Foxy emperor butterfly

The other day we saw this stunning Two-tailed pasha or foxy emperor (Charaxes jasius) drinking from the water that had splashed onto the paving by the side of the outdoor swimming pool in El Figaró.

Foxy emperor / Papallona d l'arboç (Charaxes jasius)

Daytime genet

It has been a long time since I left my camera trap out to see what wildlife I can video and, in fact, I also loaned it to a friend for a few weeks who took some lovely footage of rabbits, pheasants and grey squirrels near his home in the southwest of England.

This week I decided to try my luck in Vallcàrquera in el Figaró. I left a little snack of sardines as a reward for any animals that came along and the lucky recipients were a genet and a stone marten (also known as a beech marten). Stone martens are very similar to pine martens, but my Catalan nature book says that pine martens are in the Pre-Pyrenees and the Pyrenees, so I think that what we have living here in the Vallès Oriental must be stone martens.

On all previous occasions I have only filmed and photographed genets at night but, this time, one showed up at 6 o'clock in the evening. It is great to have a video in daylight and I am happy to share it here:

A summer walk - butterflies and lizards

Apologies for the poor quality photos but they were taken on a phone. They show how hot and hazy it is here at the moment.

Large psammodromus / Sargantana cuallarga (Psammodromus algirus)