Piedmont

OK, so back to 2025. I am determined - just for myself and my sanity - to finish with 2025. There was one last trip in December, the third in a run of consecutive weekends. The one that I think I mentioned that I did not want to go on. The one that was the last thing on earth that I wanted to do at that particular time. The one that I went on anyway and in fact really enjoyed and looking back don't regret for an instant.

I flew to Turin on Friday evening and drove about an hour south to the small town of Carmagnola. Turin is north-west Italy, in Piedmont, where for me the big attractions are the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco. This would be another of those trips combining birding and wine exploration. Carmagnola was chosen for the former, and for being half way towards the latter. 

I'd arrived pretty late so I had a pretty leisurely start, with binoculars deployed only at around 10am. The first location was really as a prelude to the second, which did not open until a little later for some reason. This was the Bosco del Gerbasso, chosen simply because in that area it was the eBird hotspot with the most potential. This is standard practice and it tends to work out. 

The area was one of woods and lakes, with a large (and active) quarry slap bang in the middle of it. There were various paths and trails that generally did loops around the quarry and through the woodland, as well as along the riverbank - in this case the Po, Italy's longest river, which runs nearly all the way across the country to Venice. It was a cool morning but clear, the flat countryside in stark juxtaposition to the backdrop of the Alps, a line of snowy peaks that stretched across the entire horizon. I found the spot without too much difficulty and dropped the car on a stretch of gravel that seemed to function as a small car park. I didn't know exactly where I was going but picked a track that seemed to lead into the reserve, if indeed that is what it was. 

I had an enjoyable walk, a big loop of about three miles, and a lot of good birds seen. I got off to a good start immediately by flushing a Woodcock, and Marsh Tits made themselves apparent nearly from the very start, sneezing in the bushes. I wasn't initially sure what I was hearing, this is a not a species I encounter often, but the marvels of modern technology meant I worked it out quite quickly. Better was yet to come with a Goshawk being pursued by a calling Raven, and happily a Sparrowhawk seen just a few moments later with Collared Dove as if to really reinforce the point. A few Great White Egrets were dotted around, and being a very wooded area lots of small birds too so my list was added to regularly. I have not spent a lot of time in Italy, preferring France as I can speak French, and this means that it is somewhat virgin eBird territory with many common birds being new, which for me as regular readers know is more exciting than for most people. That is changing though, with I think five trips in the last two years. None of them have been dedicated birding excursions, but I always try and make a little time to see what I can add. 

I couldn't get directly back to the car due to a farm being in the way, so ended up on the outskirts of the last village I had driven through and had to walk back along the road, but this added a large group of White Wagtail in a sheep field and a couple of Yellow-legged Gull. My next stop was the real reason I had stayed in this location, the Centro Cicogne di Racconigi. As the name suggests, a Stork haven. In truth half of it was a big aviary, but surrounding this and as I had suspected from the aerial views were a series of pools and hides, and so I had a nice wander around these picking up Green Sandpiper, Common Snipe and Water Rail.  Ducks were less diverse than my online research had suggested, maybe I missed a pool, but I found the line Goldeneye and a pair of Gadwall. Mostly however it was Teal and Mallard. And camotwats, which are apparently a phenomenon in Italy just as they are here. Old and middle-aged white men (mind you, I am probably describing my won age group these days), camo head to toe, all with enormous lenses of varying quality. Every single hide had one in, which meant I mostly couldn't get in as they were almost all little two seater ones, which of course meant one seat for the togger and the other for his immense bag and pile of gear. Some of the larger hides had a whole row of photographers. And big or small all the same nonsense was going on, photographing into the sun, birds miles away, twigs and crap everywhere. I hadn't brought a camera and was glad I had not. Common Crane were heard but not seen somewhere out beyond the boundary, and of course there were good number of White Stork that seemed to be roaming free.

One final stop before Barolo, the Stagni di San Sebastiano, and this was much more satisfying other than the guy in camo hunting with dogs. I made sure he saw me, and to be fair he did seem to be keeping to the edges of the area rather than the large lakes stuffed with ducks. These did not even flinch when his shotgun went off from somewhere in the woods so I presume nobody ever enages them directly. The ducks here were a lot more interesting, with Shoveler, Pochard, Red-crested Pochard and Tufted Duck. On the lower lake, perhaps across the river, was a lone Egyptian Goose which the eBird police subsequently queried so I assume it was quite rare here. It was calling and flying around so not really in doubt - I just said that they bred where I live and were a common sight. A Black Redstart flitted around a ruined house, a Peregrine bombed over, and it was altogether really rather pleasant. And this time I actually got to see some of the Cranes I had been hearing when a group appeared over a distant treeline before dropping down. 

A famous address...

So that concludes the birding for Saturday. Now onto the wine. I was staying in the town of La Morra in the north west of the Barolo region. I popped into the fabulous More e Macine to make a booking for the evening - amazingly they could accomodate me, albeit quite an early table, but that suited me fine as I am not that much into late dining which means you go to bed stuffed. I had a very pleasant wander around the town - more of a village I suppose, buying a few goodies to smuggle home, and popped into a wine bar for a bit of a pick me up. I chose a glass of Verduno Pelaverga. Pelaverga is a grape unique to this region which is only sparsely planted by a few domaines, and is quite distinctive and a far cry from Nebbiolo albeit that is can share some of the same tannic brutality. It was all I wanted it to be - light, peppery and really quite lifted, and not at all a punch in the face. I followed this with a Langhe Nebbiolo from Roccalini which was rather unrefined and coarse. I know, woe is me right?

At More e Macine a little later on I kicked off with a glass of Langhe Favorita from Alessandria which wasn't all that good, a bit rustic I thought, but their 2019 Barolo Monvigliero was a classy number despite its youth. It was outclassed however by Gian Luca Colombo's Ravera - the man is a genius, eveything he makes from the lowliest Langhe seems to turn to gold. He makes a Pelaverga too and it is sensational. However eclipising all of these wines was a broccoli flan of the utmost delicacy and deliciousness. So good I was compelled to take a photograph of it, I am not normally one for this kind of thing, I mean I don't even have an Insta... Incredible, one of the best things I had eaten all year, and something I want to try at home. So light and airy, balanced by a rich pecorino sauce, a divine combination. I still think about it some months later. Tajarin for primi and Tagliati for secondi and I was done, a lovely meal, just a shame there was nobody to share it with. I love virtually everything about travelling solo but dining alone I do not enjoy. That is changing though as Mrs L and I are very nearly empty nesters or whatever the phrase is. When I started this blog our youngest child was two years old. She is now 18 and in Vietnam, and starts university in September. The other two are already at university and so Mrs L and I have a level of freedom that we have not experienced for more than two decades. And this time around we have money. So solo travel will diminish and instead we can go places a deux. Less birding, but better for other reasons, and we have started 2026 as we mean to continue.

Of course this trip to Piedmont was in 2025 and in a few short paragraphs it will be over and I can turn the metaphorical page and start afresh. I cannot remember if I had cheese or not, I expect I did, and fairly rolled back across the street to my accomodation. The next day I did a bit more shopping, wine shop browsing and vineyard exploration before switching back to birding mode. I dipped a Shrike somewhere and then went to some lakes called the Oasi Naturalistica La Madonnina which like the Stork place was absolutely stuffed with camotwats. Amazing. I added a few birds here such as Black-crowned Night Heron and Common Kingfisher, but it was in no way as productive as I had been hoping.

One more tajarin for the road

Back in wine land I visited the village of Verduno in the north of Barolo. I found the only open restaurant in the village and had another splendid lunch, albeit smaller and with only a tiny sip of wine as I was driving. As with the place in La Morra it was entirely populated with Italian families out for a family meal. Maybe this happens in London more frequently than I think it does, but I fully support it. That said nice food in Italy costs a fraction of what it does here, my meals in Piedmont would have got me mass-market chain food back home. And so that was it. Another stroll around Verduno to look at some of the hallowed slopes and then back to Turin where I could not help but stop at a pasta factory with an attached factory shop in which to fill up any remaining crevices in my luggage.

Ciao 2025!

     

Back in Fife

I went up to Fife for the first time this year last weekend. I would normally go earlier but I've been a bit busy. As ever birding was not the primary reason for going up, but seeing as I was there. I didn't actually book it that long ago, and as I'd muted the various birding WhatsApp groups I hadn't really been particularly aware of the kind of winter they had been having. About two weeks before I went I idly scanned some recent messages and was blown away! There was an influx of White-billed Divers all around the coast, with a number seemingly now hanging around in the Forth. Wow! As far I was aware WBD has only been seen very infrequently, with a couple of records from Fife Ness and then I think a bird in Largo Bay, both when I wasn't in Fife. Would they stick?

More importantly, would they survive? As the days went on more and more reports of tideline corpses of White-billed Divers started popping up on the group. Clearly they were so battered from whatever inclement weather had pushed them down here in the first place that they were extremely weak. Reports seemed to indicate that they were able to feed, so perhaps an indication of disease, coming into contact with birds that live in colonies, the dreaded avian flu? Casualties were not restricted to White-billed Divers however, there were lots of Auks and other birds as well. But with a finite number of WBDs on offer I was selfishly (shellfishly?) worried they might, er, run out before I got there.

A couple of days before I flew yet another dead bird was found on the Eden estuary, but there seemed more positive news from the other side of the county where three birds remained in the Forth, regularly being seen off Inverkeithing. I arrived on Thursday evening and worked on Friday with no time to get out, but come Saturday I found myself at Port Laing looking at a dead flat sea. And bang in the middle of my scope was a White-billed Diver! A second was a little further out, and further still was what I strongly suspected was the third, but this one had to go down as Diver Sp. What a magnificent bird the closest one was though. I've seen just two White-billed Divers before, the first being a twitch many years ago down to Brixham in Devon, and then more recently (but still five years ago) a bird that Bradders, Howard and I lucked out on in Shetland. And so here I was looking at two birds at the same time, alive and well. Although that said at least one of the birds seemed to be shaking its head from side to side quite frequently which I am pretty sure is not a good sign. We shall see. I spent a good while admiring them, it will probably be many years before I see another.

My next stop was St Margaret's Marsh just a short distance away on the other side of the bridges. Sat between Inverkeithing and Rosyth I didn't even discover this site until relatively recently. I think I was looking for a Water Pipit but I now cannot remember - I didn't see it, instead I coincided with some Jack Snipe ringers and from a distance saw them miss loads! This morning I was once again looking for a Water Pipit, and indeed it had been reported that morning. Unfortunately it had been reported flying into Rosyth dockyard and it didn't come out again either that morning or during the remainder of my time in Fife. It's back now of course....

Regardless, of the two species I would much rather have seen the Divers and so have no regrets about having stopped off at Dalgety Bay first. I spend the rest of the morning happily birding various sites back along the Forth towards Largo Bay. I stopped at Buckhaven to see if I could find the Stejneger's Scoter or lookalike, but I couldn't reliably call it. The best bird was a really cool Velvet Scoter with a pure white head that made it look a bit like a farmyard duck. Plenty of Red-throated Divers, a single Great Northern Diver, Long-tailed Ducks and a Puffin - this is probably the earliest Puffin I have ever seen. In Largo Bay I think I counted seven Slavonian Grebes and three Red-necked Grebes, and there were loads more Velvet Scoter and other wintering species. I do so like having all this on my doorstep when I am up there.

I stayed in on Sunday morning, the weather was a bit crappy and I had various jobs to do for the aged relatives. I also caught up on writing up all my wine notes from the prior week which had been quite heavy - around 40 notes written. When I am finally incapable of writing anything I will look back at my full output and marvel at how prolific I was, and none of it for work which insists on crisp bullet points and nothing floral. I'm good at that too, but I prefer this. It must be hundreds of thousands of words, possibly millions.

My first stop was Angle Park where nothing was happening. The water levels both here and at Letham Pools are extremely high, I would be surprised if either site gets a single wader this spring. I spent the rest of the afternoon at Guardbridge chatting to Malc whilst we searched in vain for an Iceland Gull that had been there the day before. Plenty of birds around, a Black-tailed Godwit alone amongst Redshank and Dunlin, and a single Slavonian Grebe in the channel. We reminisced about the Bridled Tern day, but most of all Malc sold Lesvos to me. I've never been and want to go more than ever. 

I took a final spin up to St Andrews, clocking the Brent flock as I drove alongside the estuary, before stopping at The Scores. Lots of Fulmar and lots of people for the weather was now really rather nice. I declined to walk with the rest of humanity up the West Sands and instead went to Birnie and Gaddon and did the full circuit to try and get my step count up. Lots of Goldeneye, but I couldn't find the Great White Egret. 

Finally

I actually went birding this morning. I had planned to last night but woke up to heavy fog and changed my mind. Snooze. The next time I opened my eyes sunshine was hitting the bedroom floor. The fog was 90% gone. Gah! Yesterday it had lingered for much longer. I leapt from bed, showered, grabbed my bins and headed out. Oh, I got dressed too.

Rather than hit the Flats (despite the lure of a potential super-early Wheatear) I went to the Park. There are still a number of things that I need for the year that are far more likely here - birds like Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail and Cetti's Warbler. Naturally I didn't see any of them, but my goodness what a lovely morning it was. Quite mild with blue skies and, praise be, sunshine. The sun! Had I not been away to Morocco recently I don't think I would have remembered what sunshine even was, it has been the most miserably damp and grey start to the year I can recall for a long time. Just grim. But today it was lovely. I was admiring the near pristine hoods of the Black-headed Gulls on Heronry when a strange song behind me made me turn around. Wait, I know that! A Blackcap! Almost certainly a bird that overwintered rather than an arrival, but nonetheless a welcome sight that cannot help but cheer a person up.

A little later on, a bit closer to the main Park gates, a Chiffchaff started up. Wow! I think I ended up hearing seven singing birds in total, mostly in the Old Sewage Works where I tried (and failed) for the Cetti's Warbler. It didn't matter, it was just lovely to finally be outside and birding locally. 

A Great Crested Grebe was asleep on Heronry, but Duck numbers seem well down. That is if they were ever decent in the first place. I wouldn't know as I didn't really go out. A single Pochard, a single Gadwall, a single Shoveler - seems pretty poor for early March but who knows. With a spring in my step I headed home for a day of toil. I have missed loads of birds this winter due to apathy, but this morning felt like I was back on track. Maybe I have that S.A.D. thing? Personally I think it is very sensible and rational to stay indoors, warm and dry, rather than go out and get cold and wet to find birds that I will almost certainly see without even trying later on. But I would like to see a Teal....

Just in time for returning passerines