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Italy Trip Report, June-July, 2001,

I spent three weeks in Italy with Ellen and the kids this past month. While I was primarily in Italy for a family trip, I could not resist the temptation to explore the birds of the region while I was there.

I knew that Italy is not the best place for birding in Europe, and while my total count was low (68 species seen) I did manage to see some truly beautiful birds. As always, the process of birding added greatly to the experience of being in another country.

In Rome we stayed at the Aurelia Residence, near the Vatican. This is far enough away from the center of town that we had a few birds in the small garden in back of our apartment, including EURASIAN BLACKBIRD, CARRION (HOODED) CROWS, EUROPEAN ROBIN, and EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH. COMMON SWIFTS wheeled overhead from the rooftop garden.  Forget trying to pick up a Palid Swift or Alpine Swift amongst their ranks, I heard from several sources that one must travel to the coast to see these species.  I saw EURASIAN KESTRAL several times in Rome, including one screaming from the top of the Coliseum. I did spend one morning birding at the Villa Borghese, and had my best luck along the weedy border of the hippodrome at the south edge of the park. Here I was able to pish out BLUE TIT, FIRECREST, and SERIN.  The other bird of note in Rome was a singing BLACKCAP on the Spanish Steps, it just goes to show that you never know where things will turn up.

Prior to my trip, I had attempted to contact local birders with the kind assistance Luciano Ruggieri of the Birding Italia web page (http://www.ebnitalia.it/). Luciano provided me with several local contacts in Rome, and I eventually made arrangements to go out with Roberto Gildi and Richard Wagner. Roberto lives in Rome and runs a bookstore there, Richard is an American schoolteacher who is teaching in Rome on a two year contract. The day that Ellen and I spent with Roberto and Richard proved to be the best day birding by far, and a highlight of the trip. Roberto drove our rental car out to the hills around Tolfa, about 1.5 hour's drive northwest of Rome. We started by finding numerous BLACK KITE, EURASIAN KESTRAL, CRESTED LARK and TAWNY PIPIT in the stony fields, then found a pair of MONTAGU'S HARRIER, a single HOBBY and EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK, along with EUROPEAN TURTLE-DOVE, STONECHAT, WOODCHAT SHRIKE, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, ZITTING CISTICOLA, CALANDRA LARK, and CORN BUNTING. We then headed to an abandoned railroad bridge over a stream, where we found nesting EUROPEAN ROLLERS, soaring SHORT-TOED EAGLES and a pair of EUROPEAN BEE-EATERS. Driving on rutted dirt roads to the hills overlooking the Mediterranean, we found a beautiful RED KITE soaring in full sun, along with RED-BACKED SHRIKE,  WOOD LARK, MELODIUS WARBLER, CIRL BUNTING, and a HOOPOE. We had a wonderful dinner in the town of Tolfa, and topped the day with a TAWNY OWL on the way back home. Roberto was a great guide and host, and despite his protests about his poor English we did very well.

Venice, out next stop, was predictably sparse in terms of birds. This was the only spot on the trip for MEDITERANEAN GULL, however.

A week at Casa Vecchia, a villa in Tuscany 40 minutes south of Florence, provided a welcome relief from the fast pace of Rome and Venice.  By walking the grounds of the villa, and on several trips into nearby San Casciano, I added COMMON WOOD-PIGEON, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, COMMON CUCKOO, SPOTTED FLYCATHCER, COLLARED FLYCATCHCER, COMMON NIGHTINGALE, COMMON REDSTART, CHAFFINCH, and EUROPEAN GREENFINCH to the trip list. HOOPOE are regular in their garden as well, much to my delight. On the bus to and from Florence, NIGHT HERON and GREY HERON were both in evidence, as well as a LITTLE OWL that perched up in the bus' headlights one evening.

Our trip ended in Roccalbegna, a hamlet in the hills of southern Tuscany. We were hosted by Riccardo Nardi, who works for the World Wildlife Fund and put us up in a small house in town owned by that organization. The afternoon of our arrival Riccardo took us to the reserve that the WWF owns near town, where we found PEREGRINE FALCON along with nesting EUROPEAN HONEY-BUZZARD. Riccardo knows more than birds, and he showed us roosting bats, newt ponds, porcupine quills and trails, wild boar dust baths, and a 12 meter tower in the forest that they use for observation. He also showed us the cave where the WWF is attempting to re-establish Egyptian Vultures into Tuscany. Riccardo is a member of the team that will climb a ladder up the rock face to feed the young vultures before they fledge. That evening we sipped wine in his garden, admired a young Little Owl that he is nursing back to health, and viewed the LANNER FALCON that nest in the rocks overlooking Roccalbegan with his Swarovski scope (my kind of birding!).

The next day Riccardo had a prior commitment with a group tour to the reserve. He did loan me his car and the guiding services of Filipo, an very pleasant young man connected with the reserve. Our enthusiasm was dampened by communication difficulties; he spoke very little English, I speak no Italian, and without Ellen along to interpret we spent a lot of time smiling and shrugging at each other. Eventually we determined that he knew some French, so I reached back to my high school French and we managed for the rest of the morning. We added GREAT TIT to the trip list and I had a great view of BLUE ROCK-THRUSH, along with an impressive stoop by EURASIAN HONEY-BUZZARD.

The drive from Roccalbegna back to Rome for our departure did yield a view of several more EUROPEAN BEE-EATERS, and a GREAT EGRET outside of Grossetto.

Please feel free to contact me for more details or if you have any questions.

Jack Stephens-jstephens62@home.com

Birding tips

1.      The birds of Italy are fearful. They have been hunted for centuries; Galileo had a taste for Ortolan Bunting for example. You will often get only fleeting views of the birds you find.

2.      Learning the call of common birds will be a great help. Blackcap, Serin, Chaffinch and Blackbird would be a good start, the last three have links with sound files on the following web page: http://www.instnat.be/Soorten/Broedvogels/atlas/Engels/distribution.htm

3.      Italian birders often refer to birds by their scientific name. This makes communication easier if there is a language barrier.

4.      Roberto Gildi has kindly agreed to guide birders visiting Rome, as long as they make allowances for his English. He can be reached at rotogildi@tiscalinet.it.

5.      To reach Riccardo Nardi in Roccalbegna, e-mail riccardonardi@interfree.it.

6.      Don't leave your binoculars behind while visiting the tourist sights of Italy. You will see details in art and architecture that others will miss if you bring them along.

SPECIES SEEN
 in Italy ~ 68 seen

DUCKS, SWANS, GEESE
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) - Rome

HERONS, EGRETS AND BITTERNS
Gray Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Road from Florence to San Casciano
Great Egret (Ardea alba) - Road from Grossetto to Rome
Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) - Florence

HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES
European Honey-buzzard (Pernis apivorus) - Tolfa,Roccalbegna
Red Kite (Milvus milvus) - Tolfa
Black Kite  (Milvus migrans) - Tolfa
Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) - Tolfa
Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus)  Tolfa
Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) - Tolfa
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) - Tolfa, Casa Vecchia

FALCONS AND CARACARAS
Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) - Rome, Tolfa, Roccalbegna
Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo) - Tolfa
Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus) - Roccalbegna
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) - Roccalbegna

PHEASANTS, GROUSE, QUAIL AND TURKEYS
Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) - Casa Vecchia

GULLS AND TERNS
Yellow-legged Gull (Larus cachinnans) - Rome, Venice
Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus) - Venice

PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Dove (Columba livia) - All locations
Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus) - Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna
European Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia turtur) - Tolfa, Roccalbegna
Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) - Casa Vecchia

OLD WORLD CUCKOOS
Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) - Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna

OWLS
Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)  - Tolfa
Little Owl (Athene noctua) - Road from Florence to Casa Vecchia

SWIFTS
Common Swift (Apus apus) - All locations

BEE-EATERS
European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) - Tolfa, Roccalbegna to Grossetto

ROLLERS
European Roller (Coracias garrulus) - Tolfa

HOOPOES
Hoopoe (Upupa epops) - Tolfa, Casa Vecchia

WOODPECKERS
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) - Casa Vecchia
Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) - Tolfa, Roccalbegna

CROWS AND JAYS
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) - Tolfa, Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna
Black-billed Magpie (Pica pica) - Tolfa, Roccalbegna
Eurasian Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)  - Tolfa, Roccalbegna
Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - Rome, Tolfa, Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna

SHRIKES
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) - Tolfa, Casa Vecchia
Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) - Tolfa

THRUSHES
Blue Rock-Thrush (Monticola solitarius) - Roccalbegna
Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula) - Rome, Tolfa, Casa Vecchia

STARLINGS
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - Rome, Casa Vecchia

OLD WORLD FLYCATCHERS
Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) - Casa Vecchia
Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) - Casa Vecchia
European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) - Rome
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) - Casa Vecchia
Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) - Casa Vecchia
Stonechat (Saxicola torquata) - Tolfa, Casa Vecchia

LONG-TAILED TITS
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) - Tolfa

SWALLOWS
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) - Tolfa, Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna
Common House-Martin (Delichon urbica) - Rome, Tolfa, Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna KINGLETS

CISTICOLAS AND ALLIES
Zitting Cisticola (Cisticola juncidis) - Tolfa

OLD WORLD WARBLERS
Melodious Warbler (Hippolais polyglotta) - Tolfa
Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) - Rome, Tolfa, Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna
Firecrest (Regulus ignicapillus) - Rome

CHICKADEES, TITS
Great Tit (Parus major) - Roccalbegna
Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) - Rome

LARKS
Calandra Lark (Melanocorypha calandra) - Tolfa
Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) - Tolfa
Wood Lark (Lullula arborea) - Tolfa

OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) - Common
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) - Common

WAGTAILS AND PIPITS
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) - Rome
Tawny Pipit (Anthus campestris) - Tolfa

SISKINS, CROSSBILLS AND ALLIES
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) - Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna
European Serin (Serinus serinus) - Rome, Casa Vecchia
European Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) - Casa Vecchia
European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - Rome, Tolfa, Casa Vecchia, Roccalbegna BUNTINGS, SPARROWS,

TANAGERS, ALLIES
Cirl Bunting (Emberiza cirlus) - Tolfa
Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra) - Tolfa

Notable Misses:
Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala) - Not an uncommon bird in Rome, so Roberto and Richard tell me. I never did find one.
Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti) & Subalpine Warbler (Sylvia cantillans) - Heard in Tolfa, but they just would not pish out.
Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) - Heard in Roccalbegna at the reserve but did not see.

Notable Mammals:
Foxes and dead Stone Martin at Tolfa
A baby Hedgehog at Casa Vecchia
Wild sheep and deer at Roccalbegna

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