Birding Parc Ciutadella, Barcelona

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When: September 2024 Weather: Warm, 22C

Nikon P900

After 5 long days in our congress, I finally had a morning free to bird in Barcelona city centre and eventually settled on birding in the Parc Ciutadella where the zoo is. Arriving there at the Arc de Triomf, there is a very pleasant walk down to the Parc itself….

The Arc de Triomf at the metro station of the same name….
There is a large wide walkway from the arc to the northwest corner of Ciutadella Park…..and the first bird calls are of the rose ringed parakeets
Monk parakeets were also everywhere and very tame! I first saw them in the Amazon a few years ago but now they seem to be all over the globe!
Within the park, there are a few bodies of water…this is a pretty grand one with some egrets, mallards, gulls enjoying the water
birding amongst the grand buildings
the house sparrow is still quite pretty
soon a few tits appeared…here the Eurasian blue tit
and a Coal Tit…
and then the star bird of the morning….I saw a rustle in the bush and this handsome fellow appeared briefly….the Sardinian Warbler…the only lifer of this birding trip!
Merlin identified its call as indeed the Sardinian warbler and photo ID of its black head and red eye ring further confirmed this sighting which is not common in Barcelona….
black birds here look the same as the ones I saw in Central Park New York last week…
and then in the main pond area, this majestic grey heron posed
Collared doves
a rather pretty rock pigeon
though I normally wouldn’t shoot the egrets, they adorned this tree nicely
yellow legged gull
very handsome Graylag Goose
the whole park was quite a spectacle with many emerald green parakeets swooping by and performing…here the rose ringed parakeet at its nesting hole
A european magpie posed
and the monk parakeet said good bye as I left

All in all, this was a most agreeable way to spend a couple of hours…Recommended.

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