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
See a pair of videos of the roaring of the red deer (Cervus elaphus) that was listened and seen through binoculars and telescopes from long distance, from the hermitage of La Mare de Déu de la Guia, in Taús (Alt Urgell), in 07.10.2023 during the naturalist outing of the ICHN-Bages to Les Valls d’Aguilar. The … Read more
Part of the ICHN-Bages group crossing El Pont Foradat (= the holed bridge) or Pont de Les Arnaules, a natural bridge of rock, during the naturalist walk on 21.10.2023 from the Seo of Manresa to Viladordis. The access to El Pont Foradat was a new route, after crossing the C-16 Terrassa-Manresa highway through the stream … Read more
The ICHN-Bages group at the Malbalç paleontological site (Manresa, Bages), with the Collbaix mountain in the background, during the naturalist walk on 21.10.2023 from the Seo of Manresa to Viladordis along the bank of the Cardener river, the Malbalç and the Pont Foradat or Pont de Les Arnaules. [photo Jordi Badia]
The castle of Castellcir or castle of Popa is in this municipality of the district of Moianès, onto an isolated rocky cliff that elongates from SW to NE and that is eroded at the base. The rocky cliff is about 10-12 meters tall above the ridge in a vertical or overhanging wall. It dominates the … Read more
The ICHN-Bages group in the belvedere of Els Orris (Berguedà), near to the mountain port of Coll de Pal and looking at the mountain of Tosa d’Alp, in 08.07.2023. [photo Ferran Mota]
The ICHN-Bages group on the summit of Puigllançada (Berguedà), 2408 m, in 08.07.2023. [photo Jordi Badia]
The ICHN-Bages group in the interfluve between the Llobregat river and the Merlès creek, near to its confluence in the Puig-Reig municipality (Berguedà), on 27.05.2023. [photo Jordi Badia]
Part of the group crossing the creek of Merlès by an appropriate footbridge where it borders between the municipalities of Gaià (Bages) and Puig-Reig (Berguedà), during the ICHN-Bages naturalist outing on 27.05.2023. Realize the high flow rate and the brown colour of the water; the creek has recovered after the rains of the 2nd half … Read more
The drought in the cereal fields The farmers of the Bages district, most of them elderly, do not remember a cereal harvest as miserable as the one in 2023. The drought continues since January 2021 and it has been especially severe in the last 9 months, from September 2022 to April 2023. It might last … Read more
Stromatolithic limestones are originated by stromatolites, these are made of microorganisms mucilaginous mats growing in shallow flooded, illuminated areas, usually in intertidal areas from flat and calm coasts. Stromatolites still exists, though they use to be much more abundant and extensive at the beginning of life, during the Archean eon. The biggest stromatolites are sinusoidal … Read more
The ICHN Bages group visiting the Mequinensa Mine Museum (Baix Cinca), on 25.03.2023. The mine is in fact one suitable to visitors museum displaying the successive lignite exploitation techniques that have been used in Mequinensa over 170 years. [photos Museums of Mequinensa]
The ICHN-Bages group listening about the vegetation in the slope of Vallcarreres that links the plateau of Los Monegros with the valley of river Cinca, in the municipality of Torrent de Cinca (Baix Cinca), on 25.03.2023. Before, the group had visited the Museum of History and the Museum of the Mine in Mequinensa; later on, … Read more
The images of La Llosa del Cavall (Solsonès) reservoir from the river Cardener, on 03.12.2023, illustrate how serious is present water scarcity in Central Catalonia. Rain has been poor since January 2021. The reservoir is at 26% capacity; it contains 20.8 hm3 of water from 80 hm3 total capacity. The large reservoir of La Llosa … Read more
Esplugues, in the municipality of Castellcir, is a troglodytic house that uses a natural shelter as a roof. It has a ground and two floors. It was inhabited from an unknown date until 2002. The Esplugues house is located on the right bank of the Fontscalents stream. It has one Romanesque bridge in front to … Read more
The graphs show monthly precipitation averages for the periods 2000-2021 and 1950-1999, and their differences, recorded at the meteorological stations of Balsareny and Artés in the district of Bages, and Moià in the district of Moianès. Within the enormous interannual variability of rainfall, the averages that are obtained from a long enough time confirm a … Read more
The graphs show the average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures for the years 1950-1999 and 2000-2021, as well as the differences between the two periods, from the weather stations of Artés (Bages), in the top gallery, and Moià (Moianès), in the bottom gallery. Both the minimum and the maximum temperatures, in all months and in … Read more
The forms originated by the deposit of minerals on the walls of the caves are collectively called speleothems. The stalactites hanging from the ceiling are the most characteristic speleothems. And among the stalactites, the type generally known by the expressive name of macaroni -although this meaning is not officially registered- are likely the most beautiful. … Read more
Observation of the recovery of the vegetation in the range of Miralles (Anoia) that was burned by the forest fire that started on 24.07.21 in Santa Coloma de Queralt (Conca de Barberà), a year and a half after the fire during the outing from ICHN-Bages on 17.12.2022. The plants with the ability to sprout have … Read more
Discocyclina sp. is a fossil foraminiferous protozoan that appears in strata of marine Eocene. It looks as a 10-15 mm diameter thin disk of symmetrical faces, often not completely flat but somewhat wavy. Its thickness ranges from 0.2 to 0.5 mm, except for the thickest nipple in the centre. The whole surface is plenty of … Read more
In 05.06.2022 a sinkhole appeared in El Pla de Reguant, in Súria. In the following days, the sinkhole enlarged to about 18 meters in diameter by 3 meters deep. The collapse caused some white poplars to fall from the riparian forest. Subsequently, the sinkhole has been partially filled with water from the subsoil, from the … Read more
The participants to the outing through the sides of the river Cardener and the stream of Rajadell, called by the exhibition Ecoviure and the ICHN-Bages in 16.10.2022, arranged for the picture by the source of Sant Pau (Manresa). [photo Jordi Badia]
Summer storms in Catalonia usually originate and grow in the early afternoon in the Pyrenees area, where the mountains force the air to rise, promoting the condensation of atmospheric humidity and the formation of large clouds, to later move towards south while depleting. In many cases, the storm hits in points of Alt Berguedà without … Read more
The storm in 29.07.2022 afternoon left registers of 40 to 50 litres of water per square meter in many observatories in the Plain of Bages, also in Manresa, the district capital. Rather than the rain, the hailstorm above Santpedor, Pineda de Bages and Les Brucardes (Sant Fruitós de Bages) was exceptional. The image illustrates the … Read more
Part of the ICHN-Bages group in the horn of Castell Vidre, in the outing of 16.07.22 to the gorges of Segre in Llo (Alta Cerdanya). [photos Jordi Badia]
The participants to the naturalist outing of ICHN-Bages to L’Ametlla de Casserres, in the natural shelter of Mill of Bellús (Avià, Baix Berguedà), in 29.05.2022. The stream of Graugés falls from the above the shelter. [photos Jordi Badia] Further information in Notícies de la ICHN nr.162.
The folds of the strata –anticlines and synclines with all variations and combinations you may think- change enormously in scale, from folds of kilometric length whose interpretation is often difficult in the overgrown or overly artificialized landscape, to microfolds of metric or centimetric size that can be seen closely in full. Sometimes, not always, the … Read more
The group of ICHN-Bages below the Big Evergreen Oak of Querol (Fonollosa, Bages), on 30.04.2022. The evergreen oak of Querol is acknowledged as Monumental Tree of Catalonia because its size. [photos Jordi Badia]
The group of ICHN-Bages looking at the stratification of the forest and to the succession from pines to oaks in the forest of Xamal (Fonollosa, Bages), on 30.04.2022. [photo Jordi Badia]
The group of ICHN-Bages looking at the riparian vegetation in the stream of Fonollosa, in Molí de Boixeda (Bages), on 30.04.2022. [photo Jordi Badia]
Operculina sp. is a genus of Foraminifera protozoa of the Nummulitidae family that also contains the well-known, often very common and visible in the nummulitic limestones of the Eocene in Central Catalonia, Nummulites. Operculina is also found in large number as fossil into nummulitic limestones; therefore, some of them should better be known as operculinic … Read more
The group of ICHN-Bages in the belvedere of Talló for a free of noises view of the so beautiful saw profile of the north face of Montserrat during the walk around Talló (Castellgalí, Bages), on 26.03.2022. [photos Montserrat Porta (1st), Jordi Badia (2nd) and Encarna Montes (3rd)] Further information in Notícies de la ICHN nr.161.
A part of the numerous participants in the protest walking against the reclassification to industrial of the Camp de Lledoners, in the plain of Les Torres de Bages, after the call of the environmental associations Meandre and Volunteers of Sant Joan de Vilatorrada, on Sunday 13.03.2022.In the 1st photo, part of the walkers going through … Read more
The ICHN-Bages group in the cluster of maritime pines in El Rauric (Rajadell) in the outing of 26.02.22 to the valley of Servitge, the source of El Rauric and the summit of La Melera.In the 2nd picture, looking for the large cones of the maritime pine. [photos Jordi Badia (1st) and Elena Sicto (2nd)]
The lacustrine limestones occur in extensive layers of light-coloured hard rock into the geological formation Artés that is mostly made of reddish, easier to wash out shales and sandstones. If the terrain and the strata share the same slope and the top layer is a lacustrine limestone, the roof of this hard stratum may turn … Read more
Paths and trails, if lucky enough, may have stretches with a natural stone pavement as beautiful as practical. In the district of Bages, this happens often in the southeast area because their flat sandstone that laid down in a calm marine environment of a coastal platform. The natural stone floor corresponds to the roof of … Read more
The range of Obac, mainly in the municipality of Mura, has many shelters (in Catalan, balmes). The best known are those that are occupied by the most elaborate constructions, specifically the Puig de la Balma that shelters a large medieval house and the Balmes Roges that covers a set of vats of wine; but there … Read more
The Pont Vell (= Old Bridge) on the Cardener river, in Manresa, was built above a resistant layer of nummulitic limestone rock. This layer of limestone slightly tilts to the north according to the general slope of the strata, therefore, it outcrops to a wider extent on the southern shore, that of La Guia. The … Read more
The name of the anticline-fault of El Guix (gypsum, in Catalan), in the south of Sallent, refers to the layers of gypsum that outcrop in the raised north block, near the axis of this tectonic structure. The pictures are taken from the cliff that the railway digs at the foot of the Cogulló mountain, which … Read more
The Guix fault is a large tectonic accident that runs in a straight line of about 10 km from southwest to northeast, from the north of Santpedor to Horta de Avinyó, crossing the Llobregat river and the southern slopes of the Montcogul mountain range. It has its center, its maximum development and its greatest complexity … Read more
The ICHN-group listening to the introduction by Núria Valls in the centre of wild fauna and environmental education of Camadoca (Santa Maria de Merlès, Berguedà), in 09.10.2021. The centre in managed by ADEFFA. Realize the stork that flies over the group. In the 2nd image, Joan Manubens, visitor guide of Camadoca, displays a male individual … Read more
The ICHN-Bages group in El Gorg Blau (= the Blue Pool) from the stream of Merlès (Berguedà) in the outing of 09.10.2021 to Sant Pau de Pinós, el Ginebret and Santa Maria de Merlès. The place name Gorg Blau repeats along the geography of the centre of Catalonia. [photo Jordi Badia] Further information in Notícies … Read more
The yellow flowerpot mushroom (Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) is small, though it stands out for its full yellow colour and for growing in fleets. The cap displays first a closed ovoid shape, 23-28 mm in height by 18-20 mm in diameter, with scales on its surface; later it opens like an umbrella until conical shape keeping the … Read more
The naked hard rock surface of the river shores may have round holes of about a hand in diameter and slightly less in depth, from natural origin, which are known as potholes. The potholes can keep water from the rain or from the last flood of the river or stream. Potholes are mainly found in … Read more
