Morocco 1

So this is the first of probably many posts on animals from Morocco. I have to say that for being there only for a week it is amazing how much diversity I was able to witness. It was truly a great visit to a marvelous country. We visited mostly the north of the country landing in Nador in the north east. From there we visited towns and cities like Meknes, Fez, Guercif, Taza, Azrou, and smaller towns on the way. We passed everything from scorching dessert lands with 40 degrees to high mountain passes with cooler air. Were also houses were built to handle snow in the winter.   

Beautiful desert landscape close to Guerzif, with temperatures above 40 degrees in mid day.

Landscape photo up in the mountains where the sheep were grazing next to a cedar tree forest.

Like churches in Europe there is not a single village or a small place without a mosque. Even in the most remote areas with around 5 houses there would be a mosque. And every larger city had lots of them.  This is one of the nicer one in the city of Azrou. Here mostly interesting for the cool colony of Herons in a nearby tree. This one was taken from a table with a timer, and with my Tamron 28-300. Not easy to get as it is nighttime with passing cars and hence changing lights. Well I will upload some more landscapes with my other photos but it is about the bugs and animals. I will also distinguish from desert habitat and more humid areas to mountain habitat.  

Escarabajo de san juan

For 5 nights I have been out trying to get photos of a specific beetle that comes out at this time of year around midsummer. The Polyphylla fullo of the scarabeaoidea family. For these nights it is buzzing around trying to find a mate just at the time of dusk. There were not exactly millions of them this year but sufficient for me to take photos. They also are a welcome dietary supplement to the Falco eleonorae Eleonora's Falcon or Eleonorafalk in Norwegian. The beetles make a hissing sound to ward off predators. I think if I am not mistaken they produce this noise by forcing air through their spiraclers.

       

                         Male                                                Female

These wonderful birds sit in the trees and wait for dusk until they start swooping down and catching their prey. On the return home you could se dicarded elytras and heads on the side of the road.

(Some) Birds of S ́albufera

This last spring i have been several times to this natural park. Mostly this has been at night time for bugs, but also to see birds.  

crested coot, knoppsothøne, Fulica cristata A bird quite distinctive with its two red protrutions in the top of the head

Triel, Eurasian Stone-curlew, Burhinus oedicnemus This is a somewhat large nocturnal bird with large eyes and a loud screaching sound. Photo was taken at dusk on the last rays of the sun for that day.

Gråfluesnapper, Spotted flycatcher, Muscicapa striata

rødhodevarsler, woodchat Shrike,cfemale This is a female because of its small white patch right above the beak. Cool little bird that eats everything from lizzards to larger insects and even other birds.

These three great photos were taken by Cecilia and are posted here with her permission.

On the top photo we see the grey heron Ardea cinerea who just caught a huge fish. Were were watching this for a long time, while the heron was trying to figure out how to devour its slightly oversized meal. 

The next photo is of a Eurasian coot Fulica atra searching for a meal below.

The last photo is of the Sardinian warbler sylvia melanocephala (Svarthodesanger) Singing high and mighty at that time of the year to attract a mate.

OK that is it for this time. Today..or more correctly tonight i am off to S ́albufera once again. This time to look for Melolontha melolontha.

(some) Birds of Mallorca

BIRDS

Here are some of the birds i have seen this spring. After several trips arround the Island of Mallorca.  I wanted to show them before i go over to show pictures of my trip to Morroco, which will be uploaded shortly bit by bit.

Blåtrost Monticola solitariussence, Or in spanish Rockero solitario which sounds pretty cool. This one was flying near the top of the mountain Galatzo, one of the higher mountains on the island.

Bokfink Fringilla coelebs male taken near the two lakes on the island. One of the most common birds and also a beautiful one at that.

Middelhavsmåke Larus audouinii A different species of seagull than what i am used to from Norway with a red beak and black and white tail. This is taken in the village of St Elm.  

Munk female and male Sylvia atricapilla taken from the the base of mountain Tossals Verds Also a common bird, The top picture is the female and the bottom one is the male.

Stylteløper Himantopus himantopus from a secret location of mine. It is a great little place of small ponds of salty water. However it is close to tourism hotspots and i would like to keep this gem hidden/protected. This bird is great to watch as it scans the water for food. 

Chalcophora mariana

Chalcophora mariana

This is the first Buprestidae i have encountered this year. A sunny day in April i was in the countryside when i heard a loud buzzing sound. After a bit of a game i often play called "find the bug" I got this magnificent buprestidae in view, Chalophora mariana. I already have a hasty photo of this species a year ago but then it flew away after a only two snapshots. So this was my chance to improve.  

There are much more beetles to come in the comming days.

Thomisidae

Thomisidae is a great family of spiders that have usually a very distinct look and behavior. They are recognized by their elongated 1 and 2 walking legs and their direction, earning them the name crab spiders. A lot of them also have a lie and wait strategy often on plants and flowers to catch their pray. They do not spin webs as traps, but rely on their front legs and often powerful venom to subdue their prey.

Can you spot the Thomisidae in this photo?

Here is a slight enhancement to show where it is. I beleeve it to be Thomisus onustus

Now I confess my large self scared the spider mid feast so the dipteral in the photo is already paralyzed. And only after a long wait it came back to collect the meal albeit aware and wary of my presence.

Synema globosum

Xysticus sp.

So it pays off to keep a good eye out for these beautiful spiders the next time you visit the flowerbed.
They are also highly camera friendly if you tread slowly and carefully.

Untill next time

Hey! Just a quick update. Sorry for things taking so long. For about a month ago we had a wicked ammount of fogg for two days strait. Hard to take good photos but it made a really cool light with the streetlights, and i tried to capture it.

First picture is taken from my flat. The otherone is taken in Parc de mar here in Palma. It is the cathedral here. You need a tripod to get these photos to work, and i used a timer to keep it still. It was not raining, the droplets on the first photo is just condensation.