Report from 03 to 05 August 2022

There’s only one way to define the temperatures of the last few days: out of control. I can only see a single upside: it is so hot that there aren’t even any mosquitoes around. It’s all too much, even for them.
As regards the local wildlife – birds in particular – I have very little to report: apart from the usual suspects and the hive of activity in the heronry, there is not much to see or hear. Even the typically noisy Golden Orioles have largely left. It took a great deal of patience to dig out a single migrant, a lone Great Reed Warbler. The number and variety of butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects has also bottomed out.
For the last week, a family group of Black-winged Stilts – two adults and two juveniles – has been present at La Cassinazza. The parents are very protective of their offspring, and they bravely stand between me and them, calling loudly, and every once in a while, when feeling particularly courageous, flying straight at me.