Mucilago crustacea is an amoeboid fungus or myxomycete, one of the easiest to realize because the noticeable size and white colour of its fruiting body that stands out among the leaf litter. It is common anywhere throughout the year in wet weather. It forms elliptical fruiting bodies in etalium -a mass of compressed sporangia, impossible … Read more
The range known as Serrat del Serrat rises abruptly on the left bank of the Llobregat river, south of Sallent town. Its summit that is topped by a telephone antenna is an excellent viewing point over Sallent, the Plain of Bages and the Llobregat valley. The Serrat del Xipell is not a raised by any … Read more
The neighbourhood of L’Estació -for the train station of the line Manresa-Berga-Guardiola de Berguedà that stopped in 1973- was built in Sallent in the 1980s on the plain of the right bank of the Llobregat river between the southern end of the existing city and the conveyor belt of salt mineral coming from the ramp … Read more
The white saddle or common helvel (Helvella crispa) is a species of Ascomycete mushroom as morels (Morchella sp.) and Peziza sp. to which its brittle flesh resembles. It has a crumpled sheet of ivory or cream colour as a cap, and a fistulous with vertical grooves foot of paler colour than the cap. Its similarity … Read more
The dark cep o bronze bolete (Boletus aereus) is one of the species of mushrooms from the genus Boletus that are collectively known as boletes. The bronze bolete grows in cork oak forests on siliceous soil -that’s why its popular names in Catalan “sureny” or “siureny” coming from “suro” or “surera” to name the cork … Read more
Xerocomus rubellus (= Hortiboletus rubellus) is a beautifully coloured in red, yellow and blue species of mushroom in the Boletaceae family. Xerocomus rubellus is a large, fluffy mushroom with a hemispherical cap that gradually flattens out, often retaining some convexity. The cuticle is more or less deep red, shiny or matte, and more or less … Read more
The blackening russula (Russula albonigra) is a thick mushroom displaying the shape of a milk-white brittlegill (R.delica) but the cap cuticle cap is coloured in a blur of almost black dark grey and white. The cap is robust, up to 12 cm in diameter, depressed in the centre and with involute margins. The white colour … Read more
The yellow drop milk cap (Lactarius chrysorrheus) is a similar to the appreciated delicious milk cap (L.deliciosus) mushroom as seen from above that deceives the mushrooms collectors. The yellow drop milk cap has up to 8 cm diameter cap, with involute margin, duller and paler brick orangish colour than that of the delicious milk cap … Read more
The false blewit (Cortinarius eucaeruleus) is one of the violet-coloured species of the Cortinarius genus that may be mistaken because the colour with the various edible species of genus Lepista that are known as blewits (L.nuda, L.sordida, L.glaucocana). The false blewit shows the common characteristics of the very extensive Cortinarius genus: an initially convex cap … Read more
Lepista glaucocana is a species of violet mushrooms of the genus Lepista that, together with L.nuda, L.sordida and others, are known by blewit in English and by pimpinelles or moixernons blaus in Catalan. The cap of Lepista glaucocana is thick, convex with involute margins at the beginning and finally flat, up to 12 cm in … Read more
The miller mushroom (Clitopilus prunulus) is a rare mushroom from the Entolomataceae family growing in mixed forests in autumn. The miller mushroom smells like wet flour, that’s why its popular name miller mushroom, parallel to meunier in French and molinera in Spanish. The popular name in Catalan moixernó blanc comes from its rough similarity with … Read more
Hydnellum concrescens is a mushroom with needles from the Bankeraceae family that grows among fallen leaves and branches on the forest floor. Its consistency is leathery but not as hard as other wood-decay fungi. It is funnel-shaped, about 3-6 cm in diameter, brown in concentric tones, intense in the centre and lighter at the margin … Read more
On Monday 21.10.2024, in the main hall of the University of Barcelona, the Plant Biodiversity Resource Centre (CeDocBiv) formally received the Herbarium of Bages (1909-1912) from the botanist Pius Font i Quer that the Centre Excursionista de la Comarca de Bages has kept for more than a century. The Herbarium of Bages contains 628 sheets … Read more
The ICHN-Bages group in the forest on the shady side of the Servitge or Vallformosa valley (Rajadell) beyond El Suanya, next to a stone hut that recalls the agricultural use of this territory, during the botanical excursion of 19.10.2024 to the surroundings of El Suanya (Anella Verda de Manresa) on the the week of activities … Read more
The kermes oak (Quercus coccifera subsp. coccifera) is the shrub that closely relates to the holm oak. It distinguishes by its smaller, sharp, brightly coloured leaves on both sides. The male flower catkins (photo 1) reach 5 cm in length. The maturation of the kermes oak acorns lasts 1 or 2 years. These acorns have … Read more
The quarry of Talamanca or Sant Esteve is in the interfluve between the Talamanca and Mura streams, facing to the stream of Talamanca just before it joins that of Mura in Sant Esteve de Vila-Rasa, in the municipality of Talamanca. The quarry can be reached through a paved path that starts at km. 31.8 of … Read more
The oak hawkmoth (Marumba quercus) is a remarkably large nocturnal moth, with a robust body and a wingspan of 10 cm. Its entire body and wings are covered with brown hair adding pale or whitish areas of variable extent. The wings are long and narrow, the forewings being longer than the hindwings, and their outer … Read more
The spring of Pitoi or Sant Antoni in the north slope by the stream of Soldevila, in Sallent, turned very saline in the 1980s because the dumping of saline mining residues in the landfill of Cogulló. The construction in 2016 and 2017 of wells and drainage trenches on the north side of the landfill of … Read more
The Cardona geological formation that is well-known in the mountain of Salt of Cardona outcrop, can also be seen on surface at the foot of the Castle of Cardona mountain, in the meander of the Cardener river in La Coromina. This smaller salt outcrop at the bottom of Castle mountain hosts halophytes, the plants thriving … Read more
The great capricorn beetle (Cerambyx cerdo) belongs to the family Cerambycidae. It is an astonishing beetle of slender body about 5 cm length with extremely long antennae made up of thick and knotty flagellomeres. The antennae of the males – photo 1- are twice the length of the body, while that of females -photos 2nd, … Read more
The ICHN-Bages group (photos 1st and 2nd) on the hill of Puigberenguer, the oldest fluvial terrace remaining on the left bank of the Cardener river, 87 meters above the current level of the river, during the session devoted to the Quaternary terrains on 29.06.2024. The group listens to the explanations of Josep Biosca Munts (photo … Read more
Historical diagrams of the arrangement of the terraces in the Cardener river valley: above, from 1929, in Callús; in the center, from 1940, in Manresa and Sant Joan de Vilatorrada; and below, from 1960, in the current Plaça Catalunya neighbourhood of Manresa. The figures, in the 1940 and 1960 diagrams, indicate the level difference in … Read more
Stictoleptura cordigera is a small size, long-horned beetle, thus a beetle of the family Cerambycidae. It measures 16-20 mm in length without the long antennae. Stictoleptura cordigera has head, pronotum, legs and antennae in dull black colour, while the elytra are reddish brick colour with a characteristic black spot shaped as a wide strip at … Read more
Reteporella sp. Bryozoa of order Cheliostomatida from the marine Eocene in the valley of Golarda near La Coma (Monistrol de Calders, Moianès). Bryozoa are a large group of colonial animals living on the seabed that can easily be mixed up with corals or sponges. Bryozoa expanded along Paleozoic era, but at the end of the … Read more
Quercus x auzandrii (= Q. x auzendi, Q. x ausendi) is the hybrid species from the cross between the holm oak (Q.ilex) and the kermes oak (Q.coccifera). As expected, its morphological features are something between a holm oak and an kermes oak; you can’t decide whether it is an oak or a kermes oak, it … Read more
The stream of L’Om or La Baga Cerdana is a tributary going down from the Moianès plateau, from the area of the country houses of La Grossa (Calders) and La Moratona (Moià), to join the stream of La Golarda or Marfà on the gangway of Palanca de La Coma (Monistrol de Calders). The stream of … Read more
The natural shelter of La Coma is on the left bank of the Marfà or Golarda stream, not far from the farmhouse of La Coma and a few hundred meters before the confluence of the stream of La Baga Cerdana or L’Om, in the municipality of Monistrol de Calders. The shelter of La Coma is … Read more
The ICHN-Bages group at the waterfall of La Tosca and the mill of Brotons from the stream of Golarda or Marfà (Castellcir, Moianès), during outing through the valley of Marfà (Moianès) on 05.25.2024. [photo Jordi Badia (2nd)]
Lepra amara (= Pertusaria amara) is a light grey crustacean lichen that is often well seen on the blackish bark of evergreen oak trunks. The thallus of Lepra amara can reach 20 x 30 cm, although the boundaries between specimens may not be clear. In this thallus, the soralia, made up of granules containing soredia, … Read more
The shelter of the Els Burjons fountain is on the cliff of the left bank of the river Llobregat, upstream from Les Generes bridge towards Navarcles although in the municipality of Talamanca. It spans about 300 meters length between the bridge of Les Generes and the area of rapids of the river Llobregat in front … Read more
The Llobregat river becomes young again in front of the monastery and the factory of Sant Benet de Bages: the slope increases and the flow speeds up in a stretch of rapids resulting from the outcrop of a reef limestone that is harder than the remaining rocks in the area. The rock is best seen … Read more
On the afternoon of 04/20/2024, within the journey of 125th anniversary of the ICHN celebration, members of the Delegation of Bages guided a naturalistic outing around Sant Benet de Bages. Florenci Vallès managed the interpretation of the vegetation. In the 1st image, Florenci Vallès showing the great Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara) in the garden of … Read more
Saturday 20.04.2024 was devoted to the commemoration of the 125 years of the Institució Catalana d’Història Natural in the facilities of Món Sant Benet (Sant Fruitós de Bages), 125 years of studying and protecting nature. Several previous presidents of ICHN, as well as the current Jordina Belmonte attended. They are present at the table and … Read more
Sabalites sp. is an extinct genus of palm trees that is worldwide known as a fossil from the Upper Cretaceous to the Miocene. Sabalites sp. has large palmate leaves in a radial arrangement like a fan with leaflets with marked ribs and partially welded at the base. The images show the sandstone block with several … Read more
From time to time, mostly after heavy rains, landslides occur on cliffs and steep slopes. The risk of falling rocks can be assessed, though the accurate prediction when the rocks will fall is much more uncertain. The rocks of continental origin of the geological formation Artés are heterogeneous after the changing ratio of clay, sand, … Read more
Part of the ICHN-Bages group onto the stairs of an old wall made of dry stone that is located at the beginning of the stream of Jaumandreu, in the walk from Els Manxons to the belvedere of El Garrigar (Callús and Fonollosa, Bages), on 13.04.2024. [photo Jordi Badia]
Placosmiliopsis bilobatus is a solitary coral from the Bartonian and Priabonian ages, in the Eocene epoch. It looks like a wider than taller inverted cone with an elliptical or lobed section like a figure of 8 instead of circular. Local circumstances usually determine its growth and shape therefore it is a quite polymorphous species. It … Read more
Part of the ICHN-Bages group in the left riverbank of Cardener where the canes have just been removed, below the quarters of Sant Pau and the Red and White factories, during the birdwatching activity led by Ferran Fitó, on 02.03.2024. [photo Jordi Badia]
The ICHN-Bages group next to the big London plane tree (Platanus x acerifolia) at the Sant Pau fountain (Manresa), during the birdwatching activity led by Ferran Fitó, on 02.03.2024.
For the first time, the wetland of La Bòbila, in Santpedor, has completely dried up along winter 2023-24. It can’t host wintering birds anymore. The image that was taken in the cold morning of 09.01.24 from the observatory Jordi Falip displays the dry bottom of the theoretical largest pond without a single drop of water. … Read more
Ferdinandea aurea is a nice looking syrphid that combines broad golden with narrow black stripes on the abdomen. The thorax is black with two grey bars on the middle and two shorter ones on the sides. The wings display a defined pattern of dark spots. Ferdinandea aurea displays on its yellowish face a brownish longitudinal … Read more
Funginellastrae barcelonensis (Oppenheim 1911). Solitary, disc-shaped coral of the family Fungiidae from the marine Eocene in Castellgalí (Bages). In the image, the specimens on the left and right sides are shown on basal side that has a short foot and a concentric engraving, while the central specimens are shown on dorsal side displaying the rays … Read more
Antiguastraea cvijici (Oppenheim 1906). Colonial coral from the marine Eocene in Calders (Moianès). [photo Jordi Badia / Museum of Geology Valentí Masachs]
Red-coloured altocumulus clouds during sunset announce the imminent arrival from the west of an Atlantic cold front. The Catalan aphorism is accurate: cel rogent, pluja o vent (= red sky, rain or wind). The altocumulus clouds go ahead of the cold fronts. They spread like a white sheet in a sinusoidal pattern of regular and … Read more
The Shelter of L’Espluga is a long and non that deep cave in limestone rock, thus a shelter rather than a cave or Espluga (= cave in Catalan), in the municipality of Sant Quirze Safaja, in the district of Moianès. The Shelter of L’Espluga translates the name to the stream of L’Espluga that jumps over … Read more
The holm oak of Querol stands for the large holm oaks that often grow near the Catalan country houses. The image of its vigorous trunk that divides into robust radial branches supporting a wide, rounded, and regular treetop is magnificent. In 1991, the holm oak of Querol was declared monumental tree of Catalonia. The file … Read more
The holm oak of L’Erola grows in the municipality of Calders, on the right side of the road B-124 from Calders to Monistrol de Calders, about 250 meters away from the roundabout. It picks the name from the country house of L’Erola or L’Arola of the neighbourhood next to the road N-141c from Manresa to … Read more
Cryphia pallida is a small moth from the Noctuidae family, reaching only about 18-20 mm wingspan. The forewings are brown with a greenish shade plus a poor consistent pattern of dark spots painting a bizarre appearance that becomes cryptic when the moth rests on the rough, colonized by lichens bark of a tree. The forewings … Read more
