Jos Stratford
Beast from the East
T'was my pleasure to assist, albeit a mere few words, happy you got to see this fine animal.
-
BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!
Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Spanish lynx (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Steve Babbs
- Start date
T'was my pleasure to assist, albeit a mere few words, happy you got to see this fine animal.
John Cantelo
Well-known member
I've now posted a few more photos of the lynx on my blog at http://birdingcadizprovince.weebly.com/cadiz-birding-blog-page.html
John Muddeman
Well-known member
Any recent news?
Hi All
Any recent news on sightings in Andújar?
I'm off there on Saturday for a couple of days before moving on to Doñana, but news from a friend suggests that the rabbit population in Andújar is in a dire situation and the Ibe lynx are not concentrating along the La Lancha track as previously, making them very difficult to see.
Apparently they have been easier in Doñana recently, especially in an area where rabbits are all but absent...
If I make any observations I'll post them, obviously.
Regards
John
Hi All
Any recent news on sightings in Andújar?
I'm off there on Saturday for a couple of days before moving on to Doñana, but news from a friend suggests that the rabbit population in Andújar is in a dire situation and the Ibe lynx are not concentrating along the La Lancha track as previously, making them very difficult to see.
Apparently they have been easier in Doñana recently, especially in an area where rabbits are all but absent...
If I make any observations I'll post them, obviously.
Regards
John
kittykat23uk
Well-known member
We are going first week in December. Last I heard, they were still being seen. Good luck and please report back! 
I returned from Andujar 2 days ago, and saw Iberian Lynx on 2 out of 5 days. The road to La Lancha seems to be the place to be, as there were nog sightings at the river (Otters were present there though). My first sighting (on day 2, at 9.10 am) was only a few minutes, but two days later (at 10.30 am on Sunday, when more Spanish Lynx-watchers were present, who know the animals and their behaviour really well) the same female was watched for an hour (through the scope), lying on a rock in the sun. Beautiful animal! On my first day a collared male was seen 15 minutes before I arrived (at 3 pm).
Other mammals seen: Iberian ibex, Moeflon, Red and Fallow deer, Wild boar, Rabbit and 2 species of bats in the tunnel. My last day wes spent at Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, where I saw 3 Iberian hares in less than 2 hours spotlighting, and a Soprano's pippistrelle flew around at dusk. During the night at Malaga airport, a mouse that looked very much like an Algerian mouse was walking around looking for food.
Needless to say, I was very happy with my trip
Simon
Other mammals seen: Iberian ibex, Moeflon, Red and Fallow deer, Wild boar, Rabbit and 2 species of bats in the tunnel. My last day wes spent at Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, where I saw 3 Iberian hares in less than 2 hours spotlighting, and a Soprano's pippistrelle flew around at dusk. During the night at Malaga airport, a mouse that looked very much like an Algerian mouse was walking around looking for food.
Needless to say, I was very happy with my trip
Simon
kittykat23uk
Well-known member
Great stuff! Hope we are lucky with our trip!
kittykat23uk
Well-known member
So I am back!
I went with Wild About Travel, with Jo Thomas and Julian Sykes. We were staying at Los Pinos from Tuesday to Friday with a late evening flight on Saturday and a night in Malaga at the start. This meant we had basically from Tuesday Pm to Saturday mid morning to score.
I will post a trip report, but as people may be planning to go soon, I will just share these highlights.
Well, tbh, it was very difficult. As mentioned in previous posts, Rabbits had crashed and they just weren't getting the quality or quantity of sightings that they had in previous years..we all worked together with other groups to scan and scan and scan some more!
People had been there for days and not seen hide nor hair of a Lynx! Not here, nor in donana.
Our first evening we saw nothing, we spent our time at the bull pens, scanning the hills and paddocks.
On our second morning at La Lancha, it was getting on for mid morning when I spotted a very distant Lynx :cat: on the road that winds up onto the hillside in the distance. :t: Jo and one of the others in our group managed to get onto it, but the rest were not so fortunate.
The next day we saw none. We spent the afternoon by the river, but did not get lynx or otter there.
Then Friday we saw nothing all day, in the final twilight, I glimpsed a Lynx :cat: very briefly.
Our last chance was Saturday Morning. As we drove in towards the Bull Pens, before we even got there, and before the sun had even started to come up, I spotted movement just off the road and realised as we passed it that it was a Lynx! :cat:, a quick yell to Julian to stop and reverse backwards and we were treated to the sight of not one, but two Lynx! :cat::cat: possibly siblings from Last years young, weaving through the oak trees away from us. :t:
Before we could get a photo they quickly vanished over a hill and were sadly not seen again!
I went with Wild About Travel, with Jo Thomas and Julian Sykes. We were staying at Los Pinos from Tuesday to Friday with a late evening flight on Saturday and a night in Malaga at the start. This meant we had basically from Tuesday Pm to Saturday mid morning to score.
I will post a trip report, but as people may be planning to go soon, I will just share these highlights.
Well, tbh, it was very difficult. As mentioned in previous posts, Rabbits had crashed and they just weren't getting the quality or quantity of sightings that they had in previous years..we all worked together with other groups to scan and scan and scan some more!
People had been there for days and not seen hide nor hair of a Lynx! Not here, nor in donana.
Our first evening we saw nothing, we spent our time at the bull pens, scanning the hills and paddocks.
On our second morning at La Lancha, it was getting on for mid morning when I spotted a very distant Lynx :cat: on the road that winds up onto the hillside in the distance. :t: Jo and one of the others in our group managed to get onto it, but the rest were not so fortunate.
The next day we saw none. We spent the afternoon by the river, but did not get lynx or otter there.
Then Friday we saw nothing all day, in the final twilight, I glimpsed a Lynx :cat: very briefly.
Our last chance was Saturday Morning. As we drove in towards the Bull Pens, before we even got there, and before the sun had even started to come up, I spotted movement just off the road and realised as we passed it that it was a Lynx! :cat:, a quick yell to Julian to stop and reverse backwards and we were treated to the sight of not one, but two Lynx! :cat::cat: possibly siblings from Last years young, weaving through the oak trees away from us. :t:
Before we could get a photo they quickly vanished over a hill and were sadly not seen again!
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
Sorry to hear that. I'd be a tragedy if this apparent success story wasn't going as well as hoped. Hopefully rabbit numbers will pick up again.
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Is there any word about what caused the crash? If its myxomatosis then they will bounce back but if its environmental rather than pathological then they might not.
John
John
kittykat23uk
Well-known member
Myxi and Vhd. But it also seems very dry right now, didn't seem to be much for bunnies to eat. I think the most we saw in one day was about 15 bunnies. Every time we saw one our group were rooting for a lynx to pounce on it. I think I was the only one rooting for the bunny!
John Muddeman
Well-known member
Hi all.
Embarrassingly, with work and everything else, didn't get round to replying as I'd promised and forgot until now.
However, it seems that after regular, if typically brief sightings of a couple of large males at the end of October (one of which we found as it crossed the La Lancha track as we were returning to Los Pinos), sightings have decreased and they are very, very difficult to see at the moment.
Emergency supplementary feeding via rabbits introduced into caged areas (out of sight from the public) is apparently about to go ahead, mainly after the crash caused by a new strain of VHD which appeared this spring, combined with the damp spring and near drought conditions since...
Didn't see more than the rump of an Ibe Lynx in Doñana, and interestingly saw (amazing!) pix of a female with four cubs along the Raya Real which was taken in July, said by our local guide as the best time in Doñana to see them as the females emerge with cubs to escape the heat and ticks in the scrubby vegetation... They had 13 sightings in this (admittedly large) area in July alone.
Just in case it's of interest, a brief report can be seen here: http://www.iberianwildlife.com/blog/entry.aspx?ref=101
If the feeding is successful and the animals return to hunt more in the La Lancha area, then from now on for a couple of months should be good for seeing courting animals...
Cheers and good luck!
Embarrassingly, with work and everything else, didn't get round to replying as I'd promised and forgot until now.
However, it seems that after regular, if typically brief sightings of a couple of large males at the end of October (one of which we found as it crossed the La Lancha track as we were returning to Los Pinos), sightings have decreased and they are very, very difficult to see at the moment.
Emergency supplementary feeding via rabbits introduced into caged areas (out of sight from the public) is apparently about to go ahead, mainly after the crash caused by a new strain of VHD which appeared this spring, combined with the damp spring and near drought conditions since...
Didn't see more than the rump of an Ibe Lynx in Doñana, and interestingly saw (amazing!) pix of a female with four cubs along the Raya Real which was taken in July, said by our local guide as the best time in Doñana to see them as the females emerge with cubs to escape the heat and ticks in the scrubby vegetation... They had 13 sightings in this (admittedly large) area in July alone.
Just in case it's of interest, a brief report can be seen here: http://www.iberianwildlife.com/blog/entry.aspx?ref=101
If the feeding is successful and the animals return to hunt more in the La Lancha area, then from now on for a couple of months should be good for seeing courting animals...
Cheers and good luck!
John Cantelo
Well-known member
I strongly recommend getting a copy of 'birding and Nature - trails in Sierra Morena - vol 2 Sierra Morena de Jaen' by Rafael Romero Porrino - see http://www.nhbs.com/birding_and_nature_trails_in_sierra_morena_andalusia_tefno_184463.html
In my experience it was hard not to see SIE in the area in February!
In my experience it was hard not to see SIE in the area in February!
Mayo Corncrake
Well-known member
What would be the best time of year to see Lynx?
John Cantelo
Well-known member
February/March was suggested to me as a particularly good time to look, but if the weather's bad, as it was when we first visited, it can be difficult. Having missed them then we went in May and saw one!
Mayo Corncrake
Well-known member
Thanks John
Users who are viewing this thread
Similar threads
