After my small trip to the Vasche di Maccarese last week it was finally time to explore a site that's a bit closer and more suitable for regular visits. My choice, the "Villa Doria Pamphilj", is another roman park, but the habitat is significantly different to Pineta Sacchetti. While the latter is mainly characterized by scrubland, the "Villa Doria Pamphilj" looks to my eyes more urban and less wild. You'll find an artificial lake in its centre, several well cared lawns and obviously arranged rows of trees. Despite of that description it attracts still many birds and is probably in the autumn a good place for searching migrant passerines (warblers, tits, etc.). We'll see.
Today however there were only common parkland species, which was no problem at all, since I haven't seen many of these in Italy so far. Firecrest, Wren and Robin were quite abundant. Green and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker took some time, but in the end I heard at least two individuals of each species. Walking around the already mentioned artificial lake (Lago del Belvedere) I eventually spotted even a Little Egret and a Grey Heron. Of course these weren't the only birds on the pond, however I'm not entirely sure, whether the also present Mute Swans and Wood Ducks are to be considered as wild. Maybe I can find out later on.
The most prominent avian representants I have yet spared out: the Parakeets. During the two weeks of my stay in Rome no day has so far passed without hearing a Parakeet somewhere! It seems to me that the Ring-necked Parakeet is actually one of the most common birds of the city (not to mention the Feral Pigeons though), as they occur virtually everywhere. In the "Villa Doria Pamphilj" I finally encountered the second and far less frequent Parakeet species, the Monk Parakeet. All individuals that I spotted on my walk were concentrated on the area around the Pamphilj chapel. I guess it's a rather reliable site for finding that species.
So much for now. The next time I hope to visit one of the sites along the coast line.
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