Holiday to Spain part 1

[Philzoid]

Dear UKB’ers
You may be aware that this is my third “holiday posting” from a holiday abroad in 2015. Believe me I’m not made of money but because we were unable to get a booking with Club-la Costa for the summer period for 2016, our only option was to take what was available (use your (paid up) points or lose them). Availability was a week in Fuengirola, Spain over the Christmas and New Year.
Eating into our 2016 holiday budget for a winter holiday which on the face of it would provide little prospect of butterflying, didn’t enthuse me . I certainly didn’t expect I’d end up writing a report even though Chris Jackson advised me that there would be butterflies to see. You were spot-on Chris .

We flew out early on the 26th just 16 days after I’d been in hospital for a major nasal polypectomy operation. Because I wasn’t sure I would be making the holiday (having previously experienced the trauma from a nasal polypectomy post-operation infection) I didn’t book us a hire car.

At Gatwick I bought a copy of National Geographic magazine for something to read during the flight and there was a short, interesting article on the flying techniques of Neotropical forest Nymphalids from the satyrini and haeterini tribes. The latter have proportionally longer forewings than the former and this allows them to fly closer to the forest floor and make use of the aerodynamic phenomenon of ground effect which increases lift and decreases drag. This enables the haeterini to glide more and avoid using up energy in flapping flight.
http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Am ... pireta.htm

At Malaga airport we boarded our pre-booked a taxi transfer to our resort on the western side of Fuengirola. The Spanish driver was friendly, talkative and a master of the ‘look no hands’ style of getting from A to B .

After getting unpacked and settled into our modest but well-appointed 2-bedroom apartment we decided to explore the resort on foot (although there is a car-train service for those who don’t like all the effort of walking or who simply cannot manage all the hills) The initial plan was to visit all the places we knew about from our last holiday to the resort in 2007. First stop was Zachary’s bar for a sit-down lunch and drink. Afterwards we moved on with the girls going on ahead. Suddenly a shout went up: - “Dad …. Butterfly!” I rounded the palm tree and there it was, a Speckled Wood of the orange spotted form aegeria, poised to spring into action as they so often do. Thankfully it hung around long enough for me to get reasonably close-in for a shot with my 1100D and 18-55mm kit lens combination, which is fine for general photography (and not too bad it seems for the odd butterfly picture). However, the Sigma macro and Tamron zoom were going to be kept close to hand from now on .

So we’d only been a few hours in Spain and already a nice Specklie. The weather up to that point, was like late September in S.E England … sunny and pleasantly warm .

The local mini-mart was closed until 16:00 (stocking up on provisions would have to wait) so we carried on down to the beach (Playa El Ejido) accessed via a tunnel under the A-7 main road. While the girls did some paddling, I collected some of the better examples of cockle and clam shells that festooned the shoreline .

Pockets full of shells I then searched the banks by the roadside for butterflies but found nothing but a couple of crambid moths: - Spoladea recurvalis (Hawaiian Beet Webworm) among the (invasive) sprawling ice plants Carpobrotus edulis. I’d seen this moth in Tenerife on two occasions before. This species turned out to be very common in Spain.

Spoladea recurvalis

A lot of the weeds and garden ornamentals were in flower so that any butterflies about would have an adequate supply of nectar. I took to photographing some of the flowers I encountered during the holiday.

Yellow-horned Poppy Glaucium flavum

Along the shoreline was a small Wader which I believe is a Turnstone. A handsome bird even in winter plumage which seemed fairly easy to approach until I pushed it just a bit too much and it was off . Once airborne it moved off quickly, but 15 minutes later ‘it’ was back with ‘some mates in tow’, four of them this time.

Turnstone

Also seen was the occasional solitary Gannet.

Sunday morning was sunny but unfortunately we’d been scheduled in for our obligatory Club-la Costa estates presentation with complimentary breakfast. These meetings invariably lead to us being subjected to half a day of salesman’s pitch grilling, in which a restrained “no thanks” cuts no ice. The fact that we had only just bought into their “fractions” product leaving us with a big loan to pay off, had no bearing on their attempt to get us ‘upgraded’ to their new “signature” package with their ‘wow factor’ designer apartments . Eventually you have to resort to spelling it out forcefully and in no uncertain terms. I hate these sessions .
By the time we were released in the mid-afternoon the sunny warm weather of the morning had been replaced by cooler conditions with hazy cloud. The others decided to use the heated pool at Zachary’s so while there I checked the area where I’d seen the Speckled Wood the day before. This time there was a bonus: - two specklies , though they were a bit more active than the one yesterday.

Speckled wood duelling in flight

With the kids happily ensconced in the pool and Sharon relaxing with a book, I made my way back to Playa El Ejido. The wind had been getting stronger and the waves and the beach fishermen with taut lines reminded me of the North Sea and the beach at Ryhope, Sunderland (where I grew up), with big white-topped rollers crashing in on the shoreline.

As going for a swim in the sea was out of the question, I made my way back to the apartment and whilst waiting for the others took a photo of a Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros on an apartment roof opposite. Up until then the only small birds I’d seen were House Sparrows Passer domesticus (didn’t see any Spanish sparrows like in Tenerife); Greenfinch and Goldfinches.

Black Redstart opposite our apartment

After meeting up with the others we made use of the time before our evening of dining-out, to book a couple of coach excursions: one for Ronda on Monday 28th and the other for Granada on Thursday (New Year’s Eve).

Despite the previous afternoon’s weather, the Monday morning was fine and we were all up early for our excursion to Ronda. A coach picked us up from the resort and made its way to Marbella stopping to pick up others on the way before terminating in Algeciras. Our tour guide Daniel (complete with Crocodile Dundee hat), spoke fluently in English German and Spanish, no doubt helped by having parents of Australian and German descent and from living in Spain. He kept everyone well informed and made it an interesting tour .

Christmas décor in a street in Marbella

Container docks Algeciras with Gibraltar in background

Our train for Ronda. (note palm-tree reinforced buffers)

At Algeciras’s train station we bordered our own coach on a train that was to take us to Ronda. Daniel by request tipped me off on which were the best seats for the best views. As the train pulled out of the station I caught sight of a large brown and black butterfly which I’m sure wasn’t a Monarch . All I got to see it for, was a couple of seconds as it glided over a wall covered in blue and purple ipomoea (Morning Glory).
For the early part of the journey the countryside was greener than I had envisaged, and reminded me of the England in summer. However, this view ended when the train passed an area with numerous White Storks, nesting on trees, houses; telegraph poles and electric pylons. Unfortunately, my photograph attempts were not so good .

White Storks nesting on pylons

The train gradually wound its way through the beautiful Cadiz province countryside, then up through a mountainous region before it levelled out over a high plain as it approached Ronda. As a means of getting to Ronda I fully recommend letting the train take the strain .

At Ronda with only 3 hours to explore and fit in lunch before the coach journey back we started by visiting the iconic Plaza de Toros (bullring … oldest in Spain (some say Seville’s is )) and then crossed the Puente Neuvo (new Bridge) to walk around the narrow streets of the old town and to take in the breath-taking views along the top of the gorge . Lunch comprised of Iberico dry cured ham baguettes lovingly crafted by the proprietor and well worth the wait . Later I found out that the best hams are produced from pigs allowed to forage on acorns from the Cork Oaks Quercus suber that are grown in profusion in the region.

By mid-afternoon the temperature had dropped to 11C and that was the only time during the whole holiday that I felt cold through not bringing a coat

The bus journey back from Ronda took us through Marbella again where many of the rich and famous (and infamous) reside. The overhead Christmas lights on in the streets gave the place a surreal look. Throughout all the Spanish towns and cities, the Christmas trees were metal framework cone constructions covered with lights, presumably, (I’m guessing here) because the Stone or Corsican Pines do not have the classic conical Christmas tree shape and the Spanish fir (Abies pinsapo) is a threatened species. Worked just as well in my opinion and saves cutting down a tree .

Three days had gone by and after my initial surprise of the early Specklie sighting (and the unidentified big butterfly in Algeciras), I was starting to think my luck may have run out . This was certainly true when Tuesday morning presented us with wet and cloudy (though not cold) weather. Not wanting to be restricted to the resort, especially if the bad weather was going to continue, we arranged car hire from Weds 30th for the last four days of the holiday . For this rainy Tuesday we took a taxi into Fuengirola, explored a colourful covered market (seafood stalls everywhere) and then took a Train to Malaga. We explored Malaga on foot and as we did the weather brightened up and we were back to pleasant warmth and sunshine again . A fantastic and colourful city, some of the highlights were the colossal cathedral with its missing bell-tower, the goods & souvenier stalls along Paseo Parque and the Christmas lights .

I'm gonna get me some more butterflies if its the last thing I ever do!

Plaza del Marina and "that Christmas tree" again

Malaga Cathedral

So, Malaga was a joy to visit …. but still no more butterflies . Something needed to change: - see part 2 to follow soonish.

Phil

[Matsukaze]

Hi Phil - I visit the area regularly and have done so a few times at that time of year, so will be following this with interest. I would reckon a dozen butterfly species might be possible at that time of year, though I haven't managed that many myself on any one trip. A few quick notes -

Fuengirola - I was astonished to see a Wall Brown flying around within the walls of the castle in the first week of January a few years back. I have seen the Turnstones along that part of the coast too; some holidaymakers feed them and the birds approach astonishingly close. They are very difficult to pick out against a rocky background.

The roads to Ronda are pretty dramatic too. Very enjoyable...if you are the passenger. We stop off here and there on our way places and found one of the local endemic Marbled White species at one layby overlooking the sea; not sure which species as it would not stop flying. Down the steep slope something large and blackish was fluttering. In the town itself there are sometimes Alpine Choughs on the roofs and we saw a Large Tortoiseshell flying in the main park.

The paths below the citadel in Malaga can be good for butterflies - mostly various blues making use of the wildflowers nestled up against the fortifications, though I have also seen Spanish Festoon there once, dallying on the woodland edge.

[Philzoid]

Alright matsukaze.

I've a lot of report for a very few butterflies … certainly not a dozen species … but I won't pre-empt it: - you'll just have to read it (or skim through for the pictures )

I know what you mean about driving to Ronda because that's what I did back in 2007. A challenging drive in the mountains (like Tenerife) with little room for error yet there are budding Mark Marquez's who just blast past you (as a former motorcyclist in my youth it shouldn't surprise, but these people defy sanity) “Let the train take the strain” perhaps I'm beginning to show my age .

I agree about the turnstones they do blend in with their surroundings. This is the group of 4 that came back after the first one was spooked.

The Large Tortoiseshell; (endemic) Marbled white and Spanish Festoon would all be lifers for me . I have seen the Alpine Chough up the Jenner mountain nr. Konigsee in Bavaria on a school trip (my only ever trip abroad as a schoolkid circa 1970-71 ). Also the Chough on the coast in Brittany France (1997 or 98 I think)

Phil