Sunday 6 September 2015

Italy wildlife

I went on the college trip to Itlay on the 22nd to the 26th. We did all sorts, but whilst others where looking at the rocks and monuments i was also looking at the wildlife.


There were a lot, and i mean a lot, of butterflies. The common ones such as Large and Small Whites, Small Tortoiseshells and the odd Painted Lady were flying around, with them were Swallowtails, Brimstones, Ringlets and i even saw a Hummingbird Hawk Moth. These butters were on Capri and at the very top of Mt Vesuvius, which really surprised me.
 
I also managed to see a few lizards scuttering around, many many bats, dragonflies and a snake. One night i found a large beetle being eaten by ants, which was great to see up close.
 

I didn't managed to get much birding done but i did do my best. I went out with my friend one night and was watching about 30 screeching Swifts fly along the cliff face and soar in the sky. We got a very close encounter with a LBB Gull, and I saw four unidentifiable birds throughout the trip. I'm a terrible birder.... Took my bins out when they weren't needed and left them when they were needed, typical. We went to a birdless lake which was supposedly the entrance to Hades, but it wasn't birdless at all. It was full of Coots, the odd Great Crested Grebe and a very ugly Muscovy (no offence to those Muscovy lovers).
 


By the end of the trip, my bird book had the odd pressed flower in from the places we visited instead of new ticks. But overall, I had a great time!!