(As I write this I can hear the first cuckoo of the season (at least for me), singing in the bit of woodland behind the kitchen.)
A couple of hours of family birding in our local patch (Val d'Orcia, southern Tuscany) on a blustery Sunday afternoon proved unexpectedly eventful. G had already seen the Lanners in one of their usual sites, 4-5 Montagu's Harriers, the first Whinchat of the season and a couple of Lesser Kestrels in the morning. We had family commitments just after lunch, but with the days being much longer we still had over a couple of hours before dinner after that.
We first headed to a Montagu's Harriers site and were immediately rewarded by close views of a melanic female, which we had already seen around the nesting site at the beginning of last spring but had disappeared after a couple of weeks. She was soon joined by an adult male and they both delighted us for some time with their acrobatic display flights.
At another site, a few kms. away as the crow flies, we saw another male and another melanic female. At first we thought that it must be the same one (how many chances of two melanic harriers so close to each other?), but the first one had a white patch on the back which the second one, although further away didn't seem to have.
Another few kms. brought us to a well-travelled road along which in April and May it is not difficult to see Lesser Kestrels and Red-footed Falcons. Sure enough we immediately spotted 4-5 Lesser Kestrels (3-4 females and a couple of males) feeding on a nearby field by a track that leads off the main road. After about 20 minutes we realised that a group of 6-7 Red-footed Falcons (mostly adult males and a couple of females) had joined the LKs. Before they flew off into the blue we counted 13 or 14 falcons altogether. Meanwhile there was a Buzzard in the distance and a female Marsh Harrier flew past.
We then drove to another spot along a disused road where we usually see Rollers (too early) and screeched to a halt when G spotted a "Wheatear! No! Black-eared Wheatear!". And it was: hanging on to a bush for dear life, as by then the wind had picked up and was sweeping through the valley. Lovely bird.
We returned home with the only regret of not having seen one single Short-toed Eagle: they seem to be scarce this year. Has anyone had the same feeling?
A fantastic way of spending a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon!
Here's a couple pf pics:
A couple of hours of family birding in our local patch (Val d'Orcia, southern Tuscany) on a blustery Sunday afternoon proved unexpectedly eventful. G had already seen the Lanners in one of their usual sites, 4-5 Montagu's Harriers, the first Whinchat of the season and a couple of Lesser Kestrels in the morning. We had family commitments just after lunch, but with the days being much longer we still had over a couple of hours before dinner after that.
We first headed to a Montagu's Harriers site and were immediately rewarded by close views of a melanic female, which we had already seen around the nesting site at the beginning of last spring but had disappeared after a couple of weeks. She was soon joined by an adult male and they both delighted us for some time with their acrobatic display flights.
At another site, a few kms. away as the crow flies, we saw another male and another melanic female. At first we thought that it must be the same one (how many chances of two melanic harriers so close to each other?), but the first one had a white patch on the back which the second one, although further away didn't seem to have.
Another few kms. brought us to a well-travelled road along which in April and May it is not difficult to see Lesser Kestrels and Red-footed Falcons. Sure enough we immediately spotted 4-5 Lesser Kestrels (3-4 females and a couple of males) feeding on a nearby field by a track that leads off the main road. After about 20 minutes we realised that a group of 6-7 Red-footed Falcons (mostly adult males and a couple of females) had joined the LKs. Before they flew off into the blue we counted 13 or 14 falcons altogether. Meanwhile there was a Buzzard in the distance and a female Marsh Harrier flew past.
We then drove to another spot along a disused road where we usually see Rollers (too early) and screeched to a halt when G spotted a "Wheatear! No! Black-eared Wheatear!". And it was: hanging on to a bush for dear life, as by then the wind had picked up and was sweeping through the valley. Lovely bird.
We returned home with the only regret of not having seen one single Short-toed Eagle: they seem to be scarce this year. Has anyone had the same feeling?
A fantastic way of spending a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon!
Here's a couple pf pics:
