Report from 4 to 6 December 2024

Last winter, the destructive and invasive Wels Catfish were eradicated from the lake. Now, several Little Grebes and up to ten Great Crested Grebes are happily swimming there, scenes we had not seen in years since that voracious predator had invaded that body of water. Additionally, last summer a pair of Great Crested Grebe and two or three pairs of Little Grebes nested on the lake. The Common Terns also benefited from the eradication: the chicks start swimming within a few days of hatching, and make a tasty morsel for such a large fish.

The season has definitely turned wintery. In the icy dawn, the song of a Golden Oriole sounds drastically out of place, but it is merely an imitation – albeit an almost perfect one – by a Starling. The Golden Orioles are now far away; they set off for tropical Africa back in August. Wood Sandpipers should also have left long ago, but a couple of individuals are still lingering. Back in early November I already thought they were far behind schedule, but now they are in the wrong season altogether. I have been reliably told that the Wood Sandpiper is one of those species whose wintering range is gradually shifting northwards. Some are already successfully wintering in southern Italy; I don’t know if they have ever successfully overwintered in the Po Plain, but these two individuals definitely look set to try.

I would like to point out that this photo is not from the archives, but actually depicts one of these plucky individuals, taken in the cold winter light of the past few days.