John Muddeman - Wildlife Guide

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John Muddeman - Wildlife Guide Private & group wildlife ecotourism & guiding services : birds, mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, r
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Funny how you try here on an Iberian lynx watching tour in January and don't succeed, yet you come for just two nights o...
16/03/2024

Funny how you try here on an Iberian lynx watching tour in January and don't succeed, yet you come for just two nights on a very enjoyable laid back birding tour for SPAINBIRDS NATURE TOURS and there it is, visible from the hotel room window and trying to hunt ducks for half an hour right in front of us all!

Thanks to Javi Elorriaga Bts for running back to stir us all from our respective beds for this stunning experience!

KENIA - 16-30 de noviembre de 2023Para SPAINBIRDS NATURE TOURSParte 2 : 18 al 21-xi Samburu National Reserve y Buffalo S...
29/02/2024

KENIA - 16-30 de noviembre de 2023
Para SPAINBIRDS NATURE TOURS
Parte 2 : 18 al 21-xi Samburu National Reserve y Buffalo Springs National Reserve

¡Y seguimos! Samburu y Buffalo Springs son dos reservas contiguas y bastante parecidas entre sí, con representación de los ambientes más áridos que dominan las zonas del N y este del país.

Incluso las lluvias cortas habían llegado a la zona (aparte de unas trágicas inundaciones mortales un par de semanas antes de nuestra llegada), a veces MUY intensas y requiriendo hasta cambios de planes sobre la marcha.

Y, naturalmente, en consecuencia estaba todo muy, muy verde, hasta dificultando algo algunas observación (p.ej. ¡ni un gato visto por nadie en los dos parques en los 3 días que estuvimos!). ¡Pero también nos brindó unas oportunidades que no son normales durante las larga estación seca, como la ver ver decenas y decenas de gangas de Lichtenstein, que casi no podían estar fuera de las pistas en lo verde y por otra parte, un pequeño grupo de zorros orejudos que era una nueva especie incluso para nuestros guías!

En fin demasiadas fotos para incluir, pero espero que os guste...

Kenia - 16-30 de noviembre de 2023Para SPAINBIRDS NATURE TOURSParte 1 : 17-xi Parque Nacional de NairobiEl primer día en...
25/02/2024

Kenia - 16-30 de noviembre de 2023
Para SPAINBIRDS NATURE TOURS

Parte 1 : 17-xi Parque Nacional de Nairobi

El primer día en un destino nuevo como guía, te pone a prueba. ¡Y con una listado pre-tour de casi 780 especies de aves y casi 120 mamíferos posibles, el mero hecho de aprender los nombres tanto en inglés como en castellano (para una traducción en el campo más rápido), no es moco de pavo! Afortunadamente, la calidad de los guías locales te hace ese trabajo más ligero (¡y a veces mucho!), dejándote coordinar verbalmente los avistamientos y temas logísticas por walkie-talkie con todos los participantes del grupo repartidos en los tres vehículos 4x4 del tour.

Y dado que el parque, bordeando parte de la capital de Kenia, es un extraordinario refugio con una interesante mezcla de hábitats, no es raro citas alrededor de 100 especies de aves entre la salida de sol y cuando se pone cada día en noviembre.

Aquí va un resumen de algunas de las 105 especies de aves y 14 de mamíferos que citados ese día, además de alguna cosita aparte. ¡Una maravilla y más que compensando el monumental atasco que sufrimos de vuelta al hotel, pero que a la vez nos proporcionó una experiencia inmersiva inolvidable! "EEA" como me dijo en Sudáfrica hace demasiado tiempo ya cuando se cortó la luz a media cocinar la cena del grupo... "¡Esto es África!"

¡Cada especie está nombrada en su respectiva foto tanto en castellano como en inglés dado que las traducciones de FB son para llorar!

Heatherlea Birdwatching HolidaysBirds + Iberian lynx (6-13 January 2024)A quick photo highlights review of a week search...
15/02/2024

Heatherlea Birdwatching Holidays

Birds + Iberian lynx (6-13 January 2024)

A quick photo highlights review of a week searching for birds and Iberian lynx in the Doñana and Andújar areas of Andalucía.

Leaving on Twelfth Night, the equivalent to Christmas Day here in Spain, we enjoyed fine weather throughout, making observations and photos (for those who wanted), much easier.

These two areas remain as the easiest for groups not wanting a luxury experience of entering into the huge private estates where most Iberian lynx still occur, despite the still impressive lynx population growth (over 1600 by the end of 2023). In addition, the Doñana area including coast to the west - and DESPITE the ongoing drought and terrible political management of the Doñana water resources meaning that it has less water than ever before and no sign of it recovering - still (somehow) provide rich and varied birdwatching opportunities.

With 150 bird species seen (and a couple more heard) during the tour, plus a good selection of mammals including two Iberian lynx, one of which was self-found and enjoyed exclusively by us, it was a fabulous trip!

So, just a quick photograpic recap of random wildlife highlights from January 2024, showing what's around near Madrid an...
15/02/2024

So, just a quick photograpic recap of random wildlife highlights from January 2024, showing what's around near Madrid and can be enjoyed by anyone!

The very mild winter and abundant late summer and autumn rains have had something to play in the following...

¿Te unes a intentar cambiar algo?
03/01/2024

¿Te unes a intentar cambiar algo?

El agua es esencial para la vida, pero el Gobierno está permitiendo que unos pocos lo derrochen para hacer negocio. ¡Firma y pide al Gobierno que proteja nuestra agua!

So, here's the proof of what I've been witnessing over the past 20+ years... Steppic bird populations have been declinin...
24/10/2023

So, here's the proof of what I've been witnessing over the past 20+ years... Steppic bird populations have been declining badly given huge agricultural land use changes and modernisation in Spain and this is just one piece of (shocking) data to graphically illustrate it:

Confirmamos el descenso de la población de avutarda en las ZEPA de Extremadura para las dos últimas décadas. Los trabajos de campo del proyecto LIFE Agroestepas Ibéricas, muestran un descenso del 63% de la especie para el periodo 2002-2023. Aunque hay declives constatados de esta especie en dete...

Drinking partners!OK, so having more time on my hands at present than wanted, plus the opportunity to exploit others' ta...
22/08/2023

Drinking partners!

OK, so having more time on my hands at present than wanted, plus the opportunity to exploit others' talents and local knowledge (a million thanks again Lucas Pascual!), I tried my first ever photopgraphic session at a drinking site this morning.

It's a sit-and-wait strategy, hiding behind a simple camouflage net strung between the trees, combined with keeping very, very still...

With another heat wave bringing searing temperatures on the back of the extended drought (forget this spring's rains which just watered the flowers nicely!), it's 37-38ºC in the shade in the afternoons and currently not dipping below 22-23ºC at dawn. And the birds and other willdlife feel it hard...

Birds were already coming in to drink as we arrived before sunrise, but the urge to reach water was generally far, far greater than seeing something new in the shade of the trees nearby. Indeed, I barely had time to organise myself and virtually none during the session to even think about what I was doing (wrong) with the camera, but even so, it was still impressive as you can see...

So, please don't forget to put fresh water out when it's hot. The wildlife will be grateful and may even be dependent on it...

WINGS Spain Grand Tour 2023Part 2: Extremadura, Gredos & Picos de Europa 4th - 12th MayHere's a quick photo review of th...
30/06/2023

WINGS Spain Grand Tour 2023

Part 2: Extremadura, Gredos & Picos de Europa 4th - 12th May

Here's a quick photo review of the second stage of the WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide Spain Grand Tour, so capably set up by SPAINBIRDS NATURE TOURS 🙂

It was an absolute pleasure to guide 10 American guests alongside Howard Vaughan.

So, despite missing quite a number of the key species we saw, here's the next set of photos covering most of the areas in inland Spain we enjoyed on our way north...

Perfectly said and how to illustrate it better?!
01/06/2023

Perfectly said and how to illustrate it better?!

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride!

🌈 Some of you may already be thinking, "What does Pride have to do with birds?" and I'll tell you! My goal is to get as many people birding as possible. Unfortunately, some groups of people don't feel that they are welcomed or safe in birding environments which has kept them from what could be a lifelong passion of theirs! This is why Black Birders' Week exists. This is why I always post Happy Pride on June 1st. My hope is that my platform can encourage those who celebrate Pride to grab their first pair of binoculars and it can help everyone else (myself included) to look inward and ask if they could open their hearts and minds a little more each day.

🔭 Happy Birding and Happy Pride!

MOROCCO - 19th-29th March '23Heatherlea Birdwatching HolidaysWhile my spring guiding season 'proper' was due to start on...
12/04/2023

MOROCCO - 19th-29th March '23
Heatherlea Birdwatching Holidays

While my spring guiding season 'proper' was due to start on 15th April, I was delighted to be able to substitute as guide for what has been my fifth tour to Morocco, in late March.

After intensive research before going, especially following a four-year gap in visits, the trip report is finally done and, above all, for here, the photos are edited...

Morocco is a fantastic destination, combining stunning landscapes and great food with a fantastic range of wildlife, much of which is similar to, but characteristically different from anywhere in Europe. While the Atlantic coast has clear floral ties to the Canary Islands, the desert habitats, south and east of the various Atlas Mountain ranges, take you to a completely new, but readily accessible biota.

Combine this with a fantastic group of clients and where could it go wrong?! 175 bird species from desert sparrow, African desert warbler and Egyptian (or will it be split as Maghreb?) nightjar of the Erg Chebbi area, to the critically endangered northern bald ibis and tropical black-crowned tchagra of the coasts near Agadir and geographically isolated Seebohm's wheatear and Atlas horned lark of the High Atlas, just to name a mere few. 25 butterflies turned up on our travels, including a scarce green-striped white and gorgeous Moroccan orange-tips, our first dragonflies of the year, various reptiles and amphibians and a fabulous flora (even though I couldn't start to do it justice!), including a few desert shrubs in flower after the first significant rains for a couple of years and the coast looking particularly attractive...

I'll let the photos do the talking, but I plan to be back there in March 2024, if anyone wants to drop me a line!

28/02/2023

Four 'new' species are set to be recognised in the Western Palearctic.

These days the various world bird lists tend to converge rather than diverge, unlike before, and I understand that there...
28/02/2023

These days the various world bird lists tend to converge rather than diverge, unlike before, and I understand that there are plans afoot from all of them to form one concensus list.

Whatever the case, if it's adopted by others or not, here's another example of a multi-species split, though to be honest, it's personally not that surprising to see it going ahead.

Having just edited the Morocco bird list for Heatherlea Birdwatching Holidays, as I'll be guiding for them there from 19th March, basing this on an older IOC list, I better get back to them to change this one quick!

I also now need to edit the WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide list for the summer 2023 trip there as well, while also waiting to see if both of the proposed Tenerife and also Gran Canary Robins are finally elevated to species rank...

This should provoke quite a bit of discussion in relation to the latest Collins Bird Guide and surely there's more to come!

Four 'new' species are set to be recognised in the Western Palearctic.

January round-up!OK, so apart from the one tour, I have also been out and about, almost always very locally.These photos...
02/02/2023

January round-up!

OK, so apart from the one tour, I have also been out and about, almost always very locally.

These photos sort of sum-up the start of 2023, which has generally been very dry and slightly warmer than average, but with a decent cold snap under (still-continuing) high pressure conditions.

In particular, this cold snap has brought in lots of wintering thrushes into the spiny junipers on the local hills, which had an abundant fruiting crop last season and are still idea for these birds. But wild thrushes are really hard to get close to, let along photograph, especially when scattered through the scrub...

The third week in January usually sees the first white hoop-petticoat narcissi flowering, and this year was bang on date again, but I really did not expect to come across the local colony of giant orchids coming into flower SO early. Another sign of the ever-warmer times.

Finally, there are also a few pix of randown other birds and wildlife, such as male brimstone which was flying in Seovia province at the very beginning of the year (crazy!) and one of two small coppers photographed yesterday near home. Late January now sees quite regular occurrence of recently emerged individuals of this species, rather than late February (or even March), as used to be the case...

So if you fancy coming to Madrid to see the wildlife, don't forget to get in touch!

My only tour in January, for Heatherlea Birdwatching Holidays and in the excellent company of Sergi Sales, was the "Bird...
01/02/2023

My only tour in January, for Heatherlea Birdwatching Holidays and in the excellent company of Sergi Sales, was the "Birds + lynx" trip from 7-14 January. Starting in Doñana and finishing in Andújar, a reverse of our original plan, actually worked in our favour, given some chilly and wet weather inland at the start!

This is just an overview based on available photos, though of course we saw a huge amount more -and frequently much better- in the field!

Summarising, 153 bird species including 12 different wildfowl including marbled, ferruginous and white-headed ducks, purple swamphen, red-knobbed coot, 24 waders including a flock of wintering Eurasian dotterel amongst a large number of European golden plover, 9 gulls and terns including little, slender-billed and Audouin's gulls and Caspian tern, 17 diurnal raptors including great views of Spanish imperial and golden eagles and early lesser kestrels, Iberian green woodpecker, Iberian grey shrike, Iberian magpie, Thekla's lark, bluethroat, blue rock thrush, hawfinch, Eurasian bullfinch and rock bunting, amongst many others!

The 10 mammals included sightings of Iberian lynx in both Doñana and Andújar, plus Eurasian otter, Iberian hare, Eurasian wild boar at point blank range and Iberian ibex.

Stripeless tree and Iberian pond frog were both heard calling, while Spanish terrapin and Iberian wall lizard were also noted, despite the date. Indeed, the generally mild conditions also meant that more invertebrates were showing than normal, with 8 butterflies on the wing, including both green-striped white and Provence hairstreak and even a couple of migrating vagrant emperor dragonflies on the wing!

I will be (co-)leading a few other Heatherlea Birdwatching Holidays tours this year, inclluding Extremadura in April and the Spanish pre-Pyrenees in May, so if you're interested in finding out more, please feel free to drop me a line!

05/01/2023

Collins Bird Guide 3rd Edition

A few comments (English above) / Unos pocos comentarios (en castellano abajo)

I’m finding the very differing public opinions about the third edition of the Collin Bird Guide (published Dec 22), which is without a shadow of doubt the best and by far most complete bird identification field guide to Europe, if not indeed, of any region of the world, very interesting. Firstly, I’d like to note that I consider that it continues to be exceptional and despite the fact that on a quick first scan it may not appear to offer great differences to the second edition (published 12 years earlier), it does actually contain numerous improvements in repainted / restructured plates, the inclusion of new species and, above all perhaps, more information on rarities and accidentals, as well as the inclusion of the main established introduced species in a section at the end (including the curious inclusion of the ring-necked pheasant as native to the Caucasus in the main part of the guide and as introduced in the remainder of its very much wider European distribution).

Without doubt though, the main surprise and apparent source of criticism is the use of a “stable and familiar” taxonomy, following the “author’s preference”, despite the fact that the majority of the current world lists differ significantly from these conservative criteria. Not that we should necessarily be surprised, given that the second edition had already included the non-passerines in a reorganised and modernised way, but not the passerines, given the numerous discoveries and changes being made regarding their taxonomy at the time. But over a decade on, it now does seem strange to me (and apparently others) that the guide does not incorporate many of the changes generally accepted regarding families, some scientific names and, in particular their ordering occurring over this period. And my main reason for defending this is that the Collins Bird Guide is THE reference, both for identification as well as for taxonomy for the great majority of birders, above all those new to the hobby and, in consequence, the more it differs from the world lists (generally now far more convergent than divergent in their taxonomic thinking), the later (in another 10 years’ time with the next edition?) the majority of birders and wildlife enthusiasts using it will adopt and become familiarised with these changes, in other words, two decades after the establishment of some of these changes.

This might appear to be almost irrelevant, given that the guide is truly spectacular, providing up to date identification information on more taxa (whether considered species or not) than any other in the region, but as birdwatching guide, I know all too well the practical difficulties that these important taxonomic changes make when using the guide in the field. If field guides differ markedly from the standard lists birders make, it can provoke confusion and uncertainty among watchers and as a result, directly in the observations they make. E.g., I think that it’s well demonstrated that the order of passerine families, which reflects their relative genetic age, shows little similarity with the 3rd ed. of the guide, which maintains Alaudidae first, followed by Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, etc., plus the “Warblers” Sylviidae, still all lumped together. A rapid comparison (e.g., with eBird, IOC) suggests Laniidae first, Corvidae second, Paridae third, Alaudidae fourth… Given that some different family groups but sharing similar features are very legitimately kept together in order to facilitate their comparison (such as Falcons immediately following the other diurnal raptors, despite them now being known to be relatively distant genetically), I can’t personally understand the logic behind maintaining the old taxonomic order of the families instead of adopting something far closer reflecting the modern situation, given that it doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ anyway, thus helping the guide’s users keep up with these changes.

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Me parece muy interesante las diferentes opiniones sobre la tercera edición de “La Collins”, sin duda la mejor y más completo guía de campo de Europa, sino para cualquier región a nivel mundial. En primer lugar, decir que sigue siendo excepcional y, a pesar de que con una rápida primera vista puede que no parece ofrecer grandes diferencias respecto a la edición anterior de 12 años antes, sí contiene numerosas mejoras (por lo menos en las respectivas versiones en inglés), tanto en las láminas re-ilustradas / reestructuradas, así como en la inclusión de algunas especies nuevas y, sobre todo quizás, mejores datos sobre la identificación de rarezas/divagantes y también la inclusión de las principales especies introducidas y establecidas en un apartado final (incluyendo la curiosa separación del faisán común como nativa en la parte principal del libro y como introducida en esa sección final en la gran mayoría de su distribución).

Sin duda creo que la gran sorpresa respecto a la guía es la utilización de una taxonomía “estable y familiar”, siguiendo la “preferencia del autor” y a pesar de que la mayoría de los listados principales mundiales ya difieren en gran medida con esos criterios conservadores. Pero no debería sorprendernos, dado que ya en la segunda edición los no paseriformes habían sido reordenados y ‘modernizados’ mientras que los paseriformes mantenían una taxonomía antigua frente a muchos cambios en el momento de elaborar esa edición. Pero, pasado más de una década desde entonces, ya sí me parece extraño que la guía sigue sin incorporar muchos de los cambios ya generalmente aceptados sobre familias y algunos nombres científicos y especialmente, por otra parte, su ordenación. Y mi principal razón por decirlo se basa en que es LA referencia -tanto para identificación como para acceso al mundo taxonómico para la gran mayoría de los usuarios de la guía, sobre todos los que se inician en el pajareo- y, en consecuencia, cuanto más se distancia de esas listas mundiales (generalmente ya convergentes y no divergentes en su planteamiento taxonómico), más tarde (¿dentro de otros 10 años con la siguiente edición?) adoptaremos y estaremos familiarizados con esos cambios como usuarios, o sea, dos décadas después de su establecimiento en algunos casos.

Puede parecer algo casi irrelevante, dado que como guía de campo es sencillamente espectacular, proporcionando información sobre la identificación de más taxones (sea cual sea su rango taxonómico) que cualquier otra guía de la región, pero como guía ya conozco muy bien la dificultad práctica que producen esos importantes cambios taxonómicos frente a la situación práctica de usar una guía en el campo. Si difieren radicalmente de los listados que mantiene la gente (que sean ‘listeros’ o no), pueden provocar confusión e incertidumbre entre los observadores y, por tanto, en las observaciones. P.ej., creo que queda bastante bien demostrado que el orden de las familias de paseriformes, reflejando su edad genética relativa, tiene poco que ver con el planteamiento del libro, que mantiene Alaudidae primero, seguida de Hirundinidae, Motacillidae, etc., e incluso Sylviidae en su totalidad. Una rápida comparación (p.ej. eBird, IOC) sugiere Laniidae primero, Corvidae segundo, Paridae tercero, Alaudidae cuarto… Dado que ya y muy legítimamente se mantienen algunos grupos de especies de aspecto parecido juntos por temas de facilitar sus comparativas, algunas excepciones claramente están justificadas (como Falconidae después de Accipitridae, a pesar de su distanciamiento genético), personalmente no entiendo el mantenimiento del antiguo orden de familias en el libro en vez de adoptar algo que se acerca más hacia la situación moderna, ya que tampoco tiene que ser ‘perfecta’ y así facilitaría al usuario el conocimiento de estos cambios.

25/12/2022

My very best wishes for this 2022/23 Festive Season to all of my Facebook and Instagram friends! I sincerely wish you a very enjoyable and relaxing time with friends and family!

In something of a departure from the norm, while this may just look like “any old frog”, I think that this gorgeous Iberian painted frog (Discoglossus galganoi), taken within 10 km of my home on 18th December, nicely represents a series of factors I feel like expressing! To give it a little more perspective, we also enjoyed sightings of abundant fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) larvae, plus a few sharp-ribbed newts (Pleurodeles waltl), Southern marbled newts (Triturus pygmaeus), natterjack toads (Epidalea calamita) and Iberian water frogs (Pelophylax perezi), and just days after also seeing Iberian midwife toad (Alytes cisternasii) and western spadefoot toad (Pelobates cultripes).

1. It well illustrates how nature, given a chance, can resist during a seemingly irreversibly lost situation, following drought and extreme temperatures (65 days with maxima >30°C and 17 nights with minima >20°C in 2023), where the pool (along with probably 90% of those in the entire region) was completely dry for about 9 months and now filling again only thanks to almost 155mm –yep, that’s >6” in old money– of rain in December (and 737mm so far this year, versus just 613mm in 2021).

2. It’s also a reflection of how our winters are getting ever warmer (just 2 days of frost this autumn/winter so far), with amphibian activity continuing as a result. The fungi are also still amazing too, normally reducing hugely in number after the first frosts!

3. The site is under severe threat from developments linked to the seemingly unstoppable tidal wave of renewable (NOT green!) energy developments in Spain, this time due to a power line evacuation route [so often grossly] under-estimated during its (normally systematically deficient anyway) environmental impact assessment studies. E.g., it’s also the last known site for dainty damselfly (Coenagrion scitulum) in Madrid, plus holds a variety of other very uncommon odonates in regional terms, as well as interesting reptiles and flora, amongst others.

4. The biodiversity in Spain, even close to Madrid, is still exceptional in European terms, but under constant threat. E.g., not a single spiny toad (Bufo spinosus), a formerly common species requiring larger water bodies retaining water for longer periods in the spring for larval development, and so declining fast as a result, has been seen.

5. This painted frog (a presumed female; we also found a presumed male) was found while prospecting with two friends who went out of their way to come and visit during a highly entertaining and instructive couple of hours in the field. While this might sound odd, I’m still waiting for wildlife tourism to return to even close to pre-pandemic levels despite the excellent opportunities existing here (almost year-round) for observing flora and fauna, including reptiles, butterflies, moths and other insects. Hence, I’ve posted a frog and not a bird or even mammal, despite the latter being the main attraction for tours!

6. On a final general note, how I crave for us to change our mentality over what is “good weather” here! Spain is at the European frontline for suffering the increasing effects of climate warming and desertification and I’d love for everyone to reflect a little more over the use of this phrase. Perhaps from now on it shouldn’t just mean sunshine and heat, but perhaps also to signify a day (or more…) of good (but not excessive!) rainfall during the normal dates for simply maintaining the already phenomenal biodiversity that we have, especially in the face of even the medium-term predictions.

With my very best wishes for 2023!

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¡Felices Fiestas 2022/23 para mis amigos de Facebook e Instagram! ¡Que paséis unos días excelentes con vuestros amigos y familias!

Y para salir de un mensaje ‘normal’ para las fechas, aunque puede parecer una simple rana, estimo que este precioso sapillo pintojo (Discoglossus galganoi), fotografiado a menos de 10 km de casa el 18 de diciembre, representa bien a una serie de factores que simplemente me gustaría ‘airear’. Para darle un poco más de perspectiva, la misma noche que la fotografié disfrutamos de un montón de larvas de salamandra común (Salamandra salamandra), además de algunos gallipatos (Pleurodeles waltl), tritones pigmeos (Triturus pygmaeus), sapos corredores (Epidalea calamita) y ranas comunes (Pelophylax perezi) y solo unos días después de ver sapo partero ibérico (Alytes cisternasii) y un impresionante sapo de espuelas (Pelobates cultripes).

1. Illustra bien cómo la naturaleza, si le damos una oportunidad, puede resistir en situaciones aparentemente perdidas, en particular tras más de un año de sequía con temperaturas cada vez más altas (65 días con máximas de >30°C y 17 noches tropicales, o sea, de >20°C, en 2023), dónde la charca (como para el 90% (¿o más?) de todas las de la comarca) permanecía completamente seca durante unos 9 meses y solo ahora se está llenando gracias a los casi 155l de lluvia que han caído a lo largo de diciembre (de los 737l hasta hoy este año y contrastando con los 613l del 2021).

2. También manifiesta cómo nuestros inviernos se suavizan (con solo dos noches con heladas hasta ahora este otoño/invierno) y, en consecuencia, la posibilidad de que estos anfibios puedan seguir activos. ¡Y la variedad de setas y otros hongos sigue siendo impresionante también, cuando suelen desaparecer tras las primeras heladas!

3. La localidad del sapillo está bajo una amenaza seria por un proyecto de energía renovable (y no nos engañemos, que verde no es), como parte de un verdadero maremoto de proyectos de este índole asolando el país, en este casi debido al emplazamiento de la línea de evacuación y para lo cual apenas han realizado muestreos durante el asesoramiento de impacto ambiental, una deficiencia sistemática en estos procesos en España (y recientemente agravada gracias a cambios a nivel europeo). P.ej., la localidad es la última conocida para una muy escasa caballito del diablo (Coenagrion scitulum) en Madrid, aparte de albergar a varias especies más de odonatos muy escasas en la comarca y hasta reptiles amenazados.

4. La biodiversidad en España, incluso en tan cerca a la capital, sigue siendo excepcional a nivel europeo, pero está bajo una amenaza constante. P.ej., no hemos detectado ni un sapo ‘común’ (Bufo spinosus), antes común, pero que requiere de masas de agua más grandes y de mayor duración para que sus larvas puedan desarrollarse.

5. Este sapillo pintojo (una presunta hembra; también encontramos un presunto macho), lo encontré mientras realizaba una prospección con dos amigos quienes se habían molestado en venir desde algo lejos, y disfrutamos de un rato muy amena y de gran productividad, a pesar de unas condiciones no perfectas*. Aunque puede parecer raro, aún espero un retorno de turismo de la naturaleza hacia los niveles pre-pandemia, pero manifiesta que hay unas oportunidades excelentes aquí (casi todo el año) para poder observar una impresionante riqueza de flora y fauna. ¡Esto incluye reptiles, mariposas diurnas, polillas y otros insectos y por esa razón os presenta el sapillo y no un ave o un mamífero y a pesar de que estos últimos grupos son el principal atractivo para la enorme mayoría de los tours!

6. * ¡Cómo me gustaría que cambiemos el ‘chip’ un poco con nuestra apreciación de qué es el “buen tiempo”! En primera línea en Europa sufriendo los crecientes efectos del calentamiento global y la desertización, me gustaría que reflexionamos algo más sobre el uso de la frase. El “buen tiempo” a partir de ahora no debería significar (quizás solamente, como ahora) sol y calor, sino, los días de un buen (¡y no excesivo!) aporte de agua y en las fechas adecuadas para mantener lo maravilloso que ya tenemos de cara a las previsiones...

¡Os deseo una buena entrada al 2023!

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