Molino la Ratonera

Set in a small river valley the land round the mill provides a rare environment in Andalucia. The olive is the main crop grown commercially but in the less accessible land on the riverside there is beautiful mixed woodland containing holm oak, fig, poplar, elm, willow, pomegranate, mastic tree and tree of heaven. On the forest floor a wide variety of wild flowers are found during spring and early summer.

This dense vegetation provides a protected habitat for a wide variety of birds, reptiles, mammals and insects. The lists below contain the species that we have been able to identify.

Birds

Eagle owl
Golden eagle
Bonelli's eagle
Raven
Sparrow hawk
Bee eater (pictured)
Hoopoe
Golden oriole
Blue rock thrush
Azure-winged magpie (pictured)
Great spotted woodpecker
Wryneck
Short toed tree creeper
Pied flycatcher
Cetti's warbler
Sardinian warbler
Red rump swallow
Nightingale
Blackcap
Siskin
Goldfinch
Firecrest
Bullfinch
Spotless starling
Mistle thrush
Black redstart
Red legged partridge
Cuckoo
Thekla lark
Grey wagtail, pied wagtail
as well as swifts, swallows, martins, tits, blackbirds, chaffinches and sparrows.

Striped necked terrapin
Turkish gecko
Psammodromus lizard
Ladder snake
Grass snake
Southern smooth snake
Montpelier snake
Natterjack toad
Common toad
Painted frog (pictured)
Stripeless tree frog
Marsh frog

Rabbit
Brown hare
Fox
Genet (pictured)
Wild boar
Southern water vole
Horseshoe and pipistrelle bats

Swallow tail
Morocco orange tip (pictured)
Cleopatra
Small heath
Red admiral
Mazarine blue and many more!