Bird, bug, butterfly and a wild variety of photos from Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland and Spain by Irish wildlife photographer Patrick J. O'Keeffe and invited guests

Showing posts with label El Cotillo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label El Cotillo. Show all posts

Sunday, 28 June 2015

YELLOW LEGGED GULL (Larus michahellis subspecies L .m. atlantis) adult at El Cotillo, Fuerteventura, The Canary Islands, Spain

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Click external link here for detailed species information
 Click external link here to see distribution map and to hear calls
 
The Yellow Legged Gull (Larus michahellis) is of the family Laridae which is in the genus Larus. Up until recently it was considered as a race of Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) but has now been given full species status. Post breeding populations disperse north and east. From July onward it occurs in good numbers in southern Britain but is an uncommon and scarce species in Ireland.
 
There are two subspecies recognised:
  • Larus michahellis michahellis - breeds in parts of western and southern Europe, as well as the Mediterranean Basin.  
  • Larus michahellis atlantis - known as Atlantic Gull, breeds on the Atlantic coasts of France, Iberia, Morocco, Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores where a dark headed form occurs.
 Patrick J. O'Keeffe / Raw Birds
 
Yellow Legged Gull (Larus michahellis) distribution map
 

  Year round resident         Breeding        Non breeding-winter
 
Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

EL COTILLO HARBOUR El Cotillo, Fuerteventura, The Canary Islands, Spain

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Situated in the north west of Fuerteventura Island is the small coastal town of El Cotillo. It has largely escaped the tourism fueled building boom which has taken place on the south and east coasts. At the mouth of the harbour is the islet of Roca de la Mar. During the Spring it is carpeted with the yellow flowering fleabane Pulicaria canariensis which is endemic to the Eastern Canary Islands. It has now been joined to the mainland with a high sea wall which forms the western side of the harbour. This is a good area for early morning or late evening seabird watching. Birds regularly seen from March to September include Cory’s Shearwater (Calonectris borealis). On the lava coastline to the north of the harbour, a number of passage migrant/wintering shorebirds, including Sanderling (Calidris alba), can usually be found. South of the harbour, a Martello type tower was built in the early 1700’s and is now a tourist attraction. Further south, there is an extensive coastal stony arid plain where most of the sought after land bird species on Fuerteventura can be found, including Cream Coloured Courser (Cursorius cursor) and Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata). Text © www.rawbirds.com