11-5-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - WALL BROWN BUTTERFLY (Lasiommata megera)

Lasiommata megera, the wall or wall brown, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae (subfamily Satyrinae). It is widespread in the Palearctic realm with a large variety of habitats and number of generations a year.

P. megera L. [— xiphie Boisd. pt (45d). Above reddish yellow, with a black mark which traverses the distal band from the cell of the forewing to the abdominal margin of the hindwing, short black stripes crossing the disc and the cell of the forewing.

The species lives in North Africa, Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, the Middle East, western Siberia, northern Tian Shan, Dzungarian Alatau, Kazakhstan and Dzungaria.

Habitats include forest edges and clearings, shrubby areas in ravines and river valleys and sparse woodlands. It is also found in mountain habitats up to 0–3,000 metres (0–9,843 ft) above sea level.

The imago flies from April to October in two or three generations depending on locality and altitude. The larva feeds on grasses in the genera Festuca, Bromus, Deschampsia, Poa, Dactylis and Brachypodium.

"The egg is pale green when first laid, and in shape it is almost spherical, but rather higher than broad; it is finely ribbed and reticulated, but unless examined through a lens it appears to be quite smooth. The caterpillar when full grown is whitish-green, dotted with white. From the larger of these dots on the back arise greyish bristles; the three lines on the back (dorsal and sub-dorsal) are whitish, edged with dark green; the line on the sides (spiracular) is white, fringed with greyish hairs; anal points green, hairy, extreme tips white. Head larger than the first ring (first thoracic segment), green dotted with white and hairy, jaws marked with brownish. The chrysalis is green, with yellow-tinted white markings on the edge of the wing covers and ridges; the spots on the body are yellowish, or sometimes white. Occasionally the chrysalids are blackish, with white or yellow points on the body". 

21-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - SPOTTED DOVE (Spilopelia chinensis)

The Spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) is a small pigeon that is a common across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. These birds are also called the Mountain dove, Pearl-necked dove, Lace-necked dove, and Spotted turtle-dove.

The ground color of this long and slim dove is rosy buff below shading into grey on the head and belly. There is a half collar on the back and sides of the neck made of black feathers that bifurcate and have white spots at the two tips. The median coverts have brown feathers tipped with rufous spots in the Indian and Sri Lankan subspecies which are divided at the tip by a widening grey shaft streak. The wing feathers are dark brown with grey edges. The center of the abdomen and vent are white. The outer tail feathers are tipped in white and become visible when the bird takes off. The male and the female are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults and do not acquire the neck spots until they are mature.

21-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - RED VENTED BULBUL (Pycnonotus cafer)

The red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer ) is a member of the bulbul family of passerines. It is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world and has established itself in New Zealand, Argentina, Tonga and Fiji, as well as parts of Samoa, Australia, USA and Cook Islands. It is included in the list of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.

The Red-vented bulbul is a medium-sized songbird that can be found across the Indian subcontinent. It can be easily identified by its short crest giving the head a squarish appearance. The body of this bird is dark brown with a scaly pattern while the head is darker or black. The rump is white while the vent is red. It has a long black tail, tipped in white. The males and the females of this species look similar, but young birds are duller than adults.

Red-vented bulbuls occur across Sri Lanka extending east to Burma and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. These birds don’t migrate and inhabit dry scrub, open forests, plains, cultivated areas, parks, and gardens.

Red-vented bulbuls are diurnal social birds. Outside of the breeding season, they like to form large flocks and gather together in communal roosts. The typical call of Red-vented bulbuls has been transcribed as ginger beer, but they also produce a number of sharp single-note calls sounding like a pick. Their alarm calls are usually responded to and heeded by many other species of bird.

21-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - BLACK DRONGO (Dicrurus macrocercus)

The Black drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a small Asian passerine bird The species is known for its aggressive behavior towards much larger birds that invade its territory. The Black drongo has been introduced to some Pacific islands, where it has thrived and become abundant to the point of threatening and causing the extinction of native and endemic bird species there.

Black drongos are glossy black birds with a wide fork to the tail. Adults usually have a small white spot at the base of the gape. The iris is dark brown (not crimson as in the similar ashy drongo). The sexes cannot be told apart in the field. Juveniles are brownish and may have some white barring or speckling towards the belly and vent, and can be mistaken for the white-bellied drongo. First-year birds have white tips to the feathers of the belly, while second-years have these white-tipped feathers restricted to the vent. Black drongos fly with strong flaps of the wing and are capable of fast maneuvers that enable them to capture flying insects. With short legs, they sit upright on thorny bushes, bare perches, or electricity wires. They may also perch on grazing animals.

10-5-2024 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY (Pararge aegeria)

The average wingspan of both males and females is 5.1 cm (2 in), although males tend to be slightly smaller than females. Furthermore, males possess a row of grayish-brown scent scales on their forewings that is absent in the females. Females have brighter and more distinct markings than males. The subspecies P. a. tircis is brown with pale yellow or cream spots and darker upperwing eyespots. The subspecies P. a. aegeria has a more orange background and the hindwing underside eyespots are reddish brown rather than black or dark gray. The two forms gradually intergrade into each other. Subspecies P. a. oblita is a darker brown, often approaching black with white rather than cream spots. The underside of its hindwings has a marginal pale purple band and a row of conspicuous white spots. The spots of subspecies P. a. insula are a tawny orange rather than a cream color. The underside of the forewings has patches of pale orange, and the underside of the hindwing has a purple-tinged band. Although there is considerable variation with each subspecies, identification of the different subspecies is manageable.

21-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - COMMON ROSE SWALLOWTAIL (Pachliopta aristolochiae)

Pachliopta aristolochiae, the common rose, is a swallowtail butterfly belonging to the genus Pachliopta, the roses, or red-bodied swallowtails. It is a common butterfly which is extensively distributed across south and southeast Asia.

It is widely distributed in Asia including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India (including the Andaman Islands), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Japan (south-western Okinawa only), Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicobar Islands, peninsular and eastern Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines (Palawan and Leyte), Indonesia, Bangladesh and Taiwan.

In China, it is distributed in southern and eastern China (including Hainan, Guangdong province) and Hong Kong. In Indonesia, it is distributed in Sumatra, Nias, Enggano, Bangka, Java, Bali, Kangean, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Tanahjampea, and Kalimantan.

It is very common almost all over the plains of India, and is not threatened as a species. During and after the monsoon it is extremely abundant.

21-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - ORANGE HEADED THRUSH (Geokichla citrina)

The orange-headed thrush is 205–235 milliimetres (8.1–9.25 in) long and weighs 47–60 grammes (1.7–2.1 oz). The adult male of the nominate subspecies of this small thrush has an entirely orange head and underparts, uniformly grey upperparts and wings, and white median and undertail coverts. It has a slate-coloured bill and the legs and feet have brown fronts and pink or yellowish rears.

The female resembles the male but has browner or more olive upperparts and warm brown wings, but some old females are almost identical to the male. The juvenile is dull brown with buff streaks on its back, and a rufous tone to the head and face; it has grey wings. The bill is brownish horn, and the legs and feet are brown.

This species' orange and grey plumage is very distinctive, and it is unlikely to be confused with any other species. Differences between the subspecies, as described above, can be quite striking, as with the strong head pattern on G. c. cyanota, but may be less obvious variations in plumage tone, or whether there is white on the folded wing. As with many other thrushes, all forms of this species shows a distinctive underwing pattern, with a strong white band.

The orange-headed thrush breeds in much of the Indian Subcontinent, including Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, and through Southeast Asia to Java and southern China. Its habitat is moist broadleaved evergreen woodlands, with a medium-density undergrowth of bushes and ferns, but it also utilises bamboo forests for secondary growth. G. c. cyanota also occurs in large gardens and orchards.

This species is often found in damp areas, near streams or in shady ravines. It occurs between 250–1830 metres (825– 6040 ft) in the Himalayas and up to about 1500 metres (5000 ft) in Malaysia, Thailand and Java. G. c. aurata is resident between 1000–1630 metres (3300–5400 ft) on Mt Kinabalu and Mt Trus Madi, northern Borneo. Some of the subspecies are completely or partially migratory; their wintering habitat is similar to the breeding forests, but more likely to be at lower altitudes.

The orange-headed thrush feeds on the ground in dense undergrowth or other thick cover. It is most active at dawn and dusk, probing the leaf litter for insects and their larvae, spiders, other invertebrates and fruit. In Malaysia, wintering birds regularly feed on figs. 

7-5-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PRIVET TORTRIX MOTH (Clepsis consimilana)

This species is present from Europe to Asia Minor and Syria, it is also found in North Africa and the eastern United States.

Clepsis consimilana has a wingspan of 13–19 mm. The forewings are reddish-brown, with dark brown markings and two small dark spots on the hind edge. The females are more indistinctly marked on the forewings than the males. Hindwings are brownish grey. Larvae are violet green or violet grey, with pale brown head.

Adults are on wing from June to September. They are active in afternoon and evening, and comes to light. The larvae feed on various trees, including Ligustrum species. They apparently prefer dead leaves. Other recorded food plants include Syringa, Hedera, Lonicera, Polygonum, Malus, Carpinus, Crataegus and Cotoneaster species. Pupation occurs in the larval feeding place. In September usually a partial second generation takes place and in the third instar these moths hibernate.

8-5-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis falcinellus)

 

The Glossy ibis is a medium-sized wading bird. They have long, slender, down-curved bill and magnificent plumage with shiny feathers. Breeding adults have reddish-brown bodies and shiny bottle-green wings. Non-breeders and juveniles have duller bodies. These birds have dark facial skin bordered above and below in blue-gray (non-breeding) to cobalt blue (breeding) and red-brown legs.

The Glossy ibis is the most widespread ibis species; it breeds in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. This species is migratory; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America birds from north of the Carolinas winter farther south. Though generally suspected to be a migratory species in India, the Glossy ibis is a resident in western India. Birds from other populations may disperse widely outside the breeding season. Glossy ibises inhabit wetlands with tall dense stands of emergent vegetation such as reeds, papyrus or rushes, and low trees or bushes. They show a preference for marshes at the margins of lakes and rivers but can also be found at lagoons, flood-plains, wet meadows, swamps, reservoirs, sewage ponds, paddies, and irrigated farmland. These birds are less commonly found in coastal locations such as estuaries, deltas, salt marshes, and coastal lagoons.

8-5-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - 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.

8-5-2024 MUNTANYETA DEL SANS, ALBUFERA - 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".

The Barn swallow is a distinctive songbird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. There is a line of white spots across the outer end of the upper tail. The female is similar in appearance to the male, but the tail streamers are shorter, the blue of the upperparts and breast band is less glossy, and the underparts paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult.

Barn swallows are found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These birds are long-distance migrants and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. The preferred habitat of Barn swallows is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows, and farmland, preferably with nearby water. These birds avoid heavily wooded or precipitous areas and densely built-up locations. On their wintering grounds, Barn swallows avoid only dense forests and deserts. They are most common in open, low vegetation habitats, such as savanna and ranch land, and in Venezuela, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago the birds are particularly attracted to burnt or harvested sugarcane fields and the waste from the cane.

21-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - WHITE RUMPED MUNIA (Lonchura striata)

The white-rumped munia (Lonchura striata ) or white-rumped mannikin, sometimes called striated finch in aviculture, is a small passerine bird from the family of waxbill "finches" (Estrildidae). These are not close relatives of the true finches (Fringillidae) or true sparrows (Passeridae).

It is native to tropical continental Asia and some adjacent islands, and has been naturalized in some parts of Japan. Its domesticated descendant, the society finch or Bengalese finch, is found worldwide as a pet and a biological model organism.

The white-rumped munia is approximately 10 to 11 cm in length, with a stubby grey bill and a long black pointed tail. The adults are brown above and on the breast, and lighter below; the rump is white. There is some variation between the subspecies, but the sexes are almost impossible to distinguish in all subspecies; males have a more bulky head and bill.

21-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - ELEGANT ZINNIA (Zinnia elegans)

 Zinnia elegans (syn. Zinnia violacea) known as youth-and-age, common zinnia or elegant zinnia, is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Mexico but grown as an ornamental in many places and naturalised in several places, including scattered locations in South and Central America, the West Indies, the United States, Australia, and Italy.

The uncultivated plant grows to about 15 cm (5.27 in) in height. It has solitary flower heads about 5 cm (2 in) across. The purple ray florets surround black and yellow discs. The lanceolate leaves are opposite the flower heads. Flowering occurs during the summer months.

The species was first collected in 1789 at Tixtla, Guerrero, by Sessé and Mociño. It was formally described as Zinnia violacea by Cavanilles in 1791. Jacquin described it again in 1792 as Zinnia elegans, which was the name that Sessé and Moçiño had used in their manuscript of Plantae Novae Hispaniae, which was not published until 1890. The genus was named by Carl von Linné after the German botanist Johann Gottfried Zinn, who described the species now known as Zinnia peruviana in 1757 as Rudbeckia foliis oppositis hirsutis ovato-acutis, calyce imbricatus, radii petalis pistillatis. Linné realised that it was not a Rudbeckia.

8-5-2024 BONAIRE, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN BEE-EATER (Merops apiaster)

The European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family, Meropidae. As their name suggests, these brightly-colored birds predominantly eat flying insects, especially bees and wasps, which they catch on the wing from an open perch.

The European bee-eater is a richly coloured, slender bird. It has brown and yellow upper parts, whilst the wings are green and the beak is black. Sexes are alike. Female tends to have greener rather than gold feathers on their shoulders. Non-breeding plumage is much duller and with a blue-green back and no elongated central tail feathers. The juvenile resembles a non-breeding adult but with less variation in the feather colours. Adults begin to moult in June or July and complete the process by August or September. There is a further moult into breeding plumage in winter in Africa.

European bee-eaters breed in southern and central Europe, northern and southern Africa, and western Asia. These birds are strongly migratory and spend winter in tropical Africa. The southern African population is resident and remains year-round in its native range. European bee-eaters breed in open country in warmer climates. They prefer to live in woods, river valleys, meadows and plains, hillsides, riverbanks with some shrubs, cultivated areas with some trees, pastures, rice fields, and semi-deserts. In Africa, they inhabit savannas, near lakes, and in cultivated areas.

European bee-eaters are gregarious birds. They nest colonially and feed and roost communally. European bee-eaters are active during the day spending most of their time foraging. They catch insects in flight, in sorties from an open perch. Before eating a bee, the bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface. It can eat around 250 bees a day. European bee-eaters are vocal birds, especially during foraging and migration. Their common call is a distinctive, mellow, liquid, and burry ‘prreee’ or ‘prruup’ and can be heard on long distances. When at the nest sites these birds are usually more quiet.

European bee-eaters are monogamous and form pair bonds that remain together year after year. During courtship, the male feeds large items to the female while eating the small ones himself. Colonies nest in sandy banks, preferably near river shores, usually at the beginning of May. The pair excavates a relatively long tunnel, sometimes with the assistance of some “helpers”, in which females lay 5 to 8 spherical white eggs around the beginning of June. Both parents care for the eggs, which they brood for about 3 weeks. The chicks hatch blind and naked. The young leave the nest approximately 1 month after hatching but parents and “helpers” continue to feed them for about 3 weeks more after fledging. Young European bee-eaters become reproductively mature and start to breed when they are 1 year old.

European bee-eaters are not considered threatened at present. However, these birds are killed in some countries for consumption or as pests. They also suffer from the use of pesticides which reduce populations of their insect prey. The loss of their nesting habitat can also pose a serious threat in the future. Canalization of rivers leads to the loss of river banks in which bee-eaters make their nest tunnels.

This bird breeds in open country in warmer climates. As the name suggests, bee-eaters predominantly eat insects, especially bees, wasps, and hornets. They catch insects in flight, in sorties from an open perch. Before eating a bee, the European bee-eater removes the sting by repeatedly hitting the insect on a hard surface. It can eat around 250 bees a day.

The most important prey item in their diet is Hymenoptera, mostly the European honey bee. A study in Spain found that these comprise 69.4% to 82% of the European bee-eaters' diet. Their impact on bee populations, however, is small. They eat less than 1% of the worker bees in areas where they live.

A study found that European bee-eaters "convert food to body weight more efficiently if they are fed a mixture of bees and dragonflies than if they eat only bees or only dragonflies."

 If an apiary is set up close to a bee-eater colony, a larger number of honey bees are eaten because they are more abundant. However, studies show the bee-eaters do not intentionally fly into the apiary, rather they feed on the insects caught on pastures and meadows within a radius of 12 km (7.5 mi) from the colony, this maximum distance being reached only when there is a lack of food. Observations show that the birds actually enter the apiary only in cold and rainy periods, when the bees do not leave the hive and other insect prey are harder for the bee-eaters to detect.

Many bee-keepers believe that the bee-eaters are the main obstacle causing worker bees not to forage, and instead stay inside the hives for much of the day between May and the end of August. However, a study carried out in eucalyptus forest in the Alalous region, 80 km (50 mi) east of Tripoli Libya, showed that the bee-eaters were not the main obstacle of bee foraging, which is the opposite of what beekeepers think. The foraging rate was higher in presence of the birds than in their absence in some cases. The average bird meal consisted of 90.8% honey bees and 9.2% beetles.

Predation is more likely when the bees are queening or during peak migrations, from late March till mid-April, and in mid-September. Hives close to or under trees or overhead cables are also at increased risk as the birds pounce on flying insects from these perches.

22-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - ORANGE HEADED THRUSH (Geokichla citrina)

The orange-headed thrush is 205–235 milliimetres (8.1–9.25 in) long and weighs 47–60 grammes (1.7–2.1 oz). The adult male of the nominate subspecies of this small thrush has an entirely orange head and underparts, uniformly grey upperparts and wings, and white median and undertail coverts. It has a slate-coloured bill and the legs and feet have brown fronts and pink or yellowish rears.

The female resembles the male but has browner or more olive upperparts and warm brown wings, but some old females are almost identical to the male. The juvenile is dull brown with buff streaks on its back, and a rufous tone to the head and face; it has grey wings. The bill is brownish horn, and the legs and feet are brown.

22-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - INDIAN PEAFOWL (MALE) (Pavo cristatus)

The Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is a brightly-colored bird that lives mainly on the ground. Its loud calls make it easy to detect, and in forest areas often indicates the presence of a predator such as a tiger. The bird is celebrated in Hindu and Greek mythology and is the national bird of India.

The male Indian peafowl (peacock) is brightly colored, with a predominantly blue fan-like crest of spatula-tipped wire-like feathers, and is best known for the long train (tail) made up of elongated upper-tail covert feathers which bear colorful eyespots. These stiff feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship. Despite the length and size of these covert feathers, peacocks are still capable of flight. Females (peahens) lack the train and have a greenish lower neck and duller brown plumage. Downy chicks are pale buff with a dark brown mark on the nape that connects with the eyes. Young males look like the females but their wings are chestnut colored.

22-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - INDIAN ROLLER (Coracias benghalensis)

The Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) is a colorful bird best known for its aerobatic displays of males during the breeding season. It is often seen perched along roadside trees and wires and is commonly seen in open grassland and scrub forest habitats. The largest population occurs in India, and several states in India have chosen it as their state bird.

The Indian roller is a bulky and broad-winged bird with a large head short neck and legs. The bare skin around the eyes is dull orange, and the legs and feet are yellow-brown. The bill is tinged with brown at the base. The iris is grey-brown. The plumage on the forehead, chin and lores are pinkish buff, the ear coverts are darker red-brown with pale cream or pinkish streaks, while the throat is a dull wine-red with narrow cream streaks. The crown and nape are a darker dull turquoise.

The back and rump are bright turquoise, and the belly is pale blue. The tail coverts are dark purple-blue with turquoise tips. The middle two tail feathers are greyish blue-olive with black shafts, while the surrounding tail feathers are an intense purple-blue with a broad pale blue band and greenish tinge towards the tips. The flight feathers on the wings have the same purple-blue colour of those on the tail, with a similar pale blue band across the most distal five or six primaries. The underwing coverts and axillary feathers are pale blue, while the upperwing coverts are a dull green-blue.

The primary coverts are pale blue with olive or purple-blue tips, and the lesser coverts are purple-blue along the leading edge of the wing. The colours look dull when the bird is perched but become vibrant in flight. Moulting commences anywhere from mid-June to mid-August and concludes between November and the beginning of March. Adult males and females are similar in appearance and there are no seasonal changes. Juvenile birds are duller, paler and browner in colour, with a dull green crown and dull green-blue belly tinged with buff. The bill is brown with a yellowish base rather than black. 

8-5-2024 BONAIRE, VALENCIA - EURASIAN MAGPIE (Pica pica)

The Eurasian magpie is glossy black in color with a metallic green and violet sheen; the belly and scapulars (shoulder feathers) are pure white. The graduated tail is black, glossed with green and reddish-purple. The plumage of the sexes is similar but females are slightly smaller. The young resemble the adults but are at first without much of the gloss on the sooty plumage. The young have the malar region pink and somewhat clear eyes. Their tail is much shorter than the adults.

The range of Eurasian magpies extends across temperate Eurasia from Spain and Ireland in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula. These birds are normally sedentary and spend winters close to their nesting territories but populations living near the northern limit of their range in Sweden, Finland, and Russia can move south in harsh weather. Eurasian magpies prefer to live in open countryside with scattered trees and usually avoid treeless areas and dense forests. They sometimes breed in suburban areas such as parks and gardens and can often be found close to the center of cities.

8-5-2024 MUNTANYETA DEL SANS, ALBUFERA - GLOSSY IBIS (Plegadis falcinellus)

The Glossy ibis is a medium-sized wading bird. They have long, slender, down-curved bill and magnificent plumage with shiny feathers. Breeding adults have reddish-brown bodies and shiny bottle-green wings. Non-breeders and juveniles have duller bodies. These birds have dark facial skin bordered above and below in blue-gray (non-breeding) to cobalt blue (breeding) and red-brown legs.

The Glossy ibis is the most widespread ibis species; it breeds in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. This species is migratory; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America birds from north of the Carolinas winter farther south. Though generally suspected to be a migratory species in India, the Glossy ibis is a resident in western India. Birds from other populations may disperse widely outside the breeding season. Glossy ibises inhabit wetlands with tall dense stands of emergent vegetation such as reeds, papyrus or rushes, and low trees or bushes. They show a preference for marshes at the margins of lakes and rivers but can also be found at lagoons, flood-plains, wet meadows, swamps, reservoirs, sewage ponds, paddies, and irrigated farmland. These birds are less commonly found in coastal locations such as estuaries, deltas, salt marshes, and coastal lagoons.

Glossy ibises are diurnal birds. They are gregarious and nest in colonies. When not nesting, flocks of over 100 individuals may occur on migration, and during the winter or dry seasons, these birds usually forage in small flocks. Glossy ibises often roost communally at night in large flocks, with other species, occasionally in trees which can be some distance from wetland feeding areas. Glossy ibises hunt their prey by sight and touch. When foraging on land, they pick and glean insects or grain but when feeding along the shore, they use their long bills to probe into the substrate or mud. Glossy ibises are able to swim, however, they generally try to avoid deep water. Sounds made by these rather quiet birds include a variety of croaks and grunts; they also make a hoarse 'grrrr' when breeding.

23-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - COMMON GULL BUTTERFLY (Cepora nerissa)

 Cepora nerissa, the common gull, is a small to medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is native to Sri Lanka, India, China, southeast Asia, and Indonesia.

The species lives in the north-western Himalayas up to 4,000 feet (1,200 m); Nepal; Sikkim; Bhutan; Bengal: central, western, and southern India; Ceylon.

23-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - NORTHERN PLAINS GREY LANGUR (Semnopithecus entellus)

The northern plains gray langur (Semnopithecus entellus ), also known as the sacred langur, Bengal sacred langur and Hanuman langur, is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae.

The fur of adults is mostly light colored, with darker fur on the back and limbs, and the face, ears, hands and feet are all black. Infants are brown. Body size excluding tail ranges from 45.1 cm (17.8 in) to 78.4 cm (30.9 in) long, and the tail length is between 80.3 cm (31.6 in) and 111.8 cm (44.0 in). Adult males weigh between 16.9 kg (37 lb) and 19.5 kg (43 lb) while adult females weigh between 9.5 kg (21 lb) and 16.1 kg (35 lb).

The range of the northern plains gray langur covers a large portion of India south of the Himalayas south to the Tapti River and the Krishna River.It is thought to have been introduced to western Bangladesh by Hindu pilgrims on the bank of the Jalangi River.

23-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - EURASIAN GRIFFON (Gyps fulvus)

The Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey. It is a rare type of vulture eagle, with impressive size and up to a 3 m (118 in) wingspan, and is Europe’s second-largest bird. It can be seen majestically soaring on thermal currents searching for food in the warmer, rugged parts of countries that surround the Mediterranean.

The Griffon vulture has a distinguishing creamy-white ruff, matching the color of its head and neck. Its body and upper wings are pale brown, which contrasts beautifully with its other dark flight feathers and tail, the contrast being most noticeable in young birds, as their upper-wing feathers are particularly pale.

This species has a very large range, across the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, from India to Portugal and Spain, most commonly found in countries that border the Mediterranean. The biggest population is in Spain, being more than three-quarters of the European population. These birds are mostly resident but juveniles and immature individuals may migrate far or embark on long-distance movements. Griffon vultures live in areas of mountains, plateaus, shrubland, grassland, and semi-desert, usually in warm climates, but also in harsher conditions of cold, rain, mist, and snow to secure particularly favorable breeding or foraging conditions. They tend to avoid forests, lakes, wetlands, and marine waters. Requiring high cliffs for roosting, they are found in a range of elevations.

23-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - INDIAN BISON (Bos gaurus)

 

The gaur (Bos gaurus; /ɡaʊər/), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 mature individuals in 2016, with the majority of those existing in India.

It is the largest species among the wild cattle and the Bovidae. The domesticated form of the gaur is called gayal (Bos frontalis) or mithun.

Being one of the largest cattle species, the gaur has a massive head, deep body, and solid limbs. The color of their body varies from reddish or brown to black while the limbs are pale colored. Both males and females have upwardly curved horns, growing from the sides of their heads. Their horns have a yellow base and black tip. These animals have a hump on their shoulders, which is especially prominent in adult males. In addition, they have a distinct "dewlap" of skin, stretching from their throat to their forelegs.

8-5-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PAINTED LADY BUTTERFLY (Vanessa cardui)

Vanessa cardui is the most widespread of all butterfly species. It is commonly called the painted lady, or formerly in North America the cosmopolitan.

V. cardui occurs in any temperate zone, including mountains in the tropics. The species is resident only in warmer areas, but migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Britain and Europe in May and June, occasionally reaching Iceland, and from the Red Sea basin, via Israel and Cyprus, to Turkey in March and April. The occasional autumn migration made by V. cardui is likely for the inspection of resource changes; it consists of a round trip from Europe to Africa.

For decades, naturalists have debated whether the offspring of these immigrants ever make a southwards return migration. Research suggests that British painted ladies do undertake an autumn migration, making 14,500 km (9,000 mi) round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic Circle in a series of steps by up to six successive generations. The Radar Entomology Unit at Rothamsted Research provided evidence that autumn migrations take place at high altitude, which explains why these migrations are seldom witnessed. In recent years, thanks to the activity of The Worldwide Painted Lady Migration citizen science project, led by the Barcelona-based Institute of Evolutionary Biology (Catalan: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva), the huge range of migration has begun to be revealed. For example, some butterflies migrated from Iceland to the Sahara desert, and even further south.

V. cardui is known for its distinct migratory behaviour. In California, they are usually seen flying from north to north-west. These migrations appear to be partially initiated by heavy winter rains in the desert where rainfall controls the growth of larval food plants. In March 2019, after heavy rain produced an abundance of vegetation in the deserts, Southern California saw these butterflies migrating by the millions across the state.

Similarly, heavier than usual rain during the 2018-2019 winter seems to have been the cause of the extraordinarily large migration observed in Israel at the end of March, estimated at a billion individual butterflies. Painted lady migration patterns are highly erratic and they do not migrate every year. Some evidence suggests that global climatic events, such as el Niño, may affect the migratory behaviour of the painted lady butterflies, causing large-scale migrations. The first noticeable wave of migration in eastern Ukraine was noted in the 20s of April 2019. From May 15, numbers began to grow and it was possible to observe hundreds of this species in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, including in the city streets of Kharkiv.

Based on experimental data, the painted lady's migration pattern in northern Europe apparently does not follow a strict north-west heading. The range of headings suggests that migrating butterflies may adjust their migration patterns in response to local topographical features and weather, such as strong wind patterns. Laboratory-raised autumn-generation painted lady butterflies were able to distinguish a southern orientation for a return migration path. According to the same laboratory-based study, when butterflies were isolated from the sun, they were unable to orient themselves in a specific direction, opposed to those that did have access to the sun. This suggests that V. cardui requires a direct view of the sky, implying the use of a solar compass to orient its migratory direction and maintain a straight flight path.

8-5-2024 MUNTANYETA DEL SANS, ALBUFERA - COMMON REDSHANK (Tringa totanus)

Common redshanks in breeding plumage are a marbled brown color, slightly lighter below. In winter plumage they become somewhat lighter-toned and less patterned, being rather plain greyish-brown above and whitish below. They have red legs and a black-tipped red bill, and show white up the back and on the wings in flight.

The spotted redshank (T. erythropus ), which breeds in the Arctic, has a longer bill and legs; it is almost entirely black in breeding plumage and very pale in winter. It is not a particularly close relative of the common redshank, but rather belongs to a high-latitude lineage of largish shanks. T. totanus on the other hand is closely related to the marsh sandpiper (T. stagnatilis ), and closer still to the small wood sandpiper (T. glareola ). 

The ancestors of the latter and the common redshank seem to have diverged around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, about 5–6 million years ago. These three subarctic- to temperate-region species form a group of smallish shanks with have red or yellowish legs, and in breeding plumage are generally a subdued light brown above with some darker mottling, and have somewhat diffuse small brownish spots on the breast and neck.

Like most waders, they feed on small invertebrates.

Redshanks will nest in any wetland, from damp meadows to saltmarsh, often at high densities. They lay 3–5 eggs.

The common redshank is widely distributed and quite plentiful in some regions, and thus not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

23-4-2024 BANDHAVGARH, INDIA - ORIENTAL MAGPIE ROBIN (Copsychus saularis)

 

The Oriental magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis ) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but now considered an Old World flycatcher. These birds are particularly well known for their songs and were once popular as cagebirds.

The Oriental magpie-robin is 19 cm (7.5 in) long, including the long tail, which is usually held cocked upright when hopping on the ground. It is similar in shape to the smaller European robin, but is longer-tailed. The male has black upperparts, head, and throat apart from a white shoulder patch. The underparts and the sides of the long tail are white. Females are greyish black above and greyish white. Young birds have scaly brown upperparts and heads.

Oriental magpie-robins are resident breeders in tropical southern Asia from Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and eastern Pakistan, eastern Indonesia, Thailand, south China, Malaysia, and Singapore. They inhabit open woodlands, mangroves, and cultivated areas often close to human habitations.