BUBO in CORSICA - part 6

After our exciting raptor-filled lunch break we headed off to find more birds around the coastline and plains. The lagoon immediately to the south of Aleria was called Etang del Sale and we headed towards there as it seemed much more vegetated than Urbino and appeared to be some kind of nature reserve. As we found typical of sites in Corsica, there was no indication of how we should get there or where to view the area from. The paper map we had was not of a detailed-enough scale, and we found Google-maps to be next to useless, as it never differentiates between the smaller proper roads and private dirt tracks, so you think you've found a route through, only to suddenly come across a dead end in a field! In fact this is exactly what ended up doing and we dumped the car in the corner of a vine field and wandered off to see if we could make it to the marsh. As we drove down the track we saw a Woodlark collecting food, no doubt nesting nearby.

We could see a large reedbed in front of us but it was behind a line of trees and there were no paths to follow, so we had to skirt the side of the field to see if we could find a way in. The sun was getting quite strong and it was becoming a rather hot afternoon, which meant there were plenty of insects out. Amongst the butterflies was a Mallow Skipper, which was a new one for me, and around the wet puddles we had some Blue-tailed Damselflies. However, these were not the regular blue-tails, but a species called Island Bluetail, which is restricted to the islands of the western Mediterranean.

Labidostomis taxicornis - Etang del Sale - looking like miniature musclemen — Labidostomis taxicornis - Etang del Sale - looking like miniature musclemen

Bird-wise, we had bits and bobs, but nothing too exciting on our walk. We had a decent flock of finches but couldn't find anything unfamiliar in them, although a couple of Turtle Doves fed on the ground behind. Two migrant Black Kites drifted high overhead, as did 15 Cormorants, but I missed the Stone Curlew the others saw. We had Tree Pipit and Corn Bunting as well as a very showy Cuckoo, which perched up on the metal posts holding up the vines. We did eventually find a sort-of viewpoint over the marsh but it was still difficult to see anything through the gap in the Tamarisks. We picked up a Little Grebe and a brief pair of Red-crested Pochards which immediately disappeared.

We gave up looking for a path into the marsh and, back with the car, we crossed the river north into Aleria. We took the road east towards the coast and as we were passing a small area of water storage tanks, we noticed that there were plenty of sparrows there. Still on the lookout for Rock Sparrow, we stopped and scanned, finding a few Tree Sparrows amongst the Italians. Three Cattle Egrets appeared in the adjacent field and a major surprise was a male Moltoni's Warbler flitting around the bushes, which we saw pretty well, albeit briefly. Not exactly good habitat for breeding so probably a migrant bird.

We stopped at the beach and unpacked our 'scopes to see if there were any seabirds passing offshore. As we were setting up, Ian had a quick scan with his bins and proclaimed that there was nothing to see here and we should pack it in already. We scoffed that he was being far too hasty and he should be more patient, as we might pick up a few shearwaters or something. Ten minutes later we realised that Ian was totally correct as we had only seen a couple of Yellow-legged Gulls sat on the sea! An attraction at this spot was a very tame Italian Sparrow looking for scraps on the cafe's terrace.

Next we called in at Etang de Diane but that didn't seem very encouraging for birding with, again, seemingly no tracks or paths to explore. So we tried the next area further north known as Riva Bella. When we reached the end of this road, near the coastal dunes, we saw that it was actually a private resort and we couldn't get in! We were struggling to find anywhere decent to go birding. We decided that we may as well park up anyway and walk along the road to see what we could see. In the end, this wasn't a great deal, with a pair of Marsh Harriers and some Cetti's Warblers by a large reedbed and a couple of Red-legged Partridges flushed from the scrub all we could come up with. But we had a nice afternoon stroll, mainly looking at a good variety of interesting plants and insects.

Wild Boar tracks - Riva Bella - the closest we got to seeing a boar (well, apart from covered in gravy on a plate)

It was getting quite late on now in the afternoon and we still hadn't come across any Rock Sparrows, which was a little annoying. They apparently like old farm buildings, so we looked on the map and saw that there was a long straight road cutting inland towards the village of Tallone, which seemed to pass through lots of farmland. There was bound to be a few old farms along there for us to check. The habitat along this road was quite different to what we had seen up to now in Corsica, being really flat with large fields. We stopped whenever we saw birds. Corn Buntings were regularly noted on the wires and we did find a few sparrows but again, only Italians. We didn't think we were destined to see Rock Sparrow. We saw Stonechats, Cirl Buntings, Serins and another Red-legged Partridge, plus a group of at least 21 Red Kites circling behind a hillside, probably a pre-roost gathering.

Eventually we got to the end of the flat plains and reached the more wooded foothills. Here we stopped by a bend in the road and could hear another Moltoni's Warbler singing from the bushes. Frustratingly elusive, we only really saw it flicking between shrubs. Of more interest here was the orchids we found on the verge. There were some superb dark burgundy and quicksilver-striped Early Spider Orchids with strange furry edges to their flowers, doing a great job of mimicking insects. There was also some weird Tongue Orchids (sp.), strange alien beasts, unlike any flower that I had seen before.

We wound our way up the hillside, crossing a valley via an old bridge where Crag Martins chased each other over the trees. We stopped half-way up the hillside where we had singing Blackcaps and Sardinian Warblers, plus a couple of flighty Corsican Finches.

Corsican vandal humour -- (It would have been pretty easy to change 'Campi' to 'Rambo' too - Amateurs!) — Corsican vandal humour -- (It would have been pretty easy to change 'Campi' to 'Rambo' too - Amateurs!)

The evening was drawing in and we made our way slowly back to Aleria where we called in for a meal at dusk. A Great White Egret flapped its way down the river and a Scops Owl was calling also. Although we had not seen any ticks or anything corkingly rare today, we'd had a pleasant day's birding and a good time. As usual we stopped off for a beer and a Scops Owl at the campsite before we turned in.

BUBO in CORSICA - part 5

Despite our concerns about a rather wet day, we woke up on Wednesday to bright sunshine. Our plan was to do some lowland birding along the closest bit of coast to where we were staying. This included the town of Aleria, the coastal plains and the numerous lagoons along this stretch. We didn't really have any specific targets, we just planned to mosey around the area, although I was hoping to see some Rock Sparrows which are meant to live in old farm buildings around abouts.

As we drove into Aleria we saw our first Great White Egret of the trip along the river, and we continued on to Aghione Fields where we had quite a few birds the previous evening, to see if it was as good today. It didn't seem so, but that may have been due to disturbance since the farmers were making use of the cool early morning to water their crops and work in the fields. We had another couple of Fan-tailed Warblers but it was mainly the common species present that we'd seen yesterday. We had another decent search for California Quail but it was to no avail. There were quite a few raptors around including Red Kite and Marsh Harrier, and we had our first decent look at a local Buzzard. These are of an endemic island sub-species arrigonii (Corsica and Sardinia) which is meant to be a smaller and darker bird than the nominate. The photo below does indeed show a browner overall tinge to the pale areas of the plumage.

After a short while checking the fields we headed towards the coast and visited the largest of the saltwater lagoons called Etang d'Urbino. We followed what seemed to be the only available road towards the water which led out along the central promontory, to a lovely little collection of fisherman's huts and jetties, and a seafood restaurant sitting out on stilts over the water. These Corsican lagoons are famous for mussels and we spent quite a while around here enjoying the pleasant surroundings and sank a cold drink (although we were not allowed to have any breakfast!).

For the first time on the trip we were able to look at some waterbirds of Corsica. Out on the lagoon we 'scoped up about ten Great Crested Grebes, and watched a few Common Terns fishing. Way out in the distance there were a few egrets along an island's edge, including a Great White Egret or two. The gulls scavenging around the jetties were Yellow-legged Gulls, and a very close Red Kite was probably doing likewise. A single Black-necked Grebe was found out in the middle of the lake but, with no shallow edges to this etang, there was not a great deal extra to be seen. Apart from plenty of Italian Sparrows, the only notable passerines were a Corn Bunting singing from the field behind and a showy male Sardinian Warbler in an overgrown garden. There were lots of lizards feeding amongst the boats in the yard and these were clearly different from the ones we had in the mountains. These were bulkier and less spotty and we worked out that they were Italian Wall Lizards.

We drove back up the road and found a viewpoint which overlooked a shallower arm of the lagoon, albeit rather distant below us, at the bottom of a hill. We could see straight away that there were many more birds here, but with the distance and the shimmer of a heat haze, it was difficult to identify many of the birds present. One species that wasn't difficult to identify was the group of 8 Greater Flamingos striding around in the shallows. I had not seen any (wild) flamingos for ages and so I was very pleased. This reed-fringed corner of the lagoon also held a few Grey Herons and Great White Egrets, plus a single Spoonbill. There was a selection of waders pottering around along the muddy edge, but many of these were impossible to identify. We did pick out about ten Greenshanks, a Lapwing and a Wood Sandpiper, as well as a group of about 20 Ruff flying about. The field between us and the lagoon was severely fenced off so, unfortunately, that's all we came away with.

Alongside the small road leading away from the lagoon we passed a small flock of sheep feeding in a pasture with many Spotless Starlings catching the flies around their feet. This gave us an opportunity to have a good look at them for the first time and also gave us a comparison with Common Starling as there were three late lingering wintering birds present. There was also a Yellow Wagtail feeding in the grass which appeared to be a Blue-headed raced bird.

Spotless Starlings feeding amongst sheep, Etang d'Urbino

Spotless Starling on sheep, Etang d'Urbino

Still thinking about Rock Sparrows, we paid a visit to the old fort overlooking Aleria as it looked ideal for this species. There were lots of sparrows nesting in the holes in the building but unfortunately they were all Italian Sparrows. It was interesting to see the variation in the males - some having a more restricted House Sparrow-like bib whilst others having a blacker, more extensive bib surrounded by dark chevrons. The fort was perched high up on a hill giving great views across the plains.

There was a café by the fort, right on the edge of the hill, with a terrific view across the plain and we decided to stop there as we all needed a crepe. It was a great decision since we soon noticed that the local Red Kite was giving tremendously close views as it hung in the breeze right next to the balcony. We took lots of photos whilst waiting for our food to arrive which, as seems typical in these parts, took an absolute age! However, we did not mind the delay this time, as the raptors were superb. We also saw a Black Kite which suddenly appeared with the Red, perhaps on migration, as well as both Buzzard and Marsh Harrier further off. A Kestrel and a Hobby were noted circling over the rooftops below and a Sparrowhawk whizzed past at speed at a low level. The local Sparrowhawks are another endemic subspecies, wolterstorffi, which is apparently very small and dark. We had a final search for Rock Sparrow but again there was no sign but we did see our first Chiffchaff in a garden. We left the fort to further explore the etangs and plains in the afternoon.

The island of Montecristo from Aleria Fort - (there was definitely just one....)

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Wednesday 19th April 2017 (b)

BUBO in CORSICA - part 6

Wednesday 19th April 2017 (a)

BUBO in CORSICA - part 5

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