Southwest Iberian Worm Lizard

Southwest Iberian Worm Lizard

Update August 2022 Blanus mariae, described by Albert and Fernández (2009) after the recognition of two distinct genetic lineages in the Peninsula, was recently synonymized with B. cinereus by Ceríaco and Bauer (2018) due to a misidentification of the type locality of the latter species by Albert and Fernández (2009). Because of this, the genetic … Read more

Finding dragonflies and damselflies in Spain

Dragonflies have huge eyes

Dragonflies and damselflies in Spain are extremely beautiful insects which capture the very essence of summer as they perform their intricate aerobatics around the gleaming backdrop of rivers and pools on hot sunny days. They are reasonably easy to observe and are also important indicators of the health of our wetlands, being top insect predators both as airborne adults & aquatic larvae. Heres a few lists and places for finding dragonflies and damselflies in Spain

For those with an interest in observing and photographing these insect jewels, August is definately the best month. Many people avoid Spain during the peak of summer due to the intense heat (which may be hovering around the high 30’s and low 40’s) so, you’ll have the countryside pretty much to yourself. The scent of hot pine resin, gum cistus and the baked appearance of the area is quite different from the spring wild flower season just a few months earlier and is an experience in itself.

During a few days visit in August you should expect to see around 15 species of Dragonfly and Damselfly and in some cases you may even be rewarded with upwards of 10 species in just a single location including emperors and goldenrings along with damselflies such as the beautifull copper demoiselle and Iberian blue tails…

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Painting one turbine blade black reduces bird fatalities by 72%, says study

Wind turbines painted black

Sometimes the simplest solution is the most efficient! Fascinating to hear that scientists in Norway have found that painting one of the three blades on a wind turbine black reduces avian deaths by 72%. In the paper, the scientists explain why birds are susceptible to flying into rotating turbine blades and why a single black … Read more