BIRDGUIDE.IT
Your birdwatching guide to Italy and nearby countries
CENTRAL ITALY
Rock Partridge and Levantine Shearwater in April 2006
by Richard Bonser
richbonser8181@hotmail.com
I was in Italy over the last weekend 8th - 9th April 2006 and succeeded in seeing a couple of Rock Partridges at Parco Regionale Sirente Velino, Abruzzo on the 8th with both Alpine Chough and Red-billed Chough here. On 9th April, as you suggested, we visited Circeo NP and it was brilliant - I was most impressed with Italy as a birding destination and it is a well kept secret. With warm weather and southerly winds, there were lots of migrants in a small wood by a marshy area between Paola Lake and Caprolace Lake - in a couple of hours we saw 2 Collared Flycatchers (a male and a female), a male Pied Flycatcher, a Wood Warbler, a male Redstart, a male 'black-throated' Black-eared Wheatear, 5+ Subalpine Warblers (ssp. ? but possibly moltonii due to their underpart colouration and song?). On the sea, off the NP we saw lots of Scopoli's Shearwaters and 5 Yelkouan Shearwaters. What an excellent weekend's birding and thank you very much for your suggestions.
Other Trips to Italy by BirdTours.co.uk