Autumn mouse

A couple of weeks ago we were hanging out with some friends in Banyoles enjoying the autumn sunshine when we heard some rustling in the fallen leaves in their garden. It turned out to be a little mouse who was rather too quick on his feet for me to photograph him properly. Here is my best effort:

Another look at the Common Genet

I have been meaning to upload a video of the Common Genet (Genetta genetta) for a while. I feel quite fond of the genet and hope to film more of these charming animals in the future. At the moment I do not have access to a trail-cam, but as soon as I can I will be out filming again. This video was taken in May on the Congost River near La Garriga. The genet in the video is enjoying a snack of sardines, but their normal diet consists of small mammals, birds, other small vertebrates, insects and fruit.

Foraging for fungi

Today we went with a group of families to hunt for mushrooms in the woods near Gurb (Osona). Gathering wild mushrooms is a popular pastime in Catalonia and most people seem to have some idea of which species are edible and which are not. As today's activity was organised by our local scout group, they arranged for an expert to come with us and make sure that we didn't pick anything untoward.

As novices, we had a lot to learn, but we quickly understood how to identify the Yellow Foot (Cantharellus lutescens) which is known as the "Camagroc" in Catalan ("Yellow leg") and which we found in abundance. The children were very excited whenever they found a patch of these and our baskets quickly filled up. We also found Hedgehog mushrooms (Hydnum repandum) which are known as "Llengua de bou" in Catalan which translates as "Ox tongue". Another mushroom which our expert pointed out to us was the "Bec de perdiu" which translates as "Partridge beak". A fellow mushroom hunter told us he knew it as a "Cama de perdiu" ("Partridge leg"). Both of these names seem quite charming compared to its English common names: Brown Slimecap and Copper Spike (Chroogomphus rutilus). My son was particularly pleased to find something which he described as "Pet de llop" ("Wolf fart") which in English seems to have many names including the Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum). If you tread on or touch these mushrooms they release their spores into the air.

When we returned from our foray, we met up with the other groups who had gone hunting in other areas and compared our finds. Then it was time to clean the mushrooms and to make sure that all of them were edible. The scout leaders cooked them for us and we enjoyed them immensely as part of our special lunch which we ate in the Bosc del Malhivern in La Garriga to celebrate the "Castanyada" which is the autumn festival associated with All Saints' Day (which took place yesterday).

Here are some photos of the mushrooms we found today. I have labelled the ones that I think I can identify. The others I will try to identify once I have consulted my books and friends in the know. I would also like to point out that many of these species have a huge number of common names (in both English and Catalan) and that I have not given all of these here.

Yellow Foot / Camagroc (Cantharellus lutescens)

A basketful of fungi (mainly Yellow Foot)

Hedgehog mushroom / Llengua de bou (Hydnum repandum)

Common puffball / Pet de llop (Lycoperdon perlatum)

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.

Snails

It rained during the night on Saturday, so on Sunday morning the garden was full of snails. Here is a photo of one which I found on a terracotta pot. It is easy to take these garden 'pests' for granted, but when you look at them closely they are really quite amazing animals. I thought the shell on this one was particularly beautiful with colours ranging from pale yellow to deep magenta.

Rodents by the river

This week we filmed mice and shrews by the River Congost. We left the camera very close to the river where there was a lot of plant cover but easy access to the water. We put some sardines as bait and thought we might capture some footage of American mink but this time it was only rodents that came to investigate our bait and camera.

A lot of the daytime videos just showed plants blowing in the breeze and maybe some insects buzzing past. Of the 37 videos which had rodents in them, I have chosen two to share here. One shows a shrew (possibly a common shrew - Sorex araneus) coming in from the right and then being chased off by another rodent. It happens so quickly it's hard to see if it is another shrew or a mouse! The other video shows a mouse (possibly a wood mouse - Apodemus sylvaticus) running and jumping about.

A mystery spider

Yesterday I found an interesting spider living in the bottom of our guinea pig hutch. I scooped it out carefully and took some photos. I'm not sure what the species is, so if anyone can help with that I'd love to hear from you! My guess at the moment is that it is a female Steatoda bipunctata but please correct me if I am wrong. This species is also known as the "rabbit hutch spider" which seems appropriate considering where I found it.

A lost nest

Today I found this beautifully formed perfect little nest on the pavement in La Garriga. I'm not sure what bird would have made it and whether it is from this year or whether it is an old nest. The only trees it can have fallen from are quite high so there was no chance to really see where it had come from. It is amazing to see close up how much work birds put into building their nests. This one had been lined with pine needles.

Winged visitors

The aim of the camera trapping so far has been to film and photograph carnivores living along the river. However, sometimes a bird triggers the camera too, which is always a nice surprise. I've tried to zoom in to show the birds more clearly but I apologise for the low quality photos. It looks like we got two pictures of a chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) in February and this week I think it was a robin (Erithacus rubecula) who set the camera off (but it's hard to be sure!). 

Chaffinch / Pinsà (Fringilla coelebs)

Chaffinch / Pinsà (Fringilla coelebs)

Robin / Pit-roig (Erithacus rubecula)

What does the fox say?

We have not been down to the river for a couple of weeks, so I do not have any new videos to share. Instead, here is some footage taken at the end of January showing a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) who was obviously enjoying the sardine bait.

Camera shy? Not the stone marten

Sometimes the animals are pretty interested in our camera and they come in for a closer look. I hope that this stone marten (Martes foina) did not get too blinded by the flash!

Stone marten / Fagina (Martes foina)

Spring is here!

Yesterday a walk in the countryside provided some wonderful images of spring with the almond blossom standing out spectacularly against the bright blue sky. The sound of the lambs bleating and the sight of them skipping off to find their mothers added to the idyllic image.

Common Genet

The Common Genet (Genetta genetta) does not feel "common" to me. In fact, I think of it as exotic and exciting. I suppose that this is because I am from Britain (where there are no wild genets). I think it is also because the genet has such striking features. With a spotty body and a long stripy tail, there is no mistaking a genet. Here is a photo I am particularly fond of to get us started:

Common genet / Geneta (Genetta genetta)

The beautiful River Congost

On a sunny January morning I took this photo from the Can Jacob bridge in La Garriga. Uplifting, isn't it?

Badger-watch

Today I saw a dead badger (Meles meles) by the railway line in the Bosc de Malhivern (Malhivern woods). It did not look as if it had been there for very long. Maybe he was hit last night as he went out foraging. It was a sad sight, so to cheer myself up I thought I would share a video that I took with a friend in January 2014 along the River Congost between the towns of La Garriga and El Figaró.

Discovering wildlife on my doorstep

I've been living in Catalonia for 10 years now. During those 10 years I've spent plenty of time getting to know people and places but very little time getting to know the wildlife. It is now time to change all that!

I am embarking on an adventure to discover the wildlife of Catalonia, starting with my local patch in La Garriga but hopefully going further afield in the future.

This blog will serve as a place to record my findings and to share my photos and videos. Maybe others with an interest in nature will stumble across it and enjoy sharing in my adventure. 

Bear with me as I learn how to edit and upload the videos and photos and watch as this blog unfolds over the months to come. 

In the photo captions I will try to identify the species that I can and, if possible, will list the common English name followed by the common Catalan name and then (in brackets) the Latin name. Please let me know if you see any mistakes, as I'm sure I will make many!