Corsica advice, September. (1 Viewer)

Hi,

I'm away for a week in Corsica and could do with some extra info. I'm staying in the north-west region near Calvi. Firstly, I was wondering if Corsica gets a decent Autumn migration? I've seen quite a lot about the spring migration, but hardly anything about autumn.

I've seen Haut Asco, and the Asco Valley are quite good for Lammergeier, Golden Eagle, and Nuthatch, and they are relatively close, so I'll be giving that a try. So can anyone give any other tips on where to go, or what to look out for?

Many thanks,

Tom

Can't really help with the migration question - I was there in early October a couple of years ago and did not see much evidence of migration.

I had Corsican Nuthatch at the Col de Bavella but that is probably too far south for you; beware of the distances on the island, the roads are often narrow & winding and journeys can take longer than expected but the scenery is always interesting and often spectacular. If you are in the Corte area for the Asco Valley I also had good sightings of the nuthatch on the Col de Sorba.

I failed to find any Corsican Finch but others have seen them at Col de Vergio. If you can find the report using the search function I believe a BF member called pratincol found them in the Belgodorre area although I am not sure where that is - perhaps you could send him a PM.

If you are any where near Bastia then a visit to Etang Biguglia should be able to provide some birding.

For a site guide I used 'A Birdwatching Guide to France South of the Loire including Corsica' by J. Crozier (Arlequin Press). Not specific to the island so the information in the Corsica chapter is a bit brief but enough to get you to the key sites.

foresttwitcher said:

Can't really help with the migration question - I was there in early October a couple of years ago and did not see much evidence of migration.

I had Corsican Nuthatch at the Col de Bavella but that is probably too far south for you; beware of the distances on the island, the roads are often narrow & winding and journeys can take longer than expected but the scenery is always interesting and often spectacular. If you are in the Corte area for the Asco Valley I also had good sightings of the nuthatch on the Col de Sorba.

I failed to find any Corsican Finch but others have seen them at Col de Vergio. If you can find the report using the search function I believe a BF member called pratincol found them in the Belgodorre area although I am not sure where that is - perhaps you could send him a PM.

If you are any where near Bastia then a visit to Etang Biguglia should be able to provide some birding.

For a site guide I used 'A Birdwatching Guide to France South of the Loire including Corsica' by J. Crozier (Arlequin Press). Not specific to the island so the information in the Corsica chapter is a bit brief but enough to get you to the key sites.

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Thanks for the reply, unfortunately by the time I got it I was already on the first part of my holiday in Spain, so I couldn’t get the book.

It turns out I didn’t get to do too much birding whilst I was there anyway. I had used up most of my allotted early morning starts with my girlfriend whilst in Spain! So I had to chill out more in Corsica. I soon found out if you’re not up early, you see almost nothing. I think on one late morning - afternoon walk around coastal maquis I had 3 birds in total, over about 5 hours.

I did manage to go to the Etang De Biguglia, and picked up a few species despite it being very windy, and having to dodge human excrement every few yards! It genuinely was disgusting. I believe Etang de Biguglia translates to “Giant public Toilet” in English.

I also made the trip up to Haut Asco, the drive was much longer than the sat nav predicted, and was a narrow windy road. But when we evetually got there I had the Nuthatch immediately which was great, for about 20secs, and then didn’t see it again throughout the stay. I missed out on the Lammergeier there, but had a Golden Eagle as a consolation.

I too managed to miss out on the Corsican Finch, but I will go back one day and find it!

Thanks again,

Tom