We spent an enjoyable weekend (again without the offspring) with some of our fellow EBN Italy members in the area just north of Pisa, at the northernmost tip of Tuscany.
We got up at 3am on the Saturday morning in order to meet the others at Marina di Vecchiano at 7am for a bit of seawatching. This wasn’t very productive, at least for the local standards (it is a well known spot for pelagic species), but we did have good views of Grey, Ringed and Kentish Plover along with a couple of Sanderlings. A few Swallows passed by heading south. Also Little Egrets, Grey Heron, Cormorants, Yellow-legged and Black-Headed Gulls, a poorly-looking juvenile Flamingo and a lone individual of Mediterranean Gull. Birds of prey were few: mostly Kestrels, a couple of Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and a Hobby or two. But the most astonishing sight was a majestic male Fallow Deer going for a swim among the rolling waves until only its head was visible. We had good binocular and scope views, but unfortunately it was too far away for a photo or a video.
After a lunch of epic proportions we drove just inland to an area of fields criss-crossed by dirt tracks where the nicest sightings were an early Great Northern Shrike and a late Squacco Heron. Some of us also had fleeting views of one or two Red Avadavats. Also, in a grove near our hotel, a few Red-billed Leiothrix.
The next morning the group was booked for a private tour of a fenced-off part of the Migliarino - San Rossore Regional Park, a mix of wooded and flooded areas. The vegetation here was especially amazing, but the birdlife somewhat elusive. Species of note were a Crested Tit, probably the highlight of the trip (at least for us), Firecrest, Hobby and Song Thrush. We searched in vain for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker but had instead Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker. Also quite a few Damselflies, apparently (according to Jos ) Winter Damselflies and more Fallow Deer.
Driving back towards home we stopped at the Diaccia Botrona Ramsar site near Grosseto, not going into the wetland itself but just driving around the surrounding fields, which can host several species of birds of prey, and in winter Cranes and Geese. Actually it was pretty dead, although we did see an Osprey and also added Crested Lark to the list.
We got up at 3am on the Saturday morning in order to meet the others at Marina di Vecchiano at 7am for a bit of seawatching. This wasn’t very productive, at least for the local standards (it is a well known spot for pelagic species), but we did have good views of Grey, Ringed and Kentish Plover along with a couple of Sanderlings. A few Swallows passed by heading south. Also Little Egrets, Grey Heron, Cormorants, Yellow-legged and Black-Headed Gulls, a poorly-looking juvenile Flamingo and a lone individual of Mediterranean Gull. Birds of prey were few: mostly Kestrels, a couple of Buzzards, a Sparrowhawk and a Hobby or two. But the most astonishing sight was a majestic male Fallow Deer going for a swim among the rolling waves until only its head was visible. We had good binocular and scope views, but unfortunately it was too far away for a photo or a video.
After a lunch of epic proportions we drove just inland to an area of fields criss-crossed by dirt tracks where the nicest sightings were an early Great Northern Shrike and a late Squacco Heron. Some of us also had fleeting views of one or two Red Avadavats. Also, in a grove near our hotel, a few Red-billed Leiothrix.
The next morning the group was booked for a private tour of a fenced-off part of the Migliarino - San Rossore Regional Park, a mix of wooded and flooded areas. The vegetation here was especially amazing, but the birdlife somewhat elusive. Species of note were a Crested Tit, probably the highlight of the trip (at least for us), Firecrest, Hobby and Song Thrush. We searched in vain for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker but had instead Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker. Also quite a few Damselflies, apparently (according to Jos ) Winter Damselflies and more Fallow Deer.
Driving back towards home we stopped at the Diaccia Botrona Ramsar site near Grosseto, not going into the wetland itself but just driving around the surrounding fields, which can host several species of birds of prey, and in winter Cranes and Geese. Actually it was pretty dead, although we did see an Osprey and also added Crested Lark to the list.