Articles in ‘Montjuic’
Large flocks of Blue-tailed damselflies (Ischnura graellsii) emerge from the ponds in Montjuic’s Jardins de Verdaguer. They’re so tiny that in flight often all you can make out is a quivering blue blob. When they settle, the spot of blue turns out to be the tail end of an endless abdomen (segment 8, to be precise).
Throughout the month of June the Blue-tails are harvested by House sparrows. Bills bristling with wings, the sparrows somehow manage to keep on collecting without dropping any of the existing catch. You can imagine their nestlings getting fat on plentiful damselfly protein.
By the end of July, the pond vegetation is full of Tree frogs (Hyla meridionalis), perching motionless alongside the Blue-tails. I found one very slowly ingesting its meal, till it seemed to be champing on a blue-tipped cigar. One tremendous gulp and the rest was engulfed.
Food chains are long and complex. Damselflies hunt small flies . . .
. . . and each other. As the sunlight broke free of the early morning clouds, it stirred the damsels from their resting places. A newly emerged Blue-tail on its maiden flight was immediately snatched, hoisted up and devoured by a mature female.
amphibians, Barcelona, Insects, Montjuic, Odonata - dragonflies and damselflies | Tags: cannibalism in damselflies, common damselflies in Spain, frog eating damselfly, Ischnura graellsii in Spain, Jardins de Verdaguer Montjuic, pond life in Barcelona, unexpected sights on montjuic, what do damselflies eat, what eats damselflies|
The two agentes rurales had the difficult job of abseiling down Montjuic’s inaccessible cliff face and retrieving the three Falcon chicks from their nest, while one of the adult Peregrines repeatedly dived towards them, calling in alarm. The fiddly work was then in the hands of Eduard Durany, general overseer of Barcelona’s Peregrine population, with help from Josep García, an expert on herons among other things.
First out of the bag was a male, identified by its smaller size. At just over three weeks old, it was still covered in sparse white down.
Leer
Barcelona, Birds, Montjuic | Tags: Peregrine falcon chicks in Barcelona, Peregrine falcons in Barcelona, Ringing peregrine falcons, urban peregrine falcons|
It was the first really warm day in February and quantities of Hummingbird Hawkmoths (Macroglossum stellatarum) were restlessly hovering in front of the castle wall, as if searching for something. They engage in this mysterious activity every year when they reappear at the end of winter. I spotted one sitting quietly, something apparently rare, but who knows how many others there were, flattened on the wall, blending in with beige-grey wings and just a hint of iridescence.
When a Hummingbird Hawkmoth feeds, it slings in its lengthy proboscis from a distance. Not so the Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa violacea), who hugs the flower close. These gentle giants were also out in numbers, bumping into each other around the Common Borage. Their wings are brown like old film negatives, until the light catches them and they turn blue. The males signal their sex with orange antennae tips.
Judging by the constant rustle of Chiffchaffs in the small evergreen oaks by the castle, there were plenty of small bugs to feast on. They were being deftly picked off the leaves or snapped up mid-flight as the restless birds forayed out of the trees to retrieve them.
Natur-al-Andalus has an interesting post on Chiffchaffs, whose hovering skills allow them to exploit the nectar of extensions of introduced South African aloe that bloom in the mild Gibraltan winters.
Barcelona, Birds, Insects, Montjuic | Tags: barcelona insects, Carpenter bees in Spain, chiffchaff behaviour, chiffchaffs in Spain, Hummingbird Hawkmoth, hummingbird hawkmoth sunbathing, insects flying in February, Macroglossum stellatarum, Xylocopa violacea|
First thing in the morning, when it was still dark at street level, you could see the gulls overhead burnished with gold by the rising sun. When I reached the Cami del Mar they were pristine white, soaring in an intensely blue sky.
The sun had cast a blinding sheen on the sea, where cargo ships threatened to combust. The fierce light probed deep inside the crevices of the castle wall, revealing toasting Moorish geckos and Praying Mantis oothecas. A Painted Lady opened its brand new wings, glinting with copper dust, oblivious to the biting wind on the other side of the castle. Only a light breeze ruffled its silky fur.
More Black redstarts have been arriving: some were drinking from the leaking pipe, others perched on the Agave masts. These vanished, to be replaced by something stockier, with long yellow legs. I’ve never seen a Sparrowhawk on Montjuic before, the terrain of cliff-nesting Peregrine falcons and Kestrels. Accompanied by attentive magpies, the small raptor changed perch, and then took off, a soaring silhouette over the yellow cranes in the port.
Further along, an even more unusual sighting. A bird flew up to the castle in an unfamiliar series of shallow swoops. Tawny stipples on the breast, a yellow base to the bill and wings edged with white spots – it was an Alpine Accentor down at sea level. The last time I saw one was in the Pyrenees at about 2,000 metres.
Montjuic is a tempting stopover for birds on migration, a small green island on their coastal route, full of feeding opportunities. The records on www.ornitho.cat this autumn show redwing, siskins, Meadow pipits, Song thrushes, Cirl buntings, Common redstarts, Tree pipits, Subalpine warblers, a hawfinch, skylark and the tail feather of a nightjar.
Barcelona, Birds, butterflies, Montjuic | Tags: alpine accentor in spain, autumn bird migration spain, barcelona birdwatching, bird migration in Barcelona, Birding in Barcelona, Painted lady butterfly in November, prunella collaris Barcelona, sparrowhawk in Barcelona, unusual bird sighting|
The prohibitively steep slope falls away to the ring road below, where traffic crawls day and night. This is the wildest, most inaccessible side of Montjuic, covered in grass, broom, the occasional stunted pine and mast-like agave cactus. There are contrasting views of the colourful containers stacked in the port and the shining sea beyond.
On a warm, drowsy late October day I was wandering about on the edge of the hill side and noticed a delicate Green Lacewing perched on a stem. I was pushing aside the grass for a better view when suddenly a twisted bit of straw quivered and move away on all sixes.
It was the legendary Cone-head mantis (Empusa pennata). The last time I’d seen something so uncanny and brittle-looking was the skeleton army in Jason and the Argonauts. Close up it seemed wizard-like, with the eyes of an alien.
Coloured like dead plant matter, its camouflage was perfected by long, sharp-angled legs that repeated the criss-cross pattern of surrounding stems. It was a risk to look away even for a second – the diminutive mantis might merge back into the grass, never to be seen again.
Only about 3 cm-long, the creature was a nymph, as evidenced by its curled rutted “tail”. If it survives, it’ll acquire a winged adult form next spring. Other features that distinguish the Cone-head Mantis from the more commonly seen Praying Mantis, whose eggs hatch in spring, is a preference for smaller prey. The females show no penchant for eating their mates.
Barcelona, Insects, Montjuic | Tags: cone-head mantis in spain, empusa pennata Barcelona, interesting insects in Barcelona, spectacular insects in Europe|
Montjuic, fragmented into a hundred spaces, often comes up with the unexpected. One of its disused quarries was landscaped into a steeply sloping garden, with carefully tended ornamental flower beds and terraced brick ponds. Layered with water lilies, these harbour an apparently vast number of Iberian Water frogs (Rana perezi or Pelophylax perezi)), whose massed choruses used to compete with the roar of Espanyol fans when their team still played in the Olympic stadium.
One of the ponds is thick with ribbon-like rushes, and a tall aquatic plant with large flat leaves. On one of these I noticed a small green blob, about half the size of my thumb nail, and realised there was a colony of Tree Frogs here too.
The species found in Catalunya is Hyla meridionalis, the Stripeless Mediterranean Tree Frog, but the pronounced black stripes in evidence here were confusing. Could this be an introduced Hyla arborea population? The distribution of the European or Common Tree Frog in Iberia is generally given as the north, north west and centre.
In fact, the juveniles of both species can have strong black markings, which shrink in adult Stripeless Tree Frogs. The Common Tree Frog is also fatter.
Feet tucked out of sight, they were clinging to stems and leaves, smooth, pea-green mounds. Unlike the Water frogs, which come in an infinite variety of green-brown combinations, Tree Frogs are quite uniformly coloured (though a rare blue morph crops up). The main variation is their size.
They’re inscrutable, with black stripes masking their eyes, like shadows permanently lying across them. The Water frogs leap almost as soon as you look at one, but these are easier to photograph, trusting in camouflage. When they do move, they reveal elastic-looking legs, and long toes tipped with round sticky pads.
With Tree Frogs imprinted on my mind, I began spotting them everywhere. Including one snoozing in the sun, camouflaged on a matching leaf, protruding right out of the park’s railings. You can see how the black stripe has faded away on this adult.
The season can betray them, though.
amphibians, Barcelona, Montjuic | Tags: common frog species in Spain, frogs in Barcelona parks, Hyla meridionalis in Barcelona, Hyla meridionalis in Montjuic, Mediterranean amphibians, Tree frogs in Spain, unusual sights in Barcelona, urban amphibians|
“Off with their heads!” Parcs y jardins on Montjuic share the Red Queen’s mantra, waging war on the wild flowers that dare to approach the castle. It’s a losing battle in spring though, their scythes and sprays can’t keep up.
From a distance, the pasitos (Anacyclus valentinus) appear like dense yellow spots. Close up, the geometric intricacy of unopened florets makes your eyes whirr.
At the edge of the pine wood, a cluster of Reseda lutea – Wild Mignonette – look printed on the grass: an abstract pattern of toppling cones.
Further along the road, there was a surprise half-hidden in the grass. The Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) is always a marvel, but its appearance at the edge of this scrap of woodland, on an over-used, over-developed patchwork hill, with a 100 different functions (a dogs home is to be squeezed in next), seemed like a miracle. Its utter strangeness was brought into sharp relief.
As you approach, the impression of a bumble bee disappears altogether, taken over by a laughing homunculus. It was like coming face to face with one of the bizarre characters from Doctor Slump. You can see the waxy pollen clusters, the pollinia, dangling form the duck head helmet.
The green-veined sepals on this plant were a very pale pink. The side lobes of the labellum are like welcoming furry arms.
In the end someone got there before Parcs i Jardins. Within a week, both orchid plants had been dug out.
Barcelona, Montjuic, Plants | Tags: Mediterranean flora, Mediterranean wildflowers, ophrys apifera in Catalonia, orchids in Barcelona, orquideas en Barcelona, unusual flowers on Montjuic, wild flowers in Barcelona|
The horticultural guides aren’t exaggerating when they describe Common Borage as a very easily grown plant that likes plenty of sun.
This year, after an abnormally wet winter, it’s even sprouting from the walls of Montjuic castle, having swarmed the slopes below. As borage flowers droop quite heavily, standing underneath them is a perfect way to appreciate their heavenly colour. People add them to salads for a surreal touch of blue.
The flowers have prominent black stamen that form a pointed cage. Like other members of the Borage family, their colour can hover between pink and blue, changing with age as cell sap turns alkaline.
The old walls are ringing with house sparrow chatter, now the breeding season is underway. This male was taking a short break outside his particularly noisy nesting hole, out of which issued an endless stream of chirping.
Round the corner, a familiar flat-topped silhouette appeared on the barbed wire. Generations of hoopoes have been raised in the wall cavity there.
Barcelona, Birds, Montjuic, Plants | Tags: barcelona in the spring, birds in Barcelona, Borago offinalis, Common borage, hoopoes in Barcelona, House sparrows in Spain, Mediterranean wild flowers, spring on Montjuic, wild flowers in Barcelona|
A fierce northerly wind had blown November’s mild mist into space. But on the south side of Montjuic castle, in early December, it was warm enough for the geckos to materialise from their nooks and for a very small Montpellier snake to go in search of them.
I found it coiled at the foot of the wall, pale brown and very slender, gazing upwards. When it began to negotiate the irregular stones, it revealed a length of only about 30-40 cm. Montpelliers are Europe’s largest snakes, with adult males reaching 2 metres or more, so this was still a baby.
For the moment it was perfectly suited for life in the castle wall, threading neatly in and out of the crevices, among the snail shells and woodlice.
Despite the scrutiny, the young snake didn’t go into hiding. Instead it began gathering information by flickering its forked tongue at me, the equivalent of twitching a nose in the air, picking up scent particles.
From a distance the snake was well camouflaged and plain. Close up, it showed intricate and rhythmic patterns. The particularly striking markings on the head will soon disappear as the snake grows. The juvenile Montpellier spotted here a year ago had already lost them.
Varied in size and shape, each scale on a snake’s head is carefully labelled and mapped out for identification. The Montpellier is distinguished by having two loreal scales, located between the eye and nostril but without touching either. The narrow shape of its small head means the frontal scale, centre-top, is also long and thin, squashed in by the supraoculars.
Grateful for letting me have such a good look, I left and let the little Montpellier get on with the business of hunting.
Barcelona, Montjuic, Reptiles | Tags: head markings of Montpellier snake, juvenile Montpellier snake, largest snake in Europe, Malpolon monspessulanus, Montpellier snake identification, snake identification in Spain, snake tongue flickering, snakes in Barcelona|
You barely notice the ants unless they’re lugging some eye-catching, outsize object, such as the remains of a woodlouse. It was an awkward task, requiring tenacity and strong pincers.
Team effort successfully manoeuvred the crustacean through the crack. There was barely any flesh on it but woodlice themselves will eat their own or each other’s cast-off cuticles. The hard, over-lapping armour plating is made of calcium carbonate, a form of calcium we get in dietary supplements. In any case, ants bring back all kinds of booty to their galleries, edible or not.
A jumping spider was darting among the busy ants: Menemerus semilimbatus, a Mediterranean species often found on sunny walls and rocks. Upside-down, it surveyed me with a fine set of four bright eyes.
The other four are located on the carapace, slightly disconcerting until you get used to it. Two of them are clearly visible here.
Salticids are renowned for their visual acuity. They hunt by stealth and pounce with deadly accuracy. In their courtship dancing, the males often flaunt brightly coloured parts of their body. Some species have impressive John Travolta disco moves (click on second image down).
Another movement caught my eye and I was just in time to see a soft downy feather disappear through a hole, as an ant whisked it into the depths of the castle wall. You can only wonder what use the ants would find for it.
Barcelona, Insects, Montjuic, Spiders | Tags: ants carrying objects, exploring Montjuic castle, jumping spider eyes, jumping spider vision, Mediterranean jumping spiders, Menemerus semilimbatus, wildlife in stone walls|
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 
After considerable procrastination, 
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 
