Report from 3 to 5 May 2023

The explosive song of the Cetti’s Warbler can be heard just about anywhere, a sign that this species’s population density is back to what it was years ago, before a series of harsh winters nearly extirpated it. The situation is reversed for the Nightingale ; twenty years ago we would hear a singing male about every fifty meters or so, but now it is much scarcer. These two species are similar in many ways – size, appearance, lifestyle and an insectivorous diet – but they have different strategies for dealing with winter : the Cetti’s Warbler hunkers in, while the Nightingale is a long-distance migrant. Each strategy has its own set of risks, but currently, global warming is favouring the Cetti’s Warbler, while desertification and habitat degradation is hitting the Nightingale hard. The Common Terns in our local colony have already laid eggs, a fair bit in advance compared to previous years. Cattle Egrets and Little Egrets are beginning to build bests in the heronry, and I also saw a Squacco Heron lurking in the area. New arrivals included Marsh Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Spotted Flycatcher, and Honey Buzzard, and we are enjoying a steady passage of Bee-eaters. The two Shelduck that appeared last week continue to linger. The Black Woodpecker appears to range widely throughout the property, and continues to sing and call ; it does not appear to have found a mate.

On the other hand, the other species to have colonized LaCassinazza recently – the Nuthatch – arrived already paired up. They settled in quickly, and are now close to fledging young. Characteristically, they move upside-down along tree trunks.