‘Grazalema has the some of the highest rainfall records in Spain’. This is a phrase that is commonly found on the internet, but without further explanation could be very off putting to the holiday maker! Mountains will always alter their local climate where-ever they are in the world, and this is no exception. Note that only a few hours drive away at the eastern end of Andalucia is Europe’s only desert! So here is a bit about the weather In Grazalema.
The Stone Marten (also known as Beech marten) is a mammal of the Mustelidae family, it is around 12cms high at the shoulder with a long slim body of between 40 to 55cms with the bushy tail adding another 22 to 30cms. The main colouring is brown with the legs a darker shade and the … Read more
Above image is by Benny Trap who has a fantastic collection of reptile and amphibian images over at wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Benny_Trapp Distribution The southern coastal areas of Spain and Portugal. Elsewhere it is found on Malta, Sicily, Crete and the Greek islands of Chios and Samos as well as North Africa and south west Asia. some … Read more
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.
The tiny feather legged damselflyThe Iberian blue tailed damselflyPincer tailDragonflies have huge eyesCopper demoiselleBanded Groundling
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…
