Nature
Birdlife is extremely diverse in the region and many indigenous animals plants and trees flourish on the hills around our villa and in the nearby Sierra Maria pargue naturel. Recently we disturbed an enormous Eagle Owl devouring its prey. The rare Spanish Ibex are also at home in our hills. Bee-Eaters are very common between May and August. They have amazingly colourful plumage and a distinctive babbling ’pruuupp’ call. They are often seen in flocks, circling and gliding in pursuit of insects. Another distinctive migrant is the Hoopoe bird which has a slow butterfly-like flight pattern. This black, white and pinky brown bird has a song like a trisyllabic "oop-oop-oop". When disturbed it has an erectile crest of barred pink feathers. Eagles are are often seen soaring on the thermals near our villa, some of them have 2m wingspans. Hollyoak and Spanish oak still cling to hillsides with the dramatic Agarve cacti giving local identity. We have mapped out three circular routes for walkers/strollers from the villa, ranging from 2-5km. These walks are all on well maintained farm tracks and are fairly flat with many diverse wildflowers and herbs to be seen. Many of our guests now take one of these walks when they visit and none have lost thir way...so far!
  
Above the tree line in the Sierra Maria pargue naturel (middle photo), golden, booted and short- toed eagles can be seen soaring on thermals. The marked trails give easy access to walkers. The lower slopes support extensive forests of aleppo and larico pine, interspersed with Scots pine and small patches of juniper, maple and holm oak; home to wildcats, red squirrels as well as eagle owls. Sierra de Maria is also renowned for its butterfly fauna, particularly at high altitudes.
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