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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lazza" data-source="post: 3470082" data-attributes="member: 105406">Nick - I printed out your report before I went on a 5-day business trip to Barcelona a couple of weeks ago, and would like to say that your description of how to find the Red-billed Leiothrix is pinpoint perfect!So, I had to travel on Sunday for my meetings, which gave me a couple of hours free on Monday morning. With a bit of planning I managed to work out a relatively quick route out to Parc Collserolla (as you say). Public transport out to Baixador de Vallvidrera station was easy from the city centre (as you say), and the road and paths up to the small lake with a red-brick dam was quite straightforward (er...as you say!). The lake itself was nothing more than a puddle of mud when I was there, but I dutifully headed to the far end of the lake and easily found the small pond (as you say!). Despite the presence of a lot of dog walkers (and a few seemingly homeless, but quite harmless, dogs) and the occasional mountain-biker, I spent a peaceful hour perched on a tree stump overlooking the pond and surrounding scrub. In that time, I had good views of Crested tit, Common Redstart, Blackcap, Sardinian Warbler, Great Spotted Woodpecker and lots of Jays and Magpies, along with Cetti's Warbler calling loudly from the bushes. But the Leiothrix remained elusive for an hour. Then, as I disappointedly decided I had better return to my hotel, unusual calls from the bushes behind me alerted me to something new.... and there they were: 3 lovely Red-billed Leiothrix no more than 4-5m away, flitting through the hawthorn! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />After a few minutes they headed up into the pine scrub out of sight, so I headed back to the station, a happy man! But having now got the call in my mind, I found a whole lot more of the species along that the "lower" road back to the station (running parallel to the small stream, with housing on one side and overgrown scrub and trees to the other). At several points along this quiet road, there were small, loose flocks of Leiothrix hopping in and out of the bushes and over into some of the gardens, giving excellent close views from no more than a couple of metres away (I would say at least 25-30 birds in total).So, thanks for the excellent report.</blockquote>

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