RFI Corsica (1 Viewer)

tichodrome said:

Hi everyone,

I'm off to Corsica in a week's time, and would be very grateful for any recent information or internet resources on birding around the island. My main targets are the finch and the nuthatch, but if time permits will be searching for species impossible or hard to find in mainland France (including Marmora's and Moltoni's Subalpine Warbler, Audouin's Gull).

Thanks in advance for any info, will report back on what I see.

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Andrew Whitehouse said:

Hi tichodrome,

I'm just back from a lovely few days in Corsica. I didn't have a car, so didn't see much of the island, but was based in Corte and saw a lot of the specialities around there. I managed to find a Nuthatch in Restonica - a male at the nest in fact. This was in the forests above the camp site about 6 or 7 kms along the valley from Corte. I hoped to see more at Vizzavona but probably didn't go to the right areas. Much of the forest there is beech, so isn't any good for Nuthatchs. I suspect they can be found there in the pine forests though. Most visiting birders seem to see them at Haut Asco.

The Citril Finch is fairly easily encountered, particularly in areas of pine forest or maquis. I saw my first pair near the footbridge in the middle of Corte whilst on my way from my hotel to the centre of town!

Marmora's Warbler seemed to be reasonably common in areas of maquis around Corte. I didn't see any Subalpine Warblers in Corsica nor did I see any Audouin's Gulls, although I was hardly at the coast at all.

Other birds I saw included a subadult Lammergeier in Restonica and an Alpine Accentor high up above Vizzavona. I was really impressed with the general 'birdiness' of Corsica with generally plenty of activity and song in most habitats. Corte seems like a good base, even if you have a car, because it's very central and a lot of the specialities can be seen nearby. It's a very pleasant town with a range of accommodation and facilities too.

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tichodrome said:

Thanks Andrew! Much of my birding on this trip will be dependent on convincing a non-birder with a car of the aesthetic qualities of various sites. Is Corte worth a visit for hiking/sightseeing as well as birding?

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Larry Wheatland said:

Hi Tichodrome,

I'll second Corte being a "nice" town for non-birders. We had a singing Subalp in a garden in the small town at a major road junction half way between Corte and Bastia (we were hitching). We saw both the Finch and the Nuthatch (eventually) in the Pines quite high above Vizzavona where the pines thin out into steeper rockier terrain.

Other birds not on the French mainland that we saw were Italian Sparrow (Vizzavona and Bastia) and Spotless Starling (quite numerous). Obviously I wasn't that bothered about Marmora's Warbler as I'm from Britain !

Good luck

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