Climate change in Catalonia
December 4th, 2009 | by nick |ICO, the Catalan Ornithological Institute, have published a study on changes in the bird population in Catalonia. The climate of Barcelona is now similar to Castellon a hundred years ago, while Montpellier up in France is now like Barcelona used to be. This shift has meant birds such as hoopoes no longer leave Catalonia for the winter. Cetti’s warblers and Bee-eaters have been doing remarkably well, growing by 71% and 98%, respectively. Earlier springs and extended summers mean they have a longer breeding season. Butterflies, like the Monarch are now spotted as far north as the Delta del Ebro. A bird running out of cooler habitats in Catalunya is the Alpine Chough.The study also points out that birds are adapting to climate change by moving northwards and upwards, but at a slower rate than the actual changes taking place.
Adapted from Lucy’s post on the forum and orginally from El Periodico.
The rainfall records for Spain keep tumbling. According to the latest provisional figures 
I’ve just come across 
Three Iberian lynxes of the captive breeding programme have died in recent weeks from a renal disease. Lynxes in the wild are thought not to suffer from this disease.