# Andalusia holiday; the wildlife



## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

On my transfer by jeep up the mountain roads of Andalusia to the finca I was staying at, my first wildlife encounter was a beautiful fox at the side of the road, then hearing wild boar in the paddocks as I went to my apartment! My first sighting in the morning was the huge ants busy stealing grain from te horses' feeds
















Cicada skins
















and Podarcis lizards everywhere, a challenge to photograph as they were supercharged in the sunshine


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

Then a snake-skin in the stone-walling of the garden
















Lizards and cicadas


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

Insect control in my room, provided by this Moorish gecko
















And another snake-skin in the garden
















More lizards....


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

A house gecko


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

Every evening and early morning there were herds of wild boar rooting around the paddocks, and one morning there was a juvenile stuck in a building trench in the garden. One of the workers freed its back legs, it turned at bay, then shot off down the mountainside! 
So this useless photo actually has tons of boar just out of sight!








During the days' rides through the mountains, I saw booted eagles wheeling overhead and ibex in the alpine meadows, but no chances for decent photos 
















Even the passerine birds were hard to photograph, as despite the finca being in a national park there's still illegal hunting of everything that moves


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

A few corrections, the ants are Harvester ants, the Cicada skins are skins of grasshoppers as are the photos.The podarcis are Spiny footed lizards except the one pictured among rocks and the house gecko is a Turkish gecko.Looks a fantastic place for a holiday.


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

kettykev said:


> A few corrections, the ants are Harvester ants, the Cicada skins are skins of grasshoppers as are the photos.The podarcis are Spiny footed lizards except the one pictured among rocks and the house gecko is a Turkish gecko.Looks a fantastic place for a holiday.


 Thanks! I thought the ants were some sort of harvester, they were busy stealing grain from the horses' feeds.
Comparing the lizards and geckos from holiday photos with online sources is always a slog, can you recommend any field guides?


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## xvickyx (Jul 21, 2009)

Lovely pics, I love house geckos, they are so cute, they had loads in Turkey


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