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Andalucia: Nature Tales from a Wild Garden, La Muela, Vejer de la Frontera (2026)

05/05/2022

By and large, the unsettled weather has departed and warm, balmy days prevail. Spring is in full swing and an astonishing diversity of life is on show, singing, flying or in bloom. My favourite time of the year and a real show of Nature at its best.

The birds have really put on an amazing display with hundreds and hundreds of Honey Buzzards flying north, hundreds of swifts (four species so far), swallows (2 species) and House Martins feeding overhead. Golden Oriole has become a daily bird here the last two weeks along with Beeeaters (mostly finished on passage but a local nester), Common Redstarts, Bonelli's Warblers, Iberian Chiffchaff, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Turtle Dove, Montagu's Harrier, Lesser Kestrel, Black-shouldered Kite, Bald Ibis and even Spoonbills flying to their nearby breeding grounds. Rarities (for here) have included Roller, Scops Owl, Savi's Warbler, Spectacled Warbler, Subalpine Warbler, Orphean Warbler, Red-necked Nightjar.....the list goes on!

My afternoons are spent wandering in the meadows and the hillside, brushing up my knowledge on the glorious wild flowers...the diversity is astonishing, recording the butterflies (32 species on the wing at the moment!), searching for day flying moths and any other invertebrate that catches my eye and generally basking in Nature including the odd siesta on the top of the hill!

In the evening I set my moth traps and spend the first couple of hours of dark watching what comes into the lights. A few hours of sleep then an hour or two pre dawn listening to the owls, nightingales and now the recently arrived Red-necked Nightjars and once again checking around the traps for late arrivals. It is a very busy time of the year, many old Nature friends to greet and still new ones to welcome!

It is always great to welcome folk to come see the Nature here and over the last couple of weeks Dave Grundy, Teresa Farino and Manuel Pozas have visited to share in the bountiful diversity of moths. On Manuel's visit on Sunday we recorded a record for Casa Athene with over 600 moths of 135+ species!

23/04/2022

It has been a crazy few weeks! The weather has flip flopped between bright warm and clam days to howling westerly or south easterly winds to cold grey and very wet! A typical spring I guess. Bee-eaters, Hoopoes, Nightingales, Melodious Warblers to name but a few of the recent arrivals fill the air with their distinctive calls, Montagu's and March Harriers, Booted, Short-toed and even a Bonnelli's Eagle are passing through in good numbers, Spoonbills (several flocks of up to 50 birds) are on their way through to their nearby breeding grounds and daily lines or V's of foraging Bald Ibis (max. 41) are always a delight. Wrynecks (2), Common Restarts, Pied Flycatchers, Subalpine, Savi's and Orphean Warbler, Purple Heron, Honey Buzzards, swifts and swallows and martins have already taken residence or passed through. The night time is dominated by the calls of Little, Tawny and Eagle Owls calling as well as Stone Curlew and of course many Nightingales.....glorious.

Needless to say, Nature has put on a wonderful floral spectacle here at Casa Athene and I have just added a small selection of some of the many, many species that have given me such joy over the last few weeks. After a miserable start to the orchid season (see earlier posts) the warmth and rains created ideal conditions for the Yellow Bee orchid with record counts, a delightful late show of Woodcock Orchids and the return of the solitary Small Tongue Orchid in all it's subtle glory!

Butterflies seem low in diversity so far this spring but I expect this will change when the warmth fully returns however, I am delighted to report that Monarch butterflies appear to have taken up residence once again in the garden!

Moths have been spectacular over the last few weeks with five species of Hawk Moth including this stunning Willowherb Hawkmoth, several new species for the Casa Athene List, and the return of many old favourites.

Hope you enjoy!

04/03/2022

With just one day of useful rain this winter (in December), the extreme drought continues down here in the south of Spain and is only made worse by the seemingly endless Levante winds or cold northerlies. Bird migration is now beginning to gather pace as Barn Swallows, House Martins, Pallid and Common Swifts are showing in small numbers on the calm(ish!) days, Black Kites in small groups, Short-toed and Booted Eagles drift over, lines of Spoonbills heading to their nearby breeding grounds, Common Cranes heading north, Stone Curlews calling at night, Hoopoes noisily calling and the first Subalpine Warblers appearing in the scrubby bushes as they too move north.

The drought is very evident in the flora with early spring flowers blooming and then wilting very quickly and the many common species of wild flower in smaller density and size than "normal" years. The effect is most apparent among the orchids. Until today, just Sombre and Sawfly Orchids had bloomed with numbers way down on previous years. It was a real delight therefore to find the first Yellow Bee Orchid, a single Bumblebee Orchid and a single Mirror Orchid in bloom. Numbers of their basal rosettes are very low in numbers and I await to see whether they only produce just a few flower spikes or bloom in abundance as they have the last few years.

With so few flowers the variety of bees appear, to my untrained eye, to also be struggling but it is early days yet! I was delighted however with this large bumble bee sized Melicta albifrons a few of which I have seen in the meadow taking nectar from Iberian Milk Vetch.

Moths have also struggled with the winds, but on the calmer nights the variety can be fabulous and on one of the calm days I was thrilled to find two locations of the very localised day flying Idaea nexata (a month earlier than last year) and a displaying/mating gathering of the tiny but very beautiful Ptilocephala albida (new to the Casa Athen list) on the lichen covered limestone near the top of the hill. Among the many, many highlights in the traps over the last couple of weeks was this beautiful female Streblote panda (always a delight) and the first ever (for Casa Athene) Eastern Bordered Straw in stunning fresh condition.

10/02/2022

The last two weeks, along with virtually all of January, the weather has been dominated by strong, cold, easterly (levante) winds and blue skies. Still no rain! Many of the wintering birds in the garden are still conspicuous but their numbers are dwindling as most begin to head north for the nesting season. Stonechat, Sardinian Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, finches and buntings to name but a few are in full courtship mode. Short-toed Eagle, Booted Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite, Black Kite, Red Kite, are trickling through overhead, Barn Swallows have replaced Crag Martins and an early Wryneck briefly in the meadow was the only real highlight and sadly, evaded being photographed.
The plants however are being delightfully obliging! Amidst a sea of yellows and orange meadow flowers the first Sombre Orchids are now in flower with many more waiting for a bit more warmth. Similarly the first of several Sawfly Orchids has popped up early this year and is in glorious flower whilst the tiny and elusive Romulea bulbocodium, a tiny sibling within the Iris family, has put in one of it's occasional but beautiful appearances here at Casa Athene.
With such windy weather, bug sightings have been few....but if you look closely and in sheltered spots Wall, Small Copper, Green-veined White, Provence Hairstreak, Large and Holly Blues, Common Swallowtail and Clouded Yellows can all be seen. The Bumble-bee sized, orange/red bee, Anthophora hispanica, is out in force anywhere Iberian Milk Vetch is in flower, and this delightful Hairy-footed Flower Bee Anthophora plumipes was rescued from inside Casa Athene and posed beautifully for photos!
Moth studies continue nightly, and it was a delight to once again host Manuel Pozas here with 4 traps on the hillside plus one in the garden. Over 40 species and 235+ moths were caught that night....not bad for early February! Two new species of moth for Casa Athene were trapped in the last couple of weeks and are featured in the photos section. The first being a very smart Red-headed Chestnut (Conistra erythrocephala) and to my delight, singles of Autophila dilucida on two consecutive dates .

23/01/2022

For a variety of weird reasons, I have not been able to post on this page for quite a while. Hopefully now things have returned to "normal", I trust this post will once again, become the first of the usual, regular weekly updates highlighting some of the incredible wildlife that delights me here at Casa Athene.

January thus far has been cold and windy but nevertheless the birds have been conspicuous with a superb diversity of wintering raptors: Black-shouldered, Red and Black Kites, Booted and Short-toed Eagles, Marsh Harriers, Sparrowhawks, Common Kestrels and Common Buzzards. All the regular wintering passerines are easily observed with the regular finch and bunting flocks joined by a dozen or so Spanish Sparrow and up to 30 Siskin.

Iberian Parsley Frog (Pelodytes ibericus) was an exciting discovery whilst I was dragging wind blown leaves out of the swimming pool! This tiny (4cm), but beautifully marked creature is a new species of amphibian for Casa Athene! Following the exciting discovery of a possible new species of Trapdoor Spider at Casa Athene (see one or two posts ago) the Spanish expert on these formidable aracnids, Cristian Pertegal visited Casa Athene and amazingly found another 3 species of Trapdoor Spiders! Here is one of them...a huge female....gorgeous! Finally, on the subject of weird creatures....a beautiful female Sphodromantis viridis (an African species of Mantid with a toehold in Europe confined more or less to southern Andalucia) cunningly camouflaged in a rosemary bush in the garden!

Plantlife is starting to bloom in readiness for the spectacular spring show. Field Marigolds, Iberian Milk Vetch, Arisarums, Narcissus papyraceus and N. tazetta, Grey-leaved Cistus and Asphodels are looking glorious but for me the excitement lies in the next few weeks with the start of the Orchid season. Here are two species getting ready to send up their flower spike: the thin leaved basal rosette of Tongue Orchid and the broad basal leaves of Bumblebee Orchid!

Finally, a few of the 35 species of moths that I have trapped so far in 2022. The spectacular Lemonia philopalus, Oak Rustic and one of nine specimens of Agriopsis bajaria. I am still number crunching on the moth data from 2021, but hope to give you a full summary in the next week or so. Suffice to say at this moment, I recorded a total of 53,316 moths of 517 species!!!

21/11/2021

The last few weeks have seen several periods of strong levante winds interspersed by grey, gloomy, misty frontal systems. temperatures have dropped! A very light shower on one occasion finally encouraged several of the late autumn flowers such as Autumn Squill, Narcissus cavanillesii and Mandrake. Within days, the Narcissus had withered and faded way and the others are struggling. Fortunately, the rains fell properly last night, my water storage at Casa Athene is full, and the flora in my garden and on the hillside will have had their first meaningful drink for about 6 months. Hopefully, more rain to come in the coming weeks!

With such awful weather interesting bird sightings have been limited; a young Golden Eagle moving north over my hill, regular Marsh Harrier, Black-shouldered Kites, 2 Red Kites loitered on the hillside for 3 days when the weather was mad, Eagle Owl calling on calm nights and the delightful high jinks of the winter garden birds; finches (6 species), Cirl Bunting, Black Redstart, White Wagtail, Black Redstart, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Robin and Song Thrush; overhead Crag Martins sweep for bugs.

Butterflies are very conspicuous on the rare calm, sunny days. Red Admiral and Clouded Yellows, Southern Brown Argus (see photo) and Long-tailed Blue are common at the moment but the undoubted highlight has been the sporadic flight views on several day of Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus). No photos yet I am afraid but I am on the alert! This is the first record of Plain Tiger for Casa Athene.

Another great record was this stunning Ummidea sp. Trapdoor Spider one evening at the moth trap. As I understand it, there are 3 Ummidea species in Spain (and Europe) but this is not one of them. There are two sibling species that occur in North Africa but only the females have been described. The Casa Athene specimen is a male and therefore cannot be directly ascribed to either of those species! The specimen has been sent to a specialist and I excitedly await the conclusion!

The moth trapping, you will be delighted to know, has continued nightly and although numbers and diversity are declining from the autumn peak I am still catching lots of exciting species. It was a delight to host Dave Grundy and Graham Ekins (and Dave on his own a couple of weeks later) for a Mothathon with 4 traps on the hillside and my two traps in the garden. So to finish the post a trio of my favourite moths from the last few weeks....

24/10/2021

All of a sudden the bird life here at Casa Athene took on a winter appearance. Most of the autumn migrant having departed and the wintering species like Black Redstart, Song Thrush, White Wagtail establishing themselves in good numbers. Large roaming flocks of over 100 Griffon Vultures have been drifting over daily this week and on Friday I was delighted to spot a much rarer Ruppell's Vulture tagging along! Other birdie highlights this week have included a juvenile Golden Eagle and a brief sighting of a Woodlark!

Egyptian Mongoose is a seldom seen predator that is resident here so I was delighted to have a close encounter with not one but four of these shy creatures as they foraged down by the stream oblivious of my presence. Well done Hector Mush for being quiet and still throughout the encounter!

It may be winter for the birds but the ground is still very dry and flowering plants seem to be late compared to this time last year. One exception is the glorious rambling climber Sarsparilla which is currently in full fragrant bloom and serving as a magnate for the foraging Bees.

Butterlies are still very active with among others, Clouded Yellows, False Mallow, Zeller's and Mediterranean Skippers, both Swallowtails, Red Admiral, and a suite of Blues on the wing. Here is a tiny Lang's Short-tailed Blue.

Moth activity has been incredible over the last few weeks with many new species and the reappearance of scores of late autumn exotica! Casa Athene joined in with the La Noche de las Polillas de Andalucia province-wide event and this weekend Casa Athene hosted Dave Grundy and Graham Ekins for fabulously intensive moth survey of the hillside (4 traps) and garden (two traps). On both these occasions over 100 species were recorded. Here are a few of the highlights from the last few weeks.....enjoy!

13/09/2021

A much delayed post, but in my defense I have been away in Sweden for 3 weeks visiting Jessie, my daughter, Adam and my beautiful grand daughter MaggieMaud! I did manage to get some time off from helping them move house and lots of DIY to spend some time visiting some fabulous Nature Reserves so hope you do not mind seeing a couple of photos. Since my return the weather has continued to be very warm/hot and very, very dry.

Bird migration has now started to really pick up with highlights here at Casa Athene being Western Olivaceous Warbler, Black-eared Wheatear, several Montagu's Harriers, Golden Oriole, many hundreds of Honey Buzzards, Short-toed Eagles, Black Kites, and the featured Booted Eagle. Beeeaters are swarming over in flocks of upto 50 birds bad sadly for me they are fairly high up as they pass over in the calm, windless heat. The Red-backed Shrike was a real delight for me in Sweden. This was one of several seen on our hikes and the first I have seen since I found one at Pagham Harbour over 30 years ago!

Needless to say, with the heat and aridity floral variety is at its lowest here. A walk on the nearby coastal dunes however, rewarded Sharon, HRH Hector Mush and I with many fine, fresh blooms of the stunning Sea Daffodil (Pancratium maritimum).

Whatever the season, insect life is always rewarding and running a moth trap nightly always produces some fun bugs. Mantids, incredible beetles, Grasshoppers and Crickets, Damselflies they and many other orders are regularly recorded. This morning, this incredible Antlion (Acanthaclisis occitanica) appeared for the first time ever at Casa Athene. I regularly trap the smaller Antlions but at over 50mm long this crazy creature was massive!

To finish up, a couple of moths that appeared alongside the Antlion this morning. A beautiful fresh Silver-striped Hawkmoth and one of my top all time moths here at Casa Athene, the very localised and very beautiful Processionary Moth, Thaumetopoea herculeana.

08/08/2021

The last few weeks have been classic summer here in the southern most corner of Spain....hot, very dry and unusually, if there was a breeze, mostly gentle westerlies. Glorious for the holiday-makers along the nearby beaches but basically too hot to roam the hillside after about 10 in the morning! On one day, the wind changed to southerly and with it came huge dust clouds straight off the Sahara. The sky turned murky beige and the temperature soared. By about 3pm (see photo) it was so murky from the sand and dust the sun almost disappeared. That night was one of the best nights ever in the moth trap and in the morning it was back to the normal westerlies and a cloudless azure sky. My first ever experience of a weather phenomenon called a Calima!

The gentle winds have seen very few early migrants passing overhead or in the bushes. Hoopoes, probably local breeders have been daily with up to five yesterday, Black Kites just a few scattered flocks heading south, White Storks much the same although the biggest count was of a very high flock of about 300 birds, a single adult male Montagu's surprised me as it flew low over my head and away to the south, a few Booted and Short-toed Eagles and of course the daily flyby of Northern Bald Ibis between the nearby nesting sites and the feeding grounds....wonderful!

With very little in flower on the hillside, the garden at Casa Athene has served as an oasis for nectar feeders with lots of butterflies and bees seeking refuge among the vines, shrubs and flowering perennials. This weeks butterfly transect recorded 32 species of which only Southern Scarce Swallowtail (see photo) was not recorded in my garden!

The nightly moth surveys have continued and I was delighted to be given another mains powered trap by my friend Dave Grundy and from an anonymous donor a rechargeable battery pack that now allows me to run my other trap on the hillside (see photo). Thank you to both of you for your support in the valuable survey work that I do here at Casa Athene.

As regulars to this page will know, it is not just moths that are caught in these traps. From Praying Mantids, Antlions, Damselflies, Beetles to Grasshoppers and Crickets, there is always something to distract from the hordes of moths. Here are a couple of Crickets that I was particularly delighted with from the other night. The first is Pterolepis spoliata and the dark second one is yet to be identified. Spain is the European centre of abundance and diversity for Grasshoppers, Crickets and Mantids and I am now beginning to seriously document these interesting groups so watch this space!

On the moth front, the Casa Athene list now exceeds 500 species and more than 400 have been recorded in 2021 already. It was also a real pleasure to welcome Dave Grundy on two occasions recently and another visit by Manuel Pozas to trap with me on the hillside. Latreilles Latin is an occasional visitor to the trap and a gorgeous noctuid with complex colourful patterning. I was delighted to find their caterpillars feeding on the Maidenhair Ferns that grow inside the well at the bottom of my land! A trio of Emeralds caught this week, Phaiogramma faustinata, Microloxia herbaria and Xenochlorodes olympiaria, subtly marked in various shades of green and to finish, a close up of the amazing Spanish endemic and regular visitor to my traps the stunning Steblote panda with its crazy "Boris Johnson" mop of hair and striking markings.

04/07/2021

A glorious summers week with gentle westerlies, azure skies and surprisingly, not uncomfortably hot. Juvenile birds are in every bush and the tired adults like the photos of Serin and Cirl Bunting are looking very sorry in their tatty "worn' plumage. Nightingales are conspicuously easy to see in the garden at this time of the year as they hop along the ground seeking bugs to feast on and keeping in contact with their foraging family with a brief, rich and distinctive churring sound.
Very little to report on with the wildflowers as, well its that time of the year and most plants have finished flowering or are getting ready for what I call the second spring of the year when the meadows and hillside come alive once more with the flowers of Autumn. Chicory however is very conspicuous in the meadow and down by the stream. Such a peculiar blue!
Of the six species of Praying Mantid that occur at Casa Athene, the most scarce is this Apteromantis aptera which is endemic to Spain and fully protected. In brilliant camouflage for hiding in the dry grasses and withered flower stems at this time of the year this fine specimen has made the error of perching on the spikey purple Eryngiums to await the prey!
Nice to announce a new Dragonfly record for Casa Athene in what has thus far been a very slow year for this group. Golden Ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegastor boltonii) is a widespread species in western Europe it is always nice to see with the black and yellow striped markings and the characteristic green eyes.
Another great week for moths here with several new species with several new species recorded and some wonderful sightings of the occasional visitors. The Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) was recorded this time last year in single figures. This time around the arrived on force with 217 of them in my one trap on the 30/6 and on 1/7 I counted 110! The can be a pest species on Oaks (particularly the Cork Oaks) but in my locality the Kermes Oak does not appear to get defoliated! A gorgeous looker though! Moths come in all shapes and sized and an occasional visitor to here is this crazy but smart looking Chevron Snout (Hypena lividalis) and for colour but "lack of size" is this beautifully marked Epicallima mercadella, one of 8 new micros recorded this week.

21/06/2021

It has been a very busy few weeks with boring admin taking up a good chunk of time during the fine weather and since all that has been resolved we have had damp, rainy weather or strong cold winds from the north (most peculiar) resulting sadly in limited wildlife sightings.

Wildflowers in bloom are at their high summer low as far as diversity is concerned. The meadow is still full of scabious, wild carrot is abundant in and around the garden at Casa Athene and on the hillside amidst a sea of brown grasses and wrinkly dry lichens the occasional clusters of the beautiful Dianthus broteroi and the glorious bee friendly Sedum sediforme typically growing next to the abundant Mediterranean Dwarf Palms (see posts from this time last year!). In my garden, clambering and rambling through self sown wild olive and lentisco, Clematis flammula or as it is aptly known in English, Fragrant Clematis, is in full bloom and attracting masses of honey bees and down by the stream, water mint is supplying the nectar seekers with valuable energy. The most conspicuous flower in bloom however is without question the spectacular vivid bluish purple blooms of the huge Cynara cardunculus!

Stunning Jewel Beetles glitter in the evergreen lentisco, spectacular Jumping Spiders (my favourite group of spiders) delight the observer with their characteristic deployment of their eyes and Monarch Butterflies have descended on Casa Athene in force this year with mating couples seen on several days.

With the spring abundance now over, the Moths are fewer in both species and overall numbers, but they continue to test and delight my humble skills. The larger species (the macros) are fewer in number though make up for this with some very choice species on display. Catacola conversa with its spectacular orange underwings and new for Casa Athene the gorgeous Thysanoplusia daubei with its art deco patterning. The bulk of moths on the move however, belong to the micros and these are more often or not very taxing!! In keeping with the oranges and browns of the dry grasses and flowers that abound in and around Casa Athene these small to tiny characterful creatures are however a real joy when viewed close up. The spectacular Aneuxanthis locupletana has taken orange to and extreme, Mesocrambus tamsi has almost got the camoflauge idea sorted and to finish a rather dull brown job (Uncinus obdustella) that I was very excited to catch This unassuming character has the English name of Kent Long-horn and in the UK is restricted to the North Downs of Kent....my home territory where I cut my teeth as a child on the orchids, birds and butterflies of the chalk slopes....what a joyful reminder of my friends, the landscape and the Nature of this beautiful area which sadly (due to Covid) I have not seen now for so long now.

03/06/2021

Summer has fully arrived, the plunge pool is a delicious respite from the hot afternoons and other than the Nightingales singing (and the still illusive Golden Orioles) birdlife is limited to the common garden birds and lots of their hungry chicks that have fledged but still require feeding and the regular fly-bys of Griffon Vultures, Short-toed Eagles, Northern Bald Ibis, Swallows and Swifts.

Plantlife is also going into summer mode with the golden brown grasses and the meadow looking resplendent in vast swathes of Scabious, Spanish Oyster Plant, Mulleins, and a whole host of prickly thistles and their peculiar close relatives. Still many more flowers to come, typical of high summer but for the time being the emphasis here at Casa Athene has been on the incredible insect World that abounds here.

The highlight of these last couple of weeks has been hosting Dr. Tom Wood a Bee expert and specialist in the vast genus of Eucera who is busy surveying the Iberian peninsular. Over the course of three breezy, hot days, we were joined by my local naturalist friend Sophie as we traipsed over the hill and loitered in the rich flowery meadow armed with nets and a variety of kit capturing and recording the incredible bee fauna of this beautiful place. As you will note from the photos, many specimens were taken for microscopy, DNA analysis and further studies. The full total of species recorded during this visit by Tom will not be known until later but around 60 species were recorded including the featured Bee, Ensliniana bidentata which is only the third example ever recorded in Iberia and a new record for Andalucia! Tom will be coming back in March/April next year when a far greater diversity is flying including many specialist feeders on the unique flora here. In the meantime, when I can I can now be seen wandering with a net, photographing specimens and sending the photos to Tom for identification!

Needless to say, the variety of insects crawling and flying around is not limited to Bees, and I have been delighted by some sightings of new creatures and renewing my friendship with old friends in this busy invertebrate World. Two new species have particularly excited me, a gloriously pink enhanced specimen of the larvae of Nyctophila reichii a type of Glow-worm and my first ever Snake Fly (Harraplidia sp.)...in fact, a new Order of insects for me! Butterflies are around in huge numbers when the winds permit. Painted Ladies, Clouded Yellows, Blue-Spot Hairstreaks, both Swallowtails, Wall and both Browns are particular abundant and widespread and in suitable habitat 7 species of Skipper are on the wing with more still to appear hopefully in the coming days. On the Moth front, I have continued to trap every night and diversity continues to increase. Among the many highlights was this stunningly beautiful Yellow Shell, a common and widespread species in northern Europe but not at all common this far south, and perhaps one of my favourite moths which are now coming to the trap on a regular basis...the fabulous Passenger.

Andalucia: Nature Tales from a Wild Garden

05/05/2022

23/04/2022

04/03/2022

10/02/2022

23/01/2022

21/11/2021

24/10/2021

13/09/2021

08/08/2021

04/07/2021

21/06/2021

03/06/2021

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