Yes, it's been a while. Having been back at Rome for almost a week again, I decided to celebrate this with a small trip to the coast. Since the Vasche di Maccarese are only accessible on Sunday, the destination was chosen quickly, namely the area around the ruin Torre Flavia. Back in September I spent there two enjoyable hours with seawatching, so why don't give it a try in February? If you are arriving via public transport, which means by train, you will have to face at first the problem of walking for half an hour through the monotonous scenery of a classical beach town. Just at the very end things can get a bit more interesting: the pastures north of the reserve attracted in September and even now in February several passerines. Naturally, standing at most on the very beginning of spring migration there were only the common residents and winter guests: Little Egrets, Starlings and White Wagtails. In fact the atypical Sardinian Warbler, that was showing itself completely free and distant from any kind of scrub, was a lot more astonishing.
While I found the wetland area "palude di Torre Flavia" in September mostly dried out and literally birdless, at least the half of the zone was flooded today. Particularly, on the muddy edges several Teals and Shovelers could be seen. A closer look through the scope revealed furthermore three Snipes, few Meadow Pipits and both Grey and White Wagtails. As I was scanning carefully the scenery, a Kingfisher flew past, as well did a Marsh Harrier that however soon escaped from sight and didn't show up any more.
Having enjoyed the birdlife on the pools for some time I finally turned my attention to the beach which was however rather silent and almost deserted. The first five minutes produced the only birds of interest: a Sandwich Tern and two Kentish Plovers. Apart from these it wasn't possible to find anything else worth a mention. So I decided to return and spend some more time watching the water birds in the reserve.
Maybe it was a mistake to leave the beach behind so soon, yet I was rewarded with some close encounters with Stonechats and Reed Buntings on the way back. Thanks to their very accomodating behaviour I was able to take some decent shots, even with my bridge camera. As both species preferred areas interspersed with reeds, I didn't have to wait long until I heard the first "squeaks" of a Water Rail that remained however hidden. Spending some time on this spot I got aware that the reeds were infact filled with passerines: Tits, Chiffchaffs, Zitting Cisticolas, just to name a few. Even a Penduline Tit left for a few moments the safety of its cover and posed freely on a branch of a nearby tree just to be chased away by a cyclist soon afterwards. With a bit more time, it would undoubtedly have been possibile to get along with some more species, but as the way back to the train station was long, I decided to definitely leave the site. Hopefully, for a rewarding return !
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