(Left: Female showing yellow head Right: Male, note long antennae)
This is a very large solitary wasp, the female reaching up to 4.5cm whereas the male is a little smaller. This species appears in warm weather during late May, June, July and August.
They hold no danger to humans despite their size and black / yellow warning colours. They feed eagerly on flower nectar and this is the best time to view them.
Lovely observations from Rachel who stayed in the Grazalema area with her husband for a few months last year (2019). After exploring the main footpaths such as the Garganta Verde, Pinsapo forest and the high peak of Torreon they found a small River in the Gaidovar valley and walked upstream finding some nice surprises in the heat of the summer.
At the beginning of August, when the heat was turning up towards its maximum for the year, Dave and I decided to walk for a couple of kilometres up one of the smaller river beds within the Sierra de Grazalema natural park to see if any small pools lingered through the summer and just what treasures they would hold, we were more than pleased with the results!
Dried, bleached algae blankets the river bed rocks
The striking images above show a blanket of algae that has been bleached and baked dry in the sunshine clinging onto boulders, in stark contrast to the heavy flooding just 4 months earlier!
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Expecting a dry river bed
The first part of our walk turned up several dried exoskeletons of crayfish that had dried out as the exposed shallow pools diminished in the heat. Tamarisk, oleander, willow, brambles and smilax at times virtually closed off our access as we traced the dry waterway upstream. The first water filled pool that we came across had a distinct autumnal feel despite the time of year. Some trees drop their leaves in the summer to conserve energy. These ash trees overhanging the pool had cast a yellow cover of dried leaves, crunching through them at the edge were a couple of terrapins unsuccessfully trying to avoid detection. The pool at about half a metre deep and 20 metres long may provide a safe haven for many creatures.
leaf covered pool and a Spanish terrapin (Mauremys leprosa)
The next of these pools that we came to was teaming with tiny frogs. As we developed an eye to pick out their tiny forms we could count 10 or so in a metre squared, some clustered in small groups on rocks and others with just a pointed snout breaking the water’s surface.
Left: Young Iberian Water Frogs. Right: Tiny fish looking for a meal.
A larger body of water which stretched for perhaps 50 metres had many small fish that were extremely inquisitive, shoaling around my feet looking for an interesting snack. There were less frogs in this pool for a very good reason. Further upstream some larger boulders held what would be an impressive cascade in the right season but, for now it simply retained a higher pool with amazingly bright green algae and families of terrapins sunbathing on exposed rocks. It seems that each wet area is host to different creatures depending on depth, overall length, shade etc. This small pool has more sunshine hence the algae growth and terrapin occupation as an important need for their metabolism is warmth from the sun.
Snakes!
The next pool may have put some people off as I noticed a Viperine snake moving around the edge despite its impressive camouflage against the gravel base. Once it realized that we had seen it, this small aquatic snake made a dash through the open water before hiding briefly around Dave’s sandals and then disappearing around rocks into the deeper area. And next we had to climb out and over some large boulders to avoid breaking long strands from a spider’s web!
Left: A Viperine snake underwater. Right: A spider’s web blocked our path.
Deep in the shade of overhanging trees we found a pool with ripped apart remains of large fish. But just the bones and scales with none left swimming around. These enclosed water bodies had made catching a summer meal much easier for the hunter. A strong odour emanating from rocks along the banks quickly led us to numerous spraints laced with fish bones and crayfish shells which confirmed to us that we were in otter territory. We were surprised to find that an otter could survive through the summer on an area that virtually dries out but having walked it, and given the over grown nature of the banks an otter could easily wander up and down stream undetected to the various pools in order to find a meal.
The frogs were plentiful down stream and further on we found a good selection of large fish in an area with slow flowing water with plenty of grassy cover on the banks. This new area was popular with dragonflies and damselflies which danced lightly through the air in colourful displays as we briefly disturbed their tranquillity before leaving the river and returning to our car.
Left: An otter spraint. Right: A Small Pincertail dragonfly (Onychogomphus forcipatus)
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Digging up old articles and reviews from 10 years ago or more I came across Steves great trip report about a walk in the Garganta Verde. First published in 2012.
“After recently enjoying a family holiday in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, Steve has written this article to share his experience of hiking the Garganta Verde.”
As part of our week at the end of August with Clive and Sue (of The Grazalema Guide and Wildside Holidays) we had permits for a visit to ‘La Garganta Verde”‘ a “must do” for the more adventurous visitors to the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park.
Well, slowly but surely all the bars and restaurants are reopening in Ronda, Grazalema and the area around the Caminito del Rey.
Many hotels are already taking bookings as well. However, it does seem that Ronda is lagging behind a little in this respect. Let’s hope it catches up soon.
The state of alarm declared here in Spain due to the outbreak of Covid-19 will be lifted on the 21st of June 2020.
This means that this “new normality” that everyone has been talking about will be a reality. What exactly does it mean? Who knows to be honest. Hopefully it will mean that the quality of establishements will be better than ever. Providing a clean and safe environment to sample those Spanish tapas or wallowing in the jacuzzi of your favorite hotel.
The Spanish version Event Calendar is developing nicely. All the basic village and town information articles are written and published and there are now 41 villages on the new pages.
A few events have been published For some villages and I expect this to increase a lot with the lockdown lifted and more freedom to move around.
That said, pretty much every summer feria and romería has been cancelled for this year. So this August will be a quiet one without the usual fun fairs, dodgems and deafening concerts untill the early morning sun rises. 🙂
Wildside Holidays is also doing pretty well of late! I am seeing traffic increasing and hopefully the businesses running wildlife holidays in Spain will benefit a little from this project.
Wildside Holidays – Spain
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The Grazalema poppy is a soft orange in colour and can be seen in the wild only in the Sierra de Grazalema (within Europe.)
It hangs off cliff faces, lodges itself between rocky clefts or is found tucked into natural pavement crevices.
The main flowering time is in the month of June and it was originally thought to exist solely here in the Sierra de Grazalema area but it has also been found in similar mountain localities in the western Rif and the Middle Atlas, Morocco.
(There are actually quite a few plants that are shared between the south western Andalusian mountains and North Africa as historically they were connected through this mountain chain.)
The altitudinal range of the Grazalema poppy is 900 to 1.600 m with most occurring between 1.100 to 1.350m. The temperature change at this altitude on the mountains through the course of a year can be quite dramatic spanning from snow coverage to a baking drought.
Grazalema Poppy (Papaver rupifragum) Amapola de Grazalema
Grazalema Poppy (Papaver rupifragum) Amapola de Grazalema
Grazalema Poppy (Papaver rupifragum) Amapola de Grazalema
This plant species is limited to the north and north east facing slopes as these are slightly cooler and more humid. If the plant has grown in favourable conditions it may survive for 15 years, others falling in less hospitable terrain die during the summer, hopefully not before setting seed.
The seeds are dispersed close to the parent plant by wind throughout the summer and germinate with the autumn rains. If these arrive late the plants may not grow strong enough to survive the winter.
This hardy perennial plant can have around 1000 to 2000 seeds within one seed pod, but as only around one per cent survive to reproduce they are on the list of protected species within Andalucía. There are various reasons for this low number, the main one is being grazed by wild and domestic goats which can remove 50% of the flowering shoots.
Some plants that escape this fate are those on sheer cliff faces but the seeds from these may fall into deep, moving scree slopes where they can not grow.
For an alternative way to see the Grazalema poppy in flower visit the Botanic Gardens “El Castillejo” in the village of El Bosque on the western side of the Sierra de Grazalema natural park. As with most poppies a morning visit is recommended as they drop their petals during the afternoon.
Family: Papaveraceae Scientific name: Papaver rupifragum Boiss. & Reut. Spanish common name: Amapola de Grazalema
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