The kingdom of goats

Antikythira is a small island with only 40 people living there. The landscape is dominated by hundreds of goats: for this reason only rank ground vegetation and bushes are able to survive. October is a beautiful month also because a lot of birds migrate en route to Africa. and in some days the skyline was covered by flocks of buntings and finches. Also some raptors pass with a bunch of wondering isolated eagles like one Imperial eagle. Few species of animals remain there all the year long; among theme it is not difficult to observe the Bonelli's eagle spending the days hunting chukars and rabbits. Only three species of reptiles and one bashful snake, the Telescopus fallax, live there.

Big mountain, small living beings

Mount Olympus in Eastern Greece is a very impressive place and spending September there was a good time also if news from Italy were bad... I was there studying raptors migration as usual and in particular the migration of Short-toed snake eagle but from time to time I was attracted by small animals and flowers living there. The huge gorges and deep forests are full of life but unfortunatly I met a lot of hunters. The most amazing I observed animals were goshawks, black woodpeckers and a beatiful wild cat.

A message of freedom

Spring. Time to go!

I have spent some weeks studying raptor migration at the island of Ustica. This is a small and isolated island located 70 km North off the coast of Sicily and birds migrating through this flyway have to fly over 230-500 Km of sea without stopping before to reach the coasts of Italian peninsula. During the time I was there I observed many different species of birds like black storks, raptors and a great number of small birds like bee eaters and passerines. The Mediterranean islands during Spring are far the best place where it is possible, not only to see, but also to be involved in the migration…

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE - When I was in Crete I went twice to the slaughterhouse with my collegue Georges to pick up the remains of the butchery to feed vultures. It was hard to be there for me (I'm vegetarian) but I took pictures of that place. The most awful thing was the smell of blood.

The island of bascule trees

Crete is a wild and amazing island; the high mountains close to the sea left me speechless. Thank to goats, woods are mostly absent and only on the steep cliffs some conifers survive in a way they seem falling down. I have been there to study wintering raptors but the resident ones are more impressive: I have seen lammergeiers in different places, many golden eagles, the Bonelli’s eagle, the goshawk and a lot of griffon vultures. In particular on my last day there I saw one griffon in the nest. The place, that has remained in my mind and eyes, is Kofinas where I watched the best sunset I ever seen.

The land of red kite

In January I started the field work for my PhD and the first place where I went to study wintering raptors was in Basilicata (Southern Italy). The landscape there is wonderful, few people around and a low number of villages. Large open areas and woods on the mountains. The observations were interesting with a good number of raptors wintering there, in particular many red kites. I have seen also many herons along the coastal area and some flocks of cranes.