Black vultures are alive and well in parts of Europe

I’m just back from a brief holiday in Spain, spent in the mountains of Andalucia, inland from Malaga.

It was great for wildlife watching. Much of the botany was puzzling because it was so different, as were the butterflies which were on the wing in January. I saw several roe deer, visited a conservation project where I met Iberian wolves at close quarters, and had great bird-watching.

The first night I went out to a restaurant in a pine forest and was having a glass of wine before dinner on the terrace. At this time of year dusk comes later in southern Spain than in Ireland. As it got dark the owl chorus started. Tawny owls, the ones that make the classic ‘too-wit-to-woo’ sound, aren’t found in Ireland. In Spain they seem to start the evening by declaiming their territory. One bird would call and, a few seconds later, another would respond from a different direction and at a different distance. Sometimes four or five birds would get involved. The business of establishing who was where seemed to take an hour or so, after which the birds became much quieter, with only the odd hoot. I imagine that, having sorted out territory matters, they went off to hunt mice and voles.