In April 2019, I went on a week-long field course to southern Spain with Bangor University. The aims of the trip were to find and see as much wildlife as we could, and to produce a field notebook detailing what we found and how we identified it – almost the perfect creature-finding field-trip experience, a really fun assignment. Overall, the weather was cooler than expected (with a daytime average of around 16°C) but the wildlife was even better than envisioned, and I learnt some valuable skills when it came to field journaling which I have definitely put into use since.
We arrived in El Rocio in the afternoon, where we wasted no time: we unpacked, had dinner, and then waited for it to get dark before heading out with the torch to see what was about.
The town of El Rocío has a distinctly Wild West feel to it, primarily due to the fact that the roads are carpeted with soft sand, and the vegetation around the verges comprised of tussocky, low-growing grasses and wild plants. The buildings and walls are white with terracotta accents, and the town is clearly horse-friendly. It had been raining fairly recently and the temperature was mild and humid, which meant that a lot of slugs and insects were out and about - the perfect lure for any amphibians in the area. One of the larger orange slugs initially seemed just to be a Spanish or Common Slug (Arion rufus complex) until closer inspection revealed that it was actually an extremely large semi-slug, with a tiny calcareous ‘shell’ perched on the back of its mantle. I looked this magnificent creature up and discovered that it was Drusia valenciennii (at the time known as Parmacella valenciennii), a large semi-slug restricted largely to the Iberian Peninsula and northern Morocco.
We hadn’t been out for long before we found Natterjack Toads / Sapo-corredor (Epidalea calamita) of all different sizes wandering about all over the roads and paths. I had never seen Natterjacks in the UK, so it was lovely to see so many of them out and about.
We decided to head towards a boggy area behind our camp where lots of different amphibian calls could be heard; here I suspected we would find more than just Natterjacks around the fringes of the water-bodies.
Because it was so dark and we hadn’t viewed the area in daylight first, we were limited in our ideas as to where the suitable habitat was for amphibians, and so were resigned to traversing a small sandy track that ran around the perimeter of camp. About halfway along this track, Tom stopped to look at another toad and discovered it to be an Iberian Spadefoot Toad / Sapo de espuelas (Pelobates cultripes), beautifully-marked with large, round, gold-ringed eyes with vertical pupils. Spadefoot toads are so named for having a hardened protuberance on each strong hind leg; this feature is used exactly like a spade for digging backwards into the soil. They (and the Common Spadefoot Toad P. fuscus) have also earned the alternative name ‘garlic toad’ due to the smell they emit when stressed. As we didn't touch it, ours did not release any garlic smells, but it did demonstrate the unusual-looking hindlegs.
We were joined by a few others from a different group who had been searching behind us. We let the spadefoot go on his way, before a friend opened his glasses-case, in which he had caught one of the most spectacular beetles I had ever seen. Clearly a dung beetle, its elytra were over 5 centimetres in diameter, and sporting a spectacular semi-circular head that was turned up and spiked at the front, like a crown. Blown away by this incredible beetle and the ingenuity of the glasses case as a means of beetle transport, I took a great number of photos and videos of it before it took off with an incredibly loud buzz, like a miniature helicopter. It quickly became apparent that there was only one species it could be: the Sacred Scarab Scarabaeus sacer, the same species worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, one of the largest species in Europe.
Excited by this discovery, we all found several more beetles, including a huge Rhinoceros Beetle / Escarabajo rinoceronte estercolero (Copris hispanus). This arguably looks the most like a rhinoceros out of all the European rhino beetles, with a huge, curved horn and an industrially-armoured thorax.
As we continued our circular route, we also encountered Moorish Geckos / Salamanquesa común (Tarentola mauritanica), Firebugs / Chinche roja (Pyrrhocoris apterus), Andalusian Wall Lizards / Lagartijas andaluzas (Podarcis vaucheri), and as we shone the torch on the sandy path in front, an immense female wolf spider (Arctosa sp.) carrying young on her back. Several more females and a male or two followed. We met another party of people from a different university who were also looking for things, and had a pleasant discussion about finding toads in the dark.
1 & 2: S. sacer 3: S. sacer
4: T. mauritanica
5 & 6: P. vaucheri
7: C. hispanus
Above: Arctosa
The next day, we were driven into the Doñana National Park on a coach for a look about, mainly for wetland birds. The National Park is famed for its different environments (such as pine forests, wetland, and dune systems), migratory birds, population of Iberian Lynx, and for being one of the areas with the highest biodiversity in Europe.
The habitat was unusual, with lots of wetland, fertile forests, reedbeds, and lakes; we almost immediately saw Glossy Ibis / Morito común (Plegadis falcinellus) and Common Waxbill / Estrilda común (Estrilda astrild) around the wetland areas. There were also more beetles; another, slightly smaller dung beetles (Scarabaeus sp. - maybe S. cicatricosus for the one photographed) several empty spider burrows, and an abundance of boar and deer tracks in the sand of the paths.
During the afternoon, we headed to a second location, the Palacio de Acebrón, to see the swallows and sparrows nesting on the building walls.
Under a rock by the car park, I found a huge and aggressive Scaritine Beetle (Scarites cyclops) which objected to having a camera lens in its face. One of our lecturers found the fantastic tenebrionid Sepidium bidentatum, whose markings seemed to resemble a lycosid spider from a distance. In a nearby pond area, we found more Moorish Geckos, huge numbers of Green Frogs / Rana común (Pelophylax cf. perezi) our first Viperine Snakes / Culebra viperina (Natrix maura) of the trip, and Spanish Pond Turtle / Galápago leproso (Mauremys leprosa), along with one of our old friends, the flat-fly Hippobosca equina. There were also Common Coots / Focha común (Fulica atra), Pochards / Porrón europeo (Aythya ferina) circling Black Kites / Milano negro (Milvus migrans) and my first Purple Gallinule / Calamón común (Porphyrio porphyrio).
We’d had an opportunity to see the bog next to camp in daylight earlier, a patch of tussocky scrub interspersed with ponds; armed with this information, we could explore it better at night. We turned up more Natterjacks and could hear a lot of calls, but the highlight of the evening was a huge tadpole from a shallow-water area, probably of a Spadefoot Toad.
We had an early start on a cool, cloudy morning for a safari into the Doñana and around the wetlands. The day started with Bee-eaters / Abejaruco europeo (Merops apiaster) sat on the power lines as we left, and then we split into small groups and boarded a minibus each. Previous groups had seen Iberian Lynx on this trip, which would be a truly awesome sighting, but we started out more reasonably, with a moderate flow of Red Deer / Ciervo común (Cervus elaphus) darting away from our vehicles in small groups through the trees.
The habitat transitioned from beautiful pine forest into lush wetland, with marsh stretching for miles around, stuffed to the brim with birds. Before we’d headed into the wetland we’d seen a large group of Wild Boar / Jabalí (Sus scrofa) from a distance, and a fantastic Greater-spotted Cuckoo / Críalo europeo (Clamator glandarius).
The bird list from that day was huge, with highlights including Fan-tailed Warbler / Cistícola buitrón (Cisticola juncidis), Flamingo / Flamenco común (Phoenicopterus roseus), more Purple Gallinules and Glossy Ibis, White Stork / Cigüeña blanca (Ciconia ciconia), Cattle Egret / Garcilla bueyera (Bubulcus ibis) some of which were living up to their name perched on horses and cattle, Great White Egret / Garceta grande (Ardea alba), and, although I missed it, a Little Bittern flew out in front of our minibus.
The next day, we travelled south to our second location, Huerta Grande. It was a good day to travel, with cooler temperatures, light rain and a little wind. There were lots of storks about, and plenty of vultures (including Griffon Vultures / Buitre leonado, Gyps fulvus) overhead. We took a diversion to the nest site of one of Europe’s rarest birds, the Bald Ibis / Ibis eremita (Geronticus eremita). The eroded holes and shelves in the yellow sandstone cliffs made for perfect nesting sites, and there were several adults tending nests and flying about. The river and surrounding area were lush and green, and the rain had brought out snails, too, including particularly beautiful Garden Snails / Caracol común (Cornu aspersum).
We made a brief stop in Tarifa, where we saw Lesser Kestrel / Cernícalo primilla (Falco naumanni), the isopods Porcellio laevis and Armadillidium vulgare, and a False Widow (Steatoda sp.) in the walls surrounding the castle.
When we arrived in the campsite of Huerta Grande (around 5pm) we again wasted no time getting out and about in a new area before dinner - the cool wet weather, which I had previously begrudgingly accepted as being colder than expected, was a real blessing when it came to wildlife. The amphibian diversity was high, and they were out in force every night.
The campsite is situated between two natural parks, Parque Natural del Estrecho (Natural Park of the Strait of Gibraltar) and the Parque Natural de los Alcornocales (Natural Park of Cork Oaks), and the campsite itself is positioned within picturesque woodland and scrub habitat. There were lots of rocks around the campsite verges and wild areas, under which are found some fascinating species. The Gibraltar Funnel-web Spider / Araña toro (Macrothele calpeiana) was a common sight; large, velvety bodied blackish-grey spiders with large chelicerae. They lived in silken tunnels under many of the rocks, and were quite fast and active when disturbed. This is the only spider offered heavy protection in Europe - protected under the Bern Convention (1979 appendix II) and the Habitat directives (92/43/EEC, appendix IV).
Another common species under the rocks, although difficult to spot at first, was the tenebrionid beetle Cossyphus hoffmannseggi. Its camouflage was astounding, looking exactly like a seed on first glance and clinging to the underside of the rock and sitting flat on the substrate.
Tom had been searching elsewhere around the campsite and found a fantastic little Fire Salamander (Salamandra cf. longirostris) under a flat stone, the only one of this trip, and my first ever sighting of a wild European salamander.
1 & 2: Fire Salamander 3: Gibraltar Funnel-web Spider
4: C. hoffmannseggi
After dinner, it got dark and we were able to go out with the torches. Here we found huge Spiny Toads / Sapo común (Bufo spinosus) wandering about camp, some with injuries and bleeding around the parotid region of the head, where the 'poison' glands are located. I wasn't sure what could have caused such injuries – although I suspect it was probably the cats wandering around on the site.
There were a lot of tree frogs calling; I had never seen Hyla before (although I'd heard them plenty of times), and I was sure these were probably the Stripeless Treefrog / Ranita meridonal (Hyla meridonalis), so decided I had to find one. The problem with tree frogs is that there are often many calling at once from multiple places, their calls echo, and they always stop as soon as you approach which, when they are in bushes and trees with tree-frog-sized leaves, makes them nearly impossible to find. We managed to narrow down the search when we saw some on the interior side of a fence enclosing a private swimming pool, and it sounded as though there were a few on the outside of the fence, too. When everyone else in the group had headed off to find more animals and the lights of the torches had faded, I found myself a bush which seemed to have one calling tree-frog in it. Since it was still singing, it had obviously not seen me yet, so I decided to approach an inch at a time and look only at the bits of bush that became visible as I moved, so once it stopped calling I knew we could see each other. Amazingly, this technique worked, and I managed to spot it sitting on a leaf at the back of the bush looking directly at me. These were definitely the Stripeless Tree Frog, distinguishable from H. arborea by the presence of a broken stripe down the side of the body.
We visited the area around Bolonia, in the hopes of seeing the chameleons. The day (and the area) was so full of reptiles and invertebrates that it was difficult to know where to start. The habitat was coastal dunes and scrub, shaded by plenty of huge umbrella pines and lots of broom. There were boardwalks on the nature reserve, populated by Moorish Geckos and plenty of grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles. One of the most numerous beetles was another tenebrionid, Pimelia chrysomeloides, which appears to spend all of its time running about deceptively fast for such a cumbersome-looking beetle, investigating everything in its path. They were extremely amusing to watch.
Beside the boardwalk, I picked up a rather unfortunate specimen of Bedriagai’s Skink / Eslizón Ibérico (Chalcides bedriagi). It had dropped its tail in a couple of places and was moving feebly about, so it was left in the shade underneath the boardwalk in the hope that it may have just been stunned and pushed into the sand.
In the broom, there were indeed Mediterranean Chameleons / Camaleón común (Chameleo chameleon), mainly juveniles decked out in green and black garb. They attracted a lot of attention from our large group, many of whom were trying to photograph one willing chameleon sat in a shrub from many angles. Finding that this didn’t give me much opportunity for my own photo-taking (and being too impatient to wait), I slipped away from the back of the crowd and hid underneath some large broom bushes until I was sure nobody was missing me, before attempting to find my own chameleon to photograph. This I duly did – albeit a rather uncooperative one, which flushed from green to a stressed spotty brown and puffed a bit when I crouched down next to it. I didn't stay long so as not to cause too much stress, but I was happy to have found one.
1 & 2: Pimelia chrysomeloides 3: Tenebrionid - Tentyria sp.?
4 & 5: Chameleon
6: Paper Wasps
On the way back to the coach, we found more tenebrionids, another Scarites, Scutigera coleoptera, geophilomorph centipedes, and subterranean termites under various bits of refugia. We had lunch then split off again, with several groups exploring some old ruins and finding some great reptiles and amphibian species that I unfortunately didn’t see, including adult Ocellated Lizards and Horseshoe Whip Snakes. We stuck to a refugia-covered road verge, which proved just as fruitful entomologically: Harvester ants (Messor sp.) a nest of Paper Wasps (Polistes sp.) a couple of lovely stick insects, many more skinks (which outsmarted us every time we tried to catch them) and some big bees, which appeared to be behaving rather strangely.
A pair of these bees were quarrelling over something in the grass, buzzing loudly; large in size and sporting red, black and white colouration, I felt as though I should recognise them from somewhere. I had to get much closer before I noticed what they were quarrelling over: entry rights to a snail shell, which one had already started working on, packing in the empty operculum with other pieces of shell, in much the same way as roof tiles are laid on a roof. It must have been a male harassing a female who had already laid her eggs, or another female looking to usurp the shell for her own offspring. I remembered one of my friends telling us to look out for bees that did this, and eventually I remembered the name he had given me: Rhodanthidium sticticum, a species of solitary snail bee. I felt immensely lucky to have both seen this species and witnessed them behaving naturally.
Above: R. sticticum
As we were walking over a small bridge that traversed a river, we noticed some huge Viperine Snakes basking in the sun on the opposite bank. They were of a colour form I hadn’t previously seen; greenish background colour with reddish zigzags, and looked particularly beautiful. I decided I had to photograph or catch one, which shouldn’t have been too difficult as the long grass would be masking my shadow and movement. Very slowly, I got to within a couple of feet of one snake, and was about to reach out towards it when there was a shuffle and a splash where a turtle, who I hadn’t previously seen, had seen me and leapt into the water. The snake took this as a cue to disappear, and I ended up snake-less and without a close-up view of an adult pond turtle, although we later discovered plenty of youngsters to photograph on the bank.
Also present at this location were a good number of Egyptian Locusts / Langosta egipcia (Anacridium aegyptium) and a young grasshopper of the genus Euryparyphes, a rather compressed-looking armoured grasshopper with a sandy orange colouration. I originally had this down in my book as a stone grasshopper (Ocnerodes), but was later corrected by a grasshopper expert online. One of our professors caught a neonate Viperine Snake (pictured below) the smallest I had ever seen.
1 & 2: Harvester Ants 3: Baby viperine snake
4: Baby Spanish Pond Turtle (moved from footpath) 5: Euryparyphes grasshopper
To wrap up our trip, we had a busy day in Gibraltar, searching for animals on the Rock. The habitat was different to what we had previously been seeing. The Rock of Gibraltar is comprised of large, whitish limestone cliffs and lots of scrubby vegetation, in places shaded and damp. There were signs everywhere for snakes and lizards, which seemed promising, and by the time we had got to a suitable-looking path we had already seen some beautiful Andalusian Wall Lizards.
Under nearly every rock were large woodlice, Armadillo officinalis, which superficially resembled the Armadillidium genus, and Porcellio cf. hoffmannseggi, large white-skirted grey woodlice in the same genus as our commonest UK woodlouse P. scaber. The species within this genus can be variable and all are similar-looking, and without a specimen for dissection it isn’t possible to determine with certainty.
1 & 2: Porcellio cf. hoffmannseggi 3: Armadillo officinalis
4. Andalusian Wall Lizard
There were many birds flying overhead, including gulls, Black Kites, and other raptors; on the way there we had also seen more Griffon Vultures wheeling over the roads and mountains. We also saw the famous Barbary Macaques / Macaco de Berbería (Macaca sylvanus) from a distance, sat on fences and benches overlooking the town below.
We found a huge Glow-worm inspecting an empty snail shell on some tarmac; figuring she must be hot, I moved her into some nearby shade. I think this could have been the Iberian Glow-worm / Luciérnaga ibérica Lampyris iberica as opposed to the Common Glow-worm L. noctiluca, but it's difficult to say; this one didn't look quite the same as the common glow worms I'd seen elsewhere in Europe and in Britain, although it could have been regional variation.
On the walk back down, I found a mummified Moorish Gecko in a hole in a wall, and we saw several more lizards. On a piece of whitewashed wall I found the larva of the Spanish Festoon Butterfly (Zerynthia rumina), and we also found its foodplant, the Andalusian Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia baetica) nearby; a common species, we may have seen an adult had our trip been slightly longer.
On our final day, we stayed extremely local around the campsite, taking a track and footpaths into the surrounding hills. While it seemed like a rather low-key way to end the trip, it ended up being extremely biodiverse – it seemed as though all the wildlife had congregated right under our noses. The habitat was dry scrub with reddish, sandy rocks. We quickly saw more Moorish Geckos and Wall Lizards, alongside a new lizard, the Large Psammodromus (Psammodromus algirus) and a baby Ocellated Lizard / Lagarto ocelado (Timon lepidus) expertly caught by another student.
Invertebrate-wise, the rocks were highly productive and exciting. It is well-known that you should never put your fingers underneath refugia when turning it, and this environment was a testament to the fact. Under many of the rocks were Yellow Scorpions / Escorpiónes amarillos (Buthus occitanus) a venomous species capable of delivering a very painful sting, large and impressive centipedes / Escolopendra (Scolopendra cingulata), more Gibraltar Funnel-web Spiders, and Mediterranean False Widows (Steatoda paykulliana), all of which can deliver painful bites (or stings, in the case of the scorpions) that may be of medical significance. However, when treated with caution and respect they are significantly less likely to be a problem, as their only real desire is to get back underneath their rocks into the safety of the dark.
1 & 2: Scolopendra cingulata 3: S. paykulliana
4: Cow scapula with Polistes wasps and Porcellio isopod 5 (and below): B. occitanus
Additionally, there were more wasps (Polistes sp), more woodlice, and the carnivorous plant Drosophyllum lusitanicum, or Portuguese Sundew / pino rocío (below).
As we made our way back into the shade of some trees for lunch, Tom rolled a final rock and found an excellent insect to finish the day off with: a Mole Cricket / Grillo topo (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa). Like the Spadefoot Toad their physiology is specialised for digging, with their spade-shaped digging legs and armoured, torpedo-shaped bodies. If you hold a Mole Cricket gently in a closed hand, it will use these front appendages as levers to push apart your fingers to escape, and their strength for something so small is remarkable.
1 & 2: Mole cricket
3: tiny snails, looking like Ferussacia follicus according to the local wildlife book.
This was a wonderful trip that served as an excellent introduction to Iberian wildlife, with plenty of reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and birds to occupy everyone. One of the most surprising things was the overwhelming emphasis of the diversity of tenebrionid beetles, which had the most incredible variation in body plans and size, from the round and bumbling Pimelia fornicata to the inconspicuous, seed-like Cossyphus. The Iberian peninsula is an incredible and unique environment for a plethora of incredible and often endemic species.
Invertebrate highlights:
• Centipede (Scolopendra cingulata) • Darkling beetle (Pimelia chrysomeloides) • Gibraltar Funnel-web Spider (Macrothele calpeiana) • Isopod: Armadillo officinalis • Isopod: Porcellio cf. hoffmannseggi • Isopod: Porcellio cf. laevis • Mediterranean False Widow (Steatoda paykulliana) • Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa) • Rhinoceros Beetle (Copris hispanus) • Sacred Scarab (Scarabeus sacer) • Scaritine Beetle (Scarites cyclops) • Seed Beetle (Cossyphus hoffmannseggi) • Semi-slug (Drusia valenciennii) • Snail Bee (Rhodanthinium sticticum) • Spanish Festoon (Zerynthia rumina) • Yellow Scorpion (Buthus occitanus)
• Wolf Spider (Arctosa sp.)
Reptiles and amphibians:
• Andalusian Wall Lizard (Podarcis vaucheri) • Bedriaga’s Skink (Chalcides bedriagi) • Fire Salamander (Salamandra longirostris) • Green Frog (Pelophylax cf. perezi) • Iberian Spadefoot Toad (Pelobates cultripes) • Large Psammodromus (Psammodromus algirus) • Mediterranean Chameleon (Chameleo chameleon) • Moorish Gecko (Tarentola mauritanica) • Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita) • Ocellated Lizard (Timon lepidus) • Spanish Pond Turtle (Mauremys leprosa) • Common Toad (Bufo bufo) • Stripeless Tree Frog (Hyla meridionalis) • Viperine Snake (Natrix maura)