Nature in Cantonigròs

I had just told my friend Alison that I had never seen a deer in Catalonia, when she looked across a field and exclaimed "There's a deer!" We watched it for a while and then it spotted us and bounded off into the trees. We were walking in the fields, woodland and along the streams next to the small village of Cantonigròs. We saw jays, frogs, robins, butterflies, lizards and crickets on our walk. We did not see any people and the peace and tranquility was nourishing. Listening to the birds, hearing the wind in the trees, the croak of the frogs, the flow of the river. Natural sounds are so soothing and we felt fortunate to be in a place away from the noise of people and traffic. Unfortunately, humans are present in this landscape too and they have an impact on the wildlife: we saw two dead salamanders that had been run over and squashed on the track. However, I prefer to take the memory of the deer (I think it was a red deer though I am not sure) with me as the highlight of our outing.

Red deer / Cérvol (Cervus elaphus)

Frog (or toad?)

More pine processionaries

A little video to show the pine processionary caterpillars on the march (it looks slightly odd as somehow I managed to film it with my phone upside down, I think!)

A procession of caterpillars

This morning I came across a couple of lines of caterpillars of the Pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) as they made their way along a path in the hills near La Garriga. Having spent the winter in their nest in the pine trees, the caterpillars move in a procession along the ground looking for a place to pupate underground.

These fuzzy little caterpillars can cause a nasty reaction to the skin if touched and I remember when my son was only young and we were walking in the same area and, unbeknownst to us, a caterpillar got inside his t-shirt. His skin came out in a severe rash and we had to get to the doctors' quickly.

Pine processionary nest

Pine processionary caterpillar / Oruga de processionaria del pi (Thaumetopoea pityocampa)

The beautiful river Congost

On Sunday it rained for the first time in months and the following day the town and the river all seemed much cleaner and brighter. My son and I went with some friends for a short walk by the river and really enjoyed the peace and tranquillity. The boys clambered on rocks and played with canes and sticks. It felt good to be outside!

Blossom

I just cannot resist the spring blossom. It may only be January, but the warm weather has prompted the blossom to burst forth and, this evening, I was amazed at how many bees were buzzing around busily collecting nectar.

Boar in the city

The local council has recently cleared a lot of the invasive canes that grow along the side of the River Congost in the centre of La Garriga. This meant that the other day, when a young wild boar strayed into the river area near to the school, we were able to watch him quite clearly as he ran alongside and splashed through the water. My daughter tried to photograph him but, even though he ran underneath the bridge we were standing on, her efforts were not great. I'll share them here anyway as a memory of the afternoon!

Wild boar / Porc senglar (Sus scrofa)

Spot the wild boar...

 

Helping out on the river

Today I went with some friends to join in with a voluntary activity on the River Congost in les Franqueses del Vallès organised by Associació Hàbitats. Shortly after arriving we were able to watch as some birds (which had been caught in mist nets) had rings put on their legs by the members of PARUS, a group of people who ring birds and record the species, their weight and various other details before releasing them. This was very interesting and we were able to see, up close, a Streaked fantail warbler, Meadow pipit, Dunnock, Blackbird, Wren, Robin, Cetti's warbler, Eurasian blackcap, Common chiffchaff, Kingfisher, Pied wagtail and Eurasian reed warbler.

Streaked fantail warbler / Trist (Cisticola juncidis)

Meadow pipit / Titella (Anthus pratensis)

Eurasian blackcap / Tallarol de casquet (Sylvia atricapilla)

Dunnock / Pardal de bardissa (Prunella modularis)

Wren / Cargolet (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Kingfisher / Blauet (Alcedo atthis)

After this we went to plant some ash trees near the river and to clear the weeds from around some dog-roses (Rosa canina) which had been planted earlier in the year. We also spent some time collecting litter from the river banks and the roadside. The sun was beating down on us and it felt more like midsummer than the start of November. Some people built nest boxes to hang in the trees by the river. One little boy was allowed to take his home to see if any birds will come and nest in his garden. What an enjoyable way to spend the morning, and I hope that I will be able to get involved in more activities like this in the future.

Watch where you're treading!

I stumbled across a praying mantis the other day as I walked in the hills on the edge of Montseny Natural Park. In fact, I nearly trod on it as it was crossing the path in front of me. I only had my phone with me (no camera) and so the image is not all that great. I think these animals are so interesting because there is something about their posture that looks a little bit human. There are 12 species of mantis in Catalonia and I'm not sure which species I saw, so if there are any mantis experts out there, please let me know what you think!

Praying mantis / Pregadéu

A new wildlife hotspot

I have found an excellent (and unexpected) new place to watch wildlife - at the local football ground! I went to pick up my son from his training session this evening and it was already dark and so the floodlights were on. This attracted a lot of insect life which, in turn, had attracted large numbers of bats. The very bright lights meant that they could be seen very clearly as they wheeled through the air, dived, twisted and turned, chasing and catching the moths and other insects. It really was quite a spectacle and I'm looking forward to seeing more action at the next training session!

Nature on the way to school

Every morning, on the way to school, the children have to cross over the River Congost. We usually see a few ducks and, sometimes, a heron. This morning, however, we were in for a far more exciting treat as we saw a lithe mammal hopping along through the shallow water and over the rocks. My son called out "It's an otter!" but otters are not known to be on this part of the river and this animal was not as large as an otter. It had dark fur and I'm pretty sure it was an American mink (Neovison vison). We watched it enter the water and swim away, disappearing under the canes by the water's edge. What an exciting way to start the day!