Our constant companion on the beach at Cefalu... the Italian Sparrow (Passer italiae). Some consider it a ssp of the House Sparrow, some a ssp of the Spanish Sparrow while others consider it a stable hybrid of the two. All three species are so similar. #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #sparrows
The irises of the Greater Flamingos is the same pale pink as the rest of their plumage. So at a distance it looks like they have no eyes. 😲 #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #WaderWednesday #waders #flamingos
Some distant Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) near Siracusa. This is either a courtship display or they are talking about fishing. "How big was that fish you caught? Oh yeah? Well, I caught one THIS big!" 😂 #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #flamingos #waders #WaderWednesday
Western Cattle Egret (Ardea ibis) posing for me at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #egrets #herons #waders
Video of the Little Egret on Ortigia Island .. the old part of the city of Siracusa. Great #Egrets often wait until the food comes to them. Not the Little Egrets. The latter tends to be more impatient and can often be seen trying to run down fish in the tidal pools. #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) at Siracusa #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #waders #herons #egrets #BirdsSeenIn2026
A whole passel of Pied Avocets at the Trapani salt pans. #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #Avocets #shorebirds #waders
A distant Kentish Plover (Anarynchus alexandrinus) at the Trapani salt pans. A long way from Kent! Tried to get a closer shot but the sucker just kept running away from us. 😀 In the Charadrius genus for so long, but now in the same genus as NZ's Wrybill. 😲 #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #plovers
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) at the Trapani Saltpans #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #sandpipers #shorebirds #waders
Great birding spot in Sicily is the salt pans just south of Trapani. A commercial operation extracting salt from seawater .. you can see the piles of salt in this photo.. but they allow public access which is kind of cool. They even have a nice restaurant on site. #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly
"Where'd he go? Did you see which way he went?" These two Western Cattle Egrets seem to be conferring as to which way their dinner went. 😄 Hunting lizards among the rocks at the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento. #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #egrets #waders #herons
Short video of Western Cattle Egrets (Ardea ibis) surfing the sheep near Gela, Sicily 🏄♂️🏄♂️🏄♂️ 😀 #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #egrets #herons #waders
Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) singing just outside of our terrace in Agrigento #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #BirdsSeenIn2026 #rockthrushes
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) at the Trapani salt pans. Still in full alternate plumage. No signs of breeding plumage yet. #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #BirdsSeenIn2026 #waders #sandpipers #shorebirds
Surprised at how few #gulls there are in Sicily. Here is the common large gull on the island... Yellow-legged Gull (Larus micahellis). This one an adult in full breeding plumage. I was hoping for Audouin's Gull but no luck. ☹️ #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #BirdsSeenIn2026 #SaturdayLaridae
The White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) in Sicily are getting down to business... the raising a family business that is. 🐣 They have to ensure there will be enough future generations to deliver all those human babies. 😂 #BirdingItaly #BirdingSicily #storks #BirdsSeenIn2026
The tiny warbler with a great name.. Zitting Cisticola (Cisticola juncidis). The only Cisticola found in Europe. A grassland species that's common in Sicily. This time of year, every small patch of grass seems to have a singing male. #BirdingSicily #BirdingItaly #BirdsSeenIn2026 #warblers
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
