Deer, oh, deer!

A great YouTube entry we first saw on TioJimeno, who picked it up. It was shot by one 'Jimenaforest', whom we believe is a forstry worker. Worth seeing the ways of our local deer...

Knockout nature photos with a Jimena connection

Swallows (c) Dean Moulton

JIMENA Dean Moulton is the son-in-law of a good friend of ours, who lives in the campo just outside Jimena. He is a nature photographer rapidly gaining a reputation for high quality. Most of his work is done in the UK but, as he said just the other day, he can't wait to come out to this area with his camera - we hope he'll be doing that soon! The patience involved in most of his photos is astounding, though no surprise to any photographer of nature; but without his talent, they would be nothing. We urge you to enjoy all his excellent work, which also covers portraits and lots more, on his Flickr Photostream.

Maybe you noticed the big moon, but did you notice the low, low tide?

CAMPO DE GIBRALTAR/ANDALUCIA (Agencies/Photo: EuropaSur) The big moon was all over the media all over Europe. The low, low tide on Saturday was not, nor for that matter was the highest tide for a long while. We know that the moon influences the tides, of course, and this was no exception. Europa Sur came up with a lovely collection of photos of a phenomenon that occurs every twenty years or so. At around 9am, the low tide brought to the surface -so to speak- miles of sands and coastline that hadn't been seen for years. It also brought out the curious and the shellfishers. The extreme tides happened mostly all along the Atlantic coast of the peninsula, in Andalucia, from Huelva to the Straits, and the Southern tip of Portugal. So much so that the Junta is looking out for other such natural wonders to promote and bring in the visitors in these tight economic times.

Found this furry thing in my garden, what is it?

JIMENA We received these photos (click for fabulous close-up, more below) from our good friend Phil Heinzl, with the comment, or question: "Here are some photos of a moth and its eggs. It turned up in my garden in the form of a pupae on my palm tree.  I removed it to preserve it from the tree needing to be destroyed. It hatched out and started to lay eggs without first mating. The question is: Does any of your readers have any idea of its species and should I be promoting or demoting it ?" We have forwarded them to one of Britain's foremost experts on moths, and await his reply. In the meantime, Phil, just keep an eye on it. (Prospero comment: Fantastic close-ups! A comment from a specialist on dragon-flies who just happened to come by the office as we were looking at them (true, promise!): That's some camera! We retorted that we knew Phil's camera and it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but we did recommend his eye.)

It's Friday, let's be happy!

If you felt like THAT on Monday, maybe today, you can feel like

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It's Monday, is this how you feel?

This is becoming a nice co-operative habit. Phil Heinzl sends in an appropriate picture to what he calls The Monda Morning Feeling, and we publish it. Thanks, Phil. (Shhh: in our reply to his e-mail we said we'd forgotten what Monday mornings felt like as they're all like this now... but don't tell anyone.) If you need to look more closely at the dog's teeth, just click on the photo. Actually, there's more to this item. We're planning a special Nature section, or possibly a separate/linked site, where Mother Nature will have her way with our -and your- photos. We're looking for a good name for it, can you help?

'Extinct' gray whale could be heading for the Straits

(Agencies) Expert whale watchers were puzzled a month ago when a North Atlantic gray whale appeared off the coast of Israel. The mammal continues to intrigue them by popping up recently off the coast of North East Spain, apparently headed for the Straits of Gibraltar. On the 10th May 2010, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) reported on the sighting of a gray whale off Herzliya Marina, Israel, which either marked the return of the North Atlantic gray whale (previously thought to be extinct for hundreds of years),>