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Pollinators in full activity, plants and flowers showing themselves proud, insects copulating… Activity in forests, gardens and orchards this winter is at levels never seen before due to the January spring that we are experiencing, with drought and temperatures that have reached 25 degrees in Catalonia.
The exuberant great visual spectacle of the plants and insects leaves us with unpublished images for this time of year, as can be seen in this series of photographs in The Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia taken by monitoring the orchard and gardens of the monastery of Pedralbes of Barcelona.
The medieval garden of the Pedralbes monastery, due to the high temperatures for this month of January, can be seen full of ladybugs on the bean flowers. Some were already paired, a fantasy out of time.
With their characteristic colors, ladybugs give life to the winter season, a life out of season, but, after all, a symptom of life. Let’s look at some photographs in detail.
This last week of January we are reaching temperatures of 15 degrees. But, from January 22 to 28, they were exceptionally warm. Although we were, in theory, in the midst of the days that climatically should have been the coldest of the year, a powerful warm anticyclone centered over the Iberian Peninsula brought a very mild environment, with maximum temperatures of 20 to 25°C in much of the pre-coastal area. .
The temperature peaked on January 25, with a maximum of more than 25°C in sectors of Garrotxa and nearby regions. Numerous records were recorded in January. Climate change is a reality. Thermometers tell us this, but also insects and plants.
These days, for example, there are many flies fluttering around the garden. Here we see them with the Agapanthus flowers.
It was an unexpected surprise that so many flies were born. Now they are tiny, they flutter around the medieval garden of the Pedralbes monastery and stand on the information panels sunbathing. I have retracted them with their shadow, like a double fly, it is somewhat curious to see them in January.
In the garden of the Pedralbes monastery you can also see the green fly and even more so if there are droppings from a passing cat that comes at night. I have been able to portray her in detail.
The maximum temperature was recorded on Thursday, January 25 with 27.0°C in Mieres or 25.3°C in Olot, as well as 25.4°C in Anglès (La Selva) or 25.0°C of Banyoles (Pla de l’Estany).
Even so, the highest temperature measured in Catalonia in the first month of the year was not exceeded, since on January 28, 2021, 28.1°C was recorded at the Ebro Observatory (Baix Ebre). So, is climate change here to stay? Is this already the trend? Spring winters?
We can also see the spectacle in the plants. The ruscus is in bloom. Its flowers are very small and due to their color they can go unnoticed. Quite the opposite of their pretty balls that, for Christmas, are so decorative and showy.
Now let’s look at this wild violet that bloomed out of season, due to the very pleasant temperatures we have this month of January. I have given the photographs the blue and violet reflections of some lights from the Pedralbes monastery, a different touch from their reality.
In this context, it is not strange that pollinators display their spring activity in the middle of winter. We see it with the hoverflies, very active in the yellow Basque beret flowers.
It has also been possible to see the male lemon butterfly, which is not normal at this time, but I have not yet been able to photograph it. But I have captured images of this other scene.
The good January temperatures seem to have encouraged a young, thin, slender male mallard duck to visit Cuaca, the famous duck of the Pedralbes monastery. The curious thing is that Patito Feo, Cuaca’s partner, does not leave the visitor at all, as if he were his shadow, he follows him. He does not allow him to enter the pond where Cuaca is calm.
