Parc de la Ciutadella lies to the north-east of the old city. It takes its name from the hated Bourbon citadel, which was torn down on the site. Ciutadella was modelled by the 1888 exhibition. The park is massively popular at weekends but despite the crowds, an interesting array of birds turns up. Check out the ornamental lake and the baroque cascade for seagulls and ducks. Robins, blackbirds, great tits, Cetti's warblers and pied and yellow wagtails are all common.

The park's north-eastern corner is taken up by the zoo. The zoo is home to a secret. Above the compounds and cages is the largest single heronry in Spain, and the biggest urban heronry in Europe, with some 70 nests. A single heron escaped from his cage in the 1970s and decided to stay. It was joined by a wild to-be mate, and so the colony was born, from which the then beleaguered Catalan population has expanded and grown. Cast your eyes upwards down Aragon, Parallel or Diagonal in the early evening and you've a chance of spotting a heron flying home to its zoo roost. They feed in the lagoons of the Delta de Llobregat and along the Llobregat and Besos rivers. Increased agricultural activity gives them permanent all-year food supplies.

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) with six nests are also present along with cattle egret and glossay ibis (up to 10 nests, depending on the year). The zoo masters have been careless over the years and a number of birds have escaped: particularly monk parakeet. From here they set up in the palm tress of the park and then beyond. They now reign over the whole city. Although they add a streak of colour and fun to the city's dull litany of pigeons, sparrows and seagulls, they can cause serious problems as they expand out into the country.

A natural history of Barcelona: www.iberianature.com/

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