Articles in ‘Collserola’
You don’t have to look for Two-tailed Pashas, they will find you. A friend had described the exact scene of a very close encounter with this sultan of butterflies last year. It was now late August, the heat had abated slightly, so I headed straight there.
A tiny Praying mantis was a distraction on the way, sitting on top of a seeding Matabou umbel.
When I reached the remote, unvisited location, deep within Collserola, nothing stirred except for a boar, who was trundling through the bushes, before emerging to cross the track and disappearing into an overgrown gully. The habitat was perfect: shrubby open woodland on a high ridge, with lots of strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo – the Pasha’s food plant), so I decided to sit down, eat some breakfast and see what turned up.
Within minutes I’d been spotted. The Pasha flew fast around my head, inspected the camera on my lap, and then stuck its proboscis into my sandwich. It was immediately whipped out again, as if in distaste – uggh! So where’s my rum-soaked rotten banana?
The butterfly then flew up to its vantage point high up in a pine tree, where it remained a while, until giving chase to another Pasha. The rival had staked out an adjoining territory, which it surveyed from a small oak tree.
It sallied down to some faeces in a holly oak bush. It ignored me, absorbed in feeding, using a startlingly red proboscis, which I’ve never seen before (aren’t they usually black?). The beautiful tapestry of the underwings countered the pong of the food matter.
Still trespassing, I was subjected to another prolonged attack. Intensely beating butterfly wings can only tickle, but the determination with which the Pasha repeatedly charged towards me made me want to duck. Then it started sucking at the sweat on my arm, and sat on my shoulder for a while. Who cared where it might’ve perched before.
Their fearless nature and love of alcohol can get the Two-tailed Pashas into trouble. A video on Youtube shot by a holidaymaker somewhere on the Med shows one drinking spilt beer on the table, and then falling to the ground when attempting to fly.
butterflies, Collserola | Tags: Attacked by a butterfly, behaviour of Charaxes jasius, butter, iconic Mediterranean butterfly, largest butterfly in Europe, Mediterranean butterflies, most spectacular butterfly in Europe, territorial behaviour of butterflies, two tailed pasha in Spain, where to see the two tailed pasha|
After a week of rainy nights, Collserola is damp and misty. The deciduous oaks bring a golden firelight into the sodden chill woods, and the early morning sunlight and mist entwine in flutes. Everywhere you hear the winter ching of chaffinches. Acorns drop, making you look over your shoulder. The leaves drift down, unhurried, finding their niche on the carpet below.
Miniature flowerpots, covered in moss, have sprouted in the crack of a tree stump. They’re Fluted Bird’s Nest Fungi (Cyathus striatus), whose spore-filled “eggs” – or peridioles – are dislodged by raindrops channelled down the inner grooves of the pot.
In the dark undergrowth were clumps of Upright Coral fungi (Ramaria stricta), the colour of dead flesh. Pallid limbs stretch upwards hoisting the spore away from the woodland floor.
Leer
Collserola, fungi | Tags: common woodland fungi, Coral fungus, Cyathus striatus, earth star fungus, Fluted bird's nest fungi, fungus in Spain, Geastrum fimbriatum, how fungi disperse spores, Mediterranean fungi, Ramaria stricta|
Though its woods are mainly evergreen, Collserola is livid with colour in the autumn. Blue-violet Rosemary flowers hum densely with bees, and yellow Mediterranean gorse shines against the rich blue sky of San Martín. As if decorated for Christmas, the Strawberry trees are hung with glowing red and orange fruit and clusters of bell-shaped flowers, creamy white like candles.
I found a Praying Mantis in almost exactly the same spot as last year, lightly clinging to a Narrow-leaved Cistus. It had a contented post-meal air, probably having dined on the bees in the Rosemary bush next door. After cleaning them, it neatly folded its spiky “arms” and remained motionless.
Under the dense Holm oak canopy, in the dark, boar-raked mulch, knots of scarlet tentacles emerge: Latticed Stinkhorns (Clathrus ruber), or in Catalan Guita de Bruixa – “Witch’s Vomit”. A fungal wonder, it attracts flies with its rotten stench to act as spore-dispersers.
From a fallen tree comes the sound of Pekin Robins – or Red-Billed Leiothrix – who are hiding among the dried branches and leaves. This escapee cagebird, native to the jungles of Southern Asia, feels at home in Collserola, with its overgrown gullies and impenetrable tangles of creepers and brambles.
When disturbed they can’t seem to control their curiosity. One by one, Pekin Robins begin emerging from the dead tree to get a closer look at the intruder, all the time scolding vigorously. I got a noisy close-up of coral-red bills, yellow throats and bright black eyes. With a steadily expanding population, their colonisation of other areas in Catalonia is imminent.
Barcelona, Birds, Collserola, fungi, Insects | Tags: autumn in Barcelona, Clathrus ruber in Spain, Leiothrix lutea in Collserola, Leiothrix lutea in Spain, Mantis religiosa Spain, Mediterranean flora, Mediterranean fungi, praying mantis in Barcelona|
After considerable procrastination,
Collserola, often described as Barcelona’s lung, has been officially declared a natural park. With an estimated 2 million visitors a year, Collserola becomes Spain’s second most visited natural park, after the Teide in the Canary Islands. Maybe it’s also the most unusual, as its
wildness exists among ubiquitous electricity pylons, a motorway, a cemetery, and the houses of 15,000 inhabitants.
What changes will this new status bring? An increased budget and size, as the park area is due to be extended by 700 hectares to a total of 8,295. New rules for the metropolitan urbanites who escape to Collserola’s woods will be announced shortly. Whooping, hollering, silence-shattering kamikaze mountain bikers, the bane of hikers, will apparently be subjected to stricter control.
It will be interesting to see if the urbanising tentacles of the various municipalities that share Collserola will also be brought under control.
Barcelona, Collserola | Tags: Collserola gets natural park status, natural park of Barcelona, Spain's most unusual natural park, Spain's most visited natural parks|
In July the shadowy halls of Collserola’s shallow, trickling streams are filled with a spooky, fluttering presence. Groups of dark insects flicker in the half-light, or perch on isolated vantage points.
These are the male Copper Demoiselles, staking a claim for a stretch of stream. Their wings are black, and their bodies darkly iridescent, tinged purple like blackberries. When impressing the females, they kink their abdomens, revealing a red under-tip. This has saddled the species with the Latin name Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis
The common name, though, is inspired by the rich coppery tones of the female. She signals from a distance with white spots on sepia-coloured wings.
When a male, from his prominent lookout post, sees a female enter his zone, he’s immediately in attendance, serenading her in semaphore. The hovering wings form a cross, a performance being repeated up and down the stream.
After a successful courtship, the female is whisked up to a twig.
Eggs are deposited in a tangle of pink roots at the water’s edge.
Barcelona, Collserola, Insects, Odonata - dragonflies and damselflies | Tags: calopteryx haemorrhoidalis collserola, calopteryx mating, copper demoiselles in spain, gothic insects, Mediterranean damselfies, Mediterranean odonata, private life of damselflies, woodland insects|
A Praying Mantis was ensconced in the Sticky Fleabane with a bee in its claws. It was delicately eating a leg, still sprinkled with fresh pollen, before neatly detaching a wing. Instead of bright green, like all the mantises I’ve ever seen, this one was a dull khaki colour. As it chewed, its plump, segmented abdomen pulsed in a rippling movement. The whole of the body seemed to be concentrated on digesting the bee.
While watching the Mantis, I could hear the liquid notes of robin song. The woods and parks fill up with migrating robins in the autumn. As the season moves on, they seem to disperse, but for a while the whole of Collserola vibrates with robins tic-ticking from every bush.
Bee eaten, the Mantis fastidiously cleaned its weapons. Suspended between the Sticky Fleabane on one side and gorse on the other, it faced the sky as if lying in a hammock. When I left, it was still absorbed in polishing its spiky forelegs.
Inside the woods, it was warm and humid. After weeks of drought, a typically intense two-day downpour had washed away the summer dust. Seizing the moment, plants were regenerating their leaves. Boar mud-baths were restored. Bark had turned velvety with moss. Stones at the side of the path were covered in lichen: a mass of goblets if you looked close.
A fresh crop of puffballs had sprouted in the middle of the path, tender, fragrant and good to eat. Soon they will age, turn brown and let out a puff of spores. They’ve been given some great names: the Devil’s Snuffbox and Wolf’s Fart.
Coming down the hill at dusk, the Praying Mantis was still in the same spot, eating the last bee of the day.
Collserola, fungi, Insects | Tags: autumn in Spain, autumn walk near Barcelona, Collserola praying mantis, colour of praying mantis, insects in spain, lichen in Mediterranean wood, Mediterranean fungi, Mediterranean insects, praying mantis eats bee, praying mantis grooming, praying mantis in Barcelona, robin migration in Mediterranean|
Something scurried across the ground in fits and starts: a spider with a bristling brown back. I approached and found the bristles were a cargo of spiderlings. Their mother, a Wolf Spider, was moving her brood in broad daylight along a track in Collserola.
At first I thought it was a Mediterranean Tarantula (Lycosa tarantula), but the radial pattern on the thorax should have led me to Hogna radiata. Another difference between the two species is that H. radiata doesn’t build a burrow, instead roaming to hunt its prey and using stones for shelter.
Looking at the tightly-packed brood, it was possible to make out rounded bodies and a tangle of spiky legs.
Wolf spiders are dutiful mothers who carry the egg sac attached to their spinnerets, quite a burden for an active hunter. The abdomen has to be kept raised so the egg sac doesn’t drag on the ground. The mother spider will sit in the sun to warm the eggs, and when the time is right, chew open the silk case to free her brood. She’ll wait until all the spiderlings have climbed on board and are clinging to her bristles.
Maternal care doesn’t go as far as feeding the young (as in other species, like the Mothercare spider). Wolf spiderlings survive on nutrients stored in their abdomens and usually after a week they moult and scatter.
Wolf spiders are among the largest spiders in Europe. H. radiata is only slightly smaller than the Mediterranean Tarantula, the female measuring up to 2.5 cm long. Out in the open, the spider struck me as vulnerable and defenceless. But the view from the front was quite different.
The prominent dark eyes – which gleam in the dark if you go searching for it by torch-light – and strong hairy legs – the sprinting spider pounces on its prey like a wolf – warned me I was facing a formidable hunter.
Wolf spiders have far better eyesight than other spiders, and the eyes are arranged in a distinct pattern: a row of four at the bottom, two on top, and two enormous ones in the middle, all visible from the front. Look at this fantastic close-up.
Collserola, Spiders | Tags: biggest spiders in europe, Hogna radiata, largest spiders in europe, largest spiders in Spain, spider identification, spiders in Barcelona, Wolf spider and spiderlings, wolf spider eyes, wolf spider mother|
The beginning of September is dry and dusty in Collserola, after weeks of cloudless skies and hardly a drop of water since early July. Only the Umbrella Pines look fresh and green. One of the few flowers to be seen is the Sacred Herb (Verbena officinalis), tiny specks of blue on the tip of long stems. Thistles are brown and petrified. A few Corymbose carline thistles still show yellow flower-heads among the blonde grass, where flocks of young dragonflies cling. They’re this year’s second generation of Red-veined Darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii), out to graze on flies and build up their strength.
They have plasticine-bright colours – yellow abdomens, pale green segments in the thorax and sky-blue eyes. This young male has just a touch of the deep red of his adult colouring.
The males turn scarlet as they grow, while the females stay yellow. Females are distinguished by their double black lines, like this one who munches on a fly while clinging to a broom seed pod.
The darters anchor themselves to twigs and stalks, immobile except when the breeze ruffles their wings. Sometimes they turn their heads in quick, deft movements. This male’s golden wing veins will soon turn red.
For all things dragon and damsel, it’s well worth visiting Steve Jones’ Cornish Nature web site, where you’ll find a wealth of information and superb photos of species found in Cornwall and Iberia. Steve loves dragonflies and they’re quite partial to him too.
Collserola, Insects, Odonata - dragonflies and damselflies | Tags: dragonflies in Spain, late summer in Barcelona, libelulas en Collserola, Mediterranean dragonflies, nature in Barcelona, odonata in Spain, Red veined darters, Sympetrum fonscolombii|
Swatting off scarlet and black mylabris beetles, I walked down to the horse paddocks. Summer’s hit us like a sledgehammer, and mornings have been too hot to go out and look for butterflies (or anything). In the mellow evening sun, among olive and carob trees, I looked around to see what was about. Behind me, horses snorted and a Golden Oriole was calling.
Most of the scabious has gone to seed already, and the only flowers were thistles and stonecrop. A Common Blue perched on a dried flower head, slowly turning in a semi-circle, as if to make sure all sections of the audience got a full view of its violet shimmer.
No sooner had the Common Blue flown, its place was immediately taken by a Long-tailed Blue. It shifted its wings, but kept them closed, a beige slip of a butterfly. In no hurry to move, it let me get close and see the “face” in the corner – the imitation antenna and eye spots.
When I got too close for comfort and the Long-tailed Blue moved on, I noticed something magnificent further up the slope, motionless on a wild carrot flower. I approached carefully, commando-style. After staring so long at the diminutive Longtailed Blue, the sheer size of the Swallowtail, boldly outlined in black, was impressive. Its abdomen hung down like a paper lantern.
One of the benefits of hunkering down quietly in the grass for ages is that you pass unnoticed. Over in the horse paddock, I watched a rabbit stop to scratch its back. It lost patience and rolled over to rub the elusive spot, legs in the air. All around sparrows were taking dust baths. The rabbit suddenly detected my presence and froze, white tum stretched out, before bounding off into the trees.
butterflies, Collserola | Tags: Barcelona in July, common blue, common swallowtail, lampides boeticus, longtailed blue, Mediterranean butterflies, papilio machaon, photographing butterflies, Polyommatus icarus, walking in collserola, walks around Barcelona, watching butterflies|
Sometimes on a June evening Barcelona skies fall strangely silent because of an absence of swifts. They go elsewhere for richer pickings, returning to the concrete sprawl at night. Standing on the Collserola ridge at dusk, I watched hundreds pour down into the city.
I’d started walking late in the afternoon, skirting the small Vallvidrera reservoir, where families picnicked in the shade and dogs nosed among the algae, silencing the legions of frogs. Climbing a steep path, where a meagre stream trickles down, I found Rampion Bellflowers and tiny tangy wild strawberries, which no one else had thought to pick. Iberian Water Frogs (Pelophylax perezi) crouched invisibly in the grass around a small pool. Every time I moved, more would leap into the water and vanish, till it must’ve got quite crowded down there in the mud.
Vallvidrera is posh, but some of the houses near the path were built when this was no man’s land, and the crowing of cockerels mingles with Golden oriole song. A beautiful Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) was perched on a leaf, jagged as a jigsaw piece. Perhaps it was the same one I’d seen a few days before, puddling on the wet stones, and giving me a glimpse of the neat white mark on its underwing to which it owes its name.
As grass goes to seed, the slopes behind Sant Pere Martir are turning pale gold, the colour of summer. The bright yellow flowers of broom have nearly gone, and now it’s time for Scabious (Scabiosa atropurpurea). Its frothy purple-pink blooms are everywhere, on waist-high stems, leaves hardly to be seen, and usually with a butterfly attached.
Down in the valley bottom, rabbits rustled among the new crop of fennel that’s already taller than me. An insistent screeching made me think a new exotic bird had arrived in Collserola. Something large and yellow moved in a pine tree – a Golden oriole. Until then I’d only known their catchy whistles, which starlings love to mimic.
Nearly at the top of the ridge, as the sun dropped lower, I stopped to admire the spectacular Illyrian thistles (Onopordum illyricum) that have shot up like spiny candelabra. Hummingbird Hawk moths were zipping among the electric purple flower heads. I’d seen a man come armed with gloves, cut some selected stems and strip them of thorns with a knife. If the Devil grows them in his garden – in Spanish they’re called Cardo del Demonio – it’s because both stems and flower heads are edible.
Beyond the thistles a flock of bee eaters were on a late foraging swoop. The swifts were beginning to return. I noticed a Woodchat shrike (Lanius senator) on a dried up branch of old broom, its chestnut crown lowered as it dealt with its prey. It flew off with something pale in its bill, having left an egg shell spiked on a twig.
It was delicious to lie down on the track and feel the day’s heat stored there, in contrast with the cool evening air, and listen to the sound of swifts searing past. A rabbit popped out of the grass, and promptly jumped back again. A boar emerged, huffed indignantly and kicked up the dust.
Darkness was falling and the swifts were still swarming along the length of the ridge.
Collserola: Guided Walks
amphibians, Barcelona, Birds, butterflies, Collserola | Tags: Barcelona in June, Barcelona walks, Cardo del Demonio, Comma butterfly, Golden oriol, Iberian Water Frog, Illyrian thistle, Marbled white, Mediterranean flora, Polygonia c-album, Scabiosa atropurpurea, Scabious, thistles, vallvidrera, woodchat shrike|
It’s the time of year for unusual sightings in unexpected places. Recent observations recorded on 
Shortly after being born, this year’s brood of Peregrine falcon chicks were stolen from their nest in one of the Sagrada Familia towers. The robbery took place out of range of the web cam installed. Visitors have no access to this tower, but there are always plenty of workers milling around, since the Sagrada Familia is still under construction. Eduard Durany, responsible for monitoring Barcelona’s Peregrine falcons, emphasises the need for better security. Last year suspicious individuals were spotted trying to take food up to the falcons, who fetch a high price on the black market. After the theft, two chicks born in a wildlife recuperation centre were placed in the nest, but sadly the intended foster parents rejected them. See also the report on the ringing of 
The areas of Barcelona nearest to the Collserola hills are now quite used to visits from the natural park’s thriving boar population, particularly at the end of summer when the ground is rock-hard and food supplies scarce. But on Saturday night a family of boars was seen trotting through Gràcia, a central barrio of the city, accessible only after crossing an extremely busy ring road. The same family has been observed this August exploring Gaudí’s Güell Park. There’s a 
