Scops Owls & Squirrels

Having had family commitments during the day I couldn't make it to Cal Tet - my local end of the Delta Llobregat complex. After dinner I felt the urge to get out birding somehow and thought of La Pava. This is a pine woodland which forms part of the greater Delta Llobregat complex, but is at the far end, some 13km from home. It is a great spot for Scops Owls & Little Owls and I wanted to chance my arm and get out of the house, so off I went.

Scops Owl I photographed at Delta Llobregat, last summer.

I arrived at 18:15, and having only been once last summer at night, I took a walk around to get my bearings. It has some really nice habitat, with pine woods, more deciduous areas, some grassland and agricultural land. I certainly want to start paying this more attention.

Within minutes of arrival I heard the familiar raspy call of 3 Jays, a species new to my delta list, and a species, I have been told has only recently colonised the delta, at this particular site.

Soon after, I picked up 2 Red Squirrels high up in the canopy, calling to one another. These were a Catalan tick, and it was great to see them in the Delta. The light was too poor to photograph them but I did manage this recording of their contact calls:

Further along my reckie, I heard what I thought was a nice close Crested Tit, which I've been trying and failing to record well. Much to my surprise, when I looked up into the pines, I saw two Great Tits, one which was giving a fairly typical Great Tit call, and the other apparently calling like a Crested Tit. This call is so convincing that I am now actually doubting myself, and wonder was there actually a Crested Tit hidden out of sight also calling. What I saw in the field says no, but its just niggling at me. Are there any confirmed/recorded instances of Great Tit mimicking Crested Tit? I know Great Tits are accomplished mimics, so it really wouldn't surprise me. Regardless, I will pay close attention to any tit calls at the site, when I visit next.

As night began to fall I was startled by a very close and very loud Little Owl, which was soon answered by another nearby owl. It was really lovely to hear them through the silence of the night.

As I was listening to several Little Owls calling around me, I picked up a Scops Owl calling too. Prior to my arrival I was unsure if I was too early for this migrant species, but as the night continued I heard at least 5, so clearly it isn't too early at all. 

I was really impressed with La Pava, and I will certainly be paying a visit again soon.

Orchids & Migrants

Today was a lovely warm day and so we decided to walk to Remolar Filipines, which is part of Delta Llobregat. I don't normally visit this site as its about 10km from home but we had the time today. A lovely walk along the beach to get there gave us great views of numerous passing Audouin's Gulls, with an increase in people with the warming weather.

Delta Llobregat, in Spring Sunshine.

It took us about 2 hours to walk there and the first migrants we picked up consisted of a flock of 30+ Barn Swallows & House Martins. It's always nice to see these back to signal the end of winter, even though winter is not at all the same here, when compared to Ireland.

En route to the first hide we decided to stop and check up on some lovely orchid habitat, which is protected with an electric fence to prevent the local Wild Boar from upturning and subsequently destroying orchids. I checked on this a few weeks back and saw numerous immature orchids of apparently varied species. Much to our delight, a couple of plants were now in flower and we could identify them.

The first species was Ophrys sphegodes, commonly known as the Early Spider Orchid. This species begins flowering in March, and was a new species for us both. 

Early Spider Orchid

 
The next species was Ophrys tenthredinifera, or Sawfly Orchid. Again this was a new species for us both. This area held many other orchids, some of which appeared to have different leaf shapes, so it will be interesting to check back in another few weeks. 

Sawfly Orchid

The other orchid we came across was Ophrys speculum, also known as Mirror Orchid. This was another new species for us both, and this one was found growing under a pine tree, and was protected by a wire surround, to keep it safe from the boars. 

Mirror Orchid

From the main hide we had a few migrants, including 6 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Ruff, & 4 Glossy Ibis, as well as a mixed hirundine flock, again.   

A single Ruff with a male Eurasian Teal

Migrant Glossy Ibis

Distant Little Ringed Plover

Spring is accelerating quickly here now and it's great. I'm trying to update my local plant knowledge which is adding extra entertainment to my days out. I'm learning every day and really enjoying it, as it's my first spring here. 

A Capbusset - taken by Alba

 

Spring has Sprung! Part 2

Following on from my last post; spring migrants are also trickling in at Delta Llobregat. Lots of insects are now on the wing, plants are flowering, resident species are singing, lizards are basking on the boardwalks and rocks.

Over the last few days I have added several new species to my patch year list, including: several Barn Swallows & House Martins, 2 flyover calling Yellow Wagtails, 2 Flyover calling Little Ringed Plover, and a returning lone Oystercatcher.Over the last few days there has been an abundance of Song Thrush, and Chiffchaff throughout the reserve, presumably both species traveling in opposite directions. Error

Other recent nice patch birds include a showy Great White Egret, feeding in a dried out/concentrated pool, which seems to be full of fish, calling Iberian Green Woodpeckers, and my first singing Moustached Warbler. error

 

I'm still searching for a good plant guide for the region, so until I get my hands on that I've left a lot of plants unidentified, but nonetheless I'm still documenting them for ID later on down the road. 

I had a lovely invertebrate surprise yesterday in the form of two hunting Vagrant Emperors. I managed to have nice views, but they were ridiculously fast and all I managed was a really pathetic record shot. But if you use your imagination you can make out the brown eyes, unfortunately no other features are visible - you just have to trust me! Aside from these, I also had my first Painted Ladies, Hummingbird Hawkmoths, Red Admirals, and an unidentified blue. error

Spring has Sprung! Part 1

Even though it really hasn't felt like I've had a winter at all here, it's still nice to see a stretch in the evenings and to see signs of spring creeping in around me.

The first signs of spring came to me last weekend, when I went hiking in Garraf with my partner Alba and came across several stunning Green Hairstreaks (Callophrys rubi) - a new butterfly for me. I've always wanted to see this  in the flesh but they always managed to elude me back home in Ireland. 

Green Hairstreak, Garraf, Catalunya

To top this off we found a group (20-30+) of Ophrys fusca (aka Sombre/Dark Bee Orchid), which constituted my first Catalan Orchid. Orchids are a wonderful species and always take my breath away when I am lucky enough to chance upon one. This particular species is one of, and perhaps is (still learning!) the earliest flowering orchid in Catalunya. Delta Llobregat is quite a famous site for orchids in Catalunya, so with any luck I will have many more pictures to post in the coming weeks.

Ophrys fusca, Garraf, Catalunya

This was found growing within a native pine forest at approx' 400m at the edge of a path, at a somewhat awkward angle which prevented the local numerous wild boar from trampling them; although this didn't stop the trail runners, having found two trampled mature plants. 

Another lovely species from the day was Narcissus assoanus aka Rush Leaved Jonquil. This small daffodil species is a native to Catalunya, Spain and France and was rather frequent along our walk.

Even though the focus was not on birds this time, I still saw and heard lots of Dartford Warblers, as well as the enigmatic Crested Tit, both of which are always welcome treats.

A New Platform

I've decided to begin a blog to share my sightings, as I feel like Catalunya has so much to offer and pictures are not enough, alone. This is a quick post in order the test everything out, but I soon hope to share images, sound recordings, and general write ups about what I see and hear! It's nice to be able to embed sound files direct from xeno-canto. Looking forward to writing & sharing!

Male Black Redstart - one of my favourite birds on the planet!