DAVID SAYS
Be aware that if you visit the Po Delta during September to February, the hunting season will be in full flow. Aside from the horrible thought that birds are being shot, you may not see many, as they will be avoiding the hunters. Gorgeous Slender-billed Gulls, resplendent with their pink-hued breasts, will be present breeding alongside the more common Black-headed Gull as well as many Pygmy Cormorants. Oystercatchers are common alongside Black-winged Stilts. Other wader species include passage Dunlin, Ruff and Marsh Sandpipers. I also saw a couple of scarce migrant Little Gulls and White-winged Terns among the more regular migrant Black Terns and breeding Whiskered Terns. Montagu’s Harriers can be found quartering the surrounding agricultural fields and overhead it is worth looking for a drifting Honey Buzzard. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a fair number of the threatened Turtle Doves. It was good to know that they had survived their gruelling journey this far from their winter quarters in sub-saharan Africa.