An interesting day in which we were joined by John and Pat, making our team up to six though still missing other friends who can't get out here just yet. On arriving, two Black Storks were overhead. A further three and a single came through in the afternoon. The wind was from the South-East which was tending to keep birds North of us and, for a time approximately 100 Griffon Vultures were seen in the distance. They didn't reach Cabranosa, turning back in the direction they had come, maybe tomorrow! An Osprey appeared from nowhere, flying down to the coast. A small number of Booted Eagles passed through, as did 3 Egyptian Vultures, a Black Kite, Common and Honey Buzzard. 9 Red Kites came from the North, having travelled down the West coast. A distant juvenile Bonelli's Eagle was seen and a Hobby dashed about the area in the afternoon. It is impossible to understand birds without appreciating all the other aspects of nature which surround us and them. A real treat today was being shown the caterpillars of the Death's Head Hawk Moth (Acherontia atropos). Firstly a picture of the moth itself (courtesy of Wikipedia). The skull pattern on its head gives the moth its name. We found the caterpillars on the 'apple of Sodom' bushes, a very toxic plant but not apparently, to the caterpillar which happily strips and eats the leaves. These amazingly marked creatures were as long as my fore-finger and can reach 125 mm in length. I have never seen such enormous caterpillars, they come in green, yellow and brown forms. Finally, some of the twenty Crossbills which dropped into Pinhal Ceramica.
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