Report from 15 to 17 december 2022

Due perhaps to the cold snap, waterfowl numbers at La Cassinazza are once again respectable, if not quite as high as during the best years. There are perhaps three thousand or more Mallards, and well over a thousand Teal. There has also been a mass arrival of Chaffinches over the last few days, with large flocks often encountered: the sunflower crop, with all those unharvested seeds, attracts them in their hundreds. The sunflowers are also pulling in the Ring-necked Parakeets, which have already despoiled all available fruit: after the figs and the Concord grapes I mentioned last week, they have now ransacked the medlars, depriving me of one of my favourite late-fall treats.

Reed Buntings are much in evidence these days, and they are also fond of sunflower seeds. Although outnumbered by the Chaffinches, they are much easier to photograph.