Wild Iberia

The sun heats the earth, and life begins again. The animals wake from hibernation and busy themselves, building their nests in treetops and caves as they prepare to breed. Whether reptiles, birds, or mammals, all the spring babies are fighting for survival through their first, most difficult, days.

These are the days of thirst: it is hot. Only the mountains are cool; everywhere else suffers in heat between 40 and 50°C. The rain is long forgotten. Each day is a search for shade and water. Amphibians bury themselves in mud to escape dehydration. The rest of the wild must wait for the cool of the night to move.

As the woods prepare to sleep and mushrooms grow as the first rains fall, flocks of cranes migrate home to Spain from their summer season in the north. The stags clash their antlers in pursuit of the does; there is little time before winter sets in.

The unknown face of Spain. Snow, rain, clouds, and cold envelop the land. The ibex migrate to the valleys, and wolves patrol the mountains as vultures circle the skies overhead. Though the landscape looks bleak and barren at a glance, there is life thriving here.