Pineta Sacchetti

For the first official birding trip I chose the public park "Pineta Sacchetti" situated in the western part of the city. In fact, I was there a bit late in the morning and naturally it seemed at first that I wouldn't get much to see. Well, apart from the ubiquitous Ring-necked Parakeets and Hooded Crows, by which I was greeted immediately after entering the park. However, only five minutes afterwards I heard a discreet rattling call out of one of the bushes. Despite of waiting some time in front it, the mysterious bird wouldn't leave its shelter. Still curious about the rest of the park I decided to walk on. This should turn out to be no mistake, because the peculiar call belongs to apparently one of the most common birds of the site and was soon audible all along the path. A few minutes later one hopped finally out of its cover: a Sardinian Warbler! In my homeland this species is a quite rare appearance, not even annually recorded.

Fortunately, from this point on birding improved a lot. Barn Swallows were feeding in the air, a Great Spotted Woodpecker landed in a nearby tree and both Green Woodpecker and Short-toed Treecreeper revealed their presence by their distinct calls. Woodpeckers were surprisingly active by the way, since only minutes after that a small black bird with a lot of white on the back flew past. Its typical call confirmed my first suspicion: a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. It's been quite while that I've actually seen one. From the point of view of an central European the way back was probably the most exciting part of the tour: On the top of a bush I spotted eventually two small passerines turning out to be Subalpine Warblers. In a similar way I detected my first roman Zitting Cisticola close to the entrance of the park after hearing its subtle calls.