Report from 21 to 24 September

The weather changed quite abruptly. From the daily highs of 30° or more that have plagued us since May, the temperatures have literally plummeted in the space of a few days. We are truly in fall now. The waterfowl are back at La Cassinazza; on some days, we are seeing as many as 1500 Mallards and 400 Teal. A Goshawk has been in the area for several weeks. At present, it is the largest and most ferocious bird of prey around. It chases after and terrorizes Little Egrets and Night Herons, but the Woodpigeons are its favourite prey. New arrivals this week included Dunlin, Chaffinch, and Tree Pipit, with good numbers of Robins, Chiffchaffs, and especially Starlings, which descend into the reedbed every evening in their thousands to spend the night. We saw the Nuthatch once again – indeed, there appear to be multiple individuals, and we can realistically hope that they will settle in for good. When Red Foxes occur near human settlements, they are almost exclusively nocturnal. They can occasionally be seen just after dawn as they return to their dens. In this case, I was just as startled as the fox: we looked at each other for a bit, then leisurely it continued on its way.