25-9-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - SPOTTED LADY'S THUMB (Persicaria maculosa)

Persicaria maculosa (syn. Polygonum persicaria) is an annual plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae. Common names include lady's thumb, spotted lady's thumb, Jesusplant, and redshank. It is widespread across Eurasia from Iceland south to Portugal and east to Japan. It is also present as an introduced and invasive species in North America, where it was first noted in the Great Lakes region in 1843 and has now spread through most of the continent.

Persicaria maculosa is an annual herb up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall, with an erect, rather floppy stem with swollen joints. The leaves are alternate and almost stalkless. The leaf blades often have a brown or black spot in the centre and are narrowly ovate and have entire margins. Each leaf base has stipules which are fused into a stem-enclosing sheath that is loose and fringed with long hairs at the upper end. The inflorescence is a dense spike. The perianth of each tiny pink flower consists of four or five lobes, fused near the base. There are six stamens, two fused carpels and two styles. The fruit is a shiny black, three-edged achene. This plant flowers from July to September in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.

The species was first described, as Polygonum persicaria, by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. It was first successfully transferred to the genus Persicaria by Samuel Frederick Gray in 1821, under the name Persicaria maculosa. The name "Persicaria persicaria" cannot be used because tautonyms – binomial names that use the same word for both the genus and the species epithet – are prohibited by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, and a replacement name (nomen novum) must be used. For this reason the transfer of the species to Persicaria by John Kunkel Small in 1903, which used the tautonym, is invalid.

Persicaria maculosa is native to Europe and Asia, where it can be mistaken for Polygonum minus. The latter has narrower leaves, usually less than 1 cm wide. It has been introduced to North America and is naturalised throughout the mainland continent, growing along roadsides, riverbanks, and on fallow ground. In the United States, it is very similar to Pennsylvania smartweed, but redshank has a fringe of hairs at the top of the ochrea, something which Pennsylvania smartweed lacks. The species has also been found in New Zealand and Australia.

Persicaria maculosa contains persicarin and tannins. The young leaves may be eaten as a leaf vegetable. It is often seen as a weed and rarely cultivated. A yellow dye can be produced from this plant with alum used as a mordant.

5-9-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - LAMENTING GRASSHOPPER (Eyprepocnemis plorans)

Eyprepocnemis plorans, the lamenting grasshopper, is a species of insect in the family Acrididae. It is the type species of the genus Eyprepocnemis, and is found in Africa, parts of the Middle East, and southern Europe. It typically inhabits wetlands and other moist habitats.

This is a medium-sized grasshopper, with females growing to a length of about 4.5 cm (1.8 in), while males are slightly smaller. The general colour is greyish-brown. The head and prothorax have a central dark band edged with paler stripes. The eye has a longitudinal dark streak, a characteristic shared by Anacridium aegyptium, Heteracris annulosa and Heteracris adspersa. The femurs of the hind legs have greenish, blue and yellow striations, and the hind tibia have reddish or bluish iridescence, and black and white spines.

Eyprepocnemis plorans is native to much of Africa, parts of the Middle East such as Iran, and southern Europe, where it is present in southern Greece, southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia and southern Spain. It seems to be expanding its range northwards in Italy, possibly as a result of putative climate change. It usually occurs in wetlands, reed beds, freshwater and salt marshes, riverside vegetation, coastal vegetation and man-made habitats. It appreciates vertical-growing stems such as reeds, and habitats with tall forbs mixed with lower-growing plants.

Grasshoppers are in general polyphagous, eating vegetation from many different plant sources. Eyprepocnemis plorans feeds mainly on grasses and sedges. The female deposits an egg pod in the ground and the eggs hatch in the spring. The nymphs undergo five moults, becoming more similar to the adult insect at each developmental stage; they do not undergo metamorphosis and mature in the summer. In parts of the range many adults survive the winter. This species is rather wary and is a good flier.

17-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SARDINIAN WARBLER (FEMALE) (Sylvia melanocephala)

The adult female in breeding plumage is duller than male with dull grey head, brownish upperparts and cream-buff underparts with brownish-olive body sides. Bare parts are often paler than in male. In non-breeding plumage, she has tinged brownish head and duller contrasts.

The Sardinian Warbler feeds primarily on arthropods, but it also consumes a large amount of fruit and berries in autumn and winter, and nectar too. Invertebrates include insects and larvae of numerous species, spiders and small snails.

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.

24-9-2024 EL PALMAR, ALBUFERA - BLACK HEADED GULL (JUVENILE) (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

 The Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) is a small and one of the most abundant gulls in much of Europe and Asia, and also in eastern Canada. It displays a variety of compelling behaviors and adaptations. Some of these include removing eggshells from one's nest after hatching, begging co-ordination between siblings, differences between sexes, conspecific brood parasitism, and extra-pair paternity.

The summer adult has a chocolate-brown head (not black, although does look black from a distance), a pale grey body, black tips to the primary wing feathers, and a red bill and legs. The hood is lost in winter, leaving just two dark spots. Immature birds have a mottled pattern of brown spots over most of the body and a black band on the tail. There is no difference in plumage between the sexes. In flight, the white leading edge to the wing is a good field mark. First-year birds have a black terminal tail band, more dark areas in the wings, and, in summer, a less fully developed dark hood.

24-9-2024 EL PALMAR, ALBUFERA - GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba)

Population size

Unknown

Life Span

15-22 years

Top speed

51

km/hmph

km/h mph 

Weight

700-1500

goz

g oz 

Height

1

mft

m ft 

Length

80-104

cminch

The Great egret (Ardea alba) is a large, widely distributed wading bird. Like all egrets, it is a member of the heron family, Ardeidae, and its close relatieves are pelicans. The Great egret is sometimes confused with the Great white heron of the Caribbean, which is a white morph of the closely related Great blue heron.

This elegant heron is completely white with its magnificent plumage, reminding lace. The bill of the Great egret is sharp, long and yellow in color. The bird has long, black feet and legs. During the breeding season, the bill becomes a bit darker while the legs get lighter. This bird possesses a very long neck, exceeding the length of its body. The bird has a notable kink of its neck, curving the necks into a "S" shape when flying. Male and female egrets generally look similar, though females are a bit smaller than males. Young egrets usually look like non-breeding adults. During the breeding season, these birds grow long, lacy shaped feathers known as "aigrettes”, stretching them in an impressive display.

These birds are widely distributed throughout the world including North and South Americas, Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. In Africa, they can be found only outside the breeding season. Great egrets prefer living near any water body, occurring along streams, lakes, in saltwater and freshwater marshes, muddy areas, and ponds. Just like other heron species, these birds are most frequently found in wetlands and wooded swamps.

Great egrets are diurnal feeders. They can feed both in flocks of their own kind and these of other heron species. At sunset, egrets of surrounding areas usually come together, roosting in colonies. They feed in shallow water, walking slowly and looking for prey. And when the prey is spotted, they abruptly thrust the bill into the water, catching it. They will also steal a great part of their food from smaller heron species. After breeding, these birds usually disperse. Egrets, living in mild climates, remain in their breeding areas throughout the winter while those, breeding in northern regions where water freezes during the winter, have to migrate. As with many bird species, Great egrets become rather aggressive when it comes to feeding, even if there's an abundance of food. Occasionally, even parents can fight for food with their young.

24-9-2024 EL PALMAR, ALBUFERA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

Grey herons are the largest birds most of us ever see in our garden: the wing span is around 6ft.

Despite their size, they are surprisingly light, weighing on average only half as much as a greylag goose.

The old English name for a heron was hragra; other names now largely fallen into disuse include harn, hernser and hernshaw. Heron comes from the French, for the French name is héron céndre.

In medieval times the heron was a favourite quarry of falconers who valued its great flying skills and ability to evade the falcon's stoops.

Roast herons were also popular at medieval banquets: the young birds, called branchers, were thought to be the best to eat.

The fat of a heron killed at full moon was once believed to be a cure for rheumatism.

Herons are sociable birds when nesting, invariably nesting in long-established heronries.

Most heronries are in trees, with the majority of nests at least 25m above the ground. However, reed-bed heronries are not unusual, and they will also nest on cliffs, bushes, sometimes even on buildings of bridges.

Heronries can reach a prodigious size: one at Great Snowden's Wood, near Brede in Sussex, contained around 400 nests in 1866.

The biggest heronry in Britain is currently at Northward Hill in Kent, an RSPB reserve. Numbers here have peaked at over 200 nests, but the current total is around 150.

24-9-2024 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.

24-9-2024 CREU DE LONGA, ALBUFERA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of three to five bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents for about three weeks. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.

Its breeding distribution is in wetlands in warm temperate to tropical parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A successful colonist, its range has gradually expanded north, with stable and self-sustaining populations now present in the United Kingdom.

24-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - COMMON SUNFLOWER

The common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds which are used in the production of cooking oil, as well as other uses such as food for livestock, bird food, and planting in domestic gardens for aesthetics. Wild plants are known for their multiple flower heads, whereas the domestic sunflower often possesses a single large flower head atop an unbranched stem.

In the binomial name Helianthus annuus, the genus name is derived from the Greek ἥλιος : hḗlios 'sun' and ἄνθος : ánthos 'flower'. The species name annuus means 'annual' in Latin.

The plant was first domesticated in the Americas. Sunflower seeds were brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient. With time, the bulk of industrial-scale production has shifted to Eastern Europe, and (as of 2020) Russia and Ukraine together produce over half of worldwide seed production.

The plant has an erect rough-hairy stem, reaching typical heights of 3 metres (10 feet). The tallest sunflower on record achieved 9.17 m (30 ft 1 in). Sunflower leaves are broad, coarsely toothed, rough and mostly alternate; those near the bottom are largest and commonly heart-shaped. 

24-9-2024 CATARROJA, VALENCIA - IBERIAN GREY SHRIKE (Lanius meridionalis)

The Iberian grey shrike (Lanius meridionalis ) is a member of the shrike family. It is closely related to the great grey shrike, Lanius excubitor, and its plumage is generally similar to the great grey shrike apart from the differences noted below. The Iberian was previously considered conspecific with the great grey; where they co-occur, they do not interbreed and are separated by choice of habitat.

This medium-sized passerine bird eats large insects, small birds and rodents. Like other shrikes it hunts from prominent perches, and impales corpses on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder".

Butcher Birds are so called for their habit of keeping a "larder" of their prey stuck on spikes. These spikes used to take the form of hawthorn trees etc, but these have now largely been replaced by the ubiquitous barbed-wire, and it is not uncommon to find a grisly row of beetles, crickets, lizards and skinks etc hanging from a roadside fence. This is nowadays seen more as a territorial attraction for the female rather than as a larder for later consumption.

Thrush-sized bird; pale gray overall with black mask. Found in open, dry desert and semidesert areas across Portugal and Spain, into France. Feeds on insects, small reptiles, and birds. Often seen using prominent perches, including power lines and short treetops that offer perfect vantages for shrikes to spot their prey. Carnivorous habits make shrikes unique among passerines. Feeds on rodents and small birds. In flight, watch for white patches in the wings. Like many other shrikes, vocally quite varied and talented, giving a wide range of buzzes, rasps, whistles, warbles, and imitations.

This species has been uplisted to Vulnerable as it is undergoing rapid population declines. The main driver of the decline is thought to be a combination of agricultural intensification and increased pesticide and herbicide use, and the cessation of sheep grazing leading to the invasion of scrub.

23-9-2024 POTRIES, 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.[not verified in body] 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.

23-9-2024 VILLALONGA CAMPO, VALENCIA - CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY (Colias croceus)

Colias croceus, clouded yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, the yellows and whites.

Colias croceus is one of the most widespread species in Europe. The common clouded yellow's breeding range is North Africa and southern Europe and eastwards through Turkey into the Middle East, but it occurs throughout much of Europe as a summer migrant, in good years individuals reaching Scandinavia. In Asia, its range extends into central Siberia in the north and barely into India in the south; it is not found in Central Asia.

This species is primarily an immigrant to the UK, originating from southern Europe and northern Africa. In the UK they can be seen on the south coast almost every year in varying numbers, and regularly breed there. Occurrence in the rest of the UK varies considerably from year to year, but they are increasingly observed as far north as Dumfries and Galloway. It has also been recorded in Ireland from the Raven, Co. Wexford, to Belfast, Co. Down.

A truly migratory European butterfly, this species is famous for occasional mass migrations and subsequent breeding, which are often referred to in the United Kingdom as "clouded yellow years". Notable clouded yellow years include 1877, 1947, 1983, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2000.

These butterflies may live in any open area in the countryside, including downland, coastal cliffs and fields containing the caterpillar's host plants, at an elevation up to 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea level.

23-9-2024 VILLALONGA CAMPO, VALENCIA - SNAKE MILLIPEDE (Ommatoiulus rutilans)

Ommatoiulus rutilans (C. L. Koch, 1847) Common name “Millipede”

Length 1.5 to 38mm.

Average lifespan 7 years

Widespread in Spain and into the mid, east and south of Europe.

Millipedes have an Omnivore diet, (both plant and animal matter are eaten) mainly feeding on detritus (decaying plant matter).

Diplopods (known scientifically as the class Diplopoda) are a class of myriads commonly known as “millipedes” (Latin name for a thousand feet) although the maximum number of legs on a millipede recorded does not exceed 750, ( The 750 record goes to the species named “Illacme plenipes”) most millipedes have less than 200.

Although millipedes are sometimes mistaken for their relatives, the centipede. Centipedes belong to a different class. Millipedes differ from them, mainly, in that almost all segments of the trunk have two pairs of legs, while centipedes have only one pair per segment.

Millipedes, are vulnerable to many kinds of predators. It does have a defence mechanism, by curling up rapidly into a spiral and also releasing a pungent smelling liquid. This deters many animals, so as to let the millipede go.

Millipedes are important recyclers because they return chemicals to the soil, for plants to use again. But for the gardener millipedes are mainly regarded as a pest.

The female usually lays her eggs concealed on the ground, in amongst or under decaying decomposing leaves and wood. The larvae will moult eight to twelve times before becoming adult. They will live under stones, rocks, fallen leaves and in crevasses of decaying wood. They can live in damp and arid areas, but cannot survive the dry atmosphere found inside many buildings.

22-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - COMMON SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus)

The common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds which are used in the production of cooking oil, as well as other uses such as food for livestock, bird food, and planting in domestic gardens for aesthetics. Wild plants are known for their multiple flower heads, whereas the domestic sunflower often possesses a single large flower head atop an unbranched stem.

In the binomial name Helianthus annuus, the genus name is derived from the Greek ἥλιος : hḗlios 'sun' and ἄνθος : ánthos 'flower'. The species name annuus means 'annual' in Latin.

The plant was first domesticated in the Americas. Sunflower seeds were brought to Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, where, along with sunflower oil, they became a widespread cooking ingredient. With time, the bulk of industrial-scale production has shifted to Eastern Europe, and (as of 2020) Russia and Ukraine together produce over half of worldwide seed production.

The plant has an erect rough-hairy stem, reaching typical heights of 3 metres (10 feet). The tallest sunflower on record achieved 9.17 m (30 ft 1 in). Sunflower leaves are broad, coarsely toothed, rough and mostly alternate; those near the bottom are largest and commonly heart-shaped.

The plant flowers in summer. What is often called the "flower" of the sunflower is actually a "flower head" (pseudanthium), 7.5–12.5 centimetres (3–5 in) wide, of numerous small individual five-petaled flowers ("florets"). The outer flowers, which resemble petals, are called ray flowers. Each "petal" consists of a ligule composed of fused petals of an asymmetrical ray flower. They are sexually sterile and may be yellow, red, orange, or other colors. The spirally arranged flowers in the center of the head are called disk flowers. These mature into fruit (sunflower "seeds").

The prairie sunflower (H. petiolaris) is similar in appearance to the wild common sunflower; the scales in its central disk are tipped by white hairs.

23-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SATIN WAVE MOTH (Idaea subsericeata)

Idaea subsericeata, the satin wave, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1809. It is found from central and southern Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor to Transcaspia.

The ground colour is white with strong silky gloss, the lines grey, seldom strongly expressed, on the other hand usually all present, thus numbering five on the forewing and four on the hindwing; the outermost line (distal shading of subterminal) the oftenest absent; all except the median are parallel with the distal margin, but slightly wavy; the median on the forewing is usually somewhat oblique, but occasionally almost parallel with the others; that of the hindwing runs straighter across the wing, instead of following the curve of the strongly convex distal margin. Cellspots and terminal line wanting or rarely the former present, minute; fringe usually with a series of minute black dots at the base, which are sometimes in part, more rarely entirely obsolete. Forewing beneath often with a smoky suffusion, either basally or all over; median and postmedian lines present, often well developed; a small discal dot present. Hindwing beneath white, with discal dot and postmedian line. Male antennal ciliation little longer than diameter of shaft; hindtarsus short. 

Not on the whole an extremely variable species, except in size; there is, however, a great deal of trivial variation, i.e. as regards the absolute or relative strength of the several lines, the close proximity of the inner subterminal to the postmedian or their wider separation, the degree of suffusion of the under surface, etc. Second-brood specimens, besides being smaller seem to be on an average whiter beneath and are sometimes rounder winged. The oval egg has a depression in the middle of the upper end. The surface has small, flat recesses. It is initially light yellow and later turns bright orange with red spots.The caterpillar is relatively slender, the diameter decreasing a little at the front end. It is whitish grey, grey, grey-brown or brown and shows a slightly reddish dorsum. The surface looks wrinkled and is studded with fine warts. The dorsal line is relatively narrow, dark and is lined with dark dots. The lateral lines are yellowish white. The large head has a notch in the middle of the apex.The pupa is blackish brown to golden brown with greenish wing-sheaths . It is nine millimeters long and measures 2.9 millimeters in diameter. The cremaster is about as long as wide and is studded with four pairs of hook-shaped curved bristles.

The species has a wingspan of 22–25 mm. The adults fly in one generation from June to July

The larvae feed on low growing plants such as knotgrass, dandelion and chickweed. It prefers warm slopes, sun-exposed forest edges and clearings, rows of hedgerows, dry grass, fallow fields, abandoned vineyards and dry salt marshes near the coast.

23-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - PUG MOTH (Eupithecia semigraphata)

Eupithecia semigraphata is a moth in the family Geometridae. It is found from most of Europe (except the Netherlands, Ireland, Great Britain, Denmark, Fennoscandia, the Baltic region and Portugal) to the Caucasus and Armenia. It is also present on the Canary Islands and North Africa.

The wingspan is about 18–20 mm. Adults are on wing from late June to August in one generation per year.

The larvae feed on the flowers of Calamintha (including Calamintha nepeta and Calamintha sylvatica), Hypericum, Origanum and Thymus species. The species overwinters in the pupal stage.

It has a wingspan of 16-20 mm. The colour of the upper side of the wings can be whitish, brown, ochre or greyish with a multitude of shades that give it a cryptic appearance. In this pattern, a series of dark spots stand out on the upper side of the forewings along the costa that slightly penetrate the rest of the wing (in less defined specimens). In other specimens these spots are the start of the multiple transverse wavy lines, of darker colour and of variable thickness, that run along the wing from the costa to the inner margin. There is an elongated dark-coloured spot in the cell of each wing, often integrated and concealed in a transverse line. The hind wings are not usually lighter, but retain the tone of the forewings.

22-4-2016 MONTE CORONA - COAL TIT (Periparus ater)

The Coal tit (Periparus ater) is a small passerine bird widespread and common resident breeder throughout the temperate to subtropical Palearctic, including North Africa.

The Coal tit has a distinctive large white nape spot on its black head. The head, throat, and neck of the adult are glossy blue-black, setting off the off-white sides of the face (tinged grey to yellow depending on subspecies) and the brilliant white nape; the white tips of the wing coverts appear as two wingbars. The underparts are whitish shading through buff to rufous on the flanks. The bill is black, the legs lead-colored, and the irides dark brown. The young birds are duller than the adults, lacking gloss on the black head, and with the white of nape and cheeks tinged with yellow.

Population size

90-165 Mlnlnn

Life Span

2-4 years

Weight

8-10

goz

g oz 

Length

10-11.5

cminch

cm inch 

Wingspan

17-21

cminch

cm inch 

Coal tits are found throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa. They are all-year residents throughout almost all range, making only local movements in response to particularly severe weather; only the Siberian birds have a more regular migration. Coal tits prefer humid conifer forests but also frequent shrubland, conifer plantations, gardens, and urban areas.

Coal tits are social birds and often form small flocks in winter with other tits. They resemble other tits in acrobatic skill and restless activity, though they more frequently pitch on a trunk, and in little hops resemble a treecreeper. Coal tits are active during the day spending most of their time searching for food trees. They also visit gardens to feed on a variety of foods put out, particularly sunflower seeds. While searching for food, Coal tit flocks keep contact with incessant short 'dee' or 'see-see' calls. Their song is a strident 'if-he, if-he, if-he', heard most frequently from January to June, but also in autumn. The song resembles that of the Great tit, but much faster and higher in pitch. North African birds also have a 'currr' call similar to that of the European crested tit which is not found in Africa.

Coal tits breed once per year between March and late July. They prefer to nest in a hole in a rotting tree stump, often low down, and the nest is deep within the hole; holes in the ground, burrows of mice or rabbits, chinks between the stones in walls, old nests of Pica magpies or other large birds, and squirrel dreys are also occupied. The materials, moss, hair, and grass, are closely felted together, and rabbit fur or feathers are added for the lining. The female lays 7 to 11 red-spotted white eggs and incubates them for 14-16 days. The chicks hatch blind and helpless and remain in the nest for about 14 to 19 days.

22-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - OLEANDER SEED BUG (Caenocoris nerii)

Caenocoris nerii, common name oleander seedbug, is a species of ground bugs in the insect family Lygaeidae.

The species name nerii refers to the main host plant Nerium oleander.

This species is present in part of Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy and Spain), in the Afrotropical realm and in the Indomalayan realm.

Caenocoris nerii can reach a length of about 7.5–9.5 millimetres (0.30–0.37 in). The female is larger than the male. Bodies are elongated. The basic color of the body is black, with red markings. Two red quadrangular patches are present on the head. Two red markings appear on the shoulders of pronotum and at the inner margins of the hemielytra, which only partially cover the membranous blackish wings. Scutellum and abdomen are completely red.

Females usually lay eggs on the leaves of Nerium oleander (hence the common name of the species). All stages of nymphs suck almost exclusively the milky juice of the main host plant (Nerium oleander), but they may also feed on Asclepiadaceae species. Nynphs overwinter. Adults normally feed on the Oleander's fruits and seed. These aposematic bugs are usually rejected by predators because of their toxins derived from the host plant.

22-9-2024 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - RED SWAMP CRAYFISH (Procambarus clarkii)

 Procambarus clarkii, known variously as the red swamp crayfish, Louisiana crawfish or mudbug, is a species of cambarid crayfish native to freshwater bodies of northern Mexico, and southern and southeastern United States, but also introduced elsewhere (both in North America and other continents), where it is often an invasive pest.

P. clarkii is typically dark red, with long claws and head, small or no spines on the sides of its carapace just below the head, and rows of bright red bumps on the front and side of the first leg.

The native range of P. clarkii is from northern Mexico and far southeastern New Mexico, through the Gulf States to the Florida Panhandle, as well as inland north through the Mississippi Basin to southern Illinois. It has also been introduced, sometimes deliberately, outside its natural range to countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and elsewhere in the Americas. In northern Europe, the populations are self-maintaining but not expanding, while in southern Europe, P. clarkii is multiplying and actively colonizing new territories at the expense of the native crayfish, Astacus astacus and Austropotamobius spp. Individuals are reported to be able to cross many miles of relatively dry ground, especially in wet seasons, although the aquarium trade and anglers may have hastened the spread in some areas (anglers using P. clarkii as fishing bait are thought to have introduced it to the state of Washington). Attempts have also been made to use P. clarkii as a biological control organism, to reduce levels of the snails involved in the lifecycle of schistosomiasis, leading to the dispersal of P. clarkii in, for instance, Kenya.

In Europe, P. clarkii is included since 2016 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

22-9-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - KIRBY'S DROPWING DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Trithemis kirbyi),

Trithemis kirbyi, also known as the Kirby's dropwing[1], 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.[3] 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.