The false mountains of Montserrat by Picasso
December 9th, 2016
The false mountains of Montserrat in Ciutadella Park, Barcelona, Pablo Picasso, 1895-1896.
Barcelona
Articles in ‘Barcelona’
Wild sounds of Barcelona
April 22nd, 2014Just under 4 minutes mini documentary about midwide toads in Montjuïc park, recorded on my mobile. 15 minutes walk from Les Rambles.
A bit of an experiment. First effort at sound recording and nature commentary. Listening back a little paused in the comments. As Lucy Brzoska pointed out to me, there’s a Sardian warbler there too.
Tiger mosquitoes in Barcelona
July 22nd, 2013
Interesting chart comparing the dining preferences in Barcelona of native mosquitoes with the dreaded Tiger Mosquito, an invasive species from Southeast Asia. While the former’s victims are: 35.7% humans, 21.4% cats, 14.3% dogs, 8.5% Turkish dove and 19.1 % other birds (pigeons, parakeets and blackbirds, sparrows etc), the Tiger Mosquito feeds EXCLUSIVELY on humans, which it bites during the day. My own resistance has built up remarkably over the last eight years since they arrived, and although their bite is still a burning one, the swelling now goes down after about 30 minutes
Kestrels raised in window box
May 13th, 2011Charming three-minute video from a tower block in Vall Hebrón in Barcelona of kestrels being raised in a window box for flowers . The pair of kestrels have been raising chicks for the last seven years in the same place. The kestrels have chosen a good home and the flat owner has even dedicated a poem to them. My friend Sergi Garcia explains why tower blocks are such a good environment for kestrels.
Grey whale spotted off Barcelona
June 10th, 2010 
To the amazement of scientists, a grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) has been spotted off the coast of Barcelona, after being tracked from Palestine/Israel. North Atlantic-Mediterranean populations were understood to have become extinct in the 18th century, and there have no sightings since. The most likely expllanation is that the animal is a Pacific grey whale that has become lost. If it does form part of a new Atlantic population that would indeed be news. El País and BBC
Young Montpellier snake
December 20th, 2009
Check out Lucy’s great new post on a Montpellier snake she spotted on Montjuic, Barcelona.
Barcelona blog
April 29th, 2009
The new iberianature Barcelona blog is starting to take shape…More on our walking tours shortly.
Barcelona blog
Red squirrels in the park
November 14th, 2008
Another lovely post from Lucy on the squirrels in her local Barcelona park.
Read
Hunter injured by bear
October 27th, 2008Update 27/10/2008. It is clear that this story has been blown out of all proportion to the facts and the risks involved. A man received slight injuries to his foot, and the result is the call for the removal of all bears from the Pyrenees. How many slight injuries to feet are sustained every day in the Pyrenees due to a whole host of reasons? Skiing accident. Let’s ban skiing. Iron falling on your foot. Let’s ban ironing. Children playing in the park. Let’s ban playing.
Thankfully the Catalan authorities are seeing sense in this matter and are refusing to listen to the yuppie owners of Vall d’Aran. As Simon on the forum points out the Catalan Minsitry of the Environment should no more take into account the opinions of hotel owners than these should listen to the former’s advice on how to make beds. For me, the underlying problem is the ridiculous amount of local automony and respect afforded to a small area, just because they happen to speak a different language. The Aranese have powers in the environment, while the next valley along which doesn’t happen to speak a different language, doesn’t. This means that they can I think, in effect, legally remove the bear in question. These small number of persons, in many cases greedily linked to the skiing and hotel industry, are going against what by all accounts are the wishes of the majority of people in Catalonia who want to maintain the bear reintroduction programme. It’s a mockery of democracy.
Update 26/10/2008. The Aranese authorities are now searching for the bear Hvala with the objective of shooting it with tranquillising darts and removing it from the wild. They claim this is to avoid a “generalised vendetta” against all bears in the area (El Periodico) Meanwhile, the ecological organisation Depana while lamenting the injuries to the man, lay the blame at poorly organised boar hunts, and note that bears and boar hunting are perfectly compatible when managed properly, citing the example of the Cordillera Cantábrica.
Original story. Bad news for bears in the Pyrenees. A boar hunter in the Vall d’Aran was bitten today by a bear and has suffered minor injuries to his foot and hand. Although this is the first time a human has been attacked by a bear in the Pyrenees since the reintroduction programme began in 1996, it has led to calls from the Aranese government for the removal of all bears from the range, claiming that the “bear reintroduction experiment has failed”. One suspects that the Aranese authorities have been looking any excuse to stop the programme. So far the Catalan government has called for calm. The bear in question is “called” Hvala, the same bear which was filmed last month. New Vote No to reconsidering the reintroduction programme at La Vanguardia below.
Snakes in Barcelona
October 26th, 2008
Lucy chanced upon this Montpellier snake on Montjuic. It is remarkable that they still survive on a hill so hemmed in by urban sprawl and industry. It is also unusual for anybody to spot one. The fact that the individual is young bodes well for the population’s future.
