* The authors are part of the community of La Vanguardia readers
Storks, mandarin ducks, poppies and rapeseed are some of the elements full of life that we can discover and enjoy in the surroundings of Banyoles in these spring days that already seem like summer, as we can see in these images in Las Photos de the Readers of La Vanguardia.
The Banyoles pond is the largest in Catalonia. The Estany and its lake basin are considered the largest karst complex in Spain and constitute an environmental system of notable value.
Both in the lake and in its surroundings we can capture the life of the countryside and the fauna, especially the birds. One of the stars is the exotic mandarin duck, a brightly colored species native to China, Japan and Siberia, which has been introduced to various parts of Europe and is highly appreciated for its beauty.
The stork is another of the birds fully integrated into the environment of Banyoles. The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large species of bird. Its plumage is mostly white with black on the wings. And the legs and beak of adults acquire a red color.
It measures an average of 100 and 115 cm from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail, and its wings can reach a span between 155 and 215 cm.
The yellow color of the rapeseed fields attracts a lot of attention, generating a very bucolic image in Banyoles. Rapeseed can be a profitable crop. In Catalonia, it is the Osona region where there are the most extensions, although it is also present in Garrotxa and other areas, such as, in this case, in Pla de l'Estany.
It is a crop that is used to produce fodder and biodiesel. Nowadays, in addition, the mechanization of work in the field has made the process of harvesting rapeseed faster and more productive.
Poppies also stand out in the fields. It has traditionally been associated with agriculture since ancient times. And its life cycle adapts to most cereal crops. So much so that they flower and fruit before harvesting the crops.
