Swifts, Stone Walls and a Dawn Chorus of Nightingales in Sant Cugat
Some places stay with you not because of one single moment, but because of a whole collection of them. Sant Cugat was like that for me. A Catalan town of warm stone, narrow streets, olive trees, wildflower edges, birdsong, faith, family and history, all sitting under skies alive with screaming Swifts. I had gone to visit my sister, but as is often the case with me, the camera and even a pair of binoculars (even toggers can use them sometimes) were never too far away. The most used item of technical sorcery was my mobile phone and the Merlin Application. The wonderful Merlin App was working overtime identifying bird songs and calls. Sant Cugat very quickly became one of those places where every walk had the potential to become a birding walk, and every quiet moment seemed to have a natural soundtrack. The first thing that really struck me was the sound. At dawn, the air was full of Nightingales. Not one distant bird hidden somewhere in a thicket, but several, singing wi...
