Vanessa cardui or Painted Lady

The Vanessa cardui or Painted Lady of the family Nymphalidae is one of the most widespread butterflies. Although the Vanesa de los cardos can be found on almost every continent, except Antarctica and South America, we were still very pleased to sight one on our own terrain a few weeks ago. Today we saw a few on the track of the almond orchards of Los Riscos. Apart from this ´Cosmopolitan´, as it is sometimes called in North America, we saw many other types of butterflies flying around on this sunny autumn day. The Vanessa cardui, like most other butterflies we sighted, were especially attracted by the stink aster which is still in flower. The Painted Lady is resident only in warmer areas. It migrates in spring, and sometimes again in autumn. It is able to travel large distances as it is known to migrate from North Africa to for example Great Britain or the Netherlands. The migration of birds has so far been monitored better than the migration of butterflies. In various articles different starting points are mentioned; the Atlas Mountains in Morroco, Tunesia and the Mediterranean in general.
PS On the 5th of May 2011 we saw a large number of Painted Ladies on the finca.





Related links:
- Website Butterfly Conservation: Millions of Painted Lady butterflies are now arriving in Britain, after an amazing 1000 mile migration from North Africa.

Related key words: migratory butterfly, mariposa migratoria, trekvlinder, distelvlinder, schoenlapper, aurelia, vanesse du chardon, vanesse des chardons, belle dame, distelfalter, edelfalter, ninfálidos, nymphalidés, Alpujarras, Sierra Nevada, wandelen, wandelingen, trektocht, standplaats vakantie, hiking, trekking, Berchules, B&B, hotel, wanderungen

Feria de Octubre Cádiar 2010

The Feria y Fiestas de Cádiar will this year be held from the 7th to the 11th of October. This annual fair is organized by ´La Asociación Cultural Fuente del Vino´ in coordination with the municipality of Cádiar. This association was set up three years ago and aims to recover and preserve the traditions that form a fundamental part of the cultural identity of Cádiar. Officialy the Feria y Fiestas were to honour the patron saint Santo Cristo de la Salud. Nowadays the fair is better known as the Fiesta del Vino since a wine fountain was inaugurated in 1967. Last year the ´Feria y Festias de Octubre´ were declared ´Fiesta de Interés Turístico´. The programme can be found on the website of the Consejería de Turismo of the Junta de Andalucía.

Related links: - Publication of the Feria y Fiestas de Otoño on the website of tourist board of Andalucía
- Article from the Ideal written by Rafael Vílchez
Cádiar abre su Fuente del Vino con la declaración de Interés Turístico

III Censo de aves de la Alpujarra desde la Alquería de Morayma

On Sunday the 3rd of October 2010 the third Alpujarran bird census will be held, which starts at 08.00 hours at the Alquería de Morayma. A circular route of nine kilometres will be done. On the first two bird counts the GR-7 was followed towards Lobras and back to the Alquería. This time the idea is to follow the GR-142 and do the two loops as seen on the map. On the first autumn bird count, which was held the 3rd of October 2009, 33 different species were counted. A list of these birds can be found on our post Día mundial de las aves celebrated in the Alpujarra. More information on the III Censo de aves de la Alpujarr desde la Alqueria de Morayma can be found on the website of this hotel/appartment complex near Cádiar.