We were in Rome on 1st and 2nd May, and found the City relatively green, especially in some of the historical areas. Yellow-legged Gulls used the Roman ruins as inland cliffs, Italian Sparrows were common place, even in City cafes, Monk and Ring-necked Parakeets were fairly common. Blackcaps, Short-toed Treecreepers and Serins frequented the City pines, and the roman ruins on the 2nd May also produced Sardinian Warbler and Tree Sparrow
Birdwatching was a bit limited during the four days of the competition, but on the morning of the 8th we paid a visit to one reserve at Palude di Torre Flavia. We did find out why there may not be too many birdwatchers in Italy as three other local reserves we visited were all closed, except on Sundays, so if your are keen, and have time there are not a lot of midweek access for birders.
Italian Sparrow
Immature Yellow-legged Gull
Hooded Crow
Monk Parakeet
From the 3rd onwards we stayed 40 km NW of the City at Cerveteri near to Santa Severa where the UK medieval combat team where competition in the 2018 Battle of the Nations, which had 33 teams competing from all over the world, where individual fighters won Gold, Silver and Bronze, with the UK 21 team winning Bronze. If anyone fancies watching the UK team fights and some of the individual fights they can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjNcLQZAW_t8vW3k0YK3b1Qluk0Nbnc3Y
Birdwatching was a bit limited during the four days of the competition, but on the morning of the 8th we paid a visit to one reserve at Palude di Torre Flavia. We did find out why there may not be too many birdwatchers in Italy as three other local reserves we visited were all closed, except on Sundays, so if your are keen, and have time there are not a lot of midweek access for birders.
Great Crested Grebe
Swallowtail
Knapweed Fritillary
Mazarine Blue
Curlew Sandpiper
Little Egret
Wood Sandpiper
Black-winged Stilt