When we were arriving to our hotel at Santa Elena, a small group of azure magpies permitted to be photographed. It was a lucky thing too. Usually I only can photograph them far away.
The distribution of azure magpies is curious. The main population was in east Asia: from China, Japan and Korea to Baikal Lake in Siberia, and a little group was in the other extreme of Eurasia eigth thousand kilometers away, a fifth of the world distance without existing in the middle.
Traditionally was considered more probable that the west population is a relint polulation from glaciation that finished with the species in the rest of eurasia west of Baikal lake. Less probable was an old feral introduction with portuguese sailors.
The first of the hipothesis has shown right recently, because genetic analisys has shown enough genetic difference between the european and asiatic birds even for be considered two different species: Now the european is Cyanopica cooki and not cyanopica cyanus cooki by Fork et al. (2002) or Kryukov et al (2004) but not different species for David and Gosselin (2002a) and Birdlife Taxonomic Group that mantain Cyanopica Cyanus Cooki.
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=5735
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_magpie
http://www.biosoil.ru/files/00003426.pdf
In the afternoon we went to Cueva de los Muñecos. An Iberian pre-roman god lived there. Two thousand votive figurines were found. The god certainly enjoyed of eyrie a views from its cut of the mountain despite the rain that began to fall.
The third and last day we get closer to the path of the Rio de la Campana. Some jays were noisy but they did not want to pose to my camera. Grey wagtails were less shy.
I also photograph some nuthatch after having seen the the first day too.
And the holliday was finished and we returned to Madrid.
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