"Ciao" A Week in Italy. 9 Lifers and some very shy birds.

177. Nuthatch ( Picchio muratore )
178. Spotted Flycatcher ( Pigliamosche )
179. Black Kite ( Nibbio Bruno )
180. Great White Egret ( Airone bianco maggiore )
181. Hoopoe ( Upupa )
182. Eurasian Bee-eater ( Gruccione )
183. Roller ( Ghiandaia marina )
184. Cattle Egret ( Airone guardabuoi )
185. Golden Oriole ( Rigogolo )
186. Lesser Grey Shrike ( Averla Cenerina )
187. Yellow Wagtail ( Cutrettola )


Peregrine's Bird Facts: There are a total of 25 National Parks, 89 Regional Parks, 270 Regional Reserves, 142 State Reserves, 47 Marsh Reserves and 7 Marine Reserves in Italy.


Penny, Jeremy, Charlie and I drove to Dublin and took a cheap flight on Ryanair to Ciampino in Rome. My god it was hot when we decamped from the plane 39'C or 102 F. Quite a difference from the 14'C that we had just been experiencing in Ireland.On the way to the hire car centre I spotted my first bird in Italy, a Hooded Crow (Cornacchia grigia). It was in the sun with its wings spread and panting.I knew how it felt after walking only a few hundred yards!!! The only other birds were house Sparrows and they were everywhere.We picked up the Ford C-Max from Hertz and headed Northwards to Orvieto about an hour and a half from Rome on the main route that goes all the way upto Milan.

As I was unused to driving on the wrong side of the road I wasnt really looking very hard for Birds but did see one Buzzard (Poiana) like bird soaring over the motorway. My son at that moment said that there was a man tailgating me and gesticulating! I hadnt even noticed.

We finally arrived at the Villa which we were sharing with some friends Naimbh and Eugene and their four children.


It was a lovely situation on a hill overlooking Orvieto. This was the view.

The property was called La Grande Quercia The Big Oak. There were three very big oak trees in the garden as well as elm , lime, and pines. It also had a very nice pool
During the week we quite regularly had swallows drinking from it.

On arrival the owners had cooked us a delicious meal and immediately afterwards we all headed for the pool to cool down.

The next morning I was up at about 7.30 and went to see what Birds there were in the garden. The first thing I heard was Green Woodpecker(Picchio Verde) and during the week they were everywhere but I only saw one in flight. Sometimes I could hear them calling twenty yards away but still couldnt see anything. I also heard another bird which I had never heard before and it took me three days to actually catch sight of it. A Nuthatch (Picchio muratore) There must have been a family of them as they called all around the property. There were also a number of tits. Blue, Longtail, Coal and Great. (Cinciarella,Codibugnolo,Cincia moro, Cinciallegra)

Beside the pool there was two patches of Lavender which attracted alot of bees and a few Butterflies of which I photographed a few. I am none the wiser to what they are.




As this was a family holiday I didnt do as much birding as I would have liked. One morning I went to Alviano about 15kms south of Orvieto. I was looking for a WWF site I found little signs and went down various tracks and eventually ended up by a reservoir and dam. Infact it wasnt a very nice spot and smelled dreadful . However I did see my first Black Kite (Nibbio Bruno) and what I presumed to be a Yellow Wagtail (Cutrettola). In the distance I could see some Great Egret (Airone bianco maggiore), and a possible Purple Heron (Airone rosso). While I was there I heard a sound from a warbler that sounded almost like churring of a nightjar but not so loud and had no idea what it was. It wasn't until I was back in Belfast and talking to another birder about it that he suggested it might be a Savi's Warbler (Salciaiola). I went home and listened to one on my Ipod and that is exactly what it was. Listen here. Penny was at this stage getting fairly hot and bored and so we headed back to the villa. Fortunately as we were leaving I saw a couple of Turtle Dove ( Tortora) on the track. Such a pretty dove.

When we arrived back at the villa and I was parking the car I noticed this lizard on the wall. Infact they were everywhere and would scuttle off as you approached them.


I decided that on one day that we would kill two birds with one stone. (Metaphorically speaking!!!!!) We would drive to the coast and go and have lunch at Il Gambero Rosso a lovely fish restaurant in Porto Ercole.

We had been there about seven years ago and had one of the best meals we'd ever had. Then after lunch I would go to the WWF Nature Reserve on the Orbetello Lagoon.

Well that was the plan anyway!! We drove about 100km to Porto Ercole and stopped off at La Parrina a few miles short of the coast. It is a wonderful farm estate which has a great shop where you can buy Wine, Olive Oil, Cheese, Honey, Fruit and Vegatables. So we stocked up for the meal we were going to make in the evening. As well as buying two of their 5 litre wine in a box for 9 Euro, £6 or $12US very good value!!! After stocking up we parked in Porto Ercole to find to our dismay that the restaurant was closed on Wednesdays!!!! So we went and found a small cafe on the seafront . I have one word to describe it "Dreadful" My children ordered Lasagne and the proprietor went to the freezer pulled out a frozen Dolmio Lasagne he then proceeded to put it in microwave and served it to the children still in its plastic container. So now my mood was not at its best when we went to the Nature Reserve. After a few mistaken turnings I found it and pulled up alongside one of the buildings. Thank goodness for the air conditioning as it was about 38 C outside.

I had been really looking forward to coming to this site as it is a brackish lagoon connected to the Argentario promontary by a tiny isthmus which divides the lagoon into two main areas : the western laggoon with the WWF Nature Reserve and the eastern where unfortunately shooting is allowed.It has a checklist of over 300 species with at least 70 of them breeding.This site was in my guide "A Birdwatcher's Guide to Italy" what it failed to tell me was that most of the Italian reserves are closed June, July and August !!!!!!!

I was getting out of the car when Pietro Labate the Reserve Manager appeared
fortunately he spoke good English and told me that the Reserve was closed for maintenance and Fire risk. My day wasn't going very well. However he told me that I was about the fourth person in a couple of weeks who had turned up with this guide and he took its details to inform the publishers Lynx Edicions about the policy of closing the reserves in the summer months. He then said that one of the wardens Joseph Crisalli

would show me to one of the hides closeby.

My day was getting better. As soon as we were in the hide we could see some Cattle Egret (Airone guardabuoi) and he pointed out a male and female Golden Oriole(Rigogolo) with one young in the tops of some poplars about a hundred yards away. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a Hoopoe (Upupa) fly away. There was a little pond with a Little Grebe (Tuffetto) on it. I then saw an otter swimming across the pond or I thought it was and Joseph whose English was not very good said it wasn't it turned out to be a Coypu (I think)


I was then watching this bee flying right in front of the hide and suddenly this Eurasian Bee-eater ( Gruccione) swooped up and grabbed it. A great way to see one's first Bee-eater.

When we left the hide Joseph pointed out a European Roller ( Ghiandaia marina) and a Beeeater sitting on a telephone line as well as in the distance a pair of Lesser Grey Shrike (Averla Cenerina). So six new lifers in half an hour wasn't too bad. I would have liked to go to the actual lagoon itself but such is life.

I will be back. Unfortunately photographic opportunities were few and far between. One day I would like to live in Italy.

Arrivederci

Swallows in Donegal and a Spoonbill two miles away on the Quoile.

176 Storm Petrel

Peregrine's Bird Facts Female Swallows prefer males with long tails, as these show that he is well fed and strong since extra nutrients are required to grow a longer tail.

Last week I was up in Donegal at my parents for a couple of nights. My mother and I went for a drive out to Melmore Head and as we were going over Lough Salt Mountain she said that she often sees Common Sandpiper up on this Lough. No sooner had she said it and I swerved to a halt as there was one right beside the road.


While we were out walking she wondered whether her sheepdog "Beth" and the Swallows



on the farm had a symbiotic relationship. We have had a number of swallows that have nested in a barn on the farm for years and years.

Beth is a rescue dog that we have never been able to rehome successfully, mainly due to the fact that she has a penchant for chasing cattle.(My mother is the treasurer and one of the founders of Donegal Pet Rescue and at any one time we may have two or three dogs that have been picked up and need to be rehomed.) Beth has now been around for quite a few years and I doubt whether my mother would rehome her now.

Well Beth absolutely loves the swallows she gets so excited when they return from Africa each spring. So much so that my mother knows by the tone of Beth's bark that they are back before she even sees one. When they start nesting in the upstairs barn Beth races to the doorway and barks at them.


They then fly out of the barn and over to the field beside the barn. Beth bounds down the steps and clears the fence into the field before chasing the swallows.




This can go on for nearly an hour by which time the dog is thoroughly exhausted. The theory about the symbiosis is that as she is chasing the swallows one can quite often see three or four swallows flying after her and feeding on the flies and bugs she has disturbed. So the Swallows get fed and the dog gets exercised!!!

While I was up in Donegal I went out to Glenveigh to see if I could see the Golden Eagles but to no avail again!!!!!!!

Back from Donegal and there was a report of a Spoonbill dropping into WWT Castle Espie, presumably the same one that I saw about a month ago 20 miles south of me, so I went there but it had flown. However yesterday afternoon it had brightened up considerably and I decided to pop out to The Castle Island Hide on the Quoile River a couple of miles from me and I walked into the hide and there it was on an island fifty yards in front of the hide.It was fast asleep but fortunately a heron flew low over it and woke it up so I could get a reasonable photo.



The Quoile River has been an absolute disaster this year but more about that in a later post.

I am off to Umbria in Italy in a couple of days time along with my camera, binoculars and so hope to add to my list of birds. You will get a trip report eventually on my return.

Trip Report (Part 5): WWT London and 24 Hours in Berkshire and 6 Lifers!!

Peregrine's Birding Facts The Little Ringed Plover first bred in Britain in 1938

I left Minsmere and headed to London to stay the night with my best friend Jeremy Pollard and his wife and two children. I spent the bank holiday walking around the city which was great as no people around. The following morning I headed off to Barnes in West London where the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust (WWT) London Wetland Centre is situated - one of the largest created wetland reserves in a capital city in the world. I have to say I was enormously impressed. You just dont expect to find a place like this within a city as big as London. I walked around the site and saw my first Little Ringed Plover from the three story Peacock Tower. I had always wondered if I saw one whether I would be able to distinguish it from a Ringed Plover, but they are chalk and cheese the orange eye ring is very distinct indeed. I have a soft spot for the Little Ringed Plover because believe it or not if it hadn't been for one I wouldnt be in the job I am now!!! There was a report of one at the Belfast Harbour Reserve in May 2006 which I went to see and it had gone by the time I got there. Having dipped on it I went to get myself a coffeee in Belfast where I bumped into John Elliot the owner of Clements Cafe chain and he asked me if I would be interested in working for him.

After walking around the site I had a very good lunch in the Water's Edge Restaurant from their salad bar. Probably one of the better salad bars that I have been to. So a big thumbs upto the WWT catering at Barnes.

After lunch I headed out of London to Crowthorne in Berkshire. I was staying with Patrick Crowley and his wife Peggy. I first met Patrick when he contacted me earlier in the year through my blog about where to Bird in Northern Ireland over a weekend. He came over with a group from the Wokingham and Bracknell RSPB Group. The story of their visit is here.

After dinner we headed out to a nearby wood where we met up with Ken White, Anna Hawkins and Trisha Frith all members of the local RSPB group and all had visited Northern Ireland. We were there ostensibly to see if we could hear and possibly see a Nightjar a bird I had never seen. The first thing we came across was a pair of Hobby calling to each other you can hear it here They were flying to a clump of trees in which they were nesting. Hobbies tend to nest in old crows nests. We then heard the distinct sound of the Nightjar churring away. Then another sounded in the distance; we headed towards it and were really close to the sound but couldn't see it. It was by now getting darker and darker and was threatening to rain. Then one flew over the ride we were standing on, it had the very distinct white bars at the end of its wings denoting that it was a male. He flew to a tree and then out of site. However he kept reappearing and at one point flew low over our heads, making a sort of clapping sound with its wings. Absolutely Brilliant. This with the Hobbies really made my day. I am really looking forward to seeing one again and I will be taking midge repellant with me the next time!!

The next morning Patrick and I headed to the woods behind the "Royal Military Academy Sandhurst" RMAS (Where Prince William and Harry recently passed out of as officers as did my father 55 years ago and where I failed to get into 25 years ago). We were here to see the Dartford Warbler another bird I hadn't seen before. The area is Lowland Heath a now fast disappearing form of countryside due to property development.( J E !!) The first thing that Patrick heard was a a Tree Pipit and then we saw it another lifer.Unfortunately not close enough for good photos. Then we made our way to an area where Patrick thought the Dartford Warbler might be. It wasnt long before this this little beauty popped up and sang away.



So far four new lifers in twelve hours. On the way off the heath we heard and saw a Blackcap. Then we went to Swinley Woods, It is owned and managed by the Crown Estate and comprises over 2600 acres of woodland across gently undulating hills. Although now mostly a modern plantation of Scots Pines, the area was once part of Windsor Forest. It was here that we hoped to see a Firecrest. No Luck even though I would say I could hear them.

Then we drove to some lakes where we were looking for a Nightingale.As we walked around the lake we heard a Garden Warbler singing alongside us in a tree where I was able to get a reasonable shot. They are your classic LBJ (Little Brown Job) in fact the main distinguishing feature of this warbler is that they don't have any!


In the far distance we saw a Kite coming towards us but it veered away which was a shame as I hoped to get a shot of one on my trip. Not that much further along the path was a Nightingale singing. It has to be one of the sweetest sounds a bird can make. They are very good at hiding in the deepest part of the bush and so I was quite lucky to get a photo even if it was facing away from me.


After successfully seeing these two birds we headed towards the Thames just above Henley. On the way we suddenly found four Kites thirty feet above us in the middle of a village. We stopped and I managed to get a few shots. They had wing tags on .



Patrick later found out that the Kite with the yellow 2 wingtag had been tagged in the Chilterns in 1999. You can look at the site regarding them here UK Red Kite Reintroduction Programme

We arrived at a Pub near the Thames and before we had lunch went for a walk alongside it. We saw another Kite and we also some Ring Necked Parakeets which were making a racket. They are Great Britain's only naturalised parrot. Despite large numbers of parakeets living in the wild for a long time, they only started to breed in 1969 in Kent, south-east of London. since then the population has steadily increased and currently numbers over 4,500 birds.
There was also a recent hatch of mayfly and as I like to photograph birds in flight I thought I ought to try a Mayfly in flight!!


After a good pub lunch we headed back to Crowthorne and I said my goodbyes and headed onto my in-laws in North Dorset.

Patrick and Peggy thank you very much for putting me up and driving me around it was a brilliant 24 hours.

Trip Report (Part 4): RSPB Minsmere

Peregrine's Birding Facts Marsh Harriers do not breed until their third summer.

I left Norfolk at around lunchtime and headed over to RSPB Lakenheath Fen. This is a remarkable site in that ten years previously it was a carrot field and now it is a wetland area with reedbeds and Poplar plantations. The plantations have a breeding population of Golden Oriole's one of only a few sites where this occurs in the UK. They hadnt arrived yet which was a shame but not too worry the reed beds were teeming with Sedge and Reed Warblers.



I also saw my first Hobby which was very exciting it was some way off though. The previous day there had been a passage of them going through Lakenheath because forty were counted!!! There was also a cuckoo calling from one of the poplar plantations and I could see it through my telescope but couldnt get a decent photograph.I approached it and it flew off just as I was setting up underneath it. :-(

Having walked around the reserve I left Lakenheath and headed to Minsmere where I have wanted to visit for a long time. Fortunately my Uncle lives within a ten minute drive from it. I have to say having driven around quite alot of England I found the signage to the RSPB reserves very poor. I had decided to spend a couple of hours at Minsmere in the late afternoon before turning up at my uncles house and then spending the whole of the following day there.

Minsmere is probably the most famous of the Royal Society for Protection of Birds' reserves. It had just celebrated its 50th anniversary celebrations. It pioneered the use of observation hides and management of wetland areas to allow visitors to see some of the huge range of birds that pass along the Suffolk coast. They have so far recorded 328 speies of bird and with about 230 seen annually (55 more than my list so far this year) Also if you are into Moths and Butterflies it is a spectacular place to go with 33 species of butterfly recorded and over a thousand moths. It has a variety of different habitats ranging from freshwater reedbed, heathland, dunes, salt lagoons and vegetated shingle.

I arrived at the visitor centre and picked up a sheet of latest sightings and then headed towards the sea where I immediately heard and then saw a Whitethroat

The one thing that I observed was that there were some serious photographers here with enormous lenses!! I met this guy Steve Morgan who had a very nice Canon 600mm lens attached to his Canon 1Ds his website is here.

On my way down to the shore I had five firsts. I heard my first Cetti's Warbler, I heard my first Nightingale, I heard and saw my first Turtle Dove, I saw my first Little Tern and I saw a Black Tailed Godwit in display flight which was pointed out to me by Adam Rowlands who works at Minsmere.


By now I thought I had better go and see my uncle so headed back to car and to his house in nearby Sibton. He wasn,t there!!! My phone was out of charge so I drove into the village and called my sister from a payphone to see if she could call him. No reply!! So I thought well I will head back to his house and wait for a while. On my way back I saw a Little Owl on the telegraph wires another year tick.My mood increased on seeing it. By ten o'clock the outside temperature had fallen to four degrees and I decided to wrap myself up and go to sleep in the car. 11pm some lights came up the drive and I was mightily relieved to see my uncle.

The following morning I headed back to Minsmere where I was determined to see a Bittern. I had been told they may be in front of the Island Mere Hide so I walked down there . On the way I saw a Chiff Chaff which was singing away.

I also saw a Muntjac Deer not something I would see in Ireland.


I arrived at the hide and was listening intently for a Bittern, even though I had never heard one before. They are unmistakeable when you do hear them.They sound like this. I was then very quietly trying to imitate them when I heard a couple at the other end of the hide say "Did you hear that Darling" I looked out of the hide and kept quiet from then on!!! Unfortunately I never got to see a Bittern but I did see a Hobby flying quite close by and I managed to get some poorish images.

Wow! they are a fantastic bird chasing after the dragonflies; so agile. One minute they are high in the sky before diving down at breakneck speed over the reed beds catching their prey and then feeding themselves in mid air. They were definately my bird of the reserve.

There was also a lot of activity with the Marsh Harriers feeding and displaying.





From the Island Mere hide you get a very good view of Sizewell A (The Nuclear Power Station)on the Suffolk coast. It is an operational twin reactor Magnox power station, generating 440 MW of electricity. On a typical day, the station supplies more than 10 million kWh of electricity - enough to serve the energy needs of a third of East Anglia.


I am of the view that Nuclear is the way forward as far as electricity generation goes. Windpower is a waste of time and money for its efficiency and the fact they are bad for the wellbeing of birds and are generally an eyesore. Fossil fuels are running out so I think the nuclear option is the way to go!!

Sorry I digress back to Minsmere where my other highlights of the visit were the Mediterranean gulls on the scrapes and the very confiding Water Vole.By this time the weather was very threatening and with pretty bad light I didnt get any more shots.

So after one visit I cannot wait to return and hopefully actually get to see a Bittern.

A New Northern Ireland Tick and an Invitation from the British Library

Peregrine's Birding Facts: The Common Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) is one of 6 species and the most widespread species, which occurs in the northeast of Africa and much of Europe and Asia across to Japan.


I thought I would post a bit of home news before I continue with my trip report. Last week I had a text from Derek Charles at 8.36pm to say a Spoonbill had been found by Andrew Corry and was at Dundrum Inner Bay so mid meal I headed off to see it. As my bed time is 9.30 due to getting up at ten to two every morning I wasnt leaving much time to see it. Dundrum is about twelve miles away. I got there double quick time got out of my car and the first bird I looked at was the Spoonbill. It was in the middle of the bay and quite far away. I watched it for a while with its bill scything back and forward across the waters surface before deciding to go round to the other side of the bay to get better photographs. On my way there I stopped at a layby where Andrew and a couple of other birders were watching it from. I left them cursing the fact that I didnt bring my extender with me so was only shooting at 500mm. This photo is fairly heavily cropped.


The last Spoonbill was spotted on the Quoile about three years ago when I was in New Zealand so I dipped on that one. However I did see a Royal Spoonbill (Platalea Regia)
while I was there so I have only four species to go!

My other news is the invitation from the British Library to have my blog archived.

Dear Peregrine Craig Nash,

Peregrine's Bird Blog: http://www.peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com


The British Library is building a collection of blogs. This collection will form part of the UK Web Archiving Consortium (UKWAC) initiative to archive websites of research interest. Please visit www.webarchive.org.uk if you wish to see the current online archive which is publicly accessible.


We would like to invite you to have your site included in this important collection for Internet research. We will be selecting some 150 key sites to form the basis of the blog’s collection until August 2007 but archiving will continue into the future. To carry out this archiving we need you to sign the Licence document.


If you are happy for your site to be included in this Web archive please complete the attached copyright licence form and return it to the address given below. If there are any other of your sites which you would like to be considered for archiving, and you are able to sign a licence document for them please make additional copies of the licence document. For more information about Copyright, the UK Web Archiving Consortium and how your archived web site will be made available please see the attached Further Information & FAQ document.


Alternatively, if you require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Best regards,


Leila Medjkoune
Web Archiving

pp. Alison Hill
Curator, Web Archiving
Modern British Collections
The British Library
96 Euston Road
London
NW1 2DB
Tel: +44 (0)20 7412 7623

So I am pretty happy about that. As I said to my children if someone is interested enough they can read my blog a hundred years hence!!!

The only other news is that I have bought the BWP Concise Volume 1 Original Plate 158 of Black Grouse by Peter Hayman from NHBS Environment Store. The NHBS were having a sale and I bought it for seventy pounds a bargain I think.It is really nice and I am in awe of illustrators who can paint eight different illustrations on a piece of card without making mistakes.



I will be getting my sister to frame it.