9-5-2016 PEGO MARSHES, ALICANTE - 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

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.

It is very small in size and has a characteristic, short and rounded tail, with striking terminal points. The body is sand-colored below and striped on upper parts. Breeding males have a dark beak and crown. It is found in open grasslands, meadows and agricultural areas. Very often it can be seen in the sky uttering its monotonous and repetitive song "tchip...tchip....tchip..." in an undulating flight.

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.

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - MALLARD (FEMALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - MALLARD (FEMALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - STONE PLANT (Family Aizoaceae)

15-3-2018 OLIVA PLAYA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN HOOPOE (Upupa epops)

2-12-2015 JURONG SINGAPORE - YELLOW BILLED CARDINAL (Paroaria capitata)

The yellow-billed cardinal (Paroaria capitata ) is a bird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). It is not very closely related to the cardinals proper (Cardinalidae).

It occurs in Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, and northern Argentina and has been introduced on the island of Hawai'i. It breeds in moist shrubland. The yellow-billed cardinal could be easily confused with the red-crested cardinal. The yellow-billed cardinal does not have a crest.

14-3-2018 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

14-3-2018 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - WHITE WAGTAIL (Motacilla alba)

14-3-2018 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

14-3-2018 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

14-3-2018 ONDARA, ALICANTE - MUSKOVY DUCK (Cairina moschata)

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

28-3-2017 TARCOLES RIVER COSTA RICA - YELLOW HEADED CARACARA (Milvago chimachima)

The yellow-headed caracara (Milvago chimachima) is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae, the falcons and caracaras. It is found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, every mainland South American country except Chile, and on Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The yellow-headed caracara is 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 in) long. Males weigh 277 to 335 g (9.8 to 12 oz) and females 307 to 364 g (11 to 13 oz). Their wingspan is 74 to 95 cm (29 to 37 in). The sexes' plumages are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have buff to creamy yellowish white heads, necks, and underparts with a thin dark streak through the eyes. Their back and wings are blackish brown with a whitish patch at the base of the primaries that shows in flight. Their uppertail coverts and tail are buff with dusky bars and the tail has a black band near the end. Their iris is reddish brown surrounded by bare bright yellow skin and their legs and feet are pea green. Immature birds have browner upperparts than adults and their underparts have brown streaks. Subspecies M. c. cordata is a darker buff on the head and underparts than the nominate and has narrower bars on the tail.

Subspecies M. c. cordata is found in southwestern Nicaragua, western Costa Rica, and most of Panama, and in mainland South America from Colombia east through Venezuela and the Guianas, south through Ecuador and Peru east of the Andes, and across Brazil north of the Amazon River. The Nicaragua records are only since 2008, and there are also scattered eBird records as far north as Guatemala and Belize. Off the north coast of the South American mainland, it occurs on Aruba, Trinidad, and Tobago, and has visited Bonaire and Curaçao as a vagrant. The nominate M. c. chimachima is found from eastern Bolivia south through Paraguay into northern Argentina and east through northern Uruguay and Brazil south of the Amazon River. Its range overlaps with that of the chimango caracara in southern Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The yellow-headed caracara is a bird of lightly-treed open landscapes, like savannas with palms and scattered trees, ranchlands and pastures, gallery forests, and the edges of denser forests. In elevation, it mostly ranges from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft), though it has been recorded at about 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in Colombia's Cauca River valley.

14-3-2018 ONDARA, ALICANTE - MALLARD (MALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

15-3-2016 BARX, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN EAGLE OWL (Bubo bubo)

The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. These birds are found in many habitats where they hunt a majority of their prey. Eurasian eagle-owls are one of the most widely distributed. With a total range in Europe and Asia of about 32 million km2 (12 million sq mi) and a total population estimated in millions. Sometimes tame eagle-owls have been used in pest control because of their size to deter large birds such as gulls from nesting.

The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the largest living species of owl. This bird has distinctive ear tufts, with upper parts that are brown-black to tawny-buff to pale creamy gray. A narrow buff band, freckled with brown or buff, often runs up from the base of the bill, above the inner part of the eye, and along the inner edge of the black-brown ear tufts. The facial disc is tawny-buff, speckled with black-brown, so densely on the outer edge of the disc as to form a "frame" around the face. The chin and throat are white with a brownish central streak. The feathers of the upper breast generally have brownish-black centers and reddish-brown edges except for the central ones which have white edges. The chin and throat may appear white continuing down the center of the upper breast. The lower breast and belly feathers are creamy-brown to tawny buff to off-white with a variable amount of fine dark wavy barring, on a tawny-buff ground color. The tail is tawny-buff, mottled dark grey-brown with about six black-brown bars. The bill and feet are black. The eyes are most often orange in color.

14-3-2018 ONDARA, ALICANTE - EUROPEAN MOORHEN (Gallinula chloropus)

8-8-2017 NUREMBERG, GERMANY - BLACK GROUSE (FEMALE) (Tetrao tetrix)

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

14-3-2018 OLIVA MARJAL, VALENCIA - CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis)

13-3-2018 MARXUQUERA, VALENCIA - HOUSE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer domesticus)

18-12-2015 LOMUT, MALAYSIA - CRAB EATING MACAQUE MONKEY (Macaca fascicularis

The crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), also known as the long-tailed macaque and referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. A species of macaque, the crab-eating macaque has a long history alongside humans. The species has been variously seen as an agricultural pest, a sacred animal, and, more recently, the subject of medical experiments.

The crab-eating macaque lives in matrilineal social groups of up to eight individuals dominated by females.they reach puberty. It is an opportunistic omnivore and has been documented using tools to obtain food in Thailand and Myanmar. The crab-eating macaque is a known invasive species and a threat to biodiversity in several locations, including Hong Kong and western New Guinea. The significant overlap in macaque and human living space has resulted in greater habitat loss, synanthropic living, and inter- and intraspecies conflicts over resources.

Macaca comes from the Portuguese word macaco, which was derived from makaku, a word in Ibinda, a language of Central Africa (kaku means monkey in Ibinda). The specific epithet fascicularis is Latin for a small band or stripe. Sir Thomas Raffles, who gave the animal its scientific name in 1821, did not specify what he meant by the use of this word.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, the crab-eating macaque and other macaque species are known generically as kera, possibly because of their high-pitched cries.

The crab-eating macaque has several common names. It is often referred to as the long-tailed macaque due to its tail, which is often longer than its body. The name crab-eating macaque refers to its being often seen foraging beaches for crabs. Another common name for M. fascicularis is the cynomolgus monkey, from the name of a race of humans with long hair and handsome beards who used dogs for hunting according to Aristophanes of Byzantium, who seemingly derived the etymology of the word cynomolgus from the Greek κύων, cyon 'dog' (gen. cyno-s) and the verb ἀμέλγειν, amelgein 'to milk' (adj. amolg-os), by claiming that they milked female dogs. This name is commonly used in laboratory settings.

The body length of the adult, which varies among subspecies, is 38–55 cm (15–22 in) with relatively short arms and legs. Males are considerably larger than females, weighing 5–9 kg (11–20 lb) compared to the 3–6 kg (6.6–13.2 lb) of females. The tail is longer than the body, typically 40–65 cm (16–26 in), which is used for balance when they jump distances up to 5 m (16 ft). The upper parts of the body are dark brown with light golden brown tips. The under parts are light grey with a dark grey/brown tail. Crab-eating macaques have backwards-directed crown hairs which sometimes form short crests on the midline. Their skin is black on their feet and ears, whereas the skin on the muzzle is a light grayish pink color. The eyelids often have prominent white markings and sometimes there are white spots on the ears. Males have a characteristic mustache and cheek whiskers, while females have only cheek whiskers. Crab-eating macaques have a cheek pouch which they use to store food while foraging. Females show no perineal swelling.

12-3-2018 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - MALLARD (MALE) (Anas platyrhynchos)

11-8-2017 MILTENBERG, GERMANY - GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER (Dendrocopos major)

2-3-2018 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - MUSK STORK'S BILL (Erodium moschatum)

12-3-2018 GANDIA MARJAL, VALENCIA - RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY (Vanessa atalanta)

8-8-2017 NUREMBERG, GERMANY - WHITE THROATED DIPPER (Cinclus cinclus)

14-4-2014 VILLALONGA, VALENCIA - SAGE LEAVED ROCK ROSE (Cistus salviifolius)

1-4-2014 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - HERMANN'S TORTOISE (Testudo hermanni)

1-4-2014 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

28-4-2014 ADOR, VALENCIA - BEAUTIFUL FLAX (Linum narbonense)

Linum narbonense, the perennial flax or blue flax, is a flowering plant in the family Linaceae, native to Europe and similar in appearance to Linum perenne.

Growing to 1–2.5 feet tall and 1 foot wide, the stem terminates in a cyme of about ten clear blue flowers with five petals, 2–2.5 cm in diameter, and the small, narrow grayish green leavesk are arranged on the stem in whorls. In early summer it produces teardrops buds. The seed heads are small beige balls.

Linum narbonense is found cultivated in gardens. Seeds should be started indoors 6–8 weeks before last frost or outdoors in early spring once the soil is workable. Seeds should germinate in 14–30 days.