Birdwatching in a big city, Barcelona (1 Viewer)

After reading this thread I felt compelled to add my recent experience in Barcelona.

I'd been there a couple of times before and went with the wife and kids. Our flat was a short walk from Parc de la Ciutadella and I used to get up at the sun rose and my family were still asleep. I took shots of monk parrakeets with the bright greens illuminated by the sun. There is a grey heron nesting by the edge of the lake. I virtually stumbled upon a cuckoo which had perched in the branches of a small bush.

I managed to negotiate a day at the Llobregat delta which was superb - lots of finches, warblers, a night heron, some spectacular butterflies and a few terrapins crawling around. I had a great day.

Then I made a very bad mistake. A few days later I went back to Parc de la Ciutadella on a Sunday afternoon and sat on my usual bench with my camera strap wrapped around my wrist and neck. The place was crawling with locals and tourists and in the soporific afternoon heat I drifted into a minor doze only to discover that my camera, lens and memory card with all my pictures had been stolen from around my neck in an act of deception so astonishing it would have made Harry Houdini proud. I ran around in a frenzy but the robbers just melted into the heaving throngs of sunbathers and drinks peddlers and my worst fears were realised. I couldn't sleep for the rest of the holiday which had effectively been completely ruined.
After a day queuing with all the other tourist victims at the police station, I emailed the police report to my insurance company and, thank God, I was covered and several weeks later got my insurance payout. However, all my pictures were lost and my view of Barcelona is tainted forever. I don't think I will ever go back.

Even in broad daylight I witnessed tourists being mugged, pickpockets at work, constant hassle on the tube trains from peddlers and immigrants. There is a heavy police presence in the city centre but they simply drive around slowly in circles while the crime continues in front of their eyes. They seem to have adopted a sense of hopeless resignation that the city's crime problems are so endemic there is nothing they can do.

So anyone looking to bird in Barcelona, be extremely careful, and especially avoid Parc de la Ciutadella with its nasty vagrants sleeping under the palm trees, and North African peddlers looking for tourists to rob.

We're going back to Scotland this year.

Maccacracker,

I've recently returned from another holiday in Spain, Madrid and La Palma this time. Sorry to read about your robbery. I suppose that it is wisdom after the event, but if I had any valuables I wouldn't leave them out in the open. There are dishonest people in most or all big cities, not just Barcelona - look at all the internet and telephone scams. I tend to avoid crowds as much as I can when I am in cities like Barcelona, especially as I am unlikely to see many birds if there are lots of people about. On the streets I just keep walking. Of course, such an experience can put you off a place.

There are people dossing in the old city of Barcelona as well as in the parks (which I haven't noticed, by the way), but I tend to think that they include those who have fallen on hard times, and there are a lot of those in Spain, as elsewhere, at the moment. Of course, some of them will be drug abusers, again, a problem not restricted to Barcelona. I see dozens of the African peddlers when I am in Barcelona, but I never buy from them. What would I do with a handbag or a cr*p CD? I heard that they moved to Spain illegally, without papers, and are at the mercy of the Mafia types for whom they work.

Anyway, enjoy Scotland. I must go back there again sometime.

Allen

Barcelona in September and October 2013

I flew to Barcelona on 21st September, travelling north by train to Girona for 2 days before heading south to Tortosa by train through Barcelona again. After a good time seeing some great birds I returned to Barcelona on 1st October, staying in Hotel Oasis on Pla del Palau, which is between Port Vell and Parc de la Ciutadella.

Next morning I travelled by Metro to Vallcarca, and headed to Parc Güell. I had "dipped" as far as crested tits were concerned up to that point, but saw two and one at separate places in the park. I saw a short-toed treecreeper as well, my third in four visits to Barcelona since the start of 2012 and my first ever in the city away from Parc de la Ciutadella. As I did last November, I climbed the little pointed hill above the back of the park, seeing a kestrel over the summit as I gained height. Reaching there I heard an amazing sound "in the heavens" - not angels, but a flock of alpine swifts swooping about. Their numbers built up to 35, one of the largest flocks of the species that I have seen. During moments when I glanced away from that spectacle, I saw a northern wheatear and a hoopoe on the slopes of the hill. Other species that I saw in Parc Güell that morning were woodpigeons, collared doves, sardinian warblers, serin, greenfinches (heard), goldfinch, and coal, blue and great tits.

I eventually returned to my hotel on foot and by Metro, with pauses at various places. Bracafe just below Parc Güell no longer served orxata (or is it a seasonal thing?), but I enjoyed an inexpensive cup of café vienés. Walking down through Gràcia I heard and then saw two long-tailed tits in tree tops in Plaça del Nord.

Later that afternoon I walked around Port Vell. As usual, a lot of gulls were present. Amongst the yellow-legged and black-headed gulls I saw singles of 3 other species – mediterranean, lesser black-backed and, best of all, little gull. That first winter bird flew past within about 3 metres of me as I stood at the corner by Maremagnum. It was the first that I had seen in Spain and I think that I had only seen the species twice before, both here in Peel back in the 1980s. Another surprise was to see a kingfisher fly past just before I saw the little gull. I had "struggled" to find kingfishers so far this holiday, missing them totally during two days in the Ebro Delta and only seeing the first at Els Muntanyans, the wetland at Torredembarra, just 4 days before.

I had a meal sitting outside the Bubo restaurant by Església de Santa Maria del Mar at dusk. I again heard the calls of alpine swifts, seeing 10 flying in a tight flock high above.

Next morning I went on one of Nick Lloyd's Spanish Civil War tours, visiting the cemetery on Montjuic. Four of us went by bus to the gates of the cemetery and we walked up through the lower part to Fossar de la Pedrera, an old quarry where the bodies of more than 1700 people were dumped after being shot by the Fascist regime after the fall of Barcelona in January 1939. Since the return of democracy the area has been landscaped and a number of very moving memorials have been raised on the site. Always on the look out for birds, I saw or heard 12 species in and around the cemetery, including a kestrel and cetti's and sardinian warblers. I recommend Nick's tours, and look forward to joining him again next time that I am in Barcelona.

Afterwards, I parted from the others on Avinguda del Paral.lel and walked around Port Vell again. The mediterranean gull was still there but I did not see the previous evening's other star species. Walking across Plaça de Pau Vila to Barceloneta for lunch I saw a common chiffchaff in one of the trees.

Later I went to La Sagrada Familia, eating my evening meal outside a cafe on the usual street nearby. Within a few minutes I saw one and then both peregrine falcons flying by the spires of the church, one bird landing on one of the cranes.

As with the previous day, my last whole day in Barcelona dawned overcast. This time, rain began in mid morning and continued for much of the day. From Hotel Oasis I walked the short distance to Parc de la Ciutadella. I did not see or hear quite the range of bird species there that I sometimes do, the most unusual, perhaps, being a cormorant flying over. I saw 2 over Pla del Palau later that day, too. Other species seen or heard included greylag geese (28), mallards, kestrel, moorhen, black-headed gulls, collared doves, robins, blue tits and common starling.

From near Arc de Triomf I walked along a side street to the Marina tram stop and, with the rain falling, I travelled by tram to the end of the line at Sant Adrià de Besòs. From there I walked through the trees of Parc del Litoral, right at the top end of the beach and along the walkway at road level above Riu Besòs instead of down almost by river level. I walked inland as far as the second set of bridges before returning to the tram stop at Sant Adrià de Besòs.

In post #120 I mentioned that most of my visits to the mouth of Riu Besòs up to that point had been in the spring, herons, waders and warblers being well represented. This time I saw 3 little egrets and 2 grey herons, the latter being the onely ones that I saw in Barcelona this time. Do some of the local grey herons migrate? On 30th September I had seen one flying south west off Garraf and 4 off Sitges. I saw two waders by Riu Besòs, one each of little ringed plover and common sandpiper, as well as 3 each of cetti's and sardinian warblers. One swallow flew over, the only one that I had seen in Barcelona this time, although I had counted more than 600 passing Sitges on 29th and 30th September. I counted 21 tree sparrows by Riu Besòs, thus outnumbering house sparrows, as well as 22 moorhens, probably more than I usually see there. Other birds seen along Riu Besòs included mallards, black-headed gulls, woodpigeon, white wagtails, robins, great tit, and common and spotless starlings.

Bird species present in all of my 3 main sites (Parc Güell, Parc de la Ciutadella and Riu Besòs) were yellow-legged gulls, feral pigeons, monk parakeets, grey wagtails, blackbirds, magpies and house sparrows.

I flew from Barcelona to Porto the next day, the 5th. I was able to travel by train from Estació França to the Airport with one change using a T-10 ticket. Birds seen along the way included a cormorant flying near Parc de la Ciutadella and two kestrels and 8 cattle egrets after leaving El Prat de Llobregat.

Including greylag geese and monk parakeets, I had identified 45 species in Barcelona, not a bad total.

We booked last minute flights to Barcelona this week for Santa Eulalia. We had a few notable sightings yesterday. From the plane as it came in to the airport the flock of Flamingos were quite easy to see in the Llobregat from seats on the RH side. A Cattle Egret was easy from the train into town but the fem/juv type harrier just before we arrived at El Prat de Llobregat station (again RH side, near the obvious Pronovia establishment) is going down in our book as Montagu's. I don't know if it is early for them. We're hoping to get to the reserve there tomorrow (well, I am) so will ask if we get the chance. There was a Chiffchaff calling in El Born and Parc de la Ciutadella had two parakeet species, Black Redstart and Grey Wagtail on the fountain with the golden horses and Serin in the area "behind" (away from the city centre) this fountain. And England beat Scotland. Pretty good day.

Harriers

pandachris said:

the fem/juv type harrier just before we arrived at El Prat de Llobregat station is going down in our book as Montagu's. I don't know if it is early for them.

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Hen Harrier if it had a white rump, Marsh Harrier if not. Montagu's usually arrive from March.

Good luck tomorrow.

It was white rumped, Stephen. I'm much more familiar with Hen than Montagu's of course and my reaction (from a moving train) was that it probably wasn't Hen. Not sure how much of a feel you get for these things though for species you only see a few times each year. I'm very reliable with some species - I can generally call Red Kite from a long way off and certainly before meaningful features are seen but I make plenty of ID errors too.

We saw a male RB Merganser from the mirador (Bunyol) on the beach at Prat de Llobregat and watched two terns come in off the sea to settle in the 'lagoon' at the back of the beach there. My first thought was that they were Gull-billed but I've had a quick look at the photo (long distance) on a smallish screen and I'm leaning towards Sandwich now.

A pipit in the channel just outside the reserve information centre looked interesting but flew off about two seconds after we noticed it and couldn't be relocated.

Out of curiosity I have had a look in Els Ocells del Delta del Llobregat by Ricard Gutiérrez, Pau Esteban and F. Xavier Santaeufemia (Lynx Edicions, 1995). This has a table summarising occurrences in 5 day periods of the species that had occurred in the Delta at that time. The table has the limitation that a species scores equally if there was a single record or if it is seen in fairly large numbers annually at a given time of the year. Still, it gives a guide as to what might be about.

For harriers, Montagu's wasn't recorded until the start of April, whereas records of hen were in January and most of February (and patchily at other times of the year, but not in June, July or August). As for terns, there were records of Sandwich in every 5 day period throughout the year, whereas gull-billed wasn't seen until mid March.

I have never seen a hen harrier around Barcelona (nor Montagu's, come to that), but I did see hen harriers in Spain for the first time last year – singles E and S of Madrid in January and at the edge of the Ebro Delta in September.

I see that two kind souls have rated this thread; thanks! I am in Barcelona again later in the year, and will report back.

Barcelona

Great city and surprising birds
Seen from El Carmel apartment in hills/partly wooded (pine, scrub, fruits, gardens) at Gran View 1 mile east from Parc Guell are:
Huge numbers of Alpine Swift; quite an amazing and eerie call when massing together
Lots of Sardinian Warblers from every possible suitable habitat
Regular Nightingales, Firecrests, Monk Parakeets, Raven, Crested Tit, Spotted Flycatchers and ubiquitous Serin
Occasional Black Redstart (max 3 together)
One Short Toed Eagle
Peregrine twice and one Kestrel
Daily Golden Orioles in fig trees
Amazing as a roof terrace list and 4 lifers!

One of the first species and also the last of my visit to Barcelona

I flew into Barcelona on the morning of 22nd September. After seeing magpies at the airport and feral pigeons and a yellow-legged gull in Plaça de Catalunya, I set off walking along Passeig de Gracia, and a peregrine falcon flew over! Readers of this thread will know that I had seen peregrines on and around La Sagrada Familia, but never elsewhere in the city.

After that I travelled south by train, but on 30th September I went on a day trip from Sitges with Stephen Christopher and Richard to Garraf and Delta de Llobregat. While at the later, we saw a flock of Mediterranean gulls swimming in the river, and then a peregrine swooped down and put them to flight.

The next day I caught the train to Barcelona, flying out again on 6th October. There was little to be seen bird-wise at Barcelona Airport. However, what I did see was a peregrine perching on top of one of the tall light towers by the taxi way, the last bird of my Barcelona vacation!

A new site for birdwatching in Barcelona!

I stayed in Hotel Oasis in Pla del Palau, as I did last year. After checking in on 1st October I walked around Port Vell and then back to the hotel. Returning to the square I heard parakeets up in the trees and eventually identified two species, monk and rose-ringed. Indeed, there usually appeared to be more of the latter for most of my stay.

While I sat under the trees I saw other birds, too - yellow-legged gulls, feral pigeons, collared doves, grey wagtail, magpie, common starling(s) and house sparrow. Best by far, however, was a spoonbill that flew SW over the inland edge of the square. I once saw spoonbills in Delta de Llobregat while on a trip with Stephen Christopher, but this was the first that I have seen in the city centre.

On other days I saw cormorants (two flew over on one occasion), black-headed gulls, white wagtails, robin (heard) and jackdaw in Pla del Palau, making a total of 15 species, including the 10 on the first afternoon!

Port Vell

In my previous post I mentioned that I strolled round Port Vell on the afternoon of the 1st. While I was dining in “Tapa Tapa Maremagnum” on the corner I saw a mediterranean gull fly past the fishing quay opposite and then noticed a shag standing on a support underneath the corner of the walkway. That was my first shag in Barcelona! Other birds thereabouts were black-headed and yellow-legged gulls, feral pigeons, grey wagtail and house sparrows. I went back on the 5th and, returning over the “Mirador”, I saw a common whitethroat, a great surprise.

Plaça de Catalunya and “Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War”

I went on Nick Lloyd's walk “Barcelona in the Spanish Civil War” on the 3rd. Very interesting it was, too. I can recommend it for an expert view of the city in a very significant time historically.

The walk started in the corner of Plaça de Catalunya by Cafe Zurich. I walked up from Hotel Oasis and reached the start early, so I bought a coffee and sat down outside to wait for the others. There were actually quite a few species of birds around, and not just the feral pigeons which flock to the square. A yellow-legged gull was eating one of the pigeons, good service for the council! I heard a robin and also saw a collared dove, rose-ringed and monk parakeets, a magpie, two jackdaws and two spotless starlings, 9 species in total.

My 3 main birdwatching areas in Barcelona in October 2014

The weather was good when I was in Barcelona at the start of the month and I visited my 3 main birdwatching areas, Parc de la Ciutadella, Riu Besòs and Parc Güell. I actually visited Parc de la Ciutadella twice, as it is just around the corner from where I was staying. Coincidentally, I saw or heard 22 bird species in each of these 3 sites during my stay, not including greylag geese, of which there is an increasing population of escaped birds in Parc de la Ciutadella.

On my first morning in Barcelona, the 2nd, I went to Parc de la Ciutadella, where I saw 16 species, including spotless starlings, plus 31 geese. I then continued along Passeig de Lluís Companys. I saw more monk parakeets around there that morning than I saw in other parts of the city. By the far end of Passeig de Lluís Companys some of them were eating the yellowish fruit of palm trees, often dropping the unfinished fruits onto the ground below. Watch your heads!

From Arc de Triomf I walked to the tram halt at Auditori i Teatre Nacional and travelled to Sant Adria de Besòs. I walked through Parc del Litoral to by the beach, inland as far as the second set of bridges, and then back for the tram. As I did last time I followed the walkway at road level. There were lots of cyclists zooming along the track down by river level, which wouldn't be safe for someone like me, forever looking and listening out for birds! I did not see any grey herons in Barcelona at all this holiday, very unusual for me, but two cattle egrets and one little egret flew over Riu Besòs. There were no waders to be see at all, although I did hear a common sandpiper behind the tall screen of reeds at one stage. Warblers were much more in evidence, with 2-4 each of blackcap and cetti's, fan-tailed and sardinian warblers. Tree sparrows were again more numerous than house sparrows by a factor of 27:6, although there were several other sparrows which flew before I had a chance to identify them. Indeed, along the lowest section of the river I had frustratingly brief glimpses of several small birds disappearing into dense vegetation without identification being possible. Along there I was pleasantly surprised to see a spotted flycatcher. Other bird species along Riu Besòs included moorhens, black-headed and yellow-legged gulls, grey and white wagtails, and common starlings.

My second visit to Parc de la Ciutadella was on the 5th, and I saw more bird species, 21, plus the geese. On my way to the lower lake I saw not one but two short-toed treecreepers, my only sightings of the holiday. There were also quite a few common starlings in that part of the park. Over the top right corner of the park a flock of 12 alpine swifts alerted me to their presence with their amazing calls. In a city of noisy parakeets one in a tree top in the top right corner of the park “stood out”, eventually allowing itself to be identified as a nanday parakeet. Other birds at that end of the park including two common chiffchaffs (one singing) and 3 great tits. Birds seen in Parc de la Ciutadella during both visits included mallards, black-headed and yellow-legged gulls, woodpigeons, rose-ringed and monk parakeets, and grey and white wagtails.

That day I also walked from Parc de la Ciutadella to Plaça de Sant Jaume right in the middle of the city. Glancing inland I saw a flock of dark birds soaring, 16 cormorants!

On the 4th I caught the Metro to Vallcarça and reached Parc Güell the usual way. I was not the first in the park by any means, but there were lots of birds to see. Three flocks of woodpigeons, totalling 125, flew SW over, as did a flock of 20 swallows. The more unusual species were to be seen when I climbed the little pointed hill above the school. As I climbed, I could see a hobby flying about by the summit, and there were lots of small birds up on the ridge – firecrest, goldfinches, serins, coal tits, spotted flycatcher, black redstart and song thrush. The last two were the only ones that I saw in Catalunya this holiday. A surprise was to see a raven, which looked like a bird of the year, flying inland over the slopes of the hill on the side nearest Tibidabo. Over the school, on the way up to the summit, soared a flock of 30 alpine swifts, and 11 magpies gathered at the top of the school grounds. I also saw blue and great tits in the park, and sardinian warblers were particularly common such that I saw or heard 14 of them.

Deviating from birds for a moment, there were lots of butterflies up on the little pointed hill and I identified 7 species – swallowtail and scarce swallowtail, large, small and bath white, clouded yellow and wall brown.

A number of the more common bird species were present in all of my 3 main sites (Parc Güell, Parc de la Ciutadella and Riu Besòs): feral pigeons, collared doves, monk parakeets, robins, blackbirds, sardinian warblers, magpies and house sparrows.

I recorded 48 bird species, plus the escapee greylag geese, in Barcelona during my 5 days there.

We might have been in the city at the same time, Allen, although we were mainly there for La Merce. I'd had a few good mornings in Tarragona, watching migration from the 5th floor of the Hotel Placa de la Font. Cloudy conditions seem to bring more birds over. Short-toed and Booted Eagles, Griffon Vulture, Honey Buzzard, Common Buzzard, Hobby, White Storks, Alpine Swifts amongst birds identified, plus probably Osprey and a few unidentified large raptors. Didn't have time for much birding in Barcelona but a fairly early visit to El Parc del Poblenou on 26th September, apart from resulting in 20+ insect bites was rewarding because of the 100s of warblers present - I Tweeted this later that morning ...

100s Sylvia warblers this a.m. in Parc de Poblenou. Comm + Lsr Whitethroat; Blackcap; Garden, Sardinian, Subalpine Warblers & Melodious Wblr.

I'll definitely be going there again next time we're in the city in the autumn - hopefully next year. I suspect that there were thousands of migratory birds along that stretch that morning.

There were lots of Spotted Flycatchers and Wheatears at the Delta del Llobregat reserve later that same day. Fewer warblers, though. We also found a Roller just outside Torredembarra and were surprised to find Red-rumped Swallows at several locations around the town. We were there for the XXV Concurs de Castells which if you find yourself in Catalunya on an even year again late-September/early October is well worth a look, though birding options are limited to whatever is going overhead.

Chris,

Good to hear from you again. I actually went to Tarragona on 26th September, staying 2 days in Hotel Lauria on Rambla Nova. The birds that you saw from your hotel when you were there had me astonished! I did see a gannet and 2 mediterranean gulls flying SW not far off the coast by the railway station on the 27th, but they were my best sightings in the city.

Parc de Poblenou sounds amazing. How did you get there?

Allen

We stayed at the Lauria last year, Allen. A rather pleasant hotel. I suspect that the Placa de la Font is better for birds, though as it has a pretty good southerly aspect and lots of sky, especially from the top floors. Did you make it down to the harbour for Audouin's Gull and Caspian Tern? They can be quite easy there when there are fishing boats coming in.

I wonder if Gannet is quite a good spot. I don't remember ever seeing one. We had a hotel with a very good sea view when in Torredembarra and I spent a few hours sea-watching there but didn't get much. One Cory's Shearwater was the highlight. No Gannets though.

I first noticed the passage over Tarragona a few years back when we spotted a couple of big raptors over the city centre during some light drizzle and an hour later saw numerous kestrels all heading south west along the coast. I seemed to be awake first each morning we had in the city this time around so spent an hour or so on the hotel balcony watching the skies. There were never lots of birds going over (except for groups of swallows and House Martins) but there was something of interest to a UK birder every few minutes.

We were staying in Poble Nou (at the Travelodge) so it was only 10 minutes stroll to the park which is down by the coast. There's not much too it other than a couple of stands of trees but the trees extend south-west to north-east for a fair distance and must be an obvious refuge for migrants. How reliable they are there I have no idea. I remember seeing 40-50 Pied Flycatchers in one of the squares near Port Vell back perhaps 10 years ago but we've never seen any birds in the same square since, although we check each time we go that way.

To get to the park, get off the metro at Poble Nou then walk down Rambla de Poble Nou to the coast road and the park is just opposite. If you keep straight after crossing the road there is an area on the left where a couple of grassy banks with various shrubs creates an opening in the trees. This is where the birds were easiest to see as they flitted about and crossed from one tree or shrub to another. Take bug repellent, though. I really did get bitten and some of them still itched 5 days later.

Later in the holiday we missed out on Wallcreeper in lovely Alquezar (a couple of weeks too early, I think) but found Dupont's Lark quite easily at El Planeron (Belchite).

pandachris said:

We also found a Roller just outside Torredembarra and were surprised to find Red-rumped Swallows at several locations around the town. We were there for the XXV Concurs de Castells which if you find yourself in Catalunya on an even year again late-September/early October is well worth a look, though birding options are limited to whatever is going overhead.

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Did you go to Els Muntanyans, the wetland on the NE edge of Torredembarra? I stayed in the town at the end of September last year and twice visited the wetland at dawn. Highlights included a marsh harrier, kingfisher and 3 teal, as well as a crossbill flying over. Once, about 10 years ago, I saw a flamingo there as I passed by train!

pandachris said:

We stayed at the Lauria last year, Allen. A rather pleasant hotel. I suspect that the Placa de la Font is better for birds, though as it has a pretty good southerly aspect and lots of sky, especially from the top floors. Did you make it down to the harbour for Audouin's Gull and Caspian Tern? They can be quite easy there when there are fishing boats coming in.

I wonder if Gannet is quite a good spot. I don't remember ever seeing one.

To get to the park, get off the metro at Poble Nou then walk down Rambla de Poble Nou to the coast road and the park is just opposite. If you keep straight after crossing the road there is an area on the left where a couple of grassy banks with various shrubs creates an opening in the trees. This is where the birds were easiest to see as they flitted about and crossed from one tree or shrub to another. Take bug repellent, though. I really did get bitten and some of them still itched 5 days later.

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I didn't actually visit Tarragona harbour, spending the whole day that I was in the city up in the old part. I did see Audouin's Gull and Caspian Tern in the Ebro Delta, actually more of the latter this time.

It was only the second Gannet which I have seen in the Med, the first being at Portbou just S of the French frontier about 5 years ago.

Why is Parc de Poble Nou so bad for biting insects? Are there ponds for them to breed in?

Not been on the forum for a while, Allen. We tried Els Muntanyans. Quite quiet. Kingfishers much in evidence but Red-rumped Swallows a surprise.

I don't know why there are so many biting flies at Parc del Poblenou. No ponds. They were the Housefly sized ones that don't hurt when biting but cause itching for a week after. Long trousers next time. Just booked flights for La Merce in 2015 although we hope to be back in Catalunya before then. In Berlin for NYE. Middle-spotted Woodpecker and Hawfinch yesterday.