Parakeets!

Yesterday my son and I took a bike ride near the River Congost, stopping to have a look at the monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) which are nesting in some trees there. These parakeets are beautiful,  noisy and social birds. They are an invasive species and some people are concerned about the effect that such animals have on native flora and fauna. They are successful here, building their large communal nests and, obviously, managing to raise plenty of young because there is clearly a huge population here. As we cycled away we were impressed by the size of the flock that flew over our heads!

Monk parakeet / Cotorra argentina (Myiopsitta monachus)

Communal nest

Monk parakeet / Cotorra argentina (Myiopsitta monachus)

A stay near Torroella de Montgrí

Unfortunately I don't have any photos or videos to share but I still want to comment on some experiences that I had during a stay on the Costa Brava earlier this month.

We were staying at a campsite in the Montgrí, Medes Islands and Baix Ter Natural Park and one afternoon, after a rainstorm, I went for a walk along the beautiful beach to the point where the River Ter reaches the sea. It is a verdant spot where the sand and small dunes give way to green river banks. Across the sea from where the river enters the Mediterranean stand the proud Medes Islands (Illes Medes). As I stood contemplating the still waters of the river I heard a small splash but when I looked in the direction that it came from I didn't see anything unusual. Soon, there were more splashes and then I started to see what was causing it. Close to me, small fish were leaping out of the water, breaching sideways and then disappearing back underwater. I looked further out to where the river was deeper and saw larger fish doing the same. Their silver bellies sparkled in the sunlight as they leapt high out of the water. I'm not sure what this behaviour signifies, but it was quite a spectacle and I stood there, entranced, for a number of minutes waiting to see where the next fish would appear!

The following day we had another interesting nature spot whilst driving back to the campsite from Peratallada. As we passed a rice field, we noticed that there were ten white storks (Ciconia ciconia) standing in a group there. What grand animals they are!

Every evening we saw large bats feeding around the lights of the campsite and, on the day that we left to drive back home, we saw a snake on the road. It was moving quickly but, as it was dark, we only saw it when we got very close to it. Hopefully it passed safely under the car and not the tyres. Sadly, we couldn't see what became of it.