A November weekend near Barcelona
Hello,
I am having an option attending a conference in Barcelona first Monday and Tuesday in November. The hard and dedicated worker I am, my main motivation to go is to add some wildlife-watching weekend before 😀 .
At the very best, I would arrive to BCN at around 3 pm on Friday (possibly in the evening) and I should probably sleep in Barcelona centre on Sunday evening (which might still mean I could do a night walk between, say, 7 – 9). I do not have any vacation days left, so this is what I have to work with.
I would be mostly interested in mammal species not common in central Europe, especially a gennet, ibex, chamois, and, if easy to find, a garden dormouse, AND herps, mainly snakes and amphibians – I imagine November is not the best month for this. I will also appreaciate any byproduct small mammals, but I would not search dedicatedly for the greater white-toothed shrew or the Algerian mouse and such. I do not want to search for a desman.
Most reports here cover Andalucia, or possibly the Pyrenees around Andorra. A brief search on iNaturalist advises, that I could either go to Montserrat, which seems great for ibex, or the the hilly region between Toroella de Montigri, Roses and to the French border, which is better for herps and probably also most of mammal species, but does not have a chamois, or Capçaleres del Ter i del Freser – Serra de Montgrony region, which does have (rarely?) chamois, but ibex are not seen there nearly at all and I imagine it will be far inferior for herping in the start of November (?).
I would probably stay at one spot and sleep both (all three?) nights in the same room.
Would you have any recommendations for me? Any seasonal/behavioural phenomena I should notice?
Thank you.
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3 Comments
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Matt Pep
Cant really help you, but can say that ibex are rather easy to see at Montserrat. One morning should be enough. It does get rather busy there during weekends, especially weekends with nice weather.
Park at the “Abadia de Montserrat” and go up the mountain. I have been here 2 times and saw ibex both times within 1-2 hours.
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JeffHigdon
I haven’t been yet, but will be in Barcelona for a weekend in late September. We’re going to Montserrat and I am hoping for ibex there (and raptors). I’m also planning to try Parc de Pedrables for red squirrel (lots of iNat records). Those are the only dedicated “mammal stops” I think I will have time for. I’ll update on my success, or lack thereof, in October.
Jeff
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JanEbr
I have no idea about ibex and chamoix around Barcelona, but I have seen a genet pretty quickly on a night walk in Sierra del Montseny a few weeks ago.