Cork Oak forests in Atlantic Spain

This is a cork oak, harvested for (you guessed it) corks. The bark is stripped from the circumference of the tree about every 10 years, and this doesn't harm the tree as the growing layer is deeper inside. There's a lot to know about harvesting and processing cork, readily available at this link.

Our first two weeks in Spain, we stayed on the Atlantic coast between Tarifa and Cadiz.  Fantastic birding, much protected land, a pretty wild empty area considering that it has been inhabited since Neanderthal times.

Our town--Barbate--has been and still is a center for catching and processing tuna since Phoenician and Roman times.  The last large wetland in Europe was the Barbate River Drainage but which was drained after mid-20th C.  Farmland was created and malaria was stopped.  Enough remains that there is wetland habitat for wintering and passing birds.  Almost every nice day we saw kettles of griffon vultures rising with the thermals.  So many waders and waterbirds.  Several kinds of larks coming in for the winter from the mountains of Europe.  Great area.

Vegetation caught our eye as the area is so forested and relatively empty of human population. It rained buckets several days, greening a dry landscape.  Purple mandrake flowers (above) are one of the first plants to bloom after the rains.

Forests are umbrella pine, wild olive and cork oak--probably the original vegetation which emerged after the ice ages.  Although the area has been cultivated and grazed for at least 5000 years, I think we were looking at forests that our Neolithic ancestors would recognize.

We were most excited by cork oak.  It took us a while to recognize it.  It grows in a bit higher elevation and may use a bit more moisture than the pines and olives as it did not grow on unprotected south facing hillsides.

We were able to find many which had been harvested at least once but often more times.  This is not the harvest time--June to August is best so as not to harm the trees.

Below--all photos of cork oaks.  We could not help ourselves--we loved them and kept snapping away. You will see them mixed in with the wild olives and jut a few pines.  The pines are usually a bit lower in elevation.