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| 30th May - 4th June 2006 |
| Corsica & Sardinia Trip Report 06 |
| © Will Bowell |
| Wednesday 31st May 2006 Most of the group got up for an early morning wander, around the area of the hotel which proved rather productive. Roger and Mac had several ‘Scopoli’s’ Cory’s Shearwaters flying past, offshore, as well as a large group of Shags on a small island. Trevor’s lot managed to find an excellent little area which held Tawny Pipit, male Spectacled Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, 3 Quail and several Sardinian Warblers. |
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| Top: Tawny Pipit. © Trevor Williams. Bottom: ‘Mediterranean’ Shags. © Will Bowell |
| GPOG Corsica & Sardinia |
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| After
breakfast the whole team went back to the same area and we caught up
with a female Spectacled Warbler, but no sign
of the male. About 20 or so Pallid Swifts joined the Common Swifts present. Our journey from Su Pallosu to Oristano was filled with plenty of stops around any suitable habitat, with one pool holding 50+ Greater Flamingos, somewhat more impressive than the single bird we had the day before. A Woodchat Shrike (badius) was seen by one car load on our journey down to the coastal tower at Capo San Marco, but unfortunately it wasn’t there on the journey back. Compensation at the tower came in the form of a dark morph Eleanora’s Falcon, which was soaring high up at first, but eventually got lower and right over our heads, giving astounding views. Eventually it moved back to it’s tower, but this was only for a moment, as it spotted a hirundine. An amazing change from lazy, soaring to a speeding, direct flight, saw the Falcon catch the hirundine, which didn’t have a chance to dart out of the way, and consume the bird on the wing! Amazing stuff! |
| Eleanora’s Falcon. © Will
Bowell. A stunning individual. |
| On
the road towards Cabras, a fish farm held plenty of Coot and a few Mallard and a Great-crested
Grebe was also found. Both Little and Common Terns were diving on
the fish and a few Little and Cattle Egrets flew by. A
family party of Spectacled Warblers showed
extremely well, sitting out on top of the vegetation, giving everyone
superb scope views, and 2 Tawny Pipits showed just
as well. Carrying on, further down the track we came across another
pool holding over 100 Greater Flamingos and a flock
of 30+ Slender-billed Gulls. A pair of Kentish
Plovers also performed well here. A nearby field held two Stone Curlews which caused an emergency pull over by both cars into a gateway. Unfortunately the heat haze was such that no photos could be obtained, despite the fact the birds showed reasonably well. From the Oristano area we made our way towards Uras taking in more wetlands on the way. Highlights of which were several breeding pairs of Black-winged Stilts, Greater Flamingos, c20 Collared Pratincoles, 3 Purple Herons and couple of singing Great Reed Warblers. |
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| Top: Black-winged Stilts. Several pairs were breeding in the area. Centre: Kentish Plover. Bottom: Greater Flamingo © Will Bowell. There was just enough water left in the salt pans for these to feed, there having been no rain since April 6th apparently. Greater Flamingos are largely winter visitors to the area but this flock of some 300+ strong was obviously a group of non-breeders. |
| Getting into higher ground, the scenic, Uras to Ales road produced two Woodchat Shrikes, one of which showed very well, 1 Little Owl, 2 Cirl Buntings (one down to 3 metres!) and a Blackcap. |
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| The
winds got steadily stronger as the day went on and by the time we were
on the coast again they were causing some massive waves. Before we
reached the coast we stopped at some more wetlands which failed to
produce much of interest besides a Red-crested
Pochard. On the coast, we decided to get to a headland just south of our hotel, from here we got excellent views of ‘Scopoli’s’ Cory’s Shearwaters as they streamed north, hugging the rocky coast. A Skylark was also heard singing here, but the most bizarre sighting was of a Kentish Plover which bunkered down on a small outcrop, sheltering from the sea spray. Back at our accommodation the Bee-eaters were performing well near their road verge nest site. |
| ‘Balearic’ Woodchat Shrike © Will
Bowell. Note the bigger bill and absense of white at the base of the primaries. |
