Monday, April 24, 2017

Some birds of Italy

Yellow-legged Gull on Caesar head, Rome
I went with my family to Rome and Naples. It was not a birding trip. But...
Villa Borghese Park, Rome
The day we arrived I sat under a tree at Villa Borghese and listened to birds while everyone else was back in the room sleeping.
Pigeon, Fontana del Pantheon, Rome
Prominent birds of Rome: pigeons, gulls, screaming swifts,
Hooded Crow, Palatine Hill, Rome
And, of course, crows.
European Serin, Pompeii
Serin dominated Pompeii, singing on the wing like tiny yellow low-flying skylarks.
European Blackbird (female), Naples Archeological Museum
We had a place in a rather gardeny area of Naples. The dawn chorus (jet lag has its advantages) was amazing. The recording below is an iPhone voice memo version of what I could hear.
Lots of museum bird art, but the image below was my favorite.

I'm pretty sure it's a cartoon little grebe (known locally as "tuffetto"), though goldeneye is plausible. Why a little grebe? I wish I knew.

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