Sorrento, Capri and Pompeii April birds? (1 Viewer)

I have seven days in Sorrento from 10 April 09 - visiting Naples, Capri and Pompeii. It's our 25th wedding anniversary and my better half is not entirely sympathetic to my birding affliction so I would appreciate any local knowledge on good birds to look out for that are fairly easy to find - as I won't have much 'free' time'. All advice gratefully received. P

Hi Pete. I was in Sorrento and Naples about two and a half years ago with non birding family. Birds that were easy to see included Black Redstart, Rock Thrush, Blue Rock Thrush. Rather amazingly I found a Ring Ouzel in the grounds of Herculaneum! Raven were around the cliffs in Sorrento. Hopefully you'll see some migrating warblers; I saw Orphean Warbler and Sardinian Warbler in the scrub on the cliffs around Sorrento. I kept looking for raptors as we climbed Mt Vesuvius but didn't see a single one.

Joanne

Capri can be good for migrants – but when I was there in mid April 2000 the weather was very disappointing (cold and wet!) and birds were thin on the ground (this was my only "birding" day in the area...).

joannec said:

Hi Pete. I was in Sorrento and Naples about two and a half years ago with non birding family. Birds that were easy to see included Black Redstart, Rock Thrush, Blue Rock Thrush. Rather amazingly I found a Ring Ouzel in the grounds of Herculaneum! Raven were around the cliffs in Sorrento. Hopefully you'll see some migrating warblers; I saw Orphean Warbler and Sardinian Warbler in the scrub on the cliffs around Sorrento. I kept looking for raptors as we climbed Mt Vesuvius but didn't see a single one.

Joanne

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Thanks Joanne,
I'll watch out for the Rock Thrushes - I was hoping for Cory's and Balearic Shearwaters on the boat trip to Capri, and migrating raptors... but I shall have to see what turns up.

PinkoPete said:

Thanks Joanne,
I'll watch out for the Rock Thrushes - I was hoping for Cory's and Balearic Shearwaters on the boat trip to Capri, and migrating raptors... but I shall have to see what turns up.

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Well. what a mixed bag Sorrento turned out to be! Melodious Warbler in the woods on the cliff, Alpine Swift over the hotel on the first day - didn't see one for the rest of the week; Blue Rock Thrush in the excavations of Herculaneum, and another one in the crater of Vesuvius, Hoopoe in the ruins of Pompeii, Sadinian Warbler and Raven on Capri, the whole area is knee-deep in Serin, the only sea birds seen were Yellow-legged gulls (dozens of em), one Winchat, two Blackcap, 28 species in total in seven days!! about half of the number of species I'd expect from an April Saturday morning on my local patch. In the whole week I didn't see or hear a single Blue Tit or Wood Pigeon.

If I'd had a bit more of a free hand and time to go out finding birds I may have notched up a few more but that wasn't the point of the holiday. It was a fantastic week. We saw some breathtaking archeaology and geology but it was a bit of a 'curate's egg' from a birding perspective...