AUTUMN is upon us with cooler nights and shorter days. Woodpeckers can be heard tapping on the trees across the river and Cormorants which normally hunt on the shore, patrol up and down the Guadiaro to poach on the fish that haunt stretches of the river where the Heron and Kingfishers normally feed. They flock in groups of twenty or so and can take quite a lot of fish in the winter periods.

The Linnet, has a big presence at the moment in the valley, feeding along with the Goldfinch, Chaffinch and Serins which fly from field to field, feasting on the various seeds available at the end of the season.

There are also a few Black Redstarts staying around at the moment. As well as the wild songbird population in the valley more domestic species are kept.

Next door has a Goldfinch x Canary and a Greenfinch x Canary, these birds are known as Mules in the bird breeding world. They are kept in small cages hanging on the wall of the house and sing the most amazing songs throughout the day. This attracts other songbirds to the house and join in the chorus. There are also Homing Pigeons which are kept for the pot and also help with the dietary needs of the local Eagle population. In the field behind the house I have also witnessed Sparrow Hawks chasing the persecuted Pigeon.

A few of local people keep Turkeys, the fawn coloured variety seems to be popular here about. Our neighbour has one turkey which started to lay eggs in an old chicken nest right next to our fence. So for a week or so we had large eggs for breakfast, just as good as chicken eggs but you need bigger soldiers.

But the most watched and important kept bird species of both wild and domesticated bird here, must be the Chicken. This was brought to my notice one evening while having a drink in one of the village bars watching a Real Madrid match, which the locals were well into. A local man walked into the bar carrying an empty paint tin containing two young chickens. The man said something to a table full of locals and one by one they gathered around the tin forgetting all about the match, at which point a free kick was about to be taken by David Beckham in a goal scoring position! You could feel the tension in the bar - not for the free kick - but the paint tin. There was much discussion and finger pointing about these small birds which carried on for a good twenty minutes.

Beckham missed with the free kick much to the disappointment of a couple of locals still watching the match, obviously not chicken fans!

There are quite a few different species kept here in the valley and a lot of cross breeds as most are free range perhaps these new arrivals in the bar were of an uncommon variety.

All domesticated chickens, of which there are hundreds of species, are supposed to have descended from the Jungle Fowl, as it is known in its area of origin, India, Sri Lanka, South East Asia and Indonesia.

Other species kept here locally are the Peacock and the Guinea Fowl. The latter kept not only for consumption, but to possibly control Ticks and Lice which are part of their diet.

Two doors down from the bar is the Panaderia run by a local family. Like the bar, the premises backs onto the River Guadiario. The grandmother likes to feed the Ducks and Geese with offerings from the balcony at the rear of the shop most mornings. This attracts the Barble, some of which are a good size, and these in turn attract the local cat population, not of a good size. Sparrows and rats also like to muscle in on the action. This ends up with quite a collection of wildlife in the shallows, competing for the seasonal gifts on offer. The Ducks and Geese being very noisy scare the Barble, who in turn thrash about in the margins splashing water over any cat that dares to get near enough, anything that is missed is cleaned up by the sparrows and rats when things settle down.

Further up river is a small weir. Just above this weir is a slow stretch of river, an ideal fishing spot for the likes of a small flock of Cormorants, who regularly roost in a tree on the far bank. They position themselves on the branches looking very much like ornaments on a Christmas tree, leaving gifts under this tree of a few kilos of good growing tomato manure.

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Jim Nitchen's Autumn 'Tales From The Riverbank'
Saturday, 24 December 2011
AUTUMN is upon us with cooler nights and shorter days. Woodpeckers can be heard tapping on the trees across the river and Cormorants which...

© 2012 - Secret Andalucia - Guadiaro Valley, near Ronda

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