19-3-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKCAP (FEMALE)

The Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is a common and widespread warbler that breeds in much of Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. Its rich and varied song has led to the blackcap being described as the "mock nightingale" and it has been featured in literature, films, and music.

The Eurasian blackcap is mainly grey in color with distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has olive-grey upperparts, other than a paler grey nape and a neat black cap on the head. The underparts are light grey, becoming silvery white on the chin, throat, and upper breast. The tail is dark grey, with an olive tint to the outer edge of each feather. The bill and long legs are grey, and the iris is reddish brown. The female resembles the male but has a reddish-brown cap and a slightly browner tone to the grey of the upperparts. Juveniles are similar to the female, but their upperparts have a slight rufous tinge, and the breast and flanks have a more olive tone; young males have darker brown cap than their female counterparts.

Eurasian blackcaps breed in much of Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. They are partial migrants; birds from the colder areas of their range winter in northwestern Europe, around the Mediterranean, and in tropical Africa. Some German birds have adapted to spending the winter in gardens in Great Britain and Ireland. Eurasian blackcaps breed in mature deciduous woodlands, with good scrub cover below the trees, and may also be found in parks, large gardens, and overgrown hedges. The preferred winter habitat around the Mediterranean is scrub and olive orchards, while in Africa they occur in cultivated land, acacia scrub, mangroves, and forest.

Eurasian blackcaps are very active birds. They are usually found singly but may form loose groups during migration. They feed by the day mainly picking prey off foliage and twigs, but may occasionally hover, flycatch or feed on the ground. Blackcaps eat a wide range of small fruit and squeeze out any seeds on a branch before consuming the pulp. They defend good winter food sources, and at garden feeding stations they don't hesitate to repel competitors as large as starlings and blackbirds. Eurasian blackcaps are known for their beautiful loud song. The males' song is a rich musical warbling, often ending in a loud high-pitched crescendo, which is given in bursts of up to 30 seconds. In some geographically isolated areas, such as islands, peninsulas, and valleys in the Alps, males sing a simpler fluting song. The main call of Eurasian blackcaps is a hard 'tac-tac', like stones knocking together, and other vocalizations include a squeaking sweet alarm, and a low-pitched trill. Blackcaps may sometimes mimic the song of other birds, especially preferring to copy the garden warbler and the common nightingale.

 Population size

101-161 Mlnlnn

Life Span

2-13 years

Top speed

75

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

16-25

goz

g oz 

Length

13-14

cminch

cm inch 

13-11-2016 INWA, MYANMAR - PIED BUSH CHAT (MALE) (Saxicola caprata)

The pied bush chat (Saxicola caprata ) is a small passerine bird found ranging from West Asia and Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside and open scrub or grassland where it is found perched at the top of short thorn trees or other shrubs, looking out for insect prey. They pick up insects mainly from the ground, and were, like other chats, placed in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now considered as Old World flycatchers.

They nest in cavities in stone walls or in holes in an embankment, lining the nest with grass and animal hair. The males are black with white shoulder and vent patches whose extent varies among populations. Females are predominantly brownish while juveniles are speckled. 

Among the Toda people in the Nilgiris, the pied bushchat or kāŗpiłc, is a bird of omen and the origin of its white wing patches is described in a story of a dairy priest Piu.f who in the ritual of churning milk forgot to remove the churning stick before fetching water from a stream. The bird attempted to obstruct him by blocking his path but he disregarded it and flicked off butter from his hands. The white spots remained but Piu.f met his death. The Kotas of the Nilgiris have an origin story to explain the sexual dimorphism of the pied bushchat but they consider the "karyvaky" bird to be one that foretells good omen. The Kalam people of Papua New Guinea consider the birds as messengers.

The pied bush chat is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from the Greater Middle East through the Indian subcontinent eastwards to Indonesia. They colonized Papua New Guinea around 1950. It is found in open habitats including scrub, grassland and cultivation.

Some populations are partially migratory. A ringed individual of subspecies rossorum has been recovered from Israel. The populations in India also appear to show seasonal movements but the patterns are unclear. Subspecies bicolor is found in peninsular India in winter. In Karwar on the western coast, it is said to appear in October and stay till May but not seen during the rainy season. Said to be absent in the Baroda district of Gujarat from April to September. Claud Buchanan Ticehurst noted that it was a summer visitor to Baluchistan leaving in October and further that the birds from Baluchistan were indistinguishable from rossorum of Turkestan.

24-8-2024 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN COLLARED DOVE (Streptopelia decaocto)

 

The Eurasian collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto) is a dove species native to Europe and Asia. During the 20th century, the Eurasian collared dove spectacularly expanded its range from the Middle East to right across Europe. Accidentally introduced in 1974 into the Bahamas, this pale chunky bird soon spread to the mainland in Florida. A relative of the mourning dove, its name comes from its black half-collar around its neck.

The Eurasian collared dove is grey-buff to pinkish-grey overall, a little darker above than below, with a blue-grey underwing patch. The tail feathers are grey-buff above, and dark grey and tipped white below; the outer tail feathers are also tipped whitish above. It has a black half-collar edged with white on its nape. The short legs are red and the bill is black. The iris is red, but from a distance, the eyes appear to be black, as the pupil is relatively large and only a narrow rim of reddish-brown iris can be seen around the black pupil. The eye is surrounded by a small area of bare skin, which is either white or yellow. The two sexes are virtually indistinguishable; juveniles differ in having a poorly developed collar, and a brown iris.

Population size

60-110 Mlnlnn

Life Span

15-17 years

Top speed

60

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

125-240

goz

g oz 

Length

29-30

cminch

cm inch 

Wingspan

47-55

cminch

24-8-2024 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKBIRD (FEMALE) (Turdus merula)

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

Population size

162-492 Mlnlnn

Life Span

2.4-21 years

Weight

80-125

goz

g oz 

Length

23.5-29

cminch

cm inch 

Wingspan

34-38

cminch

cm inch 

24-8-2024 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - NOMAD DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Sympetrum fonscolombii)

The red-veined darter or nomad (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum.

Sympetrum fonscolombii was named under the protonym Libellula fonscolombii by the Belgian entomologist Edmond de Sélys Longchamps, in 1840, in honor of the French entomologist Étienne of Fonscolombe (hence the species name). Its name is sometimes spelt fonscolombei instead of fonscolombii but Askew (2004) gives the latter as the correct spelling.

Sympetrum fonscolombii can reach a body length of 38–40 millimetres (1.5–1.6 in). This species is similar to other Sympetrum species but a good view with binoculars should give a positive identification, especially with a male.

Males have a red abdomen, redder than many other Sympetrum species. The frons and the thorax are red-brown. The eyes are brown above and blue/grey below. The wings have red veins and the wing bases of the hind-wings are yellow. The pterostigma is pale yellow with a border of black veins.

Female are similar but the abdomen is ochre yellow, not red, with two black lines along each side. The wings have yellow veins at the costa, leading edge and base, not red veins as found in the males. The legs of both sexes are mostly black with some yellow.

Immature males are like females but often with more red and a single line along each side of the abdomen.

Male S. fonscolombii can be mistaken for Crocothemis erythraea as both are very red dragonflies with yellow bases to the wings, red veins and pale pterostigma. However C. erythraea has no black on the legs, a broader body and no black on the head. Also C. erythraea females do not oviposit in tandem. The gestalt image of these two species is different and with some experience are easy to tell apart.

24-8-2024 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - SILK FLOSS TREE (Ceiba speciosa)

Ceiba speciosa, the floss silk tree (formerly Chorisia speciosa), is a species of deciduous tree that is native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America. It has several local common names, such as palo borracho (in Spanish literally "drunken stick"), or árbol del puente, samu'ũ (in Guarani), or paineira (in Brazilian Portuguese). In Bolivia, it is called toborochi, meaning "tree of refuge" or "sheltering tree". In the USA it often is called the silk floss tree. It belongs to the same family as the baobab; the species Bombax ceiba; and other kapok trees. Another tree of the same genus, Ceiba chodatii, is often referred to by the same common names.

The natural habitat of the floss silk tree is in the northeast of Argentina, east of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. It is resistant to drought and moderate cold. It grows fast in spurts when water is abundant, and sometimes reaches more than 25 metres (82 ft) in height. Its trunk is bottle-shaped, generally bulging in its lower third, measuring up to 2 metres (7 ft) in girth. The trunk is studded with thick, sharp conical prickles that deter wild animals from climbing the trees. In younger trees, the trunk is green due to its high chlorophyll content, which makes it capable of performing photosynthesis when leaves are absent; with age it turns to gray.

The branches tend to be horizontal and also are covered with prickles. The leaves are composed of five to seven long leaflets. The flowers are creamy-whitish in the center and pink toward the tips of their five petals. They measure 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 in) in diameter and their shape is superficially similar to hibiscus flowers. Their nectar is known to attract insect pollinators and hummingbirds. C. speciosa flowers are in bloom between February and May (in its native Southern Hemisphere), but it may bloom at other times of the year, even as late as November in Florida. The flowers of the related C. chodatii are similar in form and size, but their color goes from creamy white centers to yellow tips. As a deciduous tree, it is completely bare of leaves and flowers during the winter months, especially when growing outside of its native South American habitat.

24-8-2024 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - LONG SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Orthetrum trinacria)

Orthetrum trinacria, the Long Skimmer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, France (Corsica), Gambia, Ghana, Italy (Sicily and Sardinia), Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi. It was recently recorded in the Maltese Islands in 2003 and was recorded breeding on the island of Gozo in 2004. Its natural habitats are rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes. Also breeding in Southern Spain (Murcia and Malaga Provinces) and the Canary Islands.

23-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - KIRBY'S DROPWING DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Trithemis kirbyi)

Trithemis kirbyi, also known as the Kirby's dropwing, orange-winged dropwing, or scarlet rock glider is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae.

It is found in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi. It is also present in southern Europe, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Ocean Islands and South Asia to India.

Since 2003 this African tropical dragonfly has been colonizing Europe helped by a widespread increase in temperatures. It is now breeding successfully in Spain, Portugal and France.

The adult male abdomen measures 21–24 mm and hind wing 24–27 mm. Female abdomen measures 23 mm and hind wing 26–30 mm. The male is a medium-sized scarlet dragonfly with a broad reddish amber patch on the base of transparent wings. The female is similar to the male, but duller in color. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical streams and rivers. It breeds in marshes, ponds, and lakes, and prefers to perch on exposed rocks, dry areas, and boulders in riverbeds.

23-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - MEDITERRANEAN MANTIS (OOTHECA) (Iris oratoria)

 n ootheca /oʊ.əˈθiːkə/ (pl.: oothecae /oʊ.əˈθiːsiː/) is a type of egg capsule made by any member of a variety of species including mollusks (such as Turbinella laevigata), mantises, and cockroaches.

The word is a Latinized combination of oo-, meaning "egg", from the Greek word ōon (cf. Latin ovum), and theca, meaning a "cover" or "container", from the Greek theke. Ootheke is Greek for ovary.

Oothecae are made up of structural proteins and tanning agents that cause the protein to harden around the eggs, providing protection and stability. The production of ootheca convergently evolved across numerous insect species due to a selection for protection from parasites and other forms of predation, as the complex structure of the shell casing provides an evolutionary reproductive advantage (although the fitness and lifespan also depend on other factors such as the temperature of the incubating ootheca).  Oothecae are most notably found in the orders Blattodea (Cockroaches) and Mantodea (Praying mantids), as well as in the subfamilies Cassidinae (Coleoptera) and Korinninae (Phasmatodea).

The ootheca protects the eggs from microorganisms, parasitoids, predators, and weather; the ootheca maintains a stable water balance through variation in its surface, as it is porous in dry climates to protect against desiccation, and smooth in wet climates to protect against oversaturation. Its composition and appearance vary depending on species and environment.

21-8-2024 SOLLANA, 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.

Population size

450-780 Thou

Life Span

10-20 years

Weight

165-205

goz

g oz 

Length

33-36

cminch

cm inch 

Wingspan

75

cminch

cm inch 

21-8-2024 SOLLANA, VALENCIA - NOMAD DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Sympetrum fonscolombii)

The red-veined darter or nomad (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum.

Sympetrum fonscolombii was named under the protonym Libellula fonscolombii by the Belgian entomologist Edmond de Sélys Longchamps, in 1840, in honor of the French entomologist Étienne of Fonscolombe (hence the species name). Its name is sometimes spelt fonscolombei instead of fonscolombii but Askew (2004) gives the latter as the correct spelling.

Sympetrum fonscolombii can reach a body length of 38–40 millimetres (1.5–1.6 in). This species is similar to other Sympetrum species but a good view with binoculars should give a positive identification, especially with a male.

Males have a red abdomen, redder than many other Sympetrum species. The frons and the thorax are red-brown. The eyes are brown above and blue/grey below. The wings have red veins and the wing bases of the hind-wings are yellow. The pterostigma is pale yellow with a border of black veins.

Female are similar but the abdomen is ochre yellow, not red, with two black lines along each side. The wings have yellow veins at the costa, leading edge and base, not red veins as found in the males. The legs of both sexes are mostly black with some yellow.

Immature males are like females but often with more red and a single line along each side of the abdomen.

Male S. fonscolombii can be mistaken for Crocothemis erythraea as both are very red dragonflies with yellow bases to the wings, red veins and pale pterostigma. However C. erythraea has no black on the legs, a broader body and no black on the head. Also C. erythraea females do not oviposit in tandem. The gestalt image of these two species is different and with some experience are easy to tell apart.

21-8-2024 SOLLANA, VALENCIA - SQUACCO HERON (Ardeola ralloides)

The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering in Africa. It is rare north of its breeding range. The species has been recorded in Fernando de Noronha islands, and more rarely in mainland South America, as a vagrant. This is a stocky species with a short neck, short thick bill and buff-brown back. In summer, adults have long neck feathers. Its appearance is transformed in flight, when it looks very white due to the colour of the wings.

The squacco heron's breeding habitat is marshy wetlands in warm countries. The birds nest in small colonies, often with other wading birds, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Three to four eggs are laid. They feed on fish, frogs and insects.

21-8-2024 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - COMMON SHELDUCK (JUVENILE) (Tadorna tadorna)

The common shelduck (Tadorna tadorna ) is a waterfowl species of the shelduck genus, Tadorna. It is widespread and common in the Euro-Siberian region of the Palearctic, mainly breeding in temperate and wintering in subtropical regions; in winter, it can also be found in the Maghreb.

Fossil bones from Dorkovo (Bulgaria) described as Balcanas pliocaenica may actually belong to this species. More likely, they are an extinct species of Tadorna (if not a distinct genus) due to their Early Pliocene age; the present species is not unequivocally attested from the fossil record until some 2–3 million years later (Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene).

The common shelduck resembles a small short-necked goose in size and shape. It is a striking bird, with a reddish-pink bill, pink feet, a white body with chestnut patches and a black belly, and a dark green head and neck. The wing coverts are white, the primary remiges black, and the secondaries green (only showing in flight) and chestnut. The underwings are almost entirely white. Sexes are similar, but the female is smaller, with some white facial markings, while the male is particularly crisply coloured in the breeding season, his bill bright red and bearing a prominent knob at the forehead.

Ducklings are white, with black cap, hindneck and wing and back patches. Juveniles are similarly coloured, greyish above and mostly white below, but already have the adult's wing pattern.

The call is a loud honk.

Moulting flocks can be very large (100,000 on the Wadden Sea), since most pairs leave their partially grown young in a crèche with just one or two adults.

This species is mainly associated with lakes and rivers in open country, breeding in rabbit burrows, tree holes, haystacks or similar. In winter it is common on suitable estuaries and tidal mudflats as well.

This bird is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

The young will dive under water to avoid predators and the adults will fly away from them to act as a decoy.

20-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PYRALID SNOUT MOTH ( Bostra obsoletalis)

Bostra obsoletalis is a species of moth in the family Pyralidae described by Josef Johann Mann in 1864. It is found in southern Europe, Yemen, Sudan, the Palestinian territories, Tunisia and Morocco.

The wingspan is 14–15 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August.

Common name is Asopie de Bursa.

Habitat is Phrygana, fields.

20-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - CASE BEARING LEAF BEETLE (Subfamily Cryptocephalinae)

The Cryptocephalinae are a subfamily of the leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae), and belong to the group of case-bearing leaf beetles called the Camptosomata. The cases are made from the feces of larvae, passed from one instar to the next, and ultimately serves as a pupation chamber.

The tribes Fulcidacini and Clytrini were formerly considered subfamilies of their own, and are presently treated only as tribes. Species in at least 14 genera of Clytrini and Cryptocephalini are myrmecophilous, living with ants. Most species exhibit polyphagy but there are patterns of constraints with certain plant lineages.

19-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EPAULET SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Orthetrum chrysostigma)

Orthetrum chrysostigma, the epaulet skimmer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi as well as Canary Islands, Israel, and Portugal. It was recorded in the Maltese Islands in 2010. One was also spotted in Tel Aviv, Israel in August 2022.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs. The adults prey on various flying insects. The bodies of adult males are blue, and those of young and females are yellow and brown.

18-8-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PEARL MOTH (Dolicharthria bruguieralis)

Dolicharthria bruguieralis is a species of moth in the family Crambidae. It is found from France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Greece and Turkey, east to Japan and Taiwan. It is also found in Africa, including Morocco, Algeria and South Africa.

The wingspan is about 17 millimetres (0.67 in).

It is so called on account of its pearly color.

18-8-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

The Little Egret is a small white heron with attractive white plumes on crest, back and chest, black legs and bill and yellow feet. It first appeared in the UK in significant numbers in 1989 and first bred in Dorset in 1996. Its arrival followed naturally from a range expansion into western and northern France in previous decades. It is now at home on numerous south coast sites, both as a breeding species and as a winter visitor.

With its yellow feet, which are used to flush prey when feeding in shallow water, the Little Egret is a distinctive member of the heron family.

Little Egrets first bred in Britain in 1996 and since then have successfully colonised much of southern Britain and Ireland. Most of the breeding colonies have been established within existing Grey Heron colonies, the two species nesting alongside one another.

The winter distribution is also currently restricted to the southern half of Britain & Ireland, despite the fact that young birds are known to move some distance from their natal site.