Rock Hard Sparrows
A brief day as, essentially, we are doing a rise of 63m and down 74m, and in between we have rocks, scrub and trees. Autumn, the Valencian Tourist Board assures me, is the best time to bird watch in the region - mostly because all the cold adverse species are heading south through the region. Should this be just too common, base and popular, Valencia also has a few feathered friends of joy . Who would not wish to see the Red-knobbed Coot, White-headed or Marbled Duck, Greater Flamingo, Black Wheatear, Iberian Grey Shrike and Rock Sparrows may also be found. Now, the Rock Sparrow sounds hard. You are likely to come off a bit poorly. Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus was the first person to write down a description of Rock Sparrows - rather than just saying, ‘little brown jobs’. He mentions them in 1766 in the twelfth edition of Systema Naturae . The rock sparrow mainly forages on the ground. It eats seeds throughout the year and berries in ...