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Message: <blockquote data-quote="3Italianbirders" data-source="post: 3547574" data-attributes="member: 116922">We spent 3 and a half fantastic days birding on the southeastern tip of Italy for the annual meeting of EBN, Italy’s largest birding organisation. This is prime time to witness the migration of Harriers, plus passerines and everything else that the winds may throw at you. We had two main target species: Pallid Harrier and Isabelline Wheatear.We set off at 4am and 45 minutes later a Barn Owl crossed the road in front of us. We took this to be a good omen for the rest of the trip. We arrived at our lodgings near Otranto around 1pm and contacted the participants who were already there. En route to joining them at a spot along the coast we saw a flash of white, did a u turn, stopped by the side of the road while passing cars honked at us, looked at it again and saw a male Pallid Harrier! Marsh Harriers and swallows swerved wildly in the wind, while Crested Larks, Corn Buntings and Wheatears were everywhere. We joined our friends and drove around the local roads, stopping in three different places, one along the coast and two inland. At sea it was full of Cory’s Shearwaters, while just one Mediterranean Shearwater was observed. Also several Audouin’s Gulls among the Yellow-legged Gulls. The biggest surprise came from 3 Loggerhead Sea Turtles swimming close to the cliffs! We soon realised that the Pallid Harrier we had seen before was one of many. In fact this is one of the best places to witness the Harriers’ migration (all 4 species), but it was a bit early for the Monty’s, so it was mainly Pallids, Hens and Marshes. Altogether we saw around 15 Pallid Harriers in one afternoon, with  a few Hen Harriers and many Marsh Harriers.We also saw a Black Stork in the distance, a Sparrowhawk, a Buzzard, some Kestrels, and a Black Redstart. Before dinner we realised that the fields around our “agriturismo” (farm stay) held a harriers’ roost with several individuals present. There were also at least two Scops’ Owls calling from trees inside the property.The next day it was less windy, which was bad for birds of prey but good for passerines, but anyway we started off with a stop at the roost, which besides the harriers had one splendid (and HUGE) Peregrine, possibly a calidus given the size, the light-coloured upper parts and the thin moustachial stripe. Along the coastal road a male Lesser Kestrel, an Hoopoe, Calandra Larks, a single House Martin among the Swallows and a bonus: a Great Spotted Cuckoo.Another spot held the second target species of the trip: Isabelline Wheatear, seen at some distance but in good light, and also Rock Thrush, Blue Rock Thrush, Short-toed Lark and Black-eared Wheatear. Not bad at all. Off the coast, more Shearwaters and some Sandwich Terns.The following morning we got an early text from some fellow EBN members who were watching a Dotterel at the edge of a cliff on the coastal road. We joined them in 15 minutes (stopping on the way for a Little Owl) and there it was: a Dotterel! Who would have thought? Flying overhead groups of Alpine Swifts. In the afternoon, just inland from the Dotterel site, the same area held Sardinian Warbler, Subalpine Warbler and Spectacled Warbler. Also a distant Lesser Whitethroat. A Stone Curlew flew into the adjoining field and more Alpine Swifts, with Common and Pallid Swifts, flew past.On the Sunday there were few highlights, but we saw a new raptor species for the trip: Black Kite, plus more Great Spotted Cuckoos, Lesser Kestrels and Black-eared Wheatears.The last highlight of the trip came on the Monday morning as we were already heading home along the aforementioned coastal road: on a bush swept by the furious wind we saw the first Woodchat Shrike of the year.</blockquote>

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