Up early and Rohan and I headed slightly southwards along the coast to the Po Delta area. Heading initially for Porto Viro, we then headed out towards the coast, basically following a loop through Ca Cappello, Porto Levante, Scanarello, Ca Pisani, and back, but also covering Pila and Boccasette. It was shaping up as a pretty hot day temperature wise, but it was obvious from the start that we were in for a pretty good day as far as birds were concerned!

We basically followed the coastal strip, stopping at likely looking spots, or when and where we saw things. The birding was really pretty good and passing through a diverse range of habitats from tidal mudflat areas, brackish lagoons, reedbeds, wheat and other agricultural cropping fields, and swamp woodland meant that we clocked up a range of species in good order. At least 4 little owl gave good views throughout the morning, and in the reedbed habitats Cetti's warblers made themselves pretty obvious by their explosive calls. As if just to annoy Bex who left yesterday, we had THE best views of nightingale singing on top of a tile roof, giving it all. Even decided it was worth getting the scope out and on him (sorry Bex!). Good views of Mediteranean gulls and black-headed gulls in flooded paddocks and several Montagu's harriers (mainly males). Also a couple of larger larks flushed off small roads and turned out to be our first crested larks of the trip. Also interesting, based on our day in similar habitats on 10 June, was the fact that we encountered quite a number of melodiuous warblers, both singing and apparently foraging for food to take back to the nest. Strange how you sometimes suddenly find a pocket of birds like that, or perhaps it was just the fact we were getting used to the species and picking different calls?

Bit further along between Porto Levante and Scanarello we found the first of many Kentish plovers (which rather unbelievably I think are my first), as well as flying spotted redshank (bummer they weren't on the deck) and finally managed to get half decent views of that little brown job that had evaded us on 10 June, but had sung tantilising close in several places. Today I kept thinking it was an Acrocephalus, the call was just wrong for reed warbler, which along with great reed warbler we had already seen a number of. Of course, based on the fact this was clearly a breeding species here, this really only left marsh warbler, and with the brief views and listening to the BWP calls later that day, we confirmed the id. Sweet!

We then shortly clocked up our first greater flamingo flock of the day (a nice flying bunch), and our first slender-billed gull of the trip. A little bit further and we started seeing big numbers of little tern and realised they were breeding on some saltpans beside the road (about 100+ pairs, plus c.10 pairs of Kentish plovers many with chicks). Stopping to check for other shorebirds we found an immature dunlin (which had us - or me at least - thinking it might have been a curlew sand to start with), plus more Kentish plovers. Then strange calls above us had me trying to get the word 'PRATINCOLE' out of my mouth...turns out there was also a small breeding colony of about 15-20 collared pratincoles, many with large chicks, right there as well. We watched as one parent brought in a large dragonfly and fed it to its chick, pretty cool, and managed some quite nice shots of the adults in flight above us. My first decent views of a pratincole sp. and probably the bird of the day for me. Along the road a small snake headed off the road as we approached, and quick as a flash Rohan was on it and had it by the tail. At first it appeared quite dark, but its colour became quite light after capture, and this is reflected in the photos. Turns out the snake is a whip snake, probably a Western whip snake.

A bit further along the road we found a bunch of gull-billed terns feeding along a canal and over the reeds and then a large pond with nesting mute swans and about 8 or so squacco herons standing around on lily pads - nice to get views of the birds on the deck instead of just flying. A quick lunch at Porto Tolle wharf gave us an opportunity to get some good photos of yellow-legged and black-headed gulls, and common terns - unfortunately no more slender-billed gulls though. The local fishermen thought we were slightly strange I think! Heading out towards Boccasette, we drove right to the end of the spit. Lots of heat haze by this stage and not a great view out over mudlfats due to reedbeds, but we managed to see about 30 redshank, c.5 black-tailed godwit, a couple of slender-billed gulls and then Rohan spotted a small gull in the distance. The bird flew closer, but kept landing in places slightly obscured by the reedbeds, but views though the scope left no other possibility other than LITTLE GULL, a bird that looked like a first-winter bird. A lifer for both of us, and I guess relatively uncommon at this time of the year down here.

We then ended up driving back out towards Porto Viro and then east to Albarella Island and then back up and around to Rosolina Mare and Caleri, again out along another spit almost to the end. Not a lot of new birds and the heat was getting well up, probably about 34-36 C I'd say...bit warmer than NZ at the moment! We stopped along the way checking likely places and some of the ducks to make sure there wasn't anything unusual, but mostly mallards with a pochard or two. And so we slowly then made our way back to John and Claudia's for yet another great dinner...I'll be lucky if any of my pants fit me by the end of this holiday!

Well our time in Urbino is at an end. Heading back to Venice....high speed on the Autostrada and dropped Phill and Bex of at Marco Polo Venice Airport just after midday. Headed to John and Claudia's house in Santa Maria di Sala just out of Venice, where we met up with them and Rohan and Kate. The next day was spent in Venice taking in the sights of this very cool city - managed to see a few of the main sights including the very ornate Basilica di San Marco, pretty impressive.

Not a lot in the way of birds, but hundreds of swifts flying over the city, quite a few yellow-legged gulls, and of course house sparrows!

Rohan and Kate, good friends from Melbourne arrived the day before the wedding, and with Rohan being a keen birder we had decided that today would be a perfect day for exploring the Furlo Gorge area again. It wasn't exactly an early start, understandably, but we started in the gorge itself where we glimpsed the resident pair of golden eagles (sorry Bex!) and found alpine swifts nesting in cracks, along with the more common crag martins we had seen last time. Also putting in an appearance this time were several white wagtails along the river.

We then headed up the eastern side of the gorge again, up into the woodland towards the open meadows where we had been previously and seen the honey buzzards. We stopped off in the woodland and had a quick lunch, seeing a few common forest species along the way, but it was a bit quieter than expected. Up at the first meadow that looks out towards the gorge we spent a bit of time searching amongst the bushes, eventually getting reasonable views of subalpine warblers singing and song-posting, a small snake about 80cm long, skylarks, corn buntings, and a brief flyby group of common crossbills. On up through the woodland we heard chiffchaff, Bonelli's warbler and cuckoo calling, and in the high meadow searched out the ortolan bunting we had seen on the previous visit. We managed to find him without too much trouble, singing away on the same bushes as last time, and got quick views of a cuckoo flying past (pretty sure it was a female). A call overhead alerted us to a honey buzzard and two short-toed eagles flying over - nice views of both. Of course stonechats and red-backed shrikes were out perched on top of bushes, and the odd linnet flew past. On the way back down through the woodland we heard a few firecrests and spotted a song thrush - the first seen in Italy so far. Back to the house for a rest and dinner...

After dinner Rohan, Kate, Bex and myself decided it was worth a dusk trip back to where we had been in the afternoon to see what we could find. Perfect timing arriving on early dusk and as we stopped at a small wheatfield a little way up we spotted a couple of wild boar feeding out in the open, plus a hare. Heading up a little further a sow wild boar ran across the road with about 4 stripey piglets in tow, and just a little further and an adult male nightjar flew around behind us. We stopped the car and all jumped out to get views of it flying before it perched on a dead branch and purred for a few minutes - fantastic! It flew off again and we got great views of its white spots in the wing and tail and the weird raised wing flight. Pretty cool, and we saw at least two more over the course of the evening. Up in the meadow part way up we had a few roe deer and then in the meadows at the top got excellent and prolonged views of a short-eared owl. The bird flew round in front of us for probably almost a minute and then landed on a bush. It did this several times allowing excellent views. We headed off back down the mountain, seeing a few more roe deer and a possible porcupine charging off the road. But the best was still to come. I managed to spot eye shine halfway down the mountain by a deer feeding station, and quickly realised it was a fairly large mustelid. We all had good views of the animal as it ran along the top of a bank at about 50m distance, pausing several times to stop and stare down towards us. We all had pretty good views of the animal with bright orange eyeshine, seeing a predominantly dark animal, standing relatively tall for a mustelid, with a long bushy tail and distinctive pale inverted 'U' shape on its chest and partly down the forelegs. There were no pale markings on the face. After probably almost a minute the animal made off into the undergrowth and was gone. We headed home debating what it was, but were all sure it wasn't a polecat (due to the lack of facial markings), but weren't exactly sure what the other possibilities were, although though it may have been a marten. A quick google search a few days later left no doubt in our minds that it was actually a BEECH MARTEN. Pretty cool animal!

Well the big day has arrived...early morning run around the Saturday market helping John get the last of the food for the wedding picnic...of course we had to sample more of the fried calamari and shrimps...mmmmm! Then helped with preparations at Claudia's parents place and relaxed for the rest of the morning before heading into the centre of Urbino for a quick drink before walking with John up to the Mayoral Chambers. Claudia arrived looking stunning and the ceremony was underway.

Afterwards we headed back to Claudia's parents place and of course ate and drank a lot! A great day with friends...

Up pretty early and Bex, Kevin and I headed northwards towards Ravenna and the Southern Camacchio Lagoon, a large coastal lagoon located out on the coast from Bologna. It was about a two hour drive from Urbino, mostly on the Autostrada (yep, getting used to this Italian driving!). As we got closer and onto smaller roads we started to get onto some good birds, with several little owl out perched on power poles, etc. Also a couple of hoopoe (first of the trip), and a harrier that disappeared as soon as we stopped the car - either a hen or Montagu's but not sure which unfortunately.

Passing through mixed cropping land and approaching the small town of Anita and then the bottom of the lagoon, we started to get things like black-winged stilt, a couple of flying spoonbill, Mediterranean and black-headed gulls, and heard our first of many zitting cisticolas. We stopped at the commercial fish ponds just on the southern shores of the lagoon and spent about 1/2 an hour scanning out over them and the surrounding countryside. Our first pygmy cormorant of the day and the first of a lot of calling and flying cuckoos put in an appearance. The ponds themselves didn't have a lot of birds on them, but the surrounding area was pretty good, and we got good views of zitting cisticolas, several cattle egret (plus of course little and great egret), grey heron, and both mallard and northern shovelor. A little further along the road, overlooking the lagoon proper we had quite a few avocet, as well as great-crested and little grebe. Avocets have to be one of my favourite shorebirds with that upturned bill and stark black and white plumage. Nice that they are so common here. Redshank were also around, and we even had great views of Cetti's warblers singing right out in the open.

A little further along the lake shore, before reaching the Boscoforte Peninsula, we had distant views of greater flamingo, which was the bird of the day for Bex I think! We also had reasonable views of a marsh harrier quartering, as well as great reed warbler, blackcap, reed warbler, and several more cuckoos. At the base of the Boscoforte Peninsula we spent some time scanning the reedbeds and willows. We had excellent scope views of a reed warbler singing away and encountered our first 'mystery' warbler singing away in a tree nearby. We glimpsed it several times, but just couldn't pin it down. Very frustrating, as we got several of these over the course of the day - see 18 June above though, turns out these were marsh warblers. We did have good views of a nutria (coypu) swimming in a small channel, plus good scope views of several bee-eaters.

We headed further along the gravel road that runs along the southern shore of the lagoon, stopping in several places to get better views of flamingo, avocet, breeding little and common terns, and a great male Montagu's harrier. Pretty awesome spot with a lot to see, so we took our time, although by now it really was starting to warm up! We then headed back into the small town of Santa Alberto, grabbed some lunch and then headed out to Valle Mandriole to a tower hide that overlooks another large freshwater lagoon just by the River Lamone. We had our lunch in the hide and looked out over the lake. Lots of waterbirds - with whiskered and common terns, purple, grey, and squacco herons, black-crowned nightheron, lots of pygmy cormorant (50+) as well as great cormorant, and a couple of gull-billed tern. Of surprise were two African white ibis - both birds were banded on the upper left leg with large yellow plastic bands with black letters 'BP' on one and 'BL' on the other. Not sure whether these are escapees or what?

We then headed to some local woods - Pineta di San Vitale - where possibly due to the fact it was now very warm and the middle of the afternoon were a little quiet. Nightingales were of course present and singing away madly, but about 10 minutes into the woods a swarm of huge mosquitos descended on us and after I slapped the first one and spilt almost a litre of my own blood (!), I said "Let's get the hell outta here!", and so we left. We then headed on a little bit of a wild goose chase towards Cervia, along the eastern side of another lagoon, but access to it was a little difficult. In the end we decided to call it a day - a very successful one at that! - and headed back towards Urbino.

Not really a birding day today, more sight-seeing day. Headed across to San Leo - amazing castle and little walled town. Very picturesque drive through the countryside to get there, driving through some steep hills with wheat fields, vineyards, and mixed agricultural land. I hadn't expected such beautiful scenery, with such a mix of agriculture. It is amazing to commonly see and hear species of birds such as cirl buntings, corn buntings, skylarks, and nightingales on the Continent, when they are in such decline in the UK. To me it would seem that the highly manicured and tidy landscape of the UK, vs the highly diverse and often 'rough' landscape of Italy holds the key.

We wandered around the spectacular little walled town of San Leo, with its very well fortified castle, perched on the top of a huge rock outcrop, and found a little resturant for lunch...yep, more food! Heading up to the Castle afterwards a bird calling a little like a wood warbler took a few seconds to find and turned out to be a Bonelli's warbler. There seemed to be a couple more calling up and around the castle, but probably the bird of the day for me was ALPINE SWIFT, with 3-4 of these relatively large swifts putting on a great show around the walls of the castle. Very cool! Crag martins also seemed to be nesting around the walls of the castle, as was a pair of blue rock thrush, managing views of both the female and the pretty stunning male. Not bad for a touristy stop! An immature short-toed eagle put in an appearance between San Leo and San Martin (a very toursity duty free republic within Italy).

A very early start this morning to head out to the same Nature Reserve as yesterday, but today a more focussed effort with just the three keen birders (Bex, Kevin and myself). We headed to the western side of the reserve which we hadn't really had a good chance to explore the previous day, and stopped at several sites as we increased in altitude. First stop revealed a few of the common things we had seen the previous day, but a little higher we saw turtle dove and finally managed good views of a skulking subalpine warbler - stunning little male who gave us the run around to start with, but we got pretty nice views in the end (managed to see several more over the course of the morning and they became successively easier for some reason!). Then a little higher we got into a meadow area and saw a mistle thrush and scope views of a small flock of common crossbills.

Still further up, again back in woodland, skulking blackcaps had us fooled yet again, but we heard a lot of firecrests calling, several chiffchaff, and small groups of tits. Still further up and back into open meadows near the summit around 850-950m we got back into red-backed shrikes and stonechats, saw a hare, and the first of about 8 honey buzzards. Eventually got some nice photos of adult honey buzzards in flight and a cool series of a bird walking around in tall grass obviously looking for wasps or insects/reptiles. Very strange watching such a large bird of prey walking around on the ground hunting. As it was our first really nice hot sunny day (we had had cooler weather since arriving) birds seemed to be pretty active and we got great views of a male Sardinian warbler, ortolan bunting (male singing away), linnet, cirl and corn buntings, and what we first thought was a pair of chukors which based on range and better views turned out to be rock partridge!

Headed back down to Urbino for lunch and then a quick wander around, before heading back for a siesta and yet another fantastic dinner prepared by our inhouse chef Phill! How can a 5l flagon of red wine we bought at the market on Saturday for 8euro be so drinkable. I'm really going to need to go on a diet when I get home!

Reasonably early start and heading to a nearby reserve called Furlo Gorge State Nature Reserve. Absolutely stunning scenery with huge cliffs rising up from a small river which has somehow cut its way through a huge mountain. Some nice forest and open meadows on the tops, with huge cliff faces to search for wallcreeper! Unfortunately we didn't find any, and decided that due to the altitude this is probably more of a winter location than breeding site. Started by birding along the river with brief views of nightingale, and then the usual suspects like blue, great, and marsh tits, chaffinch, wren, blackbird, and blackcap. Spied a few crag martins feeding along the river and cliffs and then spotted a huge raptor being chased and bombed by a peregrine. The eagle turned out to be a short-toed eagle, but was a little distant...still pretty huge though! Up in the forests managed good views of red squirrel and stunning little firecrest. Once up in the open meadows at about 850m we started to get a few open country species such as honey buzzard, red-backed shrike (both beaut male and female), corn and cirl bunting (inc a cracking male), stonechat, and heard a couple of cuckoos. Beautiful scenery and views out through the checkerboard countryside with mixed agriculture and towns.

Of course the late afternoon was spent taking a siesta and then regrouping for more food, wine, and merriment...its a tough life!