
Itinerary - Leg 3: the south-east and Siracusa
Saturday 28th April
Next morning I was keen to leave Licata early and slowly make our way along the coast to the next place we were staying near the well-known nature reserve at Vendicari. The first place we stopped was at a wetland I discovered on the outskirts of Gela, Riserva Naturale Orientata Biviere di Gela. This provided a few birds and also some insect interest including what I think was a teneral male Violet Dropwing and some Island Bluetails.
We stopped at the Museo Kamarino, where Vitty went in and looked at their large display of ancient artefacts while I birded outside (but not seeing anything of note). On the map I'd seen some wetland at Granelli which I thought might be worth a look, and so it proved. The first track led down to the river mouth past some marshes which held goodies like Ashy-headed Wagtail and my first waders of the trip, although most of the mud was out of view. The river mouth held Collared Pratincoles and a nice adult Little Gull. Another track round some more marsh produced more waders and egrets but nothing remarkable, and then I discovered a track that led round a much larger lake. This proved a reliable spot for seeing things like Ferruginous Duck and Greater Flamingo.
The accommodation we'd originally booked close to Vendicari had fallen through at the last minute so we'd ended up at a much more expensive place nearby – Monteluce. Pricier perhaps, but a nice place and probably worth the extra money. We were self-catering here as Vitty wanted to try some Sicilian-style cooking.
After checking in here there was enough time to take a first look at the nearby reserve of Vendicari. Unfortunately it seems that Vendicari is marketed to attract people who want the beach more than the wildlife, so although it is primarily a nature reserve it is heaving with people who have no interest in nature, and consequently we did not much enjoy the visit, and we didn't see many birds (3 Audouin's Gulls were best).
Back at Monteluce we ate nice food cooked by Vitty whilst listening to Scops Owls and Stone-Curlews.
Sunday 29th April
Portopalo di Capo Passero, 29th April
I started the morning at Portopalo di Capo Passero in the hope of finding some migrants. The cape itself didn't seem very productive so I worked my way round towards Granelli. Two Ferruginous Ducks occupied the small lake near the Cape and a Peregrine flew over carrying prey, but apart from a few bits and pieces like Hoopoe there wasn't much else seen round here.
Granelli was more productive and I enjoyed the variety of birds here and returned to the same place in the evening. Ten Black-necked Grebes were among the wildfowl (also Garganey and more Ferruginous Ducks) and a Purple Swamphen called, but remained out of sight. A nice White-winged Black Tern flew over, another Audouin's Gull was on the water and a Great Reed Warbler showed briefly.
Monday 30th April
I started off at Granelli where 5 Garganey and a Wryneck were among the highlights. I moved on to Portopalo di Capo Passero where I discovered a patch on the east coast just north of the point that looked good for passerine migrants. So it proved as I stumbled upon another Wryneck along with commoner migrants like Tree Pipits and Whinchats. There was visible migration in evidence too, particularly Swallows, though not in vast numbers. Enough though to make me think this would be a good spot to return to. For this morning though I had to get back and pick Vitty up as we were heading off to Ragusa and Modica to see cathedrals and things – a shame from my perspective as I'm sure a more thorough look here would have reaped some rewards.
At Ragusa Vitty was a bit disappointed to find most things were closed despite the guide book saying the cathedral should open at 10.00. Tomorrow is the May Day public holiday and we later discovered that some districts adopt an extra 'bridge' holiday when there's a single working day between a weekend and a public holiday. Still, Vitty had heard that the cathedral was more impressive from the outside than inside anyway, and we could at least see that, albeit from behind the gate. A female Blue Rock Thrush showed well as we returned to the car.
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Duomo di San Georgio, Ragusa, 30th April
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statues on Duomo di San Georgio, Ragusa, 30th April
view from Ragusa , 30th April
Modica was livelier, and the cathedral there was equally impressive – and open. Modica is famous for its chocolate and there are many chocolate shops there, but the best is said to be the one attached to Dolceria Bonajuto, the oldest chocolate factory in Sicily. We went there and sampled many types of chocolate, all of which were delicious – just a shame we couldn't buy the whole lot!
Duomo di San Georgio, Modica, 30th April
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Chiesa di San Pietro, Modica, 30th April
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Sicilian countryside, 30th April - there were some nice bits of countryside in Sicily but on the whole I didn't find it a very beautiful island
In the evening I returned to the spot I'd found in the morning at Portopalo di Capo Passero. Some migrants were still in evidence, including a Cuckoo and, at dusk, a Honey-Buzzard flying in off the sea. As I returned to Monteluce I noticed an object in the road – I turned the car round to have a look and was delighted to find it was a Scops Owl. I had wonderful views in the headlight although my attempt at photographing it wasn't so successful.
Tuesday 1st May
I started the morning off at Portopalo di Capo Passero where highlights included Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Short-toed Lark and 2 Red-rumped Swallows. Granelli then delivered Golden Oriole and my first really good look at a male Ashy-headed Wagtail looking how they're meant to look. A Purple Swamphen called but remained invisible.
I returned to Portopalo di Capo Passero in the evening and the Eastern Black-eared Wheatear had been joined by at least 4 Northern Wheatears. A flock of 5 Little Egrets flew north while on the rocky beach was a flock of 8 Squacco Herons – presumably migrants fresh in from Africa? A drive round towards the point produced another Eastern Black-eared Wheatear on the beach – also a female. At dusk I stopped off to have a quick at the small lake just NW of the cape and found 12 more Squacco Herons and a vocal Purple Heron. As I watched these a Nightjar appeared right beside me hawking insects from the surface of the water just like a Swallow. A second bird was sitting on the track as I drove off.
Wednesday 2nd May
Today Vitty had arranged with a local company to be taken round the market at Siracusa and then spend the morning cooking Sicilian food with a chef near Noto. So I had to drop Vitty off in Siracusa at 7.30 and on the way there had a look for migrants at Capo Murro di Porco. Best was a male Red-footed Falcon, supported by Red-rumped Swallow and a Redstart. A fair way out to sea a flock of 16 Greater Flamingos flew north.
After dropping Vitty off I had a look at the Riserva Naturale Orientata Fiume Ciane. First up was a Purple Swamphen, and then warblers started popping up. A total of 4 Hippolais warblers provided challenge as they stubbornly refused to show me their most reliable ID features. Also 6 Whitethroats in one bush (not a family), so I guess these were all migrants.
Siracusa from Riserva Naturale Orientata Fiume Ciane, 2nd May
Next I returned to Capo Murro di Porco where I discovered a dried up pool which I thought might be good for migrants. So it was, as it contained 3 Tawny Pipits, 3 Tree Pipits and 4 Blue-headed Wagtails.
I joined Vitty for an impressive array of delicious food she'd been creating.
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some of our lunch, near Noto, 2nd May
After this Vitty wanted to have a look round Noto. We had ice cream at what is supposed to be one of the best cafes in the world: their ice cream was nice enough but I didn't see anything that warranted such high acclaim - surely we must have got the wrong cafe? Anyway, the Pallid Swifts wheeling overhead were nice.
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Chiesa Madre di San Nicoḷ (left) and Palazzo Ducezio (right), Noto, 2nd May
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Noto, 2nd May
We had a fair bit of daylight left so I decided to go to Vendicari on the way back to our accommodation. The sat nav said it would take less than 15 minutes so we'd have plenty of time, even allowing for the road closure we knew about. Well, it took us about 3 hours, so we never got to Vendicari! First the sat nav got confused as we came out of Noto, taking us down an incredibly narrow and steep street in the city which the car barely fitted down, and then it told me to turn left at the crossroads. Now had I been on a bike I might have just been able to get the bike round the corner, but there was no way in the world that anyone was going to get a car round that corner! Turning right would have been just as impossible and straight on was a pedestrian zone (I couldn't see any signs to that effect but I think that was the message from the hand-waving shouting Italians that were barring my way)! I thought there was no way I could back all the way up that incredibly narrow street pitted with pot holes – I could barely get down it forwards! Well I had to back up, and I managed without scraping the car, and we eventually we even got out of Noto.
We got to the roadblock we knew about and informed the sat nav that the road ahead was blocked, on the assumption that it would find a way round. It sent us down a road that turned into a bumpy track which we followed for miles before realising that the sat nav now thought we were nowhere near a road! At one point we were driving down a river bed and it seems that the sat nav had wanted us to carry on down the river (which would have been impossible) instead of along the track. Gradually the quality of the track deteriorated until it reached a stage where it was impossible to proceed, so we had to turn round (easier said than done) and retrace. We ended up back at the wrong side of the road block and noticed what looked like a diversion sign. We headed along this track, following the arrows, until we found ourselves in the middle of the road construction site with no way out other than the way we went in! Eventually we did find a way round, but it was long past sunset before we completed what should have been a 15 minute journey! This makes it sound like the sat nav was useless but overall the sat nav was possibly the most valuable piece of kit we brought with us – on the whole it made getting around tonnes simpler than it would have been had we relied on the best road map we could find on Amazon before we got here.
Thursday 3rd May
Vitty had arranged another morning with Richard Bendy to see how Ricotta cheese was made and had to start early, so for once it was me getting up early for Vitty rather than the other way round! I dropped her off at 5.30 am and then headed down to Granelli where Whiskered and White-winged Black Terns and Little Gull graced the lake above the heads of 150 Greater Flamingos and at least 12 Ferruginous Ducks. Among the herons were 3 Great White Egrets and waders included 3 Little Stints. Another 'yellow' wagtail holding territory ought to have been the Ashy-headed race, but seemed to more closely resemble the Iberian form. At Portopalo di Capo Passero there seemed to be very little in the way of fresh migrants, the exception being a rufous-morph female Cuckoo. A quick stop at the little lake nearby produced my first Red-crested Pochard of the trip and then I went and collected Vitty, who had had a good time on the farm. Vitty had mentioned that I'd been complaining about how little nice scenery we'd seen in Sicily so Richard and Sue told us about a nice walk along a gorge near Noto.
After they'd kindly pointed us in the right direction we headed up to Cava Carosella (seeing Pied Flycatcher at the ford) and took the path they described down to the valley floor. We couldn't remember if we were meant to go left or right at the bottom so I'm not sure if the little pool we found was the one they were directing us to, but it didn't really matter as it was a very pleasant walk anyway – and yes, this bit of Sicily was much more scenic than most of what we'd seen so far.
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Cava Carosella, 3rd May
A few more butterflies and dragonflies here than elsewhere too, though mostly familiar species – best were Southern Skimmer and lots of Copper Demoiselles.
A slow drive down the peninsula to Capo Murro di Porco produced another Red-rumped Swallow, Wood Warbler and an entirely brownish-grey Willow Warbler. For the last 2 nights of our holiday we stayed at Pozzo di Mazza, recommended by Andrea Corso. His Limosa tour had stayed there and our stay overlapped with a Naturetrek tour .
Friday 4th May
I returned to Capo Murro di Porco before breakfast and checked out the dried out pool – it contained 10 wagtails including a nice selection of forms. First up were Blue-headed Wagtails, then a couple of Grey-headed Wagtails appeared – nice! Then I locked on to a splendid Black-headed Wagtail – very nice! I was especially interested to hear this call – I must have heard these in Turkey but it was the first time I'd heard one call at the same time as other flava wagtails were calling and the difference was very obvious. Last up was an intriguing individual which seems to fit best the intergrade form 'dombrowski' – the first time I've seen such a bird. Also a Short-toed Lark here.
After this I popped in briefly to Riserva Naturale Orientata Fiume Ciane where the highlight was another Purple Swamphen. After breakfast Vitty was keen to look round Siracusa so most of the day was spent in the town (the clear highlight for me being lunch at Apollonion Osteria da Carlo).
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Tempio di Apollo, Ortigia, Siracusa, 4th May
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Ortigia, Siracusa, 4th May
A quick jaunt down to Capo Murro di Porco found yesterday's Wood Warbler still present but little else.
Saturday 5th May
Last night guests at Pozzo di Mazza who'd done the Naturetrek tour last week and stayed on for another week told us about a good site for Spectacled Warbler where they'd also seen Lanner and Bonelli's Eagle. Thanks to them and to Stuart Elsom who this morning provided me with very precise directions to this site. So after breakfast we checked out and headed off to Cava Grande del Cassibile. It's normally possible to walk down to the bottom of this gorge as we had done at Cava Carosello previously but even if the path down hadn't been closed that wouldn't have been our intention today – we were to fly home this evening and could do without such a vigorous hike! Instead we followed Stuart's excellent directions to a cliff-top meadow. Spectacled, Eastern Subalpine and Sardinian Warblers were all singing in the meadow but the former had a habit of popping up directly between me and the sun so it took some time before I got a decent look at one. In the end I did though – the first time I've seen this species for many years. A pair of Blue Rock Thrushes flew over several times and a Golden Oriole flew past too. A nice place with nice birds so thanks to the guys for telling me about it!
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Cava Grande del Cassibile, 5th May
Nearby there were 2 Rock Sparrows and with plenty of time left we pottered around heading inland from here for a few miles before heading on to Catania Airport.
All in all it certainly wasn’t my favourite holiday and I won't be rushing back to Sicily. I found driving in Sicily a total nightmare - Italians have a reputation for driving crazily and in my opinion it is a reputation thoroughly deserved. I normally enjoy driving - even in Africa it was ok - but here I found it so stressful that I decided to omit parts of the planned itinerary. I normally like to amble around in the car keeping half an eye out for birds and pulling over when I find a nice-looking piece of habitat, but when there's constantly a car so close behind you that you can't see its bonnet and things hairing around on the wrong side of the road, overtaking on blind corners and worse it's hard to concentrate on the birds, or decide to stop suddenly when you find somewhere interesting.
I could have handled that if it had just been in the towns or in the busy touristy places but I found it impossible to escape from for much of the time, and that put me in a frame of mind such that even when I did get some decent birding opportunity I found I wasn't finding birds as successfully as I would have expected, and also made more mistakes than I'd normally expect.
I know that others have had different and more positive experiences of Sicily and got used to the driving more easily than I did. It’s not my intention to discourage people from going there – there is a lot of potential for good birding. Had I been on the Limosa trip the week before and seen Bar-tailed Desert Lark, Atlas Flycatcher and a host of other decent birds I’d have probably come away with a very different impression (check out these trip reports from Limosa tours for example). But even without being part of an organised group I imagine that a day or two with Andrea Corso would be well worth organising if you can.
Click here to go to details of all the birds and animals seen, illustrated with photos of many of the species.
