Spring Birding in Sicily

Spring Birding in Sicily Naturetrek Tour Report 25 April - 1 May 2019 Sicilian Jay Rock Rose Ocellated Skink Zitting Cisticola Report & images by Luca Boscain Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Spring Birding in Sicily Tour participants: Luca Boscain and Andrew Bray (Leaders) with 13 Naturetrek clients Day 1 Thursday 25th April Fontanarossa Airport to Case del Feudo; then Capo Murro di Porco. Following our departure from Gatwick, the plane landed at 10.38 at Fontanarossa Airport in Catania. After collecting our baggage, Andrew, one of our two leaders, gathered most of the group. Then we met Luca, our local Italian guide and got on the road in our two minibuses. Drizzle in the morning had carried Saharan sand, but the weather improved giving way to hazy pale sunshine. Our journey south, took about 45 minutes arriving at the Case del Feudo, a former hunting lodge built in the Seventeenth century, surrounded by the peaceful Syracuse countryside, among citrus trees and vineyards. We were welcome by the baron Beneventano in person, the owner of the estate, and Yeasin, who would be taking care of us during all the week. We checked into our rustic rooms with themed paintings in every room, then met in the dining room. This use to be a stable, now totally renewed and made particularly attractive through the use of soft illumination, and decorations that were formerly used to embellish the donkeys during festivals. We enjoyed a buffet with a rich selection of salami, cheese and pasta. In Italy this is defined “primo” a warm appetizer preceding the “secondo”, the main course, usually based on spaghetti, rice, lasagne or gnocchi. After a short break, we met by the minibuses at 2pm to visit the Capo Murro di Porco. The “nose of pig head” - the most prominent peninsula of south-eastern Sicily. Once on site, we enjoyed the beauty of the Mediterranean maquis featuring Tree Spurges (Euphorbia dendroides), Mastic Trees (Pistacia lentiscus) and the rare Dwarf Fan Palms (Chamaerops humilis), the only native palm of Europe. In the grassy corners the vegetation was in full bloom, with stunning blue carpets of Barbary Nuts (Moraea sisyrinchium), Three-horned Stocks (Matthiola tricuspidata) and Wavyleaf Sea Lavender (Limonium sinuatum), while here and there we noticed the interesting Ragusa’s Nine-spotted Moths (Amata kruegeri), with its showy night blue colour with white spots and the orange bands along the abdomen, and the ubiquitous Italian Wall Lizards (Podarcis sicula). The migration, after days of Sirocco wind, was rather slow but we spotted some Marsh Harriers, Tree Pipits, Whinchats and Spotted Flycatchers. The sea was pretty rough, with the strong wind, and some sea-watching gave provided two typical species of gulls typical of the Mediterranean: Yellow-legged and Audouin’s Gulls. Particularly welcome was the first gastronomic break by a bar showing pictures of the Plemmirio Marine Reserve, that surrounds Capo Murro di Porco: a delicious Italian gelato was then enjoyed! In the evening we tried some genuine Sicilian food based on a variety of extraordinary tasty vegetables like tomatoes, aubergines and zucchini. © Naturetrek October 19 1 Spring Birding in Sicily Tour Report Day 2 Friday 26th April Mount Etna. Since the weather forecast looked good for today, Luca decided to visit Mount Etna - the highest active volcano in Europe at 3,326 metres. We took an early breakfast at 6.30am and were on the road at 7.30am. The first part of the journey was along the motorway, noting White Stork’s nests on the top of the pylons near the Simeto river. At Catania, we took minor roads climbing the slopes of the Etna, passing through densely populated villages, lava fields and vineyards. After one and a half hours, we had a break to stretch our legs in the Parsifal Park of Nicolosi, where we quickly spotted a nice male Cirl Bunting singing on the top of a post. We then explored the fertile volcanic slopes near Monte Consilio, Here we noticed a couple of plants of the yellow morph Elder-flowered Orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina) and the funny Tassel Hyacinths (Muscari comosum), and heard Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Wren and the drumming of a Great-spotted Woodpecker. At our second stop, we saw a very obliging Sicilian Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus subsp. siculus) characterized by the ashy grey mantle and by the whitish head with a chestnut cap. By this time, many other coaches were joining us, so we decided to spend some more time in the field, visiting the peaceful basin of Piano Vetore. From here you could enjoy the lovely view of Etna, still covered by some clouds, and the black lava flows that divide the alpine prairies and bush along the slopes of the volcano. We saw a good number of species among the Mount Etna Broom (Genista aetnensis): Black Redstart, Stonechat, Woodlark, Rock Bunting, Coal Tit and Northern Wheatear. We also saw a single Crossbill in the forest. Here we noted the gorgeous Etna Pansies (Viola aethnensis), Rock Pansies (Viola parvula) and the yellow wallflower Erysimum aetnense. We continued our loop walk around among the lava rocks, noting characteristic shapes of this volcanic area: the tunnels of lava, the “pahohoe flows”, pyroclastic gravel. Above us, signs of migration with a couple of Pallid Swifts, Marsh Harriers and a single Montagu’s Harrier. In the adjacent pinewood, we enjoyed a brilliant view of Firecrest, Short-toed Treecreeper and Nuthatch. Satisfied, almost at midday, we moved to the much busier touristic village of Rifugio Sapienza, around the cable- car station to the Etna: parking was tricky, but luckily the restaurant was still empty and we found an ideal table for buffet lunch with a wide variety of “primi”, main courses and side dishes. By the time we had finished, many more tourists were arriving from the summit so we decided it was a good time to buy our tickets and to start our own ascent. We climbed from 1,900 to 2,500 metres, before taking the huge 4x4 coaches to climb the pyroclastic ash fields to 2,900 metres. The climate was perfect with the sunshine, (despite the snow on the ground), so we hiked to the edge of one of the two Barbagallo craters. We could feel the heat by digging a little in the gravel with our hands. Here we noticed a single Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) one the black rocks – a bit of a surprise! After walking around the whole crater, we started our descent catching the 4x4 coach and then the cable-car. There was time for a short break, sitting in the sunshine enjoying an ice-cream or a coffee before driving home. In the evening the two guides set up the moth-trap in the garden of Case del Feudo, while for dinner, the baron came to invite us to have our last supper in Sicily at his palace in Ortigia: a privilege that only Naturetrek clients have! 2 © Naturetrek October 19 Spring Birding in Sicily Tour Report Day 3 Saturday 27th April Southern lakes This morning Luca and Andrew met two of the early risers for a pre-breakfast walk. We walked among the citrus orchards to the edge of a deep cultivated valley. We heard Dartford Warbler, eight Cattle Egrets in flight, Subalpine Warbler, Serin and tens of Sand Martins on migration. At 7.30am more people gathered around the moth-trap to check the harvest: two Striped Hawk Moths (Hyles livornica), Giant Looper (Ascotis selenaria), Marbled Coronet (Hadena confusa), Ruby Tiger (Phragmatobia fuliginosa) and the erebid Zebeeba falsalis. After breakfast, we drove south to Avola, which gives its name to the famous red grape of “Nero d’Avola”. Here we stopped to shop for picnic provisions and continued along the eastern coast of Sicily to Marzamemi. Being Saturday, with good weather, it was already full in tourists and traffic, but we managed to find a car park and we went to look at the former saltpans. Here was plenty of Black-winged Stilts, Coots and Moorhens, but a little quiet, so we decided to visit the award-winning “gelateria Tasta”, where everyone chose either an ice-cream, a “granita” or a freshly filled Sicilian “cannolo” with ricotta cheese. The next stop was by the shore of Pantano Morghella, a brackish water lake south of Marzamemi. It was a bit hazy but we spotted Greater Flamingos, Great Egret and Spoonbills. Walking a bit in the arid garigue scrubland, among Sky Stone-crops (Sedum caeruleum), Mallow Bindweeds (Convolvulus althaeoides) and Crown Daisies (Glebionis coronaria), we saw 12 Short-toed Larks, a passerine which is getting quite scarce here. We also noticed the first Sicilian Wall Lizards (Podarcis wagleriana), characterized by longitudinal paler stripes along the body and by the deep green throat, and the North African version of Common Blue (Polyommatus celina). As we’d recently enjoyed the gelateria, we postponed lunch to 2.00pm, having another stop along the Pantano Longarini, one the south-western coast of Sicily. In the reedbed, we heard the calls of Reed Warbler and Water Rail, and both Lesser and Blue Emperor (Anax spp.) in the open water pools. We also saw the endemic Sicilian Pond Turtle (Emys trinacria). Of particular excitement was an immature Montagu’s Harrier that seemed to want to crash against Luca’s minibus, offering a magnificent view to the group! We chose the gorgeous beach of Granelli for lunch, where a canal from Pantano Longarini connects the lake with the sea.

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