rb_stern
Richard stern
I had another Lifer 2 weeks ago. I spent a week in Umbria, Italy - with non-birders, and it rained almost non-stop. I saw plenty of Collared Doves, Hooded Crows and Jackdaws, Great Tits and Blackbirds and even a pair of Marsh Harriers - all of which I had seen many times before in the U.K. I sort of made up for the lousy birding with good friends, good food and wine, and massive exposure to mediaeval art and architecture. But unexpectedly, as I stood in the pouring rain outside the Cathedral in Todi, listening to a friend expounding the virtues of "swallow-tailed crenellations" on the tower, I noticed a lone bird flitting in the trees along the side - and it was something I have been trying to find in the U.K. for years - a Firecrest - another attractive Lifer.
Richard
Richard