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 Even the lightest breeze is appreciated when you are out and about in the sierras during August. We set off with sun cream, hats and plenty of chilled water, even late into the afternoons the sun showed little desire to lower in the sky. The brilliant blue skies could be relied upon to form a beautiful backdrop to most of our images with occasional pure white clouds offering an interesting colour contrast.
During a week of day trips it is difficult to choose between the myriad of options available. A selection of the most diverse took us to historical sites, natural cave formations, a shaded woodland walk, botanic garden (El Bosque), museum (Palacio Mondrago, Ronda) and one major walk – the Garganta verde gorge to see the Griffon vulture colony and the amazing 'La Ermita' cave at the base of the valley.
As well as the heat the most striking things at this time of year are the colours, scents and sounds. Although grasses are dry and golden many of the trees and shrubs are evergreen  with some even flowering now such as the bright pink Oleander (Nerium oleander) which borders stream banks, the small Mediterranean daphne (Daphne gnidium) with its dainty night scented white flowers on the dry slopes and unusual purple Stemless thistle that flowers at ground level (Chamaeleon gummifer). The air carries the fragrance of crushed herbs as we walked through thyme and mint or pine resin while we collected pine kernels beneath impressive Stone pines (Pinus pinea). The intense whirring from the trees is created by cicadas. It is an insect that spends years under ground as a larvae and just one summer in its adult stage when it lives on trees, drinking their sap.
Water is a good place to look out for creatures during the heat of the day. Our priority this week was to find a wide selection of dragonflies, so we aimed for a variety of water bodies,  from open reservoir, small ponds, gentle streams to flowing rivers. The most prolific was the Copper demoiselle (Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis), a delicate creature that alights on twigs besides or close to water, an easy subject to see and identify but more difficult to photograph. Other ‘dragons’ such as the Small Pincertail (Onychogomphus forcipatus) were less camera shy and posed happily on rocks. The Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii) were numerous in certain locations, but only once your eyes were adjusted to focus on something not much thicker than a hair at ankle height! Some of the larger crepuscular dragonflies zigzag so quickly and without stopping that their colours were impossible to discern in the fading light. Of course whilst searching for these beautiful insects we also discovered Iberian water frogs (Pelophylax perezi formerly known as Rana perezi), Spanish terrapins  (Mauremys leprosa), a selection of mantids and were distracted by various birds too. Golden Orioles live in the tall trees near to water whilst Bee-eaters and Swallows are attracted to the airborne insects. Nightingales and Cetti’s warblers although not obvious, as when they are actively singing in spring, could be spied keeping a watch over us. The call of Short-toed eagles is distinctive as they chatter together in a family group flying close by.
The natural caves that we visited were the sink hole at Hundidero which connects through 4.5km of underground channels to Cueva del Gato, the cool refreshing river that flows from here attracts many swimmers on a weekend. Cueva de la Pileta, another natural cave, is renowned for the cave art in many of its corridors and huge chambers. We took in a selection of historical sites with the Dolmen ‘El Gigante’ at El Gastor, the Roman ruined town of Acinipo and the Moorish tower above Zahara de la Sierra.
In Garganta verde we were able to see Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) showing off their aerial skills and hear the wind whistling through their feathers as they drew in their wings to skim  around the cliff face. For me the most fascinating is to watch them descend from an open sky by dropping their legs as air brakes and reducing their wings surface to sink quickly into the valley, rushing at great speed towards solid rock they open their wings at the last second and rise more gently with talons outstretched to land gracefully (mostly!). Other birds active around us were Sardinian warbler, Great spotted woodpecker and several noisy Red- billed Choughs. We were pleased to hear a single clang of a goat’s bell. If it was a constant clanging then it would signify sheep or goats nearby, but a single clang over an hour could only mean one thing, ‘Bell’ had survived another summer. ‘Bell’ is a Griffon vulture who is unfortunate to be the victim of a prank. When Griffon vultures feast on a carcass it is difficult for them to get airborne again and at this stage someone has caught this bird and placed a goat’s bell around its neck. The leather strap chafes against its skin as well as making it difficult for it to regurgitate food for the chick, so it is good to know that this bird has survived. (We first photographed this bird in 2005)
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