Birding Italy Trip Report #01

Po-Delta, Northern Italy and Dolomiti 1st May 1998 to 4 May 1998

From May 1st til May 4th 1998 Jörg Langenberg and me made a trip to the Po Delta

(PD) on May 1st and the areas south of it like Valli di Comacchio including

the Salinas (VC) and Valle Mandriole (VM) on May 1st-3rd. On our way back home

we took the route through the DOLOMITI (D) with three passes higher than 2000

m altitude (Falzarego, Pordoi, Sella) and Brenner (B) on May 4th 1998. 

Our complete (!) list 

(birds we dipped, because we heard too late of the right spots, at the end):

Little Grebe, 

Crested Grebe, 

Black-necked Grebe (few PD)

Cormorant

Little Bittern (3 VM), 

Night Heron, 

Squacco Heron, 

Cattle Egret (3 PD), 

Little Egret, 

Great White Egret, 

Grey Heron, 

Purple Heron, 

Spoonbill (4-5 VC), 

Flamingo (about 100 VC, 2-3 with rings from the Camargue!)

Mute Swan (VC), 

Shelduck, 

Garganey, 

Gadwall, 

Teal, 

Mallard, 

Shoveler, 

Pochard

Ferruginous Duck (few VM)

Tufted Duck, 

Red-breasted Merganser (PD)

Black Kite (1 D), 

Marsh Harrier, 

Montagus Harrier (several), 

Sparrowhawk (1 B)

Buzzard (only 1 in the Po Delta area), 

Golden Eagle (2 D), 

Kestrel, 

Red-footed

Falcon (1 female near B in Austria), 

Hobby, 

Pheasant, 

Moorhen, 

Coot, 

Oystercatcher, 

Black-winged Stilt, 

Avocet,

Little Ringed Plover (1 VC), 

Ringed Plover, 

Kentish Plover,

Little Stint, 

Curlew Sandpiper, 

Dunlin,

Ruff, 

Black-tailed Godwit (1 VC), 

Curlew spec. (1 VC)

Spotted Redshank, 

Redshank, 

Marsh Sandpiper (2-3 PD), 

Greenshank, 

Wood

Sandpiper, 

Common Sandpiper

Mediterranean Gull (most common), 

Little Gull (2-3 VC), 

Black-headed Gull,

Slender-billed Gull (2 ad., 1 imm. VC), 

Lesser Black-backed Gull (1 PD, 1 VC, 1 near Venice), 

Yellow-legged Gull,

Gull-billed Tern, 

Caspian Tern (2 PD, 1-2 VC), 

Sandwich Tern, 

Common Tern,

Little Tern, 

Whiskered Tern (VM), 

Black Tern, 

White-winged Tern (only few marsh terns)

Feral Pigeon, 

Woodpigeon, 

Collared Dove, 

Turtle Dove,

Cuckoo, 

Little Owl (some), 

Swift, 

Kingfisher (1 VC), 

Hoopoe, 

Wryneck, Great

Spotted Woodpecker

Crested Lark, 

Skylark, 

Sand Martin, 

Crag Martin (D,B), 

Swallow, 

House Martin

Water Pipit, 

Yellow Wagtail (subspecies cinereocapilla), 

Grey Wagtail, 

White Wagtail, 

Wren, 

Dunnock, 

Alpine Accentor (about 4-5 D, Sella Pass), 

Robin, 

Nightingale,

Black Redstart (only in the Alpes!), 

Whinchat, 

Stonechat (common), 

Wheatear,

Ring Ouzel (about 7 D), 

Blackbird, 

Fieldfare, 

Mistle Thrush (2 D),

Cettis Warbler, 

Fan-tailed Warbler (both more than very common PD, VC, VM),

Grasshopper Warbler, 

Reed Warbler, 

Great Reed Warbler, 

Melodious Warbler (some near the pine woods at the coast), 

Sardinian Warbler (1 at the same coast of Melodious Warbler), 

Whitethroat (1 PD), 

Garden Warbler, 

Blackcap, Chiffchaff (rare), 

Goldcrest (D), 

Firecrest (1 D), 

Spotted Flycatcher, 

Pied Flycatcher (1 PD), 

Long-tailed Tit, 

Coal Tit (D), 

Great Tit, 

Short-toed Treecreeper (1 singing VM), 

Penduline Tit (VC, VM)

Golden Oriole (VM), 

Red-backed Shrike (only 2 PD, 1 VC)

Jay, 

Magpie, 

Alpine Chough (only D), 

Carrion Crow (Hooded), 

Raven, 

Starling,

Italian Sparrow, 

Tree Sparrow (both extremly widespread in every habitat),

Snow Finch (2+1 D), 

Chaffinch, 

Serin (e.g. VM), 

Greenfinch, 

Goldfinch,

Yellowhammer, 

Cirl Bunting (1 male pine woods at the coast), 

Reed Bunting,

Corn Bunting,

On the last evening we met a bird guide, Menotti Passarella, at the disused

salines in the north east of Valli di Comacchio. He told us something about

the very special birds of that area we dipped out (no real lifer ;-)),

unfortunately we had very hard rain the next morning and weren´t able to

proof.

Glossy Ibis, Pygmy Cormorant 

(VM, walk along the dike between Valle Mandriole and Punte Alberete)

Pratincole, Red-footed Falcon (we got it on the way back at the Brenner) 

(VC, in the steppe-like areas north-east of Valli di Comacchio, an area with

no access but with a good chance from the surrounding roads)

Lesser Crested Tern

(about two pairs breeding in a Sandwich Tern Colony in the disused salines,

the area is absolutely inaccessible, so that it is nearly impossible to see

the birds)

The area is really worth a visit and we didn´t met any serious birders inspite

of the bird guide.

Good birding

Stefan

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dr. Stefan Tewinkel

www.bavarianbirds.de

tewinkel@gmx.de