Corsica is still the beautiful island I remember and the development that has gone on in ten years, does not appear excessive. I wish I could say the same for England! The apartment outside Calvi was an ideal setting for the North end of the island, and more so if you are woken by a Golden Oriole singing across the road. A female Oriole. I've never found Corsica to be 'brimming' with birds and it can be hard work at times, in terms of the terrain and dense maquis vegetation which covers a good proportion of the island - and smells beautiful! I achieved 65 species in the week, some not previously mentioned were Montagu's Harrier, Audouin's Gull, Nightingale, Great-crested Grebe, Peregrine, to give an idea of the species spread. One bird I was struggling to find this time and previously widespread, was the Cirl Bunting. I finally located one in the Restonica valley, quite well camouflaged in a Corsican pine. You are never far from fresh water with all the melting snow coming down and Grey Wagtails can be found quite easily. ....... but not usually on the car. Although I didn't see a Lammergeier on this visit, ten raptor species were found. Red Kite pursuing a Common Buzzard.
Oh, and of course the Corsican Nuthatch!! Comments are closed.
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