Wild flowers in the park

Here are some of the pretty wild flowers I saw on my morning walk. Most of these are on the common just outside the park, but can be seen growing alongside the trails in the park itself.

Fish transfer 2018

A group of Volunteers of La Mata met today to transfer 8 fartet (Spanish toothcarp) to the lake of Torrevieja.  This time all those present had a chance to catch the fish with a small net and to transfer them to a small tank in which they were carried to the place they would be released.  Sylvia an official at the Park, explained that these small fish are unique to the Valencian Community and therefore must be cherished as such.  A breeding program within the Park centre has successfully bred these latest examples.  The group walked to the Acequión canal where the water is less saline so as to avoid a major shock to the the fish, which have been bred in slightly less saline water than the Lake itself,  and they were then released to swim free.

It was a beautiful morning, calm and quiet and we were also lucky enough to see herons which have come here to breed.  A most successful visit to the Park.

Thanks to Jenny Dodd for this post.

Caterpllar nests - Beware!

These nests are in the pine trees just as you approach the cemetery at La Mata

Beware! They'll drop soon....

New post on Expat Focus

The land known as the Parque Natural de la Mata y Torrevieja belongs to the state, and parts of it are rented to vineyard owners. In 1988 it was declared a protected area and a year later declared a National Game Reserve. In 1995 it became a Parque Natural. It is the southernmost nature park in Valencia province and covers an area of 3700 hectares, 2100 of which are water.

It is important for its vines, its salt, its bird population, its vegetation, and its tourist attractions which include regular educational talks and accompanied walks.

Vegetation

The park vegetation is either natural or cultivated vines, which have withstood plagues due to the salinity of the air and soil. The vines are irrigated naturally by rain and dew, and the grapes are either made into vinegar or wine. A recent project focussed on developing a quality white wine, supervised by an expert.

Salt production

The water of the lake – a salt lagoon-  enters through a canal leading from the sea through the park, propelled by gravity is controlled by a lock. It is important to keep the balance of salt and water level correct. Fish and shellfish enter in this canal. Salt water is then pumped underground from La Mata lake into Torrevieja lake, where the salt sinks to the bottom of the water and becomes solid blocks which are extracted and washed at least three times to remove all mud. These blocks are cut and lifted with special tools onto a conveyor belt to the harbour. From there they are transported to northern Europe and worldwide. Torrevieja lake is the second largest salt producing lake in the world. The salt is used in households for cooking, in the construction industry for roads and in the chemical industry. The area around the lake was divided into strips of land, like allotments, and watch towers stood to prevent thieves from stealing the highly sought-after salt.

Other industries

La Mata was once a centre for soap production, as the plants around the lake are particularly useful for their tolerance of highly saline soil. Esparto grass also used to be cut and used to make baskets and sandals.

Birds and fauna

A large number of ducks take refuge in the Parque Natural during the hunting season, and it is an important resting place for migratory birds. There is a variety of terrain such as marsh zones, reeds and rushes, and woodlands, which means a range of habitats for the birds, of which there are over 100 species, including avocets, black-winged stilts, terns, gulls and grebes. Flamingos are frequent visitors, and kestrels, cormorants, herons and ospreys can be seen. There is a picnic area known as the Pinada where from time to time we can see badgers, lizards, squirrels, snakes, and further varieties of birds including hoopoe, fly catchers and woodpeckers. One source of food which is of particular interest is the artemis salina, a tiny crustacean on which numerous birds feed, including flamingos, which scoop up volumes of them when they stoop to immerse their beaks. A further food source is the larva of the chiromoid mosquito.

Flora and trees

Aleppo pine trees and other pines provide shade in the hot summer months, as well as eucalyptus. Esparto grass and iris, wild gladioli, marigolds, daisies and poppies can all be seen in Spring, visited by swallowtail and marbled white butterflies. The dangerous processionary caterpillars also make a regular annual appearance and we have to be careful to watch out for them when walking with our dogs and little children.

History

La Mata lagoon was used as early as the C14 when the Crown gave it and Torrevieja lake to Orihuela to develop a possible fishing industry, but the idea never took off as the water was too salty even for the fish. In the C18 the State took the lake over and that’s when the salt industry was born. Eventually salt extraction moved to Torrevieja lake.

Activities

There are two main walking routes: one of them is enhanced with hides for birdwatchers and a picnic area for visitors, and the other is a cycle route which rises to the dovecotes on top of a gentle hill. The cycle track is some distance from the edge of the lake so as not to disturb the water fowl. An information and research centre at the park entrance has display boards about the park, a model artemis salina, and photographs of some of the birds to be seen. Various ecological and educational projects and activities are organised from here, including re-introduction of certain species and monitoring of others. There is a group of mixed nationality volunteers who support the work of the park wardens. They meet at 10.00 a.m. in the park office on the first Saturday of every month excluding August to discuss plans for projects undertaken jointly with, or under the supervision of, park personnel. Among their duties are patrolling the paths for signs of damage or abuse of park rules (e.g. dogs off leads), litter picking, removing invasive species and planting indigenous ones, surveying the park’s flora and fauna, protecting shelducks from predators, making wooden signs, placing nesting boxes on trees, and counting and monitoring species of birds and plants. They also participate in regional events related to their work in the park, and they enjoy a lively social life. New members are always very welcome! Their blog site is https://lamataparkvolunteers.blogspot.com.es/

The Day of the Wetlands

To celebrate the Day of the Wetlands the Natural park of Torrevieja-La Mata organized a photgraphic exhibition which showed the surprise snowfall of January 2017 in Torrevieja area, which made history after many years of nothing at all.

There followed a talk by Rubén Torregrossa Soler, one of the people who produce information for the MASTRAL group which monitors the weather in Torre.  By means of graphs he exploded the myths that we have all indulged in, that "it is hotter/colder/wetter/drier, that it has ever been".  The graphs show that both rainfall and temperature remain fairly level over many years with occasional spikes in both rainfall and temperature.  This pattern will continue but we can expect a slight general rise due to climate change, with more intense heat and  rainfall.  It was a most interesting talk, which made our unique weather pattern much clearer. Post by Jenny Dodd

Nest boxes and owl home

Thanks to Jenny Dodd for this post and photos

A group of members of the public and volunteers of La Mata met on Thursday 25th January to install new bird nest boxes within the Natural Park of La Mata. 

First in line was a larger box intended to provide a home for owls.  This is situated quite deep inside the Park where there are some tall trees.  Then we went back to the walking route and put a replacement small bird box in place in a tall tree.  It is hoped this action will attract birds to make their home in the Park in the future.  Two more boxes were also put in place so a successful morning was enjoyed by all concerned.

Post on Spain Info Costa Blanca

Good to know the park is getting more and more publicity!

http://spain-info.co.uk/costa-blanca/la-mata/natural-park/

Lopping trees

Last week during our duty walk Jenny and I came across park workers trimming pine trees and using a machine to make them into pulp. The whole area looked much tidier, but we wondered if it mught encourage curious passers-by to stroll down to the water's edge, now that it's so visible!

Update on nesting boxes

This morning at La Mata Park the volunteers took down the Great Tit nest boxes, cleaned them out and returned them to the trees.  

There are 12 boxes, each with a number at the base, to help with the monitoring of the birds.  We have also recorded the co-ordinates of the boxes for ease of location.

Update to meeting information

Please note we no longer meet in the Wine Growers' Association headquarters, mainly because it has been demolished!
We meet at 10.00am on the first Saturday of every month at the Park Headquarters: the white building called the Casa Forestal situated by the car park at the Park entrance.We look forward to meeting new volunteers as well as anyone interested in the work we do to help preserve this beautiful natural environment.

Gull ringing

Audouin gull ringing 2017

At 0830 on 15 June 2017 five members of the volunteers met at the Torrevieja Salinas to assist in the ringing of the Audouin gull chicks.  The Audouin gull is still a relatively rare species and we are lucky to have an important population of them in our area.

The format for the ringing was much the same as last year. We were divided into four groups each containing a qualified birdringer, a person to write down ring numbers, a person in charge of rings and two people to find the chicks. In addition, and new this year, there was a team of veterinarians attached to each group. Their function was to take blood samples from a random selection of chicks in order to measure the level of heavy metals in the chick which acts as a possible marker of marine pollution.

As well as placing a metal ring with its unique number on one leg and a Darvic ring on the other, the ringer took feather samples from some birds to measure the level of mercury (a significant poison to man and animals and another marker of possible marine pollution). The crown to tip of beak and tarsus (lower leg) was also measured in these chicks so that if we are fortunate to catch any of these birds in the future we can relate size to possible poisoning with mercury or heavy metals.

Two hundred birds were ringed in under two hours (just as well, it was getting rather hot!) and following a gift of salt from the manager of the saltworks we retired to a local hostelry for some welcome refreshment.

Park concert photos

Thanks to Ana for sending these delightful photos of the children's choir

Photos by Antonio Ruiz Hurtado

Habaneras in the Park

A heartwarming event took place at the Natural Park of La Mata on Sunday 4th June when a concert was given by the children of the Colegio Cuba, the Inmaculada Concepción school, the Conservatorio Municipal and the Consejaría Medio Ambiente..  In the setting of the Park and in the open air it was the culmination of a year’s work by the school and the staff of the Park in leaning about the natural environment and the heritage of the habanera.  These two elements are the two treasures of Torrevieja which have been emphasized in other events this week.  Some of the children dressed as pirates spoke in unison of the history of the boats which went to and from Cuba, when the sailors who could not read or write instead sang songs telling of the town they had been to and what they found in Torrevieja, notably the pink lake.

The other half of the group then sang several habaneras and ended with the brand new one which has been written specially for this event and is called Laguna Bella.   It’s the first habanera ever to have the words artemia and flamenco in the wording!  First the children sang it accompanied by a small group of musicians and then copies of the words were handed out and the whole audience took part in singing this new addition to the collection of habaneras of Torrevieja.

We all enjoyed this opportunity, not just the proud parents of all the children who took part. 

The large crowd of parents and several of the volunteers of La Mata were present at this lovely event.  Some of the Volunteers had also attended on the Saturday when a large number of the public took part in an extended visit to the Park, learning about it and its significance in our landscape.

It is hoped by all these means that a greater number of people know about the Park and its treasures and appreciate that we look after it as best we can.

Vandalised nestbox

After months of hard work and having only been sited a few weeks ago, one of our nestboxes has already been vandalised. Culprit unknown-woodpecker, rat, squirrel all in the frame at present. 

Activity with CIAJ (Centro de Información y Animación Juvenil) Saturday 18 March 2017

On Saturday 18 March the volunteers entertained a group of Spanish students to help them practice their English. Following a short presentation about the history and function of the Parque and the work of the volunteers we took them on a short walk around the Parque to point out some of the features. We split into small groups to allow all the students the opportunity to practice their English. Conversations (all in English) between the volunteers and the students were wide ranging and not always directly related to Parque issues. Many of the students had never visited the Parque despite living in Torrevieja and surrounding areas.

Both students and volunteers enjoyed the morning and feedback from the students was extremely positive. In fact, they requested that we make this a regular event.

Stephen

Visit to El Hondo North Gate 11 March 2017

On a slightly chilly (for Spain) Saturday morning fourteen volunteers met at the North Gate of El Hondo for three hours of birdwatching. Once again we were ably led by Stephan and Els from the Costa Blanca Bird Club.

We were immediately guided to the first boardwalk where we were treated to excellent views of a Greater Spotted Eagle which posed in a palm tree for quite a long time and then graced us by landing at the water's edge even closer to where we were standing. Further stops were made at the other hides and viewing platforms

Altogether, some thirty two species were identified including marsh harrier, booted eagle, little bittern, glossy ibis, white headed duck, pintail and blue throat. In addition we were treated to an impressive display of jumping fish (identity unknown, no fish experts present!).

After thanking Stephan and Els we departed the park at 1130h.

Stephen

New system of planting to help restore the ecology of El Parque Natural

On 23 February 2017 a group of volunteers assisted at the planting of a number of shrubs (Lentisco Espino Negro) in an area of the Parque at risk of erosion. The area had been cultivated in the past and this had reduced the number of stones and indigenous plants so that there was no natural protection for the soil. This had resulted in significant erosion not only due to rain and wind but also by cyclists crossing the area. The eroded soil is gradually silting up the lake.

Using a system of planting originally developed in the semi-desert areas of North Africa, we planted 27 plants around the periphery of the field. These will hopefully grow to about 3metres in height and provide a natural barrier allowing the growth of native flora and fauna in addition to reducing erosion.

A hole was dug about 40cm in depth and a vertical plastic tube inserted which was filled with stones. The hole was then filled with organic matter from the surrounding conifer trees and the plant inserted. The plastic tube was removed leaving the stones to provide a route for rainwater to the roots. A plastic mesh was placed over the plant the plant and the the area covered with large stones, to stop rabbits attacking the plants and reducing evaporation, and then surrounded with acacia twigs to act as a windbreak. Finally, channels were made radiating from the plant to direct rainwater.

We look forward to monitoring the progress of this venture.

Pictures courtesy of the Parque.

Stephen

At work planting

Thanks to Ana Melendez for these photos