There she blows!

On Saturday I joined the Edmaktub crew for a day on their catamaran whilst they surveyed the fin whales that are present off the Garraf coast at this time of year. Leaving from Vilanova i la Geltrú just before 10am we headed out to sea and it was not long before we saw our first fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus). 

Fin whale / Rorqual comú (Balaenoptera physalus)

The blows of two fin whales

Fin whale blow

The Edmaktub team follow regular transects when completing their surveys, but when a fin whale is sighted they try to get a little nearer, without harassing the animal, to take a photo of its fin in order to identify it as each individual has a slightly differently shaped fin. During the day's sightings we encountered at least four animals (closer inspection of the id photos should allow the team to confirm whether the whales we saw were all different individuals). 

The team use a drone to follow the whales once they have been spotted. With the camera, they can watch what the whales are doing when they are underwater, follow them and tell when they about to surface again. It is an amazing piece of technology and meant we could always be ready with our cameras to take photos when the whales appeared. 

It is thought that the whales hang out in the Garraf region of the Catalan coast in order to feed, but it is not clear where they spend the rest of the year and whether they all come and go to the same areas. Perhaps some go to the Ligurian Sea and perhaps others head out to the Atlantic. The team hope that the photo-identification work they are doing will allow the whales to be recognised when they are photographed in other places. 

Fin whale / Rorqual comú (Balaenoptera physalus)

I have previously seen North Atlantic Right Whales off the coast of New England, but from a great distance. This was the first time I had ever seen a fin whale and to see them so closely was truly spectacular and it was a day I will never forget. At one point, a whale which we thought had moved away from the catamaran suddenly surfaced close to us and just ahead of us. Hearing its blow and seeing its back slowly curve out of the water was just fantastic. I am so grateful to the Edmaktub crew for taking me out, for explaining their work to me, for cooking me a delicious lunch and for allowing me to get up close to these amazing animals. 

As well as the fin whales we also saw a sunfish (Mola mola) which is called a "peix lluna" or "moon fish" in Catalan, a striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), jellyfish, tuna and various seabirds including shearwaters. 

We arrived back to port at about 7.30pm. It was a long day to be at sea but it was truly spectacular. I'm sure that not many people living in Barcelona and the surrounding area know that they have fin whales so close to them in the spring time!

The birds are in town!

Spring is here and so are the birds. There are so many swallows, martins and swifts swooping around over the river that is quite a spectacle. I have not tried photographing them; they move so quickly that I am sure I would fail to capture them. I did try to photograph a female mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) with her twelve ducklings but the light was fading and unfortunately the photos were not very successful. Here is a photo of half of the brood with Mum standing off to the side. I am a little concerned for the wellbeing of the ducklings as I have not seen them since some heavy rain raised the level of the river considerably a few days ago.  The same evening that I was watching the mallards, I saw a little egret (Egret garzetta) taking off from the water. Another sighting was of a hoopoe  feeding in the woods near l'Ametlla del Vallès. Perhaps most strangely of all, was the partridge (Alectoris rufa) which was hanging out on a neighbour's balcony one Sunday morning.

Red-legged partridge / Perdiu Roja (Alectoris rufa)

Mallard / Ànec Collverd (Anas platyrhynchos)

Little egret / Martinet blanc (Egretta garzetta)

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