Fire Hair

The warm weather at the start of the New Year gave me the chance to get out on my local patch and burn off some of the excesses of Christmas. I headed for Santa Maria de Trassierra, a small village in the Sierra Morena, about 15km from Cordoba. It is the birthplace of Beatriz Enrique de Arana, the lover of Christopher Columbus and it is thought that he stayed in the village. Today it is popular with Cordobans who have holiday homes here and as the starting point of a number of walks. 

I set off from the village towards Fuente del Elefante. This is an area I have walked many times before and despite the presence of walkers and cyclists, there is always an abundance of wildlife. Along the way I stopped to watch Blue Tits, Great Tits and Sardinian Warblers with their distinctive red eye ring. I also saw numerous Nuthatches and a Short-toed Treecreeper climbing up tree trunks in search of insects.

Sardinian Warbler

Fuente del Elefante is a large fountain in the shape of an elephant, which may date from Roman times and is part of the Valdepuentes Aqueduct, built to supply Cordoba with water. In Arab times it also brought water to the nearby Medina Azahara. The remains of the aqueduct can still be seen here, however the original elephant fountain is now housed in a museum in Cordoba and has been replaced by a replica. 

I stopped for a while near the fountain and watched Hawfinches, Chaffinches and Greenfinches in the treetops. Seeing these species together put the Hawfinch's size into perspective. Looking like a bird that has spent too much time at the gym, it is about twice the size of a Greenfinch. In Spanish it is called Picogordo which translates as big beak. This is an apt name for a birds whose bill, with a crushing force of over fifty kilograms, is able to break open acorns. Lower down in the canopy a Crested Tit hopped between the branches before being frightened off by the arrival of a Jay. In the ruins of a nearby building a Black Redstart darted between the ground and its lookout point on a wall and White Wagtails scurried across the fields. A loud 'krack krack' call marked the arrival of a pair of Ravens. 

After a while the tranquility was broken by the arrival of a group of walkers and so I headed back the way I came, taking the path towards Aroyo del Beyarano. Robins, Chaffinches, Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Azure-Winged Magpies were common along this part of the track which passes through more oak forest. Then the high pitched song of Firecrest caught my attention. It was moving restlessly among the branches, but close enough to give me the chance to observe its bright green mantle and orange crest. In the sunlight its crest looked almost as if it had been sprayed on with luminous paint. In fact, the ignicapilla of its scientific name (Regulus ignicapilla) translates as “fire hair,” a reference to this blazing crown.I could also clearly see its white supercilium which its relative the Goldcrest doesn't have. However, like the Goldcrest this is a tiny bird, at just nine centimetres long and weighing just six grams. The fact that I was able to observe it for around ten minutes was the highlight of my afternoon. 

Firecrest

As I came out of the trees I could see Griffon Vultures circling as they looked for their next meal. There is a small population of about forty birds which nest nearby at Baños de Popea. The area is also home to other raptors such as Sparrowhawks and Goshawks, as well as Booted Eagles and Black Kites in the spring and summer.

Griffon Vultures

As I reached the stream (Aroyo del Beyarano) a movement on the ground caught my attention. At first I thought it was a small bird taking a mud bath, but on close inspection I realized that it was a bat which was flapping desperately in the mud. I believe they should be hibernating at this time of year so what it was doing here, I don't know. I rescued it from the mud and set it off the path to help it avoid the unwanted attention of passing dogs.

The path continues on to Baños de Popea but I decided to turn back as the afternoon drew to a close. The peacefulness of the oak forest and time spent oberving the woodland birds proved to be the perfect antidote to the New Year blues.