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The cloister of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona was super quiet, calm, and only the birds singing could be heard. At this moment, the great gray heron appeared.
This bird, very sociable, was not scared of my presence when I captured these video images and these photographs for La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos, in which we can see how it feasts on fish in the pond.
Thanks to the proximity, I have enjoyed being able to contemplate and portray it up close. I have also been able to take a photo of her in flight and her eye is illuminated. I like, if possible, to take photos of all types of animals when their gaze is illuminated, as in this case.
The heron seems to be familiar with the presence of people. They have emptied the fountain to clean it and this is the opportunity she has had to treat herself to the fish.
The truth is that she has become so full that she has thrown dead fish out of her. Will there be any carp left alive tomorrow? I find it a little difficult for these fish to survive. It is a wonder that in a city you can contemplate these scenes of pure nature.
The largest urban colony of gray herons in Europe is located precisely in Barcelona, according to the City Council. The love affair of this elegant bird with Barcelona has history. And, in fact, it is a nice story.
We have to go back to 1972. At that time, a pair of gray herons (Ardea cinerea), which were part of the zoo's animal collection and could not fly because their wings were clipped, raised eight chicks.
The Zoo workers released two and the surprise was total when, two years later, the two chicks returned as adults and decided to breed in the trees of the Ciutadella zoo.
This first nest became a pole of attraction for other wild specimens that flew over the city (on the migratory route), so that a colony was soon created.
Over time, it became the largest urban colony in Europe, with a fluctuating number of nests that exceeds one hundred, according to the City Council.
And, not only that, but from Barcelona "colonization took place as a breeding species throughout Catalonia (until 1992 there was no record of any other breeding point in the entire Catalan territory).
