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I have recently returned from a week's holiday in Andalusia (9-16 October) mainly devoted to butterfly and plant hunting, but also including birds. I stayed in the peaceful and charming Andalusian mountain village of Albanchez (465m :c 1500 ft ASL) some 3 hours' drive from Alicante Airport and where Peter Cawdell, Chairman of the Lincs Butterfly Branch of Butterfly Conservation, has a family villa. The weather remained fine all week (eg 32°C on 15 October).
We concentrated on 3 mountain chains:
Sierra de los Filabres (highest point - 2168m c. 7900ft ASL which we actually reached (minus a few metres or so) to see the impressive Observatorio del Calar Alto
Sierra Cabrera - highest point 960m c. 3500ft ASL
Sierra Maria - highest point 2045m c. 7500ft ASL
plus some coastal areas.
We identified some 30+ species and forms of butterfly plus 60+ species of birds, with highlights including;
Griffon Vulture - group of 10
Chough - group of c. 50
Marsh Harrier - 2 cc together at a mountain pass on migration
Golden Eagle
Spotless Starling - large flocks of up to 150 in the villages
Red-rumped Swallow
Black Wheatear
Blue Rock Thrush
Ring Ouzel - group of 6
Serin
Hoopoe
Sardinian Warbler
Black Redstart
Crossbill
Thekla Lark
Crested Lark
Fan-tailed Warbler (Zitting Cisticola)
Cetti's Warbler
Crag Martin
Rock Bunting
Audouin's Gull
Yellow-legged Gull
Ruddy Duck (presumably on the look-out for White-headed Duck)
I have put some butterfly notes on the LBC Butterfly sub site.
Regards
Freddy
Last edited by Freddy Johnson on Fri Jan 07, 2011 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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