Hi there,
I was in the north western part of Sicily the last week of October-13. It was a family trip, where we rented a house a little inland from Trapani. I was more or less birdwatching in the mornings though. Most birders seem to mainly visit the SE part of the island, which therefore seems fairly well described in trip reports. I had trouble finding much useful information about the NW though, so I thought I'd write down a few lines of how things went (Sicily is a big island, so you can't do day trips from one end to the other).
I won't make a full account of what I saw. Just list the places I visited and give an updated account of what they are like.
Trapani salt pans (1 visit): Quite a lot of birds at this time of the year. A few hundred flamingos, a few hundred herons (mainly spoonbills and little egrets), a few hundred ducks (mainly mallards and wigeons, but a few specimens of a few other species as well), a few hundred waders (mainly redshanks, little stints and dunlins). Most birds were seen a little north of the museum (a road was luckily allowing good access to the best salt pans). A few slender-billed gulls were seen there. The southernmost salt pans held some birds as well and were worth visiting.
Marsala salt pans (1 visit): Completely dead.
Lo Zingaro reserve (3 visits): I can very much recommend a visit here to someone who likes hiking. There are two entrances (north and south) and there is a three euro entrance fee, but I think it's worth it. The reserve is not bigger than you can go from one entrance to the other and back in one day. However, there are also many paths leading up into the mountains, so there is still variety and the nature is very nice inside the reserve. I had one amazing encounter with the resident Bonelli's eagle couple. Other interesting birds (just to pick a few) were rock bunting (common), Sicilian rock partridge, rock sparrow (~40 on the plateau on top of the reserve), blue rock thrush (common) etc etc. I had two possible sightings of lanner falcon, but the first observation was too far off to identify and the second was close enough but too brief (I have no previous experience of the species). I did spend a fair amount of time scanning the slopes for partridges, but without success. The encounter I had was that I heard a few call series once, but without getting an eye on the bird. Maybe the chances are higher in a season when the birds are more active calling? My Italian is non-existent and the English of the locals is pretty broken, so it was not easy to exchange much information. However, everyone I spoke to said they were everywhere and nowhere. So I guess you just have to be patient and a bit lucky to see them.
Monte Cofano reserve (1 visit): Upon arriving, I ran into some hunters on the edge of the reserve. I don't know the customs around the area, so I didn't feel too reassured. I deviated and took another direction, but could hear them shoot several times. Again, maybe this was controlled, but it still makes me uneasy hearing gun shots and knowing there are lots of people hiking around in the area... The whole entrance is a big quarry by the way. Not pretty... About the birds... There is a couple of peregrine falcon on the mountain. A few rock buntings, blue rock thrushes and cliff swallows along the path around the mountain. Otherwise the normal assortment of common Mediterranean birds (crested lark, sardinian warbler, stonechat etc). I had found a report on the internet previously talking about rock partridges being present around the mountain. I talked to one of the locals, who seemed to be taking his daily walk, but he had never seen any partridge around there. With hunters going so close to the reserve and a rather busy hiking path, I doubt there are any partridges in the area. If anyone has more information on this, don't hesitate to correct me on this though.
"General raptor watching from a hill 20 km inland from Trapani" (1 visit): 1 booted eagle, 1 distant Bonelli's eagle (in the direction of Erice) and a few buzzards and kestrels. Peregrines should also be possible. I didn't get the feeling that Sicily was a great place for raptors (none seen when driving around and so on).
Other than what's mentioned above, I have a hard time seeing that there could be much more to do in terms of birding in this area. It's maybe not terribly densely populated, but it seems like everything has been cultivated around here. The reserves are squeezed from all sides by human activity. This area of the island is not a place I would go for a pure birding holiday. Zingaro is very nice though, so I wouldn't mind spending more time in there.
I was in the north western part of Sicily the last week of October-13. It was a family trip, where we rented a house a little inland from Trapani. I was more or less birdwatching in the mornings though. Most birders seem to mainly visit the SE part of the island, which therefore seems fairly well described in trip reports. I had trouble finding much useful information about the NW though, so I thought I'd write down a few lines of how things went (Sicily is a big island, so you can't do day trips from one end to the other).
I won't make a full account of what I saw. Just list the places I visited and give an updated account of what they are like.
Trapani salt pans (1 visit): Quite a lot of birds at this time of the year. A few hundred flamingos, a few hundred herons (mainly spoonbills and little egrets), a few hundred ducks (mainly mallards and wigeons, but a few specimens of a few other species as well), a few hundred waders (mainly redshanks, little stints and dunlins). Most birds were seen a little north of the museum (a road was luckily allowing good access to the best salt pans). A few slender-billed gulls were seen there. The southernmost salt pans held some birds as well and were worth visiting.
Marsala salt pans (1 visit): Completely dead.
Lo Zingaro reserve (3 visits): I can very much recommend a visit here to someone who likes hiking. There are two entrances (north and south) and there is a three euro entrance fee, but I think it's worth it. The reserve is not bigger than you can go from one entrance to the other and back in one day. However, there are also many paths leading up into the mountains, so there is still variety and the nature is very nice inside the reserve. I had one amazing encounter with the resident Bonelli's eagle couple. Other interesting birds (just to pick a few) were rock bunting (common), Sicilian rock partridge, rock sparrow (~40 on the plateau on top of the reserve), blue rock thrush (common) etc etc. I had two possible sightings of lanner falcon, but the first observation was too far off to identify and the second was close enough but too brief (I have no previous experience of the species). I did spend a fair amount of time scanning the slopes for partridges, but without success. The encounter I had was that I heard a few call series once, but without getting an eye on the bird. Maybe the chances are higher in a season when the birds are more active calling? My Italian is non-existent and the English of the locals is pretty broken, so it was not easy to exchange much information. However, everyone I spoke to said they were everywhere and nowhere. So I guess you just have to be patient and a bit lucky to see them.
Monte Cofano reserve (1 visit): Upon arriving, I ran into some hunters on the edge of the reserve. I don't know the customs around the area, so I didn't feel too reassured. I deviated and took another direction, but could hear them shoot several times. Again, maybe this was controlled, but it still makes me uneasy hearing gun shots and knowing there are lots of people hiking around in the area... The whole entrance is a big quarry by the way. Not pretty... About the birds... There is a couple of peregrine falcon on the mountain. A few rock buntings, blue rock thrushes and cliff swallows along the path around the mountain. Otherwise the normal assortment of common Mediterranean birds (crested lark, sardinian warbler, stonechat etc). I had found a report on the internet previously talking about rock partridges being present around the mountain. I talked to one of the locals, who seemed to be taking his daily walk, but he had never seen any partridge around there. With hunters going so close to the reserve and a rather busy hiking path, I doubt there are any partridges in the area. If anyone has more information on this, don't hesitate to correct me on this though.
"General raptor watching from a hill 20 km inland from Trapani" (1 visit): 1 booted eagle, 1 distant Bonelli's eagle (in the direction of Erice) and a few buzzards and kestrels. Peregrines should also be possible. I didn't get the feeling that Sicily was a great place for raptors (none seen when driving around and so on).
Other than what's mentioned above, I have a hard time seeing that there could be much more to do in terms of birding in this area. It's maybe not terribly densely populated, but it seems like everything has been cultivated around here. The reserves are squeezed from all sides by human activity. This area of the island is not a place I would go for a pure birding holiday. Zingaro is very nice though, so I wouldn't mind spending more time in there.
