Flora & Fauna Days in Priego

Wednesday was Flora Day here in Priego.  We went for a short walk in the surrounding Mediterranean forest.  We were able to appreciate the differences between this kind of forest and our Atlantic forest in Galicia.  We saw oak trees (acorn trees to be more precised) and pine trees.  We could notice that both trees and their leaves and fruits are smaller over here.  We also saw some aromatic plants like rosemary and lavender.  Among the bushes we were shown and explained about endangered species like several kinds of juniper (sabina (with very poisonous little red fruits) and enebro)

In the early afternoon, just before lunch, we play a new ball game, the Ga-Ga-Pit, with some simple rules and very funny to play.

We also used our hands and imagination to create a protective container for an egg.  We also try if it worked by throwing it in the air and checking if the egg had cracked.  The final results were: 3 intact eggs, 1 cracked egg and 2 severely broken eggs.  We may need to improve our techniques.

Thursday was Fauna Day.  We visited "El Ardal", a birds recovery centre in the outskirts of Priego.  We were very quiet during our visit so we did not disturb the birds.  We were explained how to act if we find an injured or ill bird and also the way vets and other employees at the centre work in order to help the birds to get better and return to the wild.

Sometimes birds are too injured to return to its natural estate and they are kept in the centre for visitors to learn from them.  There we saw: vultures, eagles, hawks, owls ... It was a great experience.