Milan and Pescara, Italy, mid-May

Arriving in Milan Sunday evening, I was able to fit in a quick walk before dinner.  Walking from the hotel to Parque Sempione, the familiar House Sparrow-like chirp of Italian Sparrows gave away the first birds, but apart from that, there was very little birdlife in evidence in the park, with the exception of Common Swifts overhead.  

Sempione is a HotSpot with an unimpressive list of about 20 species.

A busy conference week gave little time for birding, although Hooded Crows are common around town, Serins sing frequently from rooftop aerials, and I did spot a Redstart en route one day.

On Thursday, I birthday presented myself with a day off for birding, which included a train ride out of Milan to Malpensa airport and a hike around some hopeful-looking countryside out there, including the Parque Naturale Valle de Ticino.  The hike to the park was about 4 miles, with little to report on the way – two canals held little of interest (apart from Apline Swifts, mixed in with the Commons, and a Sparrowhawk),  and the park itself had limited entry point and not much in the way of trails or obvious demarcation between public and private land. All in all, it was a very hikey birding day, with little by way of new or even exciting birds.  However, there were some year birds (Blackcap, Garden Warbler) and all was forgiven after two brief views of 2 Bee-eaters. Maybe the best-looking bird in Europe and a well-earned lifer!

Saturday saw me transplant to Pescara, further south, and an evening walk before sunset around the town’s limited (and almost entirely private) green spaces was also somewhat slow, but trespassing into one olive orchard did turn up a lifer Sardinian Warbler singing and giving brief looks.  Again, brief looks at Bee-eaters but nothing extended or photo-worthy – they seem very jumpy!  In a second olive orchard, this time viewed from through a fence, I saw the characteristice mask of a lifer Red-backed Shrike! It stayed hidden in shade inside a tree mostly (not very shrikey). Other new trip birds were Spotted Flycatchers, and Yellow-legged Gulls. 

A longer exploration of Pescara on Sunday didn’t really turn up anything different, and maybe I should have tried to get further out of town.  In the end, my lifer haul from this trip of Italian Sparrow, European Bee-eater, and Sardinian Warbler, although modest, is pretty good considering the limited number and variety of birds I managed to find.