¡Hola 2015!

Hey everybody.

I'm  not one for giving a mahoosively in depth explanation of my absence because I'm sure you've all got busy lives to be on with (also there isn't an explanation), but here I am, back again.

My 2015 has started off in an always sunny, but not so warm corner of La Mancha... where else?! Despite the weather basically being the same as back home on our Island, with the new year arrived a miniscule amount of warmth and the opportunity for a brand new year list. A chilled out walk up to the castle and around the village provided some lovely starters for the year, including Black Redstart, Chiffchaff, and a second (but even poorer) view of Dartford Warbler, bustling among the Opuntia plastered rocks as we made our way down the village. Oh, and of course, the usual suspects House Sparrow, Starling, and Kestrel. Not bad for a morning!

Apart from a short expedition into the forest for a session of planting Holm and Kermes Oak acorns and plantlings with ARBA, where heard-only Treecreeper, Sandgrouse, and Woodlark didn't quite make the new list, our only other nature 'excursion' during the last week has been to and from the village. Fences and fences of Goldfinches and Linnets, one Kestrel, and a large unidentified raptor was yesterday's selection, but I live in hope that plenty more trips around those parts will provide me at long last with my bogey bird; Little Bustard.

Wildlife Watching in Driffield, Spring 2014 | Video

Long time no post!

At long last I am here with another post for Pink Cuckoos, but a bit of a different one. In the past few months I have been trying my hand at making nature videos. They are basically wildlife showreels, and I have just uploaded my third and latest, which can be viewed below. So far the videos have been focused around the flora and fauna of local sites within East Yorkshire, but I'm hoping to expand into a bit of vlogging when I fly out to Spain in a couple of weeks time for the summer, in order to give an insight into the exciting species on offer on the Iberian peninsula.

My Recommendations | Brilliant Botany

The other day whilst surfing the web looking for botany blogs, I found a total internet gem.

     Brilliant Botany is a site full of all sorts of awesome bits and pieces and nuggets of info - stuff from gifs of pine cones opening to stunning close ups of leaves and their cells, and amazing facts such as that NASA are planning to grow plants on the MOON! (Sorry if I'm a bit slow with that news).

     If that wasn´t good enough, there is also a YouTube channel which is equally ace (especially if you´re too lazy to read a blog) - I highly recommend checking both out!

BLOG: brilliantbotany.com

YOUTUBE:

Bird Drawing of the Day: Woodpigeon

    Some of you might remember the series of posts that I used to call 'Biro Bird of the Day', where I showed my biro drawings of birds (duh). Encouraged by some of my friends, I've decided to start over this section renaming it 'Bird Drawing of the Day', as I feel encouraged to use new techniques such as watercolours. For my first drawing I chose one of the commonest birds of our part of the world, the Woodpigeon.

Goodbye old friend... A blog post 8 months overdue

BEN

???? - 2013

Some of you may have seen my post 'Ben...', which I published almost a year ago on here. For those who don't know about 'Ben', to cut a long story short, he's a Churchyard Beetle (Blaps mucronata). 

Pressing Matters pt. 1 | Flora

My Herbarium: Way too girly, I know.

For the past five months or so, I have been working on a herbarium. For those of you who maybe don't know what a herbarium is (I didn't until this year, shamefully, considering I am studying for a Zoology degree and my parents are basically botanists), it is a collection of pressed plant specimens, each with a label to give information about that particular plant, and is something often created by universities or botanical gardens, along with other organisations and individuals.
        For me, my herbarium started out as just something for me to learn a little about plants but just have a nice time compiling. Now however, my purposes have changed somewhat. Although I still want it to be something to do for my own enjoyment in my free time, it has totally changed my perspective on plants, and in fact Plants are becoming to me just as, if not more interesting than birds.

La Mancha August 2013 | Weeks 3, 4 & 5 – Semanas III, IV, V

This post is going to be shorter and more random than the last one, as for one reason or another we didn't end up doing as much this past three weeks but I'm going to write about some of the highlights. 

Madrid: We went to Madrid on the 14th September, one of my favourite cities and the first stop was the Real Jardín Botánico. What an amazing place! As we walked beside the gardens and approached the entrance, the sound of parakeets resonated everywhere. The gardens are phenomenal with plants familiar to me from England such as Quercus robur (English Oak), alongside more exotic species such as Hibiscus syriacus, and Spanish endemisms such as the Canarian Palm (Phoenix canariensis).
    As we were walking around, I noticed a large butterfly flying around - A MONARCH! - I couldn't believe my eyes, as it was one of those species that was so familiar to me but not in the flesh. One of the best nature moments ever for me, and I even managed a decent-ish picture was a miracle for me.

Monarch Butterfly Danaeus plexippus

Plants: As with the last trip, Gui and I spent some time collecting plants for our herbariums. One day, in what I think was the third week, we once again spent the day in the mountains in the south of the province. This time we went to a different area to the previous, and instead went to the Riópar area. One of the most amazing places I have ever visited, which we visited that day was El Nacimiento del Rio Mundo. Mountains, waterfalls, pines, vultures... what more could you want! And an amazing array of flora. Ferns were one of the main plants we saw this trip, and the park of the Nacimiento del Rio Mundo was no exception. We saw four species on the site alone; Asplenium trichomanes, Ceterach officinarium, Adiantum capillus-veneris, and Pteridium aquilinum; one of our most familiar and widespread Fern species: Bracken. As if five species of these fascinating plants wasn't enough, whilst driving through Riópar on the way for Lunch; Gui spotted some Equisetums (Horsetails) on the outskirts of the village. After Lunch we stopped off to get some cuttings for our herbarium and after some identification at home we came to the conclusion of Equisetum telmateia. One of the most interesting additions! 

        Although we did get many other species, I'm going to save it all for a Herbarium post which you can expect at some point in the future so I can go into a bit more detail, and also due to the fact that I am not with them right now and have forgotten most of them. 

Dotterels: Our last wildlife trip out was to see one of the most beautiful waders: the Dotterel (Charadrius morinellus). We (Rafa, Gui and I) didn't have to journey far as in Albacete, the sandy, agricultural land in the outskirts of the city provides a great stopping ground for these birds whilst on passage. We first travelled down some of the many dirt tracks which wove between the fields, but were unsuccessful on the Dotterel front for a while, though we did see Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus), and my first views of one not in flight, as well as Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), Little Owl (Athene noctua), and always lovely, a Hoopoe (Upupa epops). When we arrived at the site of the Dotterels, we were traversing the sandy field, trying not to sink in when Gui spotted a strange looking falcon. On the first glance, Hobby seemed the obvious option as the behaviour was very much the same; chasing a Hirundine. However after having a closer look, the shape was not Swift-like like a hobby, and the bird was slightly larger and furthermore different in colour. After a moment of pondering, Rafa confirmed that it was in fact an Eleonora's Falcon; a lifer for Gui and I as we had missed out the last time in Spain, as Rafa had seen some in the same site just a couple of days after we went. As if this wasn't awesome enough, within a minute or so of the sighting, we finally found our Dotterels. At first, we didn't get such great views but they were quite obliging and on getting closer I even managed to get an ok photo. We walked on further, towards the car and found a field full of individuals, and got even better views, but as we did the sun started to go down and so it was time to head home.

Short-toed Eagle feeding on a Woodpigeon

Hoopoe

Dotterel

And that's it for the Spain reports for now, though I am hoping to return at Christmas for the third instalment!