This year we went for what our daughter called an “almost normal” holiday 
. We had had a very busy spring and didn’t want to drive thousands of kilometres like we did in Spain last year and in Scotland two years ago, nor could we face the hassle of flying - renting a car etc. We opted instead for a re-run of our very successful 2010 holiday in Corsica, adding a few days on the island of San Pietro, off the south-western tip of Sardinia, where there is a LIPU reserve with a large colony of Eleonora’s Falcons.
We booked ferries from the mainland (Civitavecchia) to Olbia in Sardinia, then from Santa Teresa to Bonifacio in Corsica and the return trip from Bastia to Livorno. We also booked B&B accommodation in Sardinia and a self-catering AirBnB in Corte, where we were based for our week in Corsica. We also had to spend one night in Bonifacio (avoid if you can, as it’s very hard to find anything under €200 - breakfast NOT included!), and used the Hotel des Etrangers, minimal but functional ensuite rooms at reasonable prices (breakfast € 8 per person though). The setting is stunning though with the added bonus of Alpine Swifts above the old town.
I won’t do a day to day account of the trip as I normally do as we didn’t have any real targets and devoted a few days to relaxing, cruising around and birding on the side, so I’ll just summarise the main highlights of the trip.
Of course mid-June can already be very hot thus generally not very good for birdlife, also as I said we didn’t have any real targets apart from trying for better views of Marmora’s warbler than we had had during a previous trip to Sardinia many years ago. We also hoped for Storm Petrel during the crossing from Sardinia to Corsica, but weren’t lucky. San Pietro didn’t disappoint, while Corsica was busier and hotter than we remembered and birds more difficult to see.
We dipped on Barbary Partridge, Lammergeier (apart from a brief glimpse), the above mentioned Storm Petrel, Audouin’s Gull and Rock Sparrow, but we didn’t really try hard except for the Lammy.
The ferry crossings provided good views of both species of Shearwaters, Yelkouan and Scopoli’s, the usual Yellow-legged Gulls and little else, apart from lots of Common Terns as we sailed into Olbia on the first day and a lone Little Tern as we docked at Livorno. Yelkouans were particularly plentiful on the Sardinia-Corsica crossing.
On San Pietro island we were shown around the reserve by Luciano, the guy who runs it, who also gave us tips for seeing other stuff around the island. The cliffs are breathtaking and apart from Eleonora’s Falcons, they host Ravens, a few pairs of Peregrines, Crag Martins, Alpine Swifts, Rock Doves, Blue Rock Thrush, Shags, and Flycatchers and Sardinian Warblers in the surrounding maquis.
We spent the best part of our evenings on the viewing terrace below the lighthouse and were rewarded with excellent views of the falcons and also stuff out at sea, such as Yelkouan and Scopoli’s Shearwaters - no whales alas. Gianni also saw an Osprey here.
We also had fun on a very windy day at the northernmost tip of the island, where the “tonnara” (tuna-processing place) used to be. Shearwaters and Shags were very close and we also saw three Kentish Plovers.
The saltpans just south of Carloforte were pretty good, considering the time of the year, with Flamingoes, Slender-billed Gulls, Terns, Shelducks, Kentish Plover, and breeding Avocets and Stilts. There should also be a small colony of Audouin’s Gulls, but we dipped on those (we really didn’t try).
. We had had a very busy spring and didn’t want to drive thousands of kilometres like we did in Spain last year and in Scotland two years ago, nor could we face the hassle of flying - renting a car etc. We opted instead for a re-run of our very successful 2010 holiday in Corsica, adding a few days on the island of San Pietro, off the south-western tip of Sardinia, where there is a LIPU reserve with a large colony of Eleonora’s Falcons.We booked ferries from the mainland (Civitavecchia) to Olbia in Sardinia, then from Santa Teresa to Bonifacio in Corsica and the return trip from Bastia to Livorno. We also booked B&B accommodation in Sardinia and a self-catering AirBnB in Corte, where we were based for our week in Corsica. We also had to spend one night in Bonifacio (avoid if you can, as it’s very hard to find anything under €200 - breakfast NOT included!), and used the Hotel des Etrangers, minimal but functional ensuite rooms at reasonable prices (breakfast € 8 per person though). The setting is stunning though with the added bonus of Alpine Swifts above the old town.
I won’t do a day to day account of the trip as I normally do as we didn’t have any real targets and devoted a few days to relaxing, cruising around and birding on the side, so I’ll just summarise the main highlights of the trip.
Of course mid-June can already be very hot thus generally not very good for birdlife, also as I said we didn’t have any real targets apart from trying for better views of Marmora’s warbler than we had had during a previous trip to Sardinia many years ago. We also hoped for Storm Petrel during the crossing from Sardinia to Corsica, but weren’t lucky. San Pietro didn’t disappoint, while Corsica was busier and hotter than we remembered and birds more difficult to see.
We dipped on Barbary Partridge, Lammergeier (apart from a brief glimpse), the above mentioned Storm Petrel, Audouin’s Gull and Rock Sparrow, but we didn’t really try hard except for the Lammy.
The ferry crossings provided good views of both species of Shearwaters, Yelkouan and Scopoli’s, the usual Yellow-legged Gulls and little else, apart from lots of Common Terns as we sailed into Olbia on the first day and a lone Little Tern as we docked at Livorno. Yelkouans were particularly plentiful on the Sardinia-Corsica crossing.
On San Pietro island we were shown around the reserve by Luciano, the guy who runs it, who also gave us tips for seeing other stuff around the island. The cliffs are breathtaking and apart from Eleonora’s Falcons, they host Ravens, a few pairs of Peregrines, Crag Martins, Alpine Swifts, Rock Doves, Blue Rock Thrush, Shags, and Flycatchers and Sardinian Warblers in the surrounding maquis.
We spent the best part of our evenings on the viewing terrace below the lighthouse and were rewarded with excellent views of the falcons and also stuff out at sea, such as Yelkouan and Scopoli’s Shearwaters - no whales alas. Gianni also saw an Osprey here.
We also had fun on a very windy day at the northernmost tip of the island, where the “tonnara” (tuna-processing place) used to be. Shearwaters and Shags were very close and we also saw three Kentish Plovers.
The saltpans just south of Carloforte were pretty good, considering the time of the year, with Flamingoes, Slender-billed Gulls, Terns, Shelducks, Kentish Plover, and breeding Avocets and Stilts. There should also be a small colony of Audouin’s Gulls, but we dipped on those (we really didn’t try).
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