Holiday to Spain part 5 (final)

[Philzoid]

As the sun began to sink the beach goers began to drift off for home, the sky took on evermore colours and shades, intermingling with and distorting the shape of the clouds . Even my daughters were moved enough to break off from their fun of digging deep pit-traps in the sand to take pictures of the sky on their mobile phones .

Seabird is a Great Black-backed Gull

Saturday morning was a sad day as this was our last of the holiday. However, although we had to vacate the apartment by 10:00 the flight wasn’t until 19:30 so we still had plenty of time left to explore. As I’d done a lot of my packing the night before I had enough time to take one last look around the resort. I’d been dealt a good hand this holiday and so I reckon it’s now time to play my joker

Monarch (colours of last night's sunset)

Actually this is a (little) “joke” not joker as the photo was taken at a butterfly house in Benalmadena . So .... not a wild one I‘m afraid. However, a butterfly house is not a bad substitute if you’ve used up all your brownie points. Sharon and the girls were certainly up for it .

Before Benalmadena we decided on a visit to Fuengirola town, which apart from our brief spell there before catching the train to Malaga, had been bypassed in the list of must places to see. Firstly, we walked along the sea front (Paseo Maritimo Rey de Espana) which was largely quiet as you’d expect in January. A small wagtail which I think is the White-Wagtail sub-species (continental form of the Pied), was my only wildlife capture at that point. There were people on the beach but only those in a sand sculpture of the Pirates of the Caribbean. Although not to everyone’s taste, to me it was just another example of the style and creativity that abounds in this country .

Pied/White Wagtail

Next we decided to move through one of the streets into town and found a nice coffee shop full of locals to sit down and rest our feet. I never worked out what type of coffee I was ordering (they weren’t cappuccinos) but it was very nice all the same . The girls had orange juice which was freshly squeezed and unsweetened.
Moving on from there we came across a park (Plaza de Espana) complete with a standard metal 'Spanish Christmas tree'. However, my attention was drawn to a huge squawking commotion going on amongst a group of Canary Island date palm trees . When I got over to the spot it had died down but up in the base of the fronds were pairs of nesting Monk Parakeets Myiopsitta monachus . Interestingly I only saw this species in Spain and not the Ring-necked Parakeet familiar in the South-east England (and also seen in Tenerife).
Note: - When looking for its ID on the web I came across a web-site stating that the Monk Parakeet, a South American native, temporarily established itself in the UK . Although the species is not thought to pose a risk to our native wildlife, it was subjected to an eradication program by Defra (backed by the RSPB). The eradication is considered to have been successful and so, unlike the Ring-necked parakeet, it is not here to stay . The decision to eradicate was based on the problems seen in other feral populations of Monk Parakeets, where the large communal nests of the birds are often built in electricity pylons and can cause damage and lead to blackouts. A shame perhaps as they certainly have a cute look about them: - … but they don’t half make a racket .

vandal proof trees .. perhaps we ought to adopt them here?

After a pleasant amble around the town it was time to move on for our visit to the butterfly house. This was found without too much trouble, well signposted for coming off the A-7 and on from there.
Again, the building was quite a striking design based on a Thai temple rather than just a big glasshouse.

The entry price was more expensive than I thought it would be, but overall it was reasonably good value as butterfly houses go. The only thing I would say was that I didn’t see any new species that I hadn’t already seen in butterfly houses: despite the promising large lists purporting the species that they had, (or more accurately, get in from time to time depending on availability from their suppliers).

Here are some of the species I saw: -

Iphidamus Cattleheart

Lime Swallowtail

Common Morpho

Lime Swallowtail

Postman (or hybrid) heliconid

Monarch

Also the Samia cynthia ricini moths. Plonked on a wall; a branch or a donor's hand, they showed so very little movement you'd think they were dead . Females were laying eggs all over though.

In addition, the Butterfly park had some other ‘pets’: - A wallaby; as 5-foot Green Iguana and Gouldian Finches. I assume that none of these predate the butterflies (I know that adult Green Iguanas are largely vegetarian)

Note: The Gouldian finch is considered to be under threat in the wild (Northern Australia) where numbers are considered less than those found in captivity. The birds nest in tree holes and in the butterfly house there were artificial holes created for this purpose. In the picture the bird inside the nest-hole, presumably the "female", (I base this assumption on the (courtship) behaviour exhibited by the bird outside of the nest hole) has a black head whilst the other has a red head. This head colour is a colour form of this finch found in wild birds. and not a characteristic that denotes the sex. Also both these birds have white breasts. The normal colouration for a male is purple and for a female, lilac. These white-breasted examples are just one of the many colour forms of birds found in captivity.

Another interesting exhibit were the rows of butterfly and moth pupae behind a glass pane which wasn’t obscured by condensation allowing me to get these photos:-

idea leuconoe

Euploea core, Common Crow

Eventually the others tired of the hot steamy environment and requested we head on out. Once outside I asked for five minutes to freshen up. The sun was shining a bit stronger and it had warmed up a bit so I was hoping for a last minute butterfly sighting . However, I told the others that as we had plenty of time before we needed to motor to the airport I was just going to grab a picture or two of the nearby super Stupa. It seems such an unlikely monument and setting, but that’s Spain .

The imposing Enlightenment Stupa, Benalmadena

I scooted around nearby patches of promising looking waste ground ... but no butterflies . In the end I decided to call it a day and make my way back to the others waiting in the car. Then suddenly I spotted a little white butterfly, a Green-striped White Euchloe belemia and a lifer . I couldn’t believe it. I had to use the Tamron on the EOS350D as I’d only just gone and filled the D1100 ‘s 32GB sandisk card . Then I spotted another …. two Green-striped Whites . I snapped away at the agile butterflies but then horror of horrors: a message no photographer wants to see at moments like this: “card full” (it can’t be I only just re-formatted it before coming out on holiday ). So back to the car to look for and change over to the spare card for my D1100 but no time to switch over the lens as the sun went behind a cloud and remarks of “haven’t you seen enough butterflies already ” emanated from the frustrated occupants of the car . I got one at distance shot using the macro (not worth showing) and then the butterfly disappeared. I gave it another 5 minutes but my impatient entourage had decided it was time for us to go .

Euchloe belemia, Green-striped White

Another Lang's Short-tailed blue to finish off

Great to see a new species (not listed on Chris Jackson’s link), but shame the photos couldn’t have been better (and by the way the EOS350D card was only about 6th full as I found out back at home + it started to work again ).

And so after that finale of excitement we killed the last 3 hours by visiting Torremolinos (a bit scruffy in places tbh) had another great meal, made it back to the airport in good time, plane delayed by an hour, got home at 01:30 Sunday 3rd and was back to work Mon 4th.

It was a Holiday made brilliant not least by being able to snatch a bit of summer, and butterflying in the winter months . This year we’re booked to go to Sibton in Suffolk again. No gallivanting off abroad unless I can make something happen with my Avios points during the school holidays.

Phil

[Wurzel]

You're not playing fair Philzoid. First you taunt us with a Monarch (great shots btw) only to reveal it was in a butterfly house and then you drop a Green-striped a White on us Great shots as well.BTW the bird is a White Wagtail I can't remember exactly but I think that the Pied is the British race (Motacilla alba alba) of the continental White.
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Philzoid]

You're not playing fair Philzoid. First you taunt us with a Monarch (great shots btw) only to reveal it was in a butterfly house

Yeah, not entirely fair but I had to keep the best (Green-striped White lifer) till last because that's how it all-panned out. Your speculation that my butterfly in reserve might be a Monarch gave me the idea to feed it into the report in that way .
Funnily enough a butterfly house relatively close to the resort was an unexpected surprise and an opportunity that couldn't be missed. The difficulty I had getting a photo of a Monarch in Tenerife where they are relatively common, would have made getting a wild one (for me anyway) a real coup in Spain. So failing that, a butterfly house Monarch is the next best thing ... (tbh even that BH one was also good as I’ve never managed to capture a nectaring one at the Wisley BH despite the numerous visits over the years ).
Also, talking of wild ones ... there was that big butterfly in Algeciras seen from the train window as it was pulling out of the station …. which I said wasn’t a Monarch

BTW the bird is a White Wagtail I can't remember exactly but I think that the Pied is the British race (Motacilla alba alba) of the continental White.

. The Wagtails are all races of the same species as you say . I think some of the literature had them down as separate species in the past and having two different vernacular names confuses me and others perhaps . BTW wiki has White Wagtail as Motacilla alba alba and Pied as Motacilla alba yarellii. It also shows the group globally, consisting of 10 major races/subspecies .

then you drop a Green-striped a White on us

Thanks Wurzel the Green-striped White was definitely and unexpected surprise . My Collins field guide states it as being bivoltine with flight periods Feb – mid April and late April – June in overlapping broods. So, is a 2nd of Jan sighting unusual

Phil

[Chris Jackson]

Phil,
Even though your Monarch was in a butterfly house, I think the Green-striped White was an excellent way to wind up your report. Both these are on my wish list.
(So strangely enough now is paella, but that'll no doubt wait till summer ).
Cheers, Chris

[Philzoid]

Thanks Chris.
It looks like you get to see a good selection of butterflies around the Marseille region, and you’re not too far away geographically from getting those two species on your wish list (although the canaries would improve your chances for the Monarch). BTW good luck with getting a Swallowtail before the end of February .
This year we haven't got any holidays abroad planned so it may be a while before I get another lifer. I'm still missing a handful of the UK species but five of them (Northern species: - Scotch Argus; Large Heath; Ataxerces Northern Brown Argus; Mountain Ringlet and Chequered Skipper) require some considerable distance to travel. A sixth one missing from my lifer list is the High Brown Fritillary but there are nearer sites in the South west, so I may get a chance or opportunity to go and see that one .

Paella is always on my wish list no matter how many times I get to try it

Phil

[David M]

Love your Green Striped White, Phil. Members of this family are very flighty so you did well to nail down a handful of images.

[Philzoid]

Love your Green Striped White, Phil. Members of this family are very flighty so you did well to nail down a handful of images.

Thanks David . Yes, members of that family can be flighty which I found out in Tenerife this year trying to get close to a Bath White which for some reason, I'd got it into my head would be easy capture . Nearly all my best close-ups of BW's came in the late afternoon or when they were preoccupied with feeding or ovipositing.

To be fair, the Green-striped were not too hard as they kept settling down to feed. The problem was I was caught unawares, sighting them as I was just about to get into the car, getting carried away a bit and not taking my time to get the camera set right or remembering to review the pictures. Then there was the problem with the compact flash card .

All that considered mind, I still expected the pictures to have been a bit sharper hence the slight disappointment. There were many more discarded that were well out of focus.

Phil

[NickMorgan]

Lovely seeing all of your pictures of butterflies you have recently seen in Spain. It is good to know that there are butterflies flying somewhere in Europe while we are having cold and gloomy weather. It makes the butterfly season seem that little bit closer!

[Philzoid]

It is good to know that there are butterflies flying somewhere in Europe while we are having cold and gloomy weather. It makes the butterfly season seem that little bit closer!

It certainly does Nick, though it never can come quick enough .

Phil