) (Anas platyrhynchos)

Male Mallards have a dark, iridescent-green head and bright yellow bill. The gray body is sandwiched between a brown breast and black rear. Females and juveniles are mottled brown with orange-and-brown bills. Both sexes have a white-bordered, blue “speculum” patch in the wing.

Unlike larger waterfowl such as the Tundra Swan, which mate for life, Mallard pairs only stay together for a season. Courtship and pair formation begin each fall and winter. Groups of males display for a hen with a variety of behaviors, including head and tail shaking, head-bobbing, dipping, and whistling.

The female Mallard has between five and 14 light green eggs that she incubates for 30 days.

The ducklings are lead to water as soon as their soft, downy feathers are dry. ...

Most Mallard ducks live for one or two years, but some can live as long as 16 years!

Mallards swim with their tail held above the water.

The mallard (/ˈmælɑːrd, ˈmælərd/) or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. Males have green heads, while the females (hens or ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black or iridescent purple or blue feathers called a speculum on their wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. The mallard is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is 81–98 cm (32–39 in) and the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in) long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing 0.7–1.6 kg (1.5–3.5 lb). Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes.

The female lays 8 to 13 creamy white to greenish-buff spotless eggs, on alternate days. Incubation takes 27 to 28 days and fledging takes 50 to 60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.

1-5-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - MALLARD (FEMALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

The female is only brown and white. She is smaller than the male and has straight tail feathers. Body Length: 20-28 inches. Wing tip to wing tip: 30-40 inches.

Females and juveniles are mottled brown with orange-and-brown bills. Both sexes have a white-bordered, blue “speculum” patch in the wing. Mallards are “dabbling ducks”—they feed in the water by tipping forward and grazing on underwater plants. They almost never dive.

1-5-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR - LITTLE RINGED PLOVER (Charadrius dubius)

The little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius ) is a small plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in river valleys (kharadra, "ravine"). The specific dubius is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover.

Adult little ringed plovers have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-coloured and the toes are all webbed.

This species differs from the larger ringed plover in leg colour, the head pattern, and the presence of a clear yellow eye-ring.

Their breeding habitat is open gravel areas near freshwater, including gravel pits, islands and river edges across the Palearctic including northwestern Africa. They nest on the ground on stones with little or no plant growth. Both males and females take turns incubating the eggs.

They are migratory and winter in Africa. These birds forage for food on muddy areas, usually by sight. They eat insects and worms.

This attractive small wading bird is a relatively new addition to the British breeding avifauna, first recorded nesting here in 1938.

Little Ringed Plovers are summer visitors to Britain, sometimes arriving as early as mid-March. Originally associated with gravel workings in central England, they have now colonised seasonally wet areas across the post-industrial landscapes of the north-west. In Wales and Scotland, new colonists use river gravels for nesting.

Easily confused with its commoner coastal cousin, the Ringed Plover, this species prefers fresh water. It is a daintier bird, has more subtle colours and lacks a white wing-bar when seen in flight. A good close view reveals the diagnostic yellow eye-ring.

1-5-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SIERRA NEVADA OCELLATED LIZARD (Timon nevadensis)

Timon nevadensis, the Sierra Nevada lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. It is endemic to Spain. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the ocellated lizard.

Formerly, Timon nevadensis had been regarded as subspecies of Timon lepidus but it has been put into species rank in 2013. Its distribution range is limited to the Sierra Nevada and the Spanish east coast, reaching the Alicante Province in the north.

This is a robust and large reptile (up to 65 cm of total head-tail length, sometimes even 80-90 cm). The head is large and very distinct from the body. Like all the saurians, it has four legs that in this species are large and well developed. The eyelids are mobile (this character in addition to its legs, distinguishes a  saurian from an ophidian). The body's colour is showy. Although the general tone can be perceived as greenish, the back is covered with yellow and black scales, as well as blue ones on the sides, generally forming ocelli (rounded spots). This ocelli profusion on the animal's body gives name to the species. The belly usually has a uniform tone: whitish, grey or yellowish. Young specimens are very striking because they exhibit a dozen rows of yellowish ocelli surrounded by a dark shade on a greyish, brown or greenish background.

This species is indifferent in terms of habitat. It uses both scrub and forest areas, as well as agricultural land. It is common in open areas, with little vegetative cover and abundant shelter availability (large loose stones, stone heaps, stone walls, tree-holes, etc ...). It can also be present in parks and gardens of towns and small cities, where it climbs trees.

The ocellated lizards are diurnal, although in summer they can have some nocturnal activity avoiding the hot central hours of the day. It hibernates during the coldest months of the year, although it is possible to observe them on the sunny days of autumn and winter. It is a lone and unsociable reptile, which only mates briefly at the copulation moment and only after a somewhat violent approach to his partner. It is very agile and fast racing, being able to climb big trees very quickly. It is very distrustful and flees as soon as it feels threatened. Its diet mainly consists of insects, although it can prey on other smaller reptiles, amphibians, chickens and bird eggs, as well as on small mammals (rodents) and their offspring. They do not waste carrion and also consume wild fruits. Unlike other lizards, ocellated lizards actively search for their prey and hunt. Its bite, if handled, can be painful due to its great mandibular power.

The lizards come into heat in spring; at this moment, the males are very territorial and aggressive with other specimens, driving them out from their territories. When a female enters a male's territory, a kind of harassment situation happens (persecution and biting) to get the female to surrender and impede its escape until she agrees to copulate. Two or three months later the female deposits between 5 and 20 eggs in a small tunnel which she has dug in the ground. In summer, small lizards hatch and become sexually mature by the third year of life, after reaching thrice the size they were when they hatched.

The Sierra Nevada Ocellated Lizard is an impressive but terribly shy Lacertid. In particular, adult specimens may have flight distances of more than 20 meters. These lizards occur in high altitude mountain areas as well as in coastal dunes and agricultural land.

30-4-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - WHITE WAGTAIL (Motacilla alba)

Small terrestrial bird (about 18 cm or 7 in) with a characteristic long black tail, constantly wagging. Grey upperparts, white underparts and black wings with white stripes. Black head (throat and nape) and white face (forehead and flanks of the face). Black legs and bill.

Present in different types of habitats, most of them linked to water. Wet meadows, farmlands, coastal shores, banks, reservoirs, lagoons, temporary ponds, parks and gardens and even the urban environment.

Species present in the province all year round mostly as a wintering bird, although there are individuals which come to breed during the summer months and also birds in migratory passage. It breeds from April with up to three layings of 4 to 6 eggs. Nest in hollows of slopes and banks. Insectivore that forages actively, pecking on the ground, and in groups. Very linked to the ground and walker with a typical swing of the tail.