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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Allen S. Moore" data-source="post: 1622778" data-attributes="member: 22662">4 days in Barcelona in October 2009I arrived in Barcelona on 5th October but, after sampling some tapas in bars along Passeig de Gràcia, I continued my travels by catching a train south to Tortosa for trips to the Ebro Delta and Els Ports with Rob and Marg of Ebrotours. Further train journeys took me to Lleida, Tremp, Girona and Portbou before returning to Barcelona on the 13th. With the exception of a short but very productive trip by train to Garraf, where I had been in 2007 with Stephen of Catalan Bird Tours, I decided to spend the rest of my time in areas close to the centre of Barcelona. However, thanks for the information on raptor watch points, Pandachris. I was in Barcelona for 4 nights. I arrived before noon on the 13th and, after checking in to my hotel, I hit the streets. In the evening I sat down outside Cerveceria Inter-tapa on Avinguda de Gaudi close to La Sagrada Familia. A pair of peregrine falcons arrived and landed on the cranes around the great unfinished church. I studied the details of the church spires using my binoculars and spotted a flock of 8 alpine swifts far above and beyond the church, rather a surprise for October. Also around the church were 2 of the most numerous bird species in the city, the yellow-legged gulls and feral rock doves.Next morning I travelled by Metro and then tram to by Riu Besòs in the north of the city. I walked to the mouth of the river and then inland a little along the north bank. This was my best walk in Barcelona in terms of the number of bird species, allowing me to see 29 of the day's 32 species. Down at the beach, 2 swallows flew south and there was a stonechat and a pair of black redstarts on the boulder breakwater or whatever it is that sticks out across the beach sand there. A lone dunlin in a little creek just in from the river mouth was a bit of a surprise. Upstream, a tree sparrow was another surprise, in the company of a flock of house sparrows on seed-bearing umbellifers on a little island. A kingfisher provided the usual fairly brief view as it flew upstream, and there were 3 little egrets wading in the river. Other birds seen were grey heron, mallards, kestrel, moorhen, common sandpiper, black-headed and yellow-legged gulls, feral rock doves, collared dove, monk parakeets, grey and white wagtails, robins, blackbirds, cetti's warblers, common chiffchaffs, magpies, common and spotless starlings, serin and goldfinches. A painted lady butterfly in river side flowers was a bonus. I heard blue tits in the tree tops at both Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla de Catalunya later on. In the evening I went down to Port Vell and saw 2 mediterranean gulls as well as about 150 black-headed gulls and even more yellow-legged gulls. Nine jackdaws flew over.I saw or heard 30 species of birds next day, visiting Parc de la Ciutadella and Parc Güell. Both parks had some of the species that I had seen along Riu Besòs the previous day. Approaching the former I saw 5 blue-crowned parakeets in trees along Passeig de Lluís Companys, while birds in Parc de la Ciutadella included woodpigeons, blue tit and 4 rose-ringed parakeets. I caught the Metro to Vallcarca and took a lazy way up to Parc Güell. Despite crowds of people there were quite a lot of small birds in the park, including song thrush, sardinian warblers, blackcaps and 4 species of tit - long-tailed, crested, coal and great.After my trip to Garraf on the 16th I did not do much birdwatching, but I did strike lucky at Port Vell in the evening, with 4 species of gulls. The stars were no less than 10 mediterranean gulls flying by a boat where fishermen were sorting small fish. I also saw a lesser black-backed gull as well as about 150 black-headed and an estimated 500 yellow-legged gulls.I was flying out of Barcelona the next morning, so I caught a bus to the airport from Plaça de Catalunya just after dawn. There were 7 species of birds in the square, including the swarms of feral rock doves. As well as a few yellow-legged gulls, other birds there were black-headed gull, monk parakeet, grey wagtail, robin and a flock of at least 100 unidentified starlings flying over. In a tree by Riu Llobregat on the way to the airport there were 12 cattle egrets, my 47th species of bird seen or heard in Barcelona this holiday.</blockquote>

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