The Alpujarra and the Sierra Nevada are amongst the richest areas in Europe for birdlife. I'm certainly no expert, but there are loads of species which seem to be pretty common here compared to anywhere else, including the black redstart (that's one above), crested lark, golden oriole, griffon vulture, Bonnelli's eagle, hoopoe, bee-eater, rock bunting, alpine accentor and dozens more, including a wide variety of owls, which I tend to hear rather than see. The photograph above is from this fantastic website from Birdwatch Alpujarras, a specialist company based in Lanjarón. The site promotes their services to visiting ornithologists, but is also of great interest to the casual visitor who sees an unfamiliar bird round these parts and wonders what it might be, or who wants to know what to look out for on a walk. Personally, I just love the abundance and proximity of even fairly common birds in and around our village. The resident swallows, for example, raise several broods in a year, so we'll often see ten or more scruffy little fledglings lined up on the telephone wire immediately outside our window, screaming to be fed. The adults' complex call starts with a melodious trill, then morphs into a rattling metallic cackle - it reminds me of the sound the old dial-up modems used to make - and in summer, with the windows open, it makes owning an alarm clock entirely unnecessary. Here's a shot of a little one taken through the slats of our bedroom window blind - hence the odd diffused light.
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