Andalucia 11

Tags

Andalucia, Andalusia, domestic cat, Donana National Park, Iberian lynx, lynx, myxomatosis, Naturetrek, Sierra Morena

Andalucia: Felines, at last!  It has been suggested to me, from Canada, that if I wanted to see lynx I should have travelled to that country, where they are abundant.  Ah – but our quest was for Iberian lynx!  There are estimated to be only about 400 of these left in the wild, though recent conservation efforts have meant that this figure is fourfold what it was 15 years ago. It remains the world’s most endangered feline species. The two places we tried to see them, the Doñana National Park, and the Sierra Morena, are the best places to do so; there are more in the latter, but they are much more widely scattered there.  Naturetrek did not guarantee a sighting – how could they? – but 80% of these trips had had positive outcomes.

The Iberian lynx, considerably smaller than the Eurasian version, is about the size of a boxer dog, and has wonderful ear tufts and a short stubby tail. Its main prey is rabbit, and there is great concern for its future because the rabbit population has considerably declined in recent years, the result of myxomatosis and other disease.

We saw no lynx during our first, morning, drive – but a pug mark, thought to be made the night before.

Notice the claw marks

And on the roads there were warning signs. As we set off for our second, late afternoon, drive, we were told that a lynx had been spotted that morning eating large prey.  We (Sergio and the driver) found the prey:

Probably a small deer

The lynx would not be likely to be far away from such a larder, and could well be sleeping its meal off.  And eventually he – a magnificent nine-year-old male named Dardo (dart) –  was spotted resting in the shade.  

He has a collar

After a while, it was decided that we should move on to the one remaining patch of water in the vicinity, (see previous blog) and hope to see Dardo again on our return.

Lynx staple diet

He had scarcely moved, 90 minutes later. 

Not fazed at all by humans in a van staring at him, perhaps 50-80 metres away

Night was closing in.  Huge sighs of relief from all leaders, and huge smiles of pleasure from wildlife tourists.

 

We returned quite early the next morning hoping to catch the lynx eating.  He had finished though by the time we arrived, and was hanging around near where we had seen him the previous day.  This is the best shot I could get, partly because it took me a while to spot him, despite others’ efforts to help, and partly because I was on the wrong side of the van to get into a good position.  But I was able actually to see him walking around for a few minutes, in and out of and behind the bushes.  We decided to move on once he had finally disappeared, but just then a rangers’ van came up, someone leapt out, and went over to where the prey had been, and came back holding something.  We were most privileged to be shown the pictures his camera trap had taken the previous afternoon, before we had arrived there.  Serendipity or what!

No, we didn’t see any lynx in the Sierra Morena, just this old piece of lynx poo.  But there were compensations for cat lovers back at the hotel!  Cats (domestic) and more cats and more cats! Mostly happy to accept caresses, with just one or two rather more nervous – perhaps having had bad experiences from previous guests, and some very friendly indeed. It was impossible to know how many there were, especially since they were nearly all black and white.  There were two mothers, one of which was a sort-of Siamese, and it seemed to me that the rest were mainly 6-month-old kitlets with a couple of 3-month-olds.

I do know there were at least 13 cats (and I suspect more), because when we came back to the hotel on our last day, I had a load of chicken ham on me, left over from lunch.  As a result, when I got it out of my back pack, there were kittens into said back pack, after the smell, and then around my feet – 12 of them. One mother cat was absent from this feast, so that meant there were at least 13 cats in total at the hotel.  I didn’t manage to get a photo of the blissful experience of having 12 cats round my ankles, as I didn’t want to get my camera greasy, but here is a selection of the photos I got at other times. (Felinophobes, jump to the last picture.)

This is the one I would have kept in my back pack and brought back to the UK!

Or perhaps this one, though it was a little shy

I counted 6 in this hidey hole at one point, but it is not easy to get a good picture of six blackish cats in the shade!

One of the two mothers

I believe this granite piece was once used to crush olives

Apart from treats from guests, the staff made sure the cats were well fed and watered. This final picture shows a completely different and very admirable creature profiting from their bounty, at the start of a long journey, presumably back to a nest.  I really, really enjoyed my eight days in Andalucia, and it has really given me a great desire to go back – to see more of its rich cultural heritage, and also, perhaps at a different time to year, once more to explore Doñana National Park.

 

Andalucia 7

Tags

Andalucia, Andalusia, Donana National Park, Egyptian grasshopper, Egyptian locust, El Rocio, Hotel Toruno, Iberian lynx, Naturetrek, red deer, Romeria del Rocio, Wild West

Andalucia, El Rocio and Doñana National Park.  The Doñana wetlands are the largest in Europe – except that they were almost dry at this time of year, the effect exacerbated by the farmers who take much of the water for irrigation, especially of strawberries.  We were staying at the Toruño hotel.

Note the hitching posts

On the wall of the reception area showing the species we might expect to see

The hotel restaurant, over the way from the main building. What appear to be tall hitching posts are bar counters for horsemen!

This was in the small town of El Rocío (‘the dew’), quite the most extraordinary town I have ever visited.  It was like driving into the Wild West. When you think of it, the Wild West may well have been modelled on such places in the first place – except that in this case much of the town has only been built from the 1950s onwards,.  We were told that it is known as the International Town of the Horse, though my researches since have not been able to find out much about that.  But what El Rocio is known for is a pilgrimage, the Romeria del Rocío, at Pentecost each year, which attracts up to a million people. These can arrive on horseback, in horse-drawn carriages and in wagons.  For there is no tarmac in El Rocío itself. The ‘roads’ are laid entirely with sand.  (Another blogger has written much more fully – and elegantly – about the town here.)

The remaining posts about my trip to Andalucia will be by theme, rather than day by day accounts.

The remains of this one will introduce El Rocío and the National Park, the next the entirely different Sierra Moreno where we spent the second part of our wildlife tour, then the remaining three posts will relate the wildlife we found  –  and some domestic animals.  But back to El Rocío. Internationally known for it or not, it is certainly a town for horses, and there is much evidence of the pride of place given to them. Here are two ordinary ‘roads’ and the sign at the restaurant where we ate lunch at one day.

Yes, cars are allowed

When we got back from a morning drive on the Tuesday, instead of sheltering from the blistering heat, I went out to explore El Rocío for a short while. 

I thought I was perhaps the only person about (‘the English(wo)man out in the midday sun’) but these three horsemen greeted me cheerily.

Huge pilgrimage needs huge church

The sign says that in 2001 the Andalucían authorities had declared this species of olive, endemic to the region, a ‘Natural Monument’. (If only all regional declarations in Spain were so benign.)

There were two young cats entertaining us with their antics at each of our two outdoor dinners there, siblings probably, and here is one of them just before we left at midday on the Wednesday. Horses. I had looked round from my meal on the Tuesday evening and seen one of the high bar counters being used! And I took these two photos from the van as we returned from our second morning drive. 

The head of the woman exercising the horse at the end of rope in the ring is just visible

El Rocío is right on the edge of the Doñana National Park.  These four photos were taken a short walk from the hotel.  For most of the year, there is a lagoon hugging the whole of one side of the town. However, we could just see a very distant shimmer of water, all that remains until the rains come. (Nearly two weeks on, I don’t think they have done so yet. And yet my guidebook says that October has one of the highest rainfalls of the year in Andalucia.  Climate change?)

Horses are everywhere around the town, and in the National Park, grazing where they can, sadly some of them in an emaciated condition.

Most of the birds were too far away to be well identified.

Two-inch long Egyptian grasshopper, also known as the Egyptian locust, but no threat to crops and vegetation.  Here at a wildlife visitor centre.

Lizard with attitude, same place

These remaining pictures were taken out as we explored early in the morning or as the day drew to an end, deeper in the national Park, looking especially for Iberian lynx.

The long shadows are of humans. The flat brown bit would be under water earlier in the season.

And these red deer stags were a distant vision on the ‘lagoon’ just before we left El Rocío.