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)

Wild flower spotting

I love wild flowers. I do not know much about them but when I am out in the countryside I like to notice the hues and shapes of any plants that bring a little colour to their surroundings. If I manage to take some photographs I like to see if I can identify them once I am at home. Many of the plants I see in Catalonia do not have common names in English as they are only found in the Mediterranean. The photos I am going to share today were all taken near the village of Tavertet in Osona. 

Wood spurge / Lleteresa de bosc (Euphorbia amygdaloides)

Common globe daisy / Senet de pobre (Globularia vulgaris) 

Jonça (Aphyllanthes monspeliensis) 

A type of Helianthemum (I haven't worked out which yet!)

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!