Report of the 24 august 2022

I won’t have any more time to visit La Cassinazza this week. In the half-day at my disposal I only managed to put together a very meagre checklist, with several very common species missing. This report reflects that. Mallard numbers have now grown to well over a thousand. Among landbirds, the Bee-eaters and Garden Warblers are the most conspicuous migrants, the latter even outnumbering the Pied Flycatchers. Still, the day had a couple of nice surprises in store: a Common Redshank, and an Osprey migrating overhead. I have nothing more to report birdwise.
One of the commonest dragonfly at La Cassinazza is the White-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum albistylum), a close relative of the Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) that illustrated one of last month’s reports. The differences between the two species are subtle, but are evident for dragonfly enthusiasts. Can you spot the differences? A hint: the English name is a dead giveaway…