miércoles, 30 de enero de 2013

Fauna of La Mancha

While not much is happening in the garden during winter, I thought it would be a good time to upload some photos of the local fauna.  All these photos were taken from our living room.

This Golden Eagle (Águila Real, Aquila chrysaetos) doesn't come around much, but when he does he just takes your breath away.
 
 
My friend, the hawk (Buteo buteo), felt daring one day and decided to perch on the mulberry tree in our garden instead of down by the stream.

I had never seen this little guy before.  Turns out he's a Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis),
but I haven't seen him since. 

This is a Red Kite (Milvus milvus), which is aptly named because they love windy days. 
Here he is at the start of a snow flurry...


... and with a friend a few minutes later.
 
 
 
Not exactly wild animals (but still very much a part of our local fauna) are these soldiers from the Infantry Academy in Toledo.  In our rural area, you can often come across them loaded down with packs and carrying rifles on training missions, trying to get from point A to point B with maps and compasses in hand.  O's cousin, a military helicopter pilot who trained in Toledo, says it's not unusual for them to be dropped off some 70k (around 40 miles) away and be expected to find their way back.
 
Although I'm used to them by now, let's just say that the first time I came across a soldier, at night, jogging down a back road with rifle in hand in the middle of winter and wearing a ski mask, it took me a moment to decide whether to scream!       

2 comentarios:

  1. I love your scenery and your birds. The lay of the land is not unlike Texas and people are starting to grow olives here now. As to your visiting mongoose. I hope you don't have any ground nesting birds. I know they love eggs.

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    1. Lancashire Rose, thanks for stopping by my blog! Yes, I have been told that our landscape looks like parts of the southwestern US, and cousins from California have said the same. More than half of our town is covered in olive groves that are hundreds of years old and have been passed down through the generations. We do have ground-nesting partridges but, although they are beautiful, they are not my favorites because they love nibbling on tender green rosebuds!

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