Where are all the hedgehogs?

At the weekend we visited Parc del Laberint d’Horta on the edge of Barcelona. It is a beautiful park and garden and a lovely place to visit with children. There are a lot of water features in the gardens: fountains, ponds and canals. Sadly in one of the small ponds we saw a dead European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus). It had obviously fallen in (possibly after stopping for a drink) and had then been unable to get out because of the steep sides. A Catalan friend we were with said he’d never seen a hedgehog before and it made me think. I’ve only seen one other in the 10 and a half years that I have been living here and that one was dead on the road.

In England, I have seen more hedgehogs, both dead and alive. They always seemed fairly common there and I’ve always known at least one person who has hedgehogs regularly visiting their garden. But, sadly, I know that hedgehogs are in decline in many places.

In the United Kingdom, agriculture methods, pesticides, habitat loss and collisions with cars are all key factors contributing to this decline in hedgehog numbers. You can find out more information from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and please get involved in the Hedgehog Street project too, if you can. 

Here in Catalunya, the Projecte Eriçons is working to gather more information about the distribution of hedgehogs. Hopefully the next hedgehog I see will be alive and well.  

Going batty!

Yesterday we went for an early evening walk and were treated to this spectacular aerial display by some of La Garriga's resident bats.

A walk in La Garrotxa

A few weeks ago we went for a walk in the stunning hills near Santa Pau (a beautiful medieval village in La Garrotxa). I won't describe exactly how daft we were heading off with a little tourist leaflet rather than a proper map, how we followed the wrong path, how we ended up walking 16km rather than the planned 12km, nor how we did not have enough water with us; but, rather, I will share a few photos of the beautiful wildlife and scenery that we encountered on our adventure.

Silver-washed fritillary / Argentina comuna (Argynnis raphia)

A rather ragged-looking blue butterfly

Maiden pink / Clavellina (Dianthus deltoides)

Waterfall near Santa Pau

Beautiful scenery

Fantastic scenery near Mieres

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big "thank you" to the kind chap from the Mieres cultural centre who opened his bar in order to allow us to quench our thirst and then kindly drove us 9km back to Santa Pau where we had left our car. What a lifesaver!

A dark and stormy night

Last night I was awoken by the biggest thunderstorm I have witnessed since living here. That is saying something as we have a lot of storms here, far more than I ever experienced living in the south of England.

I got up to look out of the window and found that the lightning was so intense that the sky did not get dark again between flashes. It was as if the sky was white, and yet flickering constantly. Then, when the thunder sounded, a huge glaring streak of lightning would flash through the sky above the hills behind our house. Flashes so bright that they hurt my eyes and I couldn't look at them. The thunder, meanwhile, was extremely loud almost making the house shake. After a few minutes the rain arrived. Torrential rain. I was so pleased that we were safely at home and not out having to travel in it. I couldn't help thinking about the local wildlife and wondering what the animals were making of it.

This morning the river, of course, was full and flowing quickly. The world feels cleaner and brighter after a storm like that.

River Congost after the storm, La Garriga

Poolside lizard

Getting out of the swimming pool at our campsite at Torroella de Montgrí, I headed back to my towel and found a little lizard sunbathing on it! He allowed me to take his photo before heading off to sit on another pool-goer's towel. I think he was a Catalonian wall lizard (Podarcis liolepis) but would be interested to hear from anyone who can confirm this for me (or give me the correct identification if I am wrong).

Catalonian wall lizard / Sarganta bruna (Podarcis liolepis)

A new book

It was my birthday the other day and I received a very exciting new book: the "Guia pràctica per conèixer la natura de Catalunya" published by IPCENA. It is a beautiful and informative nature guide with many illustrations and photographs about the geography, plants, fungus and animals of Catalonia. There is also information about protected areas and places to visit. I am already enjoying it and look forward to delving into it a lot in the future. You can find out more information about the book here.

A trip to the river with the kids

We got out our fishing nets, put on our flip-flops and marched the children to the river to look for wildlife. Soon everyone was soaking wet and having fun splashing around. Toby, the youngest at three years of age, had the most success as he found two crayfish. We believe they were invasive red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). We put one of them into a pot to have a closer look at him. As I approached him with my camera, he reared up and raised his two big claws at me. "Ta-da!" called out Toby! Yes, perhaps the crayfish was showing off his pincers with a fanfare! A few small snails also caught our attention but they didn't stand out as much as the crayfish whose colour and interesting posture really made the trip to the river a memorable experience for parents and kids.

Red swamp crayfish / Cranc de riu americà (Procambarus clarkii)

Ta da! 

Very small snail

Beauty in the rain

Yesterday it rained all day. A beautiful photo opportunity presented itself.

Snail on lily

Feathered friends

We have had lots of birds in our garden this week. The sparrows and a great tit come to eat the guinea pig food. There is a magpie who drops in occasionally too. I try to photograph them all but they usually fly off before I can grab my camera.  Happily, I did manage to photograph this beautiful collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto).

Collared dove / Tòrtura turca (Streptopelia decaocto)

Introducing Hoppy the wild boar

Last week we got some excellent footage of a wild boar (Sus scrofa) next to the River Congost in La Garriga. We had filmed this individual before and recognised him because of his hopping gait as he does not put any weight on one of his rear legs. Maybe the leg is broken or the foot is injured in some way. Though he may be in pain, he manages to travel a fair amount as the two areas where we have filmed him are not that close together. This week he was particularly interested in the camera and I am surprised that he did not knock the tripod over.