Deii Posted July 27, 2022 Posted July 27, 2022 (edited) Anecdotal until 2021, in an enigma still to be deciphered, this species has laid eggs this year in bucolic parks, yes, but also in apparently inhospitable ponds The causes are still nebulous. There are several hypotheses. What is indisputable is that the wild duck (although he is dressed in black tie, with his beautiful green neck edged with a white choker, is more savage than it is possible to suppose at first, as it will be revealed at the end of the chronicle in some paragraphs not suitable for all audiences) has discovered Barcelona as a home in which to settle and nest. This is a biological surprise whose scope is yet to be pondered, but before 2022 the laying of eggs by female mallards or mallards ('Anas platyrhynchos'') was only occasionally observable in a few city parks , such as those of Ciutadella, Palau Reial and Diagonal Mar, generously proportioned gardens and, above all, with hidden corners of wonderful vegetation to incubate. This year, however, is never seen before. It has even bred this species in the apparently inadequate pond in the Baix Guinardó gardens, indiscreet as a 'peep-show', and it is not an isolated case. What happened in that park, formerly known as the Jardins Príncep de Girona and, before that, as the Girona Cavalry Military Barracks, has been, for the residents, a source of daily entertainment. Two months ago the chicks, initially 11, took their first swims after breaking the shell and, after those eight weeks, the most robust have already taken flight. The neighbors have had a good time, without a doubt, but for that network of municipal employees who watch over the naturalization of the city, what happened there, unexpectedly, has been a surprise test that has put their reflexes to the test. It is said that they have approved with a note. The pond in that park is just a cement rectangle with half a meter of water. There are no reedbeds, water lilies or bucolic cobbled corners like the ones that Rubió Tudurí liked to recreate in his gardens. It is of an almost boring simplicity, the pond equivalent of the bohiguianas hard squares. The only element that breaks the geometry of this false lake are four pits that protrude above the water level and in which many other trees are planted. One of those tiny pits was enough for the mother of the chicks to lay her eggs and let life make its way. The point is that the management of the city's parks is no longer, as it was years ago, an exclusive task of the Municipal Institute of Parks and Gardens, of pruning, planting and cleaning weeds. Now it is a collective work in which biologists such as Octavi Borruel participate, with the enviable mission of maintaining biodiversity in the city's naturalized ponds, and also the technicians of the Barcelona Animal Protection Office, whose task is, metaphorically, separate the wheat from the weeds, that is, preserve wildlife when it is compatible with urban life and, on the contrary, remove and send farm animals (domestic ducks, rabbits, Florida tortoises...) to a suitable place. that there are still those who let loose in the urban green areas when at home that animal, because it has grown, is already annoying. https://www.elperiodico.com/es/barcelona/20220716/patos-salvajes-descubren-barcelona-anidar-14082608 Edited July 27, 2022 by Deiverson
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