Fauna

Hare

The hare is one of the most commonly sighted mammals in the meadows along the Cormôr torrent; it has brownish fur, is about 60/70 cm. long and can weigh up to 4/5 Kg. Its hind legs, which are well-developed and robust, allow it to run quickly to escape from its predators. The hare is primarily a nocturnal animal and feeds mainly on herbaceous plants. Its predators, in addition to hunters, are martens, weasels, foxes and large birds of prey such as buzzards and owls.

Roe

The roe deer likes to feed on the leaves and tender sprouts of trees and shrubs. This ungulate is found in reasonable numbers in the Cormôr valley area, even if it is difficult to sight due to its nocturnal habits: it spends the day in the thick vegetation of the undergrowth and emerges at dusk to feed in the glades and meadows. The buck has small antlers which, during the mating season, it uses to mark its territory by rubbing and stripping the bark off small trees and shrubs. The doe gives birth to 1 or 2 fawns in the summer. The fawns are extremely mimetic and hide by crouching down on the ground and remaining still.

Kestrel

The kestrel is a bird of prey that is easy to sight in the glades and meadows along the valley of the Cormôr torrent. The main feature of this member of the Falconidae family is that it often performs the "holy spirit", meaning that it remains motionless in the air against the wind so that it can carefully scan the ground looking for prey, generally mice or large insects.

Toad

These amphibians reach a length of about 15 cm and the female is larger. They are normally brown in colour, but there is a wide variety of colours ranging from sand, brick, grey, etc. It is mostly nocturnal and feeds on insects and worms.

Buzzard

The buzzard is quite common in the area and easy to sight at daytime flying over the glades. It is a bird of prey with a wing span of around one metre, wide wings and an ample rounded tail, with dark brown white-spotted plumage. It flies in tireless spirals searching for food such as small mammals, beetles and sometimes small birds that it catches with sudden fast dives, it comes to carrion particularly during the winter period. It is a resident bird that makes do with what it finds during the more difficult periods of the year. The buzzard, like many other birds of prey, uses abandoned nests of corvids located on the taller trees.