MUSHROOM PICKING IN ARAGÓN

A basketful of Yellow foot (Cantharellus lutescens)

Autumn is about to end, and with it, one of my favourite activities: mushroom picking.

I am not going to tell you the do's and don'ts about mushroom picking (you know, all that crap about the poisonous species, how dangerous is to eat something that you don't know what it is...) for there are many ways to do things: you can collect mushrooms in order to eat them, to study them, take pictures or whatever the end you want to give them. That includes poisoning people!!!  Hahahaha, just kiddin'.

In my case, I usually collect the ones I want to eat, but I like to take home (aways in a separate basket) the ones I don't know much or nothing about and check them with the help of guides, internet or micology experts.

But there's one thing I like to do the most, and that is taking people mushroom picking and showing them the way I do it.

One of the coolest things about this activity is that since you are searching the forest floor for mushrooms most of the time, you discover many other things you normally skip when doing other activities, such as animal traces, plants, other mushrooms, ...

Spain is a very rich country referring to nature, and mushroom species are not an exception. Where I live (Aragón), because there are many different soils and climates, you can almost find every species that grow in the rest of the country. Since this is not a mushroom guide, I'm just going to focus on a few species.

This girl had a special eye for Yellow Feet. After an hour her basket was full.

The first of them is one of my favs: Yellow Foot (Cantherellus lutescens). It grows in high areas, usually related to pines and a certain type of moss. It is a very endurable mushroom, and it can stand quite low temperetures in comparison to the rest of the species. It grows in groups, in "whitches rounds" as we usually call them.

A close-up of  this mushroom.

Another one. These ones were picked frozen and with temperatures down to -3º C.

Yellow feet under bushes: that's why it looks as if it was night time!

They never carry worms or insects, and they are very easy to dry in order to preserve them. This year  has been a great Yellow Foot year, and the people I've taken mushroom picking have found it as the most entertaining of the species to pick. That is because when you find one, you usually find a lot f them around.
If you collect them frozen, they can return to their normal textura after a few hours at home. Obviously this happens if they haven´t been frozen for many days.

I love them in omelettes, rices or soups.

But let me show you the results of a couple of hours collecting them (the pictures were taken in different days):

In just 2 hours!!

Ready to deliver to my friends!

One of my friends, the always shy José Ramón. He had never had so much fun picking mushrooms! 

Another species I like to search for is the Chanterelle Mushroom (Cantherellus cibarius).

This one grows in sunnier areas, usually related to the  Quercidae family (Oaks and similar). It also grows in groups, and usually when you find one, you must search for a few more nearby.

A nice and big Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius)

All these were picked up within a 1,5 metre radius.

They are an excellent mushroom for eating purposes, one of my favourites. The flavour is peach like, sweet and soft in mouth. After cleaning it, you tear it up (forget about cutting this one) and you use it the way you want. I like to cook them as a dessert, boiling them in syrup and dipping them in hot chocolate.

They are a very easy to dry species too.

Mmmmmm...a taste you'll never forget.

Next mushroom, and related to the previous two, is the Horn of Plenty (Craterellus cornucopioides).

It grows in similar areas as the Chanterelle. They also grow in groups.

The taste of this one is more "forest like". Toasty flavoured and very "autumn reminder".

Nice specimen picked up by my friend Fernando.

I like to cook them with rices, omelettes, soups and stews. 

And, by the way, this one doesn't stand very low temperatures.

They can be easyly dried.

Here mixed with a few Chanterelles. Nice looking picture, yes Sir.

.

Fernando's starting of the day.

The following species is one of Spain's favourite:  Saffron Milk Cap (Lactarius deliciosus).

It grows in forests, usually whith quercus and pine presence. It is a beautiful mushroom and a very tasty one. These family is a very wide one, with some mild poisonous species. But don't worry, they are easy to differ: If when you cut them, they secrete a white milk, you must not eat them. They must secrete a saffron like milk or a red wine like milk in similar species (Lactarius 
sanguifluus).

Don't try to hide. You've been spotted my Lactarius friend.

Saffron Milk Caps mushrooms and Yellow feet... you can go back home with a smile on your face.

Many of them are host to a certain species of maggot. I never take home the ones with maggots, but people from our closest region (Catalonia) usually eat them and there's no problem with it other than eating extra protein!

We usually eat them fried with olive oil and garlic or even roasted.

They are also lovely with stews.

Yellow feet and Saffron Milk Cap mushrooms with beans and pork. yes, they taste even better than they look.

Our next guest is the Hedgehog Mushroom or Sweet Tooth Mushroom (Hydnum repandum). 
Here in Spain is not often eaten, though it is gaining popularity in recent years. I collect them usually in mixed pine and oak forests. They grow just like the Chanterelles and in fact, they look very much alike, but as soon as you take a look at the gills, there's no mistake: they are spined look more than gilled look. In Spain we call them "Cow's tongue" or "cat tongue" due to the looks of it.

 Notice how the gills of the Sweet Tooth (Hydnum repandum) look like spines (or like a cows tongue!!)

They are quite fragile to pick, but with a bit of practice and being careful, there should't be any problem in fillilng a basketful of them once you've found their growing places.
The best ones to eat are the small ones. When they are big and old, they develop a bitter taste which I personally don't like that much. If they are big, I boil them before using them, throwing the used water away.
They are lovely with rices and wild game meat.

 Blewit and Sweet tooth. Future red legged partridge stew companions.

One of my favourites is the Grey Knight (Tricholoma terreum).

We also call it Pine Mushroom, Mouse or Roedeer's nose due to the "hairy like" covering of the cap.

They grow in pine areas, usually in large groups.

 This ones were picked in less than half an hour.

They are usually eaten in omelettes or scrambled eggs.

In my opinion, one of the best ones to eat. 

They usually carry tiny bugs. I confess, I do not worry about them and eat the mushrooms as if they didn't exist.

And last but not least:

Blewit.

They usually grow in organic debris, and, specially when they are young, their gills and stem have a beautiful lavender tone.

They are also host to some worms like the Lactarius Sp.

Notice the pale lavender colour of the gills.

They have a slight anissette fragrance and they must be cooked if you want to have a pleasent meal!.

They taste great in stews.

So this is just a tiny example of what to do if you are in Zaragoza or in Aragón in autumn.

Great times, great season to go out for a walk in good company and always coming back home with something new learned.

Hope you've liked the different species we have around here.
There are a lot more, so, if you want to come mushroom picking, Aragón is one of the best places in Spain.

See ya!

BIRD RINGING IN THE CITY

Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti) ready to be released.

Hi friends!

Autumn has officially started and bird ringing becomes one of the most important activities related to the bird's world (scientificly speaking).

We´ve all seen or have been to bird ringings in the countryside, but bird ringing in the heart of the city is always a great experience. It reminds us that cities are sited in the countryside, and that there are lots of living creatures out there sharing such spaces with us other than the most evident ones that we all know.

Here in beautiful Zaragoza we are lucky to have one of the biggest parks in Spain, a park that combines dry areas with forest ones and the Huerva river, an affluent of the mighty Ebro, as the heart of it.

Such conditions make this park quite special when talking about fauna and flora for it is a natural getaway from the city both through the river and the outer limits of the park itself which are outside the urban area and connect straight to the countryside, allowing "visitors" to enter and leave the park without any barrier.

On sunday the 29th of september, I went with my friend Eduardo to a bird ringing session organized by the SEO/Birdlife Organization.

The expectations weren't very great forthe annual Marathon was taking place and it's start was the park (known as José Antonio Labordeta's Park or simply "The Great Park") itself. 

But, as always, nature offered us a great morrning.

SEO/Birdlife 's  friendly staff ringing birds and answering every question the attendants asked.

First we had a nice walk through the park, watching and identifying bird species, and after the walk, we attended the ringing point where SEO/Birdlife's staff  were ringing and obtaining info from the net captured birds.

Great tit (Parus major) ringing.

Same guy ready for freedom!!

Basically, this is what is need to be done: A special net is set to capture the different species of birds. The birds are put into special fabric bags individually in order to reduce stress. Then the birds are ringed, weighed, measured and checked one by one.

Bird ringing is very important for it provides us with vital information about the specimen itself, tellling us where it has been captured before, its age and sex, its health or the time of the year when it is living in the capturing zone, and about the species in general (frecuency of captures of the same species, health,...).

All the results are communicated to other bird studying oganizations in order to have a global knowledge of the matter.

Young female Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) being ringed.

Checking the muscular fat and general muscle proportion of the same specimen.

Ready to go!!

Let me tell you how to check the muscular proportion and intramuscular fat of a bird: you blow a little air in order to remove some of the feathers from the chest and belly of the bird and compare what you have seen with an index with basic drawings. This information will tell you about the general state of the bird: if it is well fed, ready to emigrate, just arrived, ill,... 

Measuring, weighing and releasing of an European Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca).

The ringing was focused in small birds, with different species being ringed and released (plus a Short-Toed Treecreeper - Certhia brachydactyla - previously ringed from which we obtained data), being young Eurasian Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) the most frequent, followed by European Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca).

 Young Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) males.

Very important!!: these kind of actions, though very important and necessary to zoology, provide the birds a certain amount of stress which differs from one species to another and from individuals of the same species too, so, try to be as brief and quick as you can be whenever manipulating a bird and, if you can, check the most easyly stressed ones first in order to release them as soon as possible.

Checking and ringing a Short-Toed Treecreeper(Certhia brachydactyla).

This species are easyly stressed, so the ringer must be specially quick and calm to get all the info and release the bird.

Ask your local bird studying organization about ringing activities and don't hesitate to book yourself in one of them.

There's a lot to see, a lot to do and a lot to learn!!

  Thanks SEO/Birdlife!!

 

SPANISH IBEX: GLUED TO THE WALLS

A group of males of different ages (Capra pyrenaica hispanica)

Hi!

Here's a thougth which I think we've all had;

How many times have you been walking down a steep hill trying not to fall, moving across a fallen leaves forest floor trying not to make too much noise, leaping from one side to the other of a ditch fearing falling into it or just running as fast as you can through a bushy area ending tired and feeling a bit clumsy and then you think: "How can animals do this and how can they make it look so easy?!!

Well, this thought and the sensation of clumsiness are never as evident as they are when you watch the Spanish Ibexes (Capra pyrenaica).

The way they run and leap across cliffs and steep hills like nothing always amazes me. 

These animals, like other mountain species, are made to live in these tough areas where very few animals, specially mammals can dwell. Their hoofs are designed to hold on to any ledge or protrusion of the surface with incredible efectiveness and accuracy.

A female, her last year's calf and this spring's calf making this wall seem like a normal floor.

All ibexes and species alike are capable of these abilities, but the true power of this one in particular is its adaptability to other environments.

Not so long ago, Spanish Ibexes where very hard to find and they were at the verge of extinction. In fact, of the four subspecies located in the Iberian Peninsula, only two remain alive. The one living in the west-norther part of Spain disappeared at the end of the XIX century due to excess of hunting pressure (probably the loss of proper habitat, the natural predators and the excess of hunting combined altogether were the true reasons). The Eastern-northern one, the one that gives the scientific name to the species, the one that lived in the Pyrenees, lost its last member in January 2000, showing what in my opinion is the "how not to protect a species" way of doing things. Both of the extincted species were just "non profitable". Its hunt was forbidden and they were expected to live in protected areas where human activities were not allowed. On the contrary, the other two species were managed in a more clever way. Its hunt was regulated, allowing local economies to value them as a main way of income. This, combined with the lack of predators and proper agricultural management, evolved in one of the best examples of natural territory expansion.

Nowadays, you can find Spanish Ibexes in areas where there have never been any (at least since the stone ages).

Yes,we're back!!

The only place in the world where you can find this species is the Iberian Peninsula,  with almost the entire population sited in Spain.

In my area, they are expanding very quickly, and if you are lucky, you can spot them just outside the city of Zaragoza. Obviously, the best thing to do if you want to watch them is to go to rocky and montainous areas. I am lucky to have as a friend one of the guys who know more about them, at least in Aragón, so whenever I want to find big old males with spectacular horns, he gives me precious info and advice. Shame I'm such a bad photographer!!

This group of males is placidly searching for a place to spend the night.

 Big horns, old males.

I at My Little Eden (see old post) have a couple of herds. The first individual to appear was a young male around 2003. Now there are around 40 to 50 animals and they are continuing with their expansion.

In particular, there are two females which are specially fond to the most humanized area of the place, and they are now starting their own herd. Oh, just one thing; the fact that they live in the most humanized area does not mean they are easy to spot. I myself have spent many hours just to be able to take a few pictures from the distance.

These are the goats that live near the humanized areas; yes, those two spots in the field. 

try and get closer if you can!!

... and this is the herd they are forming.

It's always a pleasure to come across these almost mythical animals, specially in these days when other animal species numbers are going down.

So, as always, if you come to Zaragoza or nearby and you want to watch one of the most beautiful ibexes in the world, I'll be pleased to take you there!!!

Wanna see them?

Have fun and enjoy the nature that surrouds you!