Limestone Birding

Birding My Suburban Local Patch in Trieste, Northern Italy

I live in Barcola, a suburb of the border city of Trieste in northeast Italy. The town lies on the north Adriatic Sea, a couple of kilometres away from Slovenia. Here the countryside is mainly karstic: rocky cliffs, dry soil, moorland, pine and mixed woods. The suburb where I live is on the coast and it extends north to the karstic slope. The area around my home is my local patch. There are scattered dwellings with nice gardens, parks, orchards and vineyards. There’s also a wide panoramic view of the sea from my house, so my local patch checklist also includes many waterbirds.

The main birding watchpoint is from my balcony. From here I can survey the many gardens and green areas around my house and northwards where the suburb ends, a mixed woodland starts. In every season there’s something to look for and almost every year I discover new species in the area.

Breeding season

Breeding around the area are common garden species such as Collared Dove, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Black Redstart, Blackcap, Great Tit, Magpie, Hooded Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Greenfinch and Goldfinch. There’s also a pair of Starlings that nest in an old Great Spotted Woodpecker’s nest hole in a Chestnut. During summer I’ve also seen young Golden Orioles, so it’s possible that they also breed nearby.

Spring

In spring my patch comes to life. I firstly notice the waterbirds as they migrate over my patch. They mainly come from west where there are many marshes and wetlands (for example the Isonzo’s river mouth). These birds include Mute Swan, Greylag and White-fronted Geese, Black-headed and Yellow-legged Gulls, Wigeon, Garganey, Grey Heron, Cormorant and Curlew. During this period there are also raptors soaring in the sky. Perhaps the most numerous is the Marsh Harrier, along with Honey Buzzards and Kestrels. On rare occasions I’ve seen Hen Harriers.

While watching the sky you can often find “clouds” of Swallows, House Martins, Alpine and Common Swifts all together. Apart from Common Swifts and House Martins the others are here only during migration. Other common migrants passerines include Hoopoes that perch on the wires and can be seen feeding on the lawns, Nightingales sing early in the morning; Redstarts can be found in the orchards among the blossoming fruit trees. On the roofs you can spot Wheatears and Whinchats flycatching whilst Subalpine Warblers — the males superbly plumaged, Whitethroats, Willow Warblers and Spotted Flycatchers are all regular every year. On the highest trees mixed flocks of Serins and Linnets find their food.

Summer

During summer the bird activity quietens down except for the occasional vagrant juveniles like Spotted Flycatchers, Golden Orioles, Goldfinches and Greenfinches. During the nights, Scops Owls call. They sometimes approach buildings perching on the wires. Meanwhile at sea, Common and Sandwich Terns hunt for fish in the gulf. When August comes the hedges and trees once again come to life with early autumn migrants passing through like Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat both visiting the same elder bushes every year, as well as Pied and Spotted Flycatchers with juvenile Red-backed Shrikes.

Autumn/Winter

During these seasons I can sea-watch from my balcony, observing Black-throated Divers, Black-necked and Great Crested Grebes and some ducks. Over land there are Woodpigeons migrating south in big flocks while Tree Pipits and Song Thrushes pass overhead. Winter visitors like Dunnocks, Wrens, Robins and Chiffchaffs return coming to the gardens. Other winter notables include Goldcrest, Firecrest, Coal and Blue Tits, rarely Crested Tits, Siskin, Hawfinch, Common Crossbill and Cirl Buntings that feed on the lawns. On one occasion during the winter of 2008/2009 a Chiffchaff of the Siberian subspecies tristis showed up in my garden.

Rarities

Since I started collecting bird data in 2004, I have recorded some interesting and rare birds. I had a Red-throated Diver on the sea on one occasion; Night Herons are occasional during migration periods as are Red-breasted Mergansers. An Osprey flew over in 2009, a Red Kite in 2008 and there have been Goshawk, Common Cranes and Whimbrels within flocks of Curlews. Long stayers have included a Woodlark, a flock of seven Red-rumped Swallows in 2008 (probably the rarest species for the area), some Melodious Warblers, an Icterine Warbler in May 2008 and in winter some Bramblings and a Rock Bunting. In the neighbouring wood I’ve heard calling Black and Grey-headed Woodpeckers on a couple of occasions.

Mammals

I have also collated a short checklist of the mammals around my home and the list includes Eastern Hedgehog, Kuhl’s Pipistrelle, Red Fox, Common Bottlenose Dolphin in April 2009, House Mouse and Brown Rat.

I consider myself very lucky to live in a place with so many green areas and close to the beautiful sea despite being only a few steps away from the noisy town. I’ve only recently discovered urban birding (or suburban in this case) and it’s a fantastic and very satisfying activity.

In the future I hope to see even more birds here and find even more breeding species. In my part of Italy there aren’t as many parks in the city centres as in the UK for example, so I think it’s important to preserve the green areas we have. They are the lungs of our cities.

Domen Stanic
April 2009 (from The Urban Birder) 

Some bird photos taken in the local patch area:

Great Spotted Woodpecker and Robin

Brambling and Sparrowhawk

 Golden Oriole and Blackcap

 Curlews on migration and Redstart