A walk through the year in Almería...
January
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Weather Generally warm and sunny. Occasional rain and cool in the evenings.
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Birds Great grey shrike, corn bunting, Hoopoes, gold finch, green finch, black bird, black red start, red start, blue rock thrush, black cap, lesser kestrel, little owl, robin, green woodpecker, Sardinian warbler, stone chat, black wheatears, red legged partridge, spotless starling, wagtail, crested lark, green paraqueet, serin, great tit, various eagle species.
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Plants Almond trees in blossom, land generally green with yellow daisies.
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Wildlife Deer, wild boar, the occasional goat herd.
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Village Life Generally fairly quiet though the bars are all open and serving good tapas. Some have restaurant areas also open.
February
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Weather Some sun, some rain. On and off cold evenings
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Birds Same as January (see above)
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Plants Lots of green shrubs and various yellow flowering species. French Lavender, rosemary, wild orchids. Still lots of blossom on the almond trees.
March
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Weather Can be cold at the start with occasional rain. Warming up toward the end of the month
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Birds Plenty of the same species as January (see above). New arrivals towards the end of the March include cuckoos, black eared wheatears, woodchat shrike, occasional bee eaters.
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Village Life Bars still generally quiet except around Easter when it's one big fiesta over here!
April
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Weather Warming up nicely. Occasional rain but temperatures rising towards the end of the month which is when we say our summer is truly starting
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Birds Less of the smaller chaps around but plenty of activity especially with the bee eaters, hoopoes and cuckoos. Occasional golden orioles and the rollers arrive by the end of the month.
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Plants Landscape still green and lots of beautiful wildflowers
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Village Life Getting busier with one or two fiestas starting up at the end of the month
May
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Weather Nice and warm with much warmer evening. Sundown around 9:15
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Birds Much the same as April but by the end of May the baby red legged partridges are looking like clockwork toys running down the ramblas.
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Plants Still green with poppy and flax...
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Village Life Excellent beer and tapas as you would expect!
June
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Weather Summer is lovely and warm all day and on into the evenings.
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Birds Lots of activity with many species busy feeding their young.
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Plants Can start to get dry during this time with a few wildflowers still around. Luckily here we have olive groves and almonds in abundance, so it never looks barren.
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Village Life A few local bars have outdoor areas around the plaza. Fabulous for relaxing in the evening with a cerveza or tinto de verano and a tapa or two.
July
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Weather Summer is definitely here - sun, sun, sun!
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Birds Not much daytime activity - generally having siestas like the locals.
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Plants Plant life less green but who's to worry when there are...
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Village Life ...fiestas to visit and summer bars aplenty!
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Piscina/Pool Now open in the village and the best place to be to cool off; open daily from 12:00 until 8 p.m with a great tapas bar.
August
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Weather Very warm! If you like swimming, sunbathing, staying up late, gazing at the Milky Way and hunting for shooting stars, then this is the month to do it.
September
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Weather Still plenty of summer sun though there can be occasional heavy downpours. Evening still nice and warm.
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Plants ALMOND HARVESTING TIME - Grab a stick and whack a tree!!
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Village Life Summer bars in the local villages generally close mid-September
October
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Weather Still warm but cooling down in the evenings. Some rain.
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Birds Bird life starting to get busy again now the weather is cooling. Bee-eaters and rollers now gone. Can still see black wheatears, hoopoes, green woodpecker, stone chat, corn bunting, willow warbler, great tit, larks.
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Village Life Fiesta Gastronomica first week of the month in Lubrín, followed by fiesta in El Pilar. Bars a lot quieter now that fiesta season is coming to a short close.
November
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Weather Cooler but still some nice warm days. Chilly at night though nothing a big log burner won't sort out!
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Birds Blue rock thrush, robin, great grey shrike putting in an appearance...
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Plants Lots of greenery coming back
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Village Life Generally quiet but cosy with open fires.
December
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Weather Some lovely winter sun but chilly in evenings. Some rain
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Birds Same as January - plenty of variety
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Village Life Plenty of activity as Christmas here goes on until January 6th - The three kings (BIG!) fiesta!!