This spring in Cadiz province even my unseeing botanist's eye could not fail to notice the extraordinary profusion of flowers around Alcala de los Gazules. It was as if Zandra Rhodes had been let lose with an inexhaustable supply vivid spray cans. As this was my first visit there in late April/early May, I have nothing to compare it to, but local residents tell me that it's one of the best displays for years – perhaps helped by the wet winter this year.
Field after field along the A381 and over towards Benalup looked as if they had been generously coated with Imperial Purple. Closer inspection showed that the cause was vast acreages of Viper's Bugloss (I think!). In the pesticide free meadows, this gorgeously coloured plant had run riot rivalling even the best English bluebell wood for their intensity of colour. This sea of purple was punctuated with generous swathes of soft pink bindweed and golden yellow brassica. Absolutely fantastic!
Along a rough track near Benalup an added dimension was added to this exotic this display of purple, pink and yellow – the gentle raspberry-esque “rrrrpp” of calling Little Bustard. The brief view of a male bustard's head and neck just visible above the baby pink of the bindweed will stay with me for a long time. Drifting above all this multi-coloured confusion, the near monochrome form of a male Montagu's Harrier offered relief from the dizzying splendour of the flowers.
Perhaps, though, the colour was most intense around the Embalse de Barbate near the village. Here the fields were drenched in purple and the cricket hunting Cattle Egrets looked like nothing less than small white dinghies bobbing in a violet sea. All this was beautifully set off by the deep green pines that provided a nest site for Cattle Egrets and several noisy White Storks. Even the latter's noisy bill clattering was a constant reminder of an imagined plant – triffids – since the sound of their courtship was used by a film for the sound of the triffids' sinister communication.
Perhaps, though, the colour was most intense around the Embalse de Barbate near the village. Here the fields were drenched in purple and the cricket hunting Cattle Egrets looked like nothing less than small white dinghies bobbing in a violet sea. All this was beautifully set off by the deep green pines that provided a nest site for Cattle Egrets and several noisy White Storks. Even the latter's noisy bill clattering was a constant reminder of an imagined plant – triffids – since the sound of their courtship was used by a film for the sound of the triffids' sinister communication.
What this extraordinary display lacked in variety was more than made up for by its profusion. Yet botanical variety was to be had elsewhere in my jaunts around the area with several attractive orchids presenting themselves to my newly attuned eye. Several “bee orchids” (including both Yellow Bee Orchid and Woodcock Orchid - the latter ID being tentative only) and plenty of larger more showy plants that remain un-named.
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