Report from 19 to 21 January 2023

Saturday, January 21 was the date we chose to conduct the International Waterbird Census at La Cassinazza, after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19. I would like to thank everyone, both experts and enthusiasts, who came to give us a hand. And my compliments go out to them for facing a freezing cold day as if it were a springtime outing. Our most interesting result was our tally of Teal: with just over 1,600 individuals, this was a record count, and reminds us that La Cassinazza is one of the most important wintering sites for this species in all of Lombardy. Mallards, on the other hand, bucked the trend, with about 2,300 individuals, compared to 3,300 during the last IWC in 2020, and the 5,000 or more that we routinely tallied up to five or six years ago. The numbers of scarcer ducks were in line with recent counts: 18 Shovelers, 7 Gadwall and a single Pintail; no Wigeon were seen this year. A single Shelduck put in a brief appearance, just long enough to make the count. About 110 Cormorants and well over 600 Pygmy Cormorants were counted at their evening roost.

The ducks are the stars of the show during the IWC, and in keeping with tradition, the photo of the day is dedicated to them. Once again we have a Mallard, a drake photographed engaging in “comfort behaviour” as it stretches out to relax its muscles.