Incoming Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) at the Vendicari Nature Reserve just SE of Noto, Sicily. #Flamingos #waders #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily

Great birdwatching in the southeast corner of Sicily at the Riserva Naturale Orientata Oasi Faunistica di Vendicari. It's about the same latitude as the Tunisian capital Tunis. Loaded with Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus). #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #BirdsSeenIn2026 #flamingos #waders

This sheep has picked up a hitchhiker. 👍 😄 At the Geloi Wetlands near Gela, Sicily, there was a troop of 10 Western Cattle Egrets (Ardea ibis) following .. or rather riding along with a big flock of sheep. #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #egrets #herons #waders

I was lucky to see a very coöperative Eurasian Bittern (Botaurus stellaris) at the Geloi Wetlands near Gela, Sicily. #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #bitterns #herons #waders #BirdsSeenIn2026

A Little Gull was a new addition to the site list for Torre Flavia this morning, quite a scare bird in Lazio. Elsewhere the 6 Velvet Scoters remain at hospital beach. #birds #birdingitaly

6 Velvet Scoter at a beach near a Pediatric hospital south of Ladispoli. A decent sized flock for this scarce winter visitor , my first in Italy. #birds #birdingitaly

Ringing rained off at Soglitelle on Saturday. Torre Flavia on Sunday had signs of migration, including the first House Martins of the year. 20+ Med Gull and 1 Audouin’s on the beach. #birds #birdingitaly

Introduced to a new site today, a beach near a pediatric hospital south of Ladispoli. 6 Velvet Scoter were an addition to my Italy list. #birds #birdingitaly

Ringing at Soglitelle was suspended over Christmas and this was my first session of 2026. A gorgeous Water Rail was the highlight in the nets. We don’t catch many Mipits either! On the reserve Flamingo numbers are high (81), as are Teal, Lapwing and G. Plover (000’s of each). #birds #birdingitaly

Soglitelle was very wet today after several days of heavy rain. Thousands of Teal all over, and over 35 Marsh Harrier seen passing through. 2 male Hen Harriers were nice, as well as this Merlin on a very fast flyby. #birds #birdingitaly

A nice day of ringing at Le Soglitelle today. 4 Penduline Tit were the highlight, including this gorgeous adult female. The other 3 were juvenile females. #birds #birdingitaly

A nice day at Le Soglitelle. 3 Acros was nice, including the first Moustached Warbler of autumn. A lovely male Bluethroat ringed as well. A group of 4 Ruddy Shelduck were new for the site, provenance notwithstanding. Osprey and Stock Dove were unusual visitors. #birds #birdingitaly

The last ringing day at Soglitelle of the summer. Quite hot, but still nice birding. Catch of the day was a Green Whip Snake, followed by a Greenfinch in the nets. On the reserve were 40+ Med Gulls, mostly imm. birds over-summering. 3 juv. Little Gull doing the same thing. #birds #birdingitaly

Birding at Soglitelle was slow but steady today, with decent birds all morning. Best in the nets was a senator Woodchat Shrike, also Quail and Sand Martin. Caspian, Gull-billed and Black Terns on the marsh. Migrants included Bar-tailed Godwit and Eastern Red-footed Falcon. #birds #birdingitaly

4292 Yelkouan Shearwater counted in one hour off Torre Flavia this morning flying south. The main breeding area in mainland Italy is on the islands off Tuscany. Total Italian breeding population is 13-20,000. I’ve seen this phenomenon here several times, always in spring. #birds #birdingitaly

Lack of green spaces may have something to do with the paucity of #birds in #Venice #Italy . We did see cormorants fishing in narrow side-canals between two buildings. Also saw this Little Egret fishing at night along a canal, nabbing small fish attracted by the street lights. #BirdingItaly

Last month I saw an Oystercatcher with no left foot. Yesterday I saw a Yellow-legged Gull with no right foot. Not sure how these birds lose their feet. #BirdingItaly #gulls #SaturdayLaridae

Ringing at Le Soglitelle was fairly slow today so I headed to Foce dei Regi Lagni. Several terns and gulls, including 3 Little Gull, a magnificent Caspian Tern and a truly stunning White-winged Black Tern. A Red-crested Pochard mum had a dozen very newly hatched duclings in tow. #birds #birdingitaly

Another Yellow-legged Gull. The commonest bird in Venice. It even outnumbers the pigeons by a big margin. Considering how many pigeons Venice used to have, that's amazing! How did the city got rid of those massive flocks of pigeons in St. Mark's Square? #BirdingItaly

Back to Ara della Regina for a raptor watch. Black and Red Kites both present, but distant. Nice views of a newly arrived Redstart. Also plenty of Corn Bunting singing, and dozens of Swallowtails in the thistles. #birds #birdingitaly

Second cycle Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis) in Venice. #BirdingItaly #BirdsSeenin2025 #gulls #SeeGulls #SaturdayLaridae

Away from warblers there were plenty of Bee-eaters, Golden Orioles, Woodchat Shrike and Pied Flycatchers. Also Wryneck and RB Shrike. No real rarities, apart from the island’s first Avocet. #birds #birdingitaly

My now annual spring trip to the island of Ventotene for migration. Lots of lovely things as usual, including fantastic views of Western Bonelli’s Warbler, amongst the scores of Wood and Willow. Loads of sylvias too, with large numbers of Garden, Sardinian and Whitethroat. #birds #birdingitaly

In the nets were Reed, Sedge and Great Reed Warbler, and a lovely little Eastern Subalpine Warbler. #birds #birdingitaly

An excellent day at Le Soglitelle. Plenty of migrants including Pallid & Alpine Swift, Red-rumped Swallow, 68 Purple Heron, 4 GBTern, Curlew Sand, Whimbrel, Wryneck. A single Greylag was the last sign of winter. #birds #birdingitaly

Saturday was rained off, so I went north to the hills above Civitavecchia. Very productive with at least 20 Lesser Kestrel and 2 Sort-toed Eagles. Best bird was a Great Spotted Cuckoo in the car park at Ara della Regina. A long awaited Italy tick, and very obliging too. #birds #birdingitaly

Miserable weather this weekend. I did find a gap in the rain this morning at Torre Flavia. Best birds were 1 male Garganey, 2 Great Reed Warblers chuntering away, and 2 Red-rumped Swallows in the reeds with a large mixed flock of hirundines. 3 Audouin’s on the beach. #birds #birdingitaly

Nearby the White Stork nest outside Brezza is occupied again. The birds were first seen in February, but today they looked very settled and were bill-clapping to each other. #birds #birdingitaly

A nice day at Le Soglitelle after 3 weeks away. Migrants in the nets included 5 Sedge Warbler (2 weeks earlier than the previous earliest date), Swallow, Bluethroat and flava Yellow Wagtail. Outside the nets migrants included Swift, Hoopoe, Sand Martin and Collared Pratincole. #birds #birdingitaly

A proper vis-mig day at Torre Flavia this morning. 5 Slender-billed, 1 Audouin’s and 38 Med Gulls at the beach. Hundreds of Swallows & House Martins on the marsh. In-off the sea were flocks of Teal and Shoveller, and 2 groups of Spoonbill. Close views of the local Kentish. #birds #birdingitaly