MarkHows
Mostly Mammals
This is a short report of a business trip to Verona, with a couple of days snatched in the Po Delta.
I managed to get a few hours most evenings to look round Verona and its sights, particularly by the river there were quite a few birds. Swallows and crag martins over the river (apparently the crag martins breed here) There was an excellent section just up from the castle, a reedbed full of sparrows, serins, white wagtails a little egret and a few gulls. There was an amazingly yellow bird that passed me into the reeds with the sparrows, on locating it – just a budgerigar, there several around (a feral population perhaps). There were also a few green and goldfinches. The most abundant bird was of course the feral pigeon. There were only a couple of starlings. In the evenings thousands of bats were around flying over the trees and the river banks.
One afternoon a colleague took me to Bosco della Fontana, 30km south of Verona near Mantua where he has been studying Black Kites in Italy's largest colony. They had left by now but we saw the endemic red frogs (only at Bosco) locusts in Italy I was surprised but apparently quite common. Birds were abundant but due to the thick vegetation it was difficult to locate and ID most of them, there were woodpeckers, tits, warblers, hooded crows, woodpigeons, grey herons and a great white egret.
A trip to Lake Garda (not birdwatching) produced black terns, lots of them, little and GC grebes, mallard, yellow legged gull, BH gulls and a ringed teal (escaped).
The main birding excursion was a weekend at the Po delta, I arrived at the Boscoforte reserve, and found somewhere to dump the car (no real parking) and walked to the reserve, I observed dozens of Kentish plovers, some juv black winged stilts, bar tailed godwits several greenshank and a couple of spotted redshank. There were possible some marsh sandpipers but with the heat haze and distance I was not sure. I got to the reserve and it was closed so I was unable to go out onto the spit and into the reedbeds. I carried on along the path and more of the same species, I did pick up some young reed warblers and in the bushes an icterine warbler gave me excellent views as well as several butterflies including swallowtail. I carried on further on around the lagoon, herons and egrets were everywhere, but no purple herons. I pulled into the layby to look at the flamingos, at least 400 filling a lagoon. I drove north through the fields towards Commacchio pulling over to watch cattle egrets. My final stop for the day was Bellocchio lagoons just behind the Camping Spina campsite in resort of Lido di Spina. Not easy to find but well worth it. I parked somewhere obscure and had a 15 min walk through the woods to the lagoon and the watchtower. Goldcrest and a collared flycatcher were the most notable birds here. I walked around the lagoon watching out for terns, I managed to pick put three terns resting an adult and two Juv gull billed terns. I spotted a resting kestrel on a post in the reeds. There were some mallard, coot and plenty of gulls. I headed to the beach but not much else and back to the tower, where three slender billed gulls could easily be seen from. A great day past I drove to Ravenna to spend the night.
After the massive storm that night it was wet underfoot and the mosquitoes were out in force at my first destination the WWF reserve Punte Alberete, this marshy woodland was very dry with just a few pools due to the drought they have had in Italy and only a few birds were seen, egrets, common sandpipers, grey heron, mallard, coot the pick was a sparrowhawk and a hobby. Rather disappointedly I moved just up the road to Valle Mandriole and its watch tower, what a contrast, lots of water and massive numbers of birds, pygmy cormorants were very abubdant at least 30, several cormorants (useful to contrast size), spoonbill, egrets, grey heron, squacco heron, night heron, spotted redshank, common sandpipers, coot, gadwall, mallard, grebes, gulls all entertained.
My last stop was Sacca deli scardovari the sea lagoon almost on the Po itself, just keep your eyes out in the farmland, marsh, pools etc inland from the road as well as they produced some excellent birds. Caspian terns were abundant on the sea as well as GC and black necked grebes and the usual gulls. Inland several Montagu's harriers were easy seen and came quite close, a series of pools produced several whiskered terns. The roads back to the motorway produced some dead coypu and a buzzard.
Notes:
Birdwatching is not a very popular pastime and you get lots of strange looks, but you do get the whole place to yourself. Reserves are poorly signposted get a very good map, these however are very hard to find buy them in advance if possible. Cars do get broken into be careful not to leave things on show. If you do hire a car be careful as they all drive as if they are in a grand prix. The mosquitoes bite take a good repellent. The birds are nowhere as confiding in humans as in the UK even sparrows out of towns are weary so you have to be very quite and move slowly.
Missed.
I obviusly missed the black kites which leave early August, and no purple herons. As Boscoforte was shut with its reedbeds I missed all of the warblers I was hoping for, also I was hoping for a couple more waders. I had no idea where the Ostellato pools were where there is a red footed falcon colony.
62 species and 11 lifers not bad.
List (* denotes life bird)
1. Crag Martin*
2. White Wagtail
3. Little Egret
4. Swallow
5. Italian Sparrow
6. Little egret
7. Budgerigar (feral)
8. Great White Egret*
9. Blue Heron
10. Swallow
11. Mallard
12. Gadwall
13. Ringed Teal (escaped)
14. Feral Pigeon
15. Sparrowhawk
16. Hobby
17. Grey heron
18. Common sandpiper
19. Coot
20. Moorhen
21. Great crested grebe
22. Little Grebe
23. Cormorant
24. Spotted redshank
25. Pygmy Cormorant*
26. Night Heron
27. Squacco Heron*
28. Spoonbill
29. Black neckes grebe
30. Medeteranian gull
31. Black headed gull
32. Yellow Legged gull
33. Caspian Tern
34. Whiskered Tern*
35. Buzzard
36. Collared Dove
37. Woodpigeon
38. Serin
39. Black Tern
40. Kingfisher
41. Long Tailed Tit
42. Hooded Crow
43. Chaffinch
44. Blackbird
45. Goldfinch
46. Greenfinch
47. Blue tit
48. Great tit
49. Goldcrest
50. Starling
51. Black winged silt
52. Greenshank
53. Kentish plover*
54. Black tailed godwit
55. Reed warbler
56. Greater Flamingo*
57. Icterine Warbler*
58. Kestrel
59. Pheasant
60. Slender billed Gull*
61. Gull billed tern*
62. Collared flycatcher*
I managed to get a few hours most evenings to look round Verona and its sights, particularly by the river there were quite a few birds. Swallows and crag martins over the river (apparently the crag martins breed here) There was an excellent section just up from the castle, a reedbed full of sparrows, serins, white wagtails a little egret and a few gulls. There was an amazingly yellow bird that passed me into the reeds with the sparrows, on locating it – just a budgerigar, there several around (a feral population perhaps). There were also a few green and goldfinches. The most abundant bird was of course the feral pigeon. There were only a couple of starlings. In the evenings thousands of bats were around flying over the trees and the river banks.
One afternoon a colleague took me to Bosco della Fontana, 30km south of Verona near Mantua where he has been studying Black Kites in Italy's largest colony. They had left by now but we saw the endemic red frogs (only at Bosco) locusts in Italy I was surprised but apparently quite common. Birds were abundant but due to the thick vegetation it was difficult to locate and ID most of them, there were woodpeckers, tits, warblers, hooded crows, woodpigeons, grey herons and a great white egret.
A trip to Lake Garda (not birdwatching) produced black terns, lots of them, little and GC grebes, mallard, yellow legged gull, BH gulls and a ringed teal (escaped).
The main birding excursion was a weekend at the Po delta, I arrived at the Boscoforte reserve, and found somewhere to dump the car (no real parking) and walked to the reserve, I observed dozens of Kentish plovers, some juv black winged stilts, bar tailed godwits several greenshank and a couple of spotted redshank. There were possible some marsh sandpipers but with the heat haze and distance I was not sure. I got to the reserve and it was closed so I was unable to go out onto the spit and into the reedbeds. I carried on along the path and more of the same species, I did pick up some young reed warblers and in the bushes an icterine warbler gave me excellent views as well as several butterflies including swallowtail. I carried on further on around the lagoon, herons and egrets were everywhere, but no purple herons. I pulled into the layby to look at the flamingos, at least 400 filling a lagoon. I drove north through the fields towards Commacchio pulling over to watch cattle egrets. My final stop for the day was Bellocchio lagoons just behind the Camping Spina campsite in resort of Lido di Spina. Not easy to find but well worth it. I parked somewhere obscure and had a 15 min walk through the woods to the lagoon and the watchtower. Goldcrest and a collared flycatcher were the most notable birds here. I walked around the lagoon watching out for terns, I managed to pick put three terns resting an adult and two Juv gull billed terns. I spotted a resting kestrel on a post in the reeds. There were some mallard, coot and plenty of gulls. I headed to the beach but not much else and back to the tower, where three slender billed gulls could easily be seen from. A great day past I drove to Ravenna to spend the night.
After the massive storm that night it was wet underfoot and the mosquitoes were out in force at my first destination the WWF reserve Punte Alberete, this marshy woodland was very dry with just a few pools due to the drought they have had in Italy and only a few birds were seen, egrets, common sandpipers, grey heron, mallard, coot the pick was a sparrowhawk and a hobby. Rather disappointedly I moved just up the road to Valle Mandriole and its watch tower, what a contrast, lots of water and massive numbers of birds, pygmy cormorants were very abubdant at least 30, several cormorants (useful to contrast size), spoonbill, egrets, grey heron, squacco heron, night heron, spotted redshank, common sandpipers, coot, gadwall, mallard, grebes, gulls all entertained.
My last stop was Sacca deli scardovari the sea lagoon almost on the Po itself, just keep your eyes out in the farmland, marsh, pools etc inland from the road as well as they produced some excellent birds. Caspian terns were abundant on the sea as well as GC and black necked grebes and the usual gulls. Inland several Montagu's harriers were easy seen and came quite close, a series of pools produced several whiskered terns. The roads back to the motorway produced some dead coypu and a buzzard.
Notes:
Birdwatching is not a very popular pastime and you get lots of strange looks, but you do get the whole place to yourself. Reserves are poorly signposted get a very good map, these however are very hard to find buy them in advance if possible. Cars do get broken into be careful not to leave things on show. If you do hire a car be careful as they all drive as if they are in a grand prix. The mosquitoes bite take a good repellent. The birds are nowhere as confiding in humans as in the UK even sparrows out of towns are weary so you have to be very quite and move slowly.
Missed.
I obviusly missed the black kites which leave early August, and no purple herons. As Boscoforte was shut with its reedbeds I missed all of the warblers I was hoping for, also I was hoping for a couple more waders. I had no idea where the Ostellato pools were where there is a red footed falcon colony.
62 species and 11 lifers not bad.
List (* denotes life bird)
1. Crag Martin*
2. White Wagtail
3. Little Egret
4. Swallow
5. Italian Sparrow
6. Little egret
7. Budgerigar (feral)
8. Great White Egret*
9. Blue Heron
10. Swallow
11. Mallard
12. Gadwall
13. Ringed Teal (escaped)
14. Feral Pigeon
15. Sparrowhawk
16. Hobby
17. Grey heron
18. Common sandpiper
19. Coot
20. Moorhen
21. Great crested grebe
22. Little Grebe
23. Cormorant
24. Spotted redshank
25. Pygmy Cormorant*
26. Night Heron
27. Squacco Heron*
28. Spoonbill
29. Black neckes grebe
30. Medeteranian gull
31. Black headed gull
32. Yellow Legged gull
33. Caspian Tern
34. Whiskered Tern*
35. Buzzard
36. Collared Dove
37. Woodpigeon
38. Serin
39. Black Tern
40. Kingfisher
41. Long Tailed Tit
42. Hooded Crow
43. Chaffinch
44. Blackbird
45. Goldfinch
46. Greenfinch
47. Blue tit
48. Great tit
49. Goldcrest
50. Starling
51. Black winged silt
52. Greenshank
53. Kentish plover*
54. Black tailed godwit
55. Reed warbler
56. Greater Flamingo*
57. Icterine Warbler*
58. Kestrel
59. Pheasant
60. Slender billed Gull*
61. Gull billed tern*
62. Collared flycatcher*
