Spring migration on Ventotene island at Easter (1 Viewer)

[3Italianbirders]

We spent the Easter break on the island of Ventotene, off the coast between Rome and Naples, a famous migration hotspot as are most of the other small islands along the western coast of Italy, in the Thyrrenian sea, all belonging to a monitoring and ringing project. Somehow we had never managed to go, but this year Easter came at a convenient time and also some birder friends were going, too, so we decided to tag along.

We weren’t expecting miracles as the first decade of April wouldn’t be peak migration, but we were happy to settle for good numbers and species we wouldn’t normally see here. Despite the unseasonably cold weather (we had dinner in our coats every night at the agriturismo where we were staying and when we went out for a pizza with our friends we had our wooly hats on too!) we had lots of fun, especially the first three days were really good, as the birds were coming in in droves.

For anyone wanting to go some practical info: the island is tiny, roughly 3 km by one, so unless you book an hotel with a shuttle service, it’s walking all the way, on concrete, so bring sturdy boots. There are lots of holiday lets, a few hotels and B&Bs and some have packages for birders. One supermarket, a cafe and a bakery are open year-round so self-catering isn’t a problem. Ferries and hydrofoils leave from Formia and take respectively 2 and 1 hour to get there. There are car parks in Formia which charge about 8-12€ a day to keep your car safe, some have shuttles for the port, others will meet you at the ferry, take your car and then bring it back when you return (it was a bit of a leap of faith, but it had been recommended by our host). Or take a train to Formia (on the main Rome-Naples line).

Some touristy landscape pics:

 

[3Italianbirders]

Barn Owl was the first bird, at around 4am, roughly half an hour after having set off to make the 9.15 ferry. The crossing itself was a bit disappointing as there was no way to go outside and look for seabirds.

The first day it was Robins: all over the place, everywhere you looked, then the Redstarts, both Common and Black, then the Chiffchaffs, the Blackcaps, the Subalpine Warblers and the Whitethroats. On the third day the Nightingales arrived, singing from every bush, and on the last full day Subalpine Warblers were literally falling from the sky. Throughout our stay, mixed in there were 4-5 subspecies of Yellow Wagtail (we still have to go through all the pics to figure those out), also White Wagtail and Meadow and Tree Pipits, Collared and Pied Flycatchers, Northern and Black-eared Wheatears, Whinchats, lovely Wrynecks, Swallows, House and Sand Martins, the first Swifts and a single Alpine Swift, Hoopoes, Song Thrush, and a lot of Sardinian Warblers, presumably resident.

 

[3Italianbirders]

more photos...

 

[3Italianbirders]

There was also a good flow of herons, with Night Herons seen in flocks heading for the mainland most days; Great White and Cattle Egret were dazzling when seen flying against the blue background of the sea, while a single Purple Heron was foraging at the bottom of a field full of Yellow Wagtails. We also got one Little Egret and a Grey Heron mobbed by several Yellow-legged Gulls, which nearly managed to push it into the water - a very narrow escape.

We surely weren’t expecting to see many waders on a rocky islet in the middle of the sea, but we managed two species: a pair of Common Sandpipers which we saw several times either on the rocks next to the harbour or in the garden just above. But the most visually impacting sight was that of 6 Black-winged Stilts perched in a row on a rock a couple of hundred metres off the coast. After a while they flew off and circled round, possibly trying to find a more suitable place to spend the night, but eventually settling on an even smaller rock!

 

[3Italianbirders]

Birds of prey were a bit underwhelming, as apart from the resident Peregrines and Kestrels, we had a few Marsh Harriers, mostly males, roughly one or two a day, a Hobby (or two - we saw one the same day at different times and in different places), and lastly an unidentified Harrier, which could have been a female-type Pallid, but we only saw it for a few seconds and nobody was able to take a photo. The only Buzzard of the trip was seen from the motorway on the way back home.

Now for the good stuff: a beautiful rufous-morph Cuckoo at close range, a flock of several Greater-short toed Larks seen in the same field on two different days, an astounding Ring Ouzel which landed on top of an agave right in front of us early one evening, our second ever Red-throated Pipit mixed in with the various Wagtails in a lentil field (Ventotene is famous for its lentils) and a seconds-long appearance of a Bluethroat on the path in front of us. Our friend Laura saw another one a couple of days later, but we never managed to see it again.

Other passerines included Serins everywhere, some Willow Warblers mixed in with the Chiffchaffs, several Wood Warblers, Linnet, Goldfinch, Stonechat, and a single Corn Bunting. We also saw the first Woodchat Shrike, Golden Oriole and Turtle Dove of the season.

 

[3Italianbirders]

Seabirds were by far the less conspicuous group with only four species: Cormorant, Shag, Scopoli’s Shearwater and droves of very territorial Yellow-legged Gulls, which attacked everything in sight.

There were a few species that others saw and we dipped on: the most frustrating were a Short-eared Owl that was seen most days and a Red-rumped Swallow, which was one of my very personal targets, which was seen by one of our friends as we were boarding the hydrofoil to get back to the mainland.

Certainly the best Easter break we have had since the one in Austria before Covid, shame about the drive home, which took us 3 hours longer because of the horrific traffic. 😬

 

[Jos Stratford]

Excellent sounding Island - 3km by 1, perfect size too.

 

[3Italianbirders]

I can't compete with your migration in Saudi Arabia, but I think we had fun particularly because the place was so small and there was always something to see. A few times we nearly stepped on dog-tired birds resting by the side of the path!

 

[3Italianbirders]

I forgot to attach this video of a Yellow Wagtail. Taken with my phone: I was sitting on the ground ad it didn't mind me in the least 😃

 

[foresttwitcher]

Agree with Jos, sounds like a great place and I'm envious of your list of birds.

 

[wolfbirder]

Great to read about a place many of us have no idea about.

Nice report!

 

[Gladiator96]

All small islands in the Mediterranean are great for migration