Big rocks around the bush of Greece

Located just in the center of the greek mainland, Meteora is an impressive and very famouse place. Most of people go there for a one-day trip to visit the old monasteries. But if you go behind the main valley, if you walk along the small dirty roads you can meet a great wildlife. In the oak's forests and in the bush it is possible to meet many different species of animals.
In few hot days of August I observed the following raptors:

1 Egyptian vulture, adult

1 Bonelli's eagle, juvenile
1 Lesser kestrel, adult
1 Peregrine falcon, adult
Many Short-toed Snake Eagles, Sparrowhawks, Kestrels and Common buzzards.

Cimpe Kalesi

I live here. I live among the ruins of this old byzantine fortress. When the Ottomans conquered this castle, the first on European soil, Greeks left me here. In this way I'm going on watching the two seas, Dardanelles Strait and Saros Bay.

Italian Stream Frogs

After many years I went back walking along a small stream in the middle of the waterless hills of Southern Italy. The name of this torrent is Gallizzi River (Calabrian Appennines). I was very happy to meet again a lot of Italian Stream Frogs since in other places the amphibian populations are declining.

Starting a new fieldwork

Following the results of the research I made in Greece (both at Mount Olympus and Antikythira) and following raptors flyways, next August I'm going to start a new fieldwork in Turkey. As usual in effort with other people from MEDRAPTORS.

Fragments of an island

After a long time some new pictures made on May at the island of Ustica.

Wind of change

Here at Mount Olympus spring is slowly coming, snow is melting. And migrating birds are arriving...

Sicilian landscape

In January I carried out a fieldwork in order to study wintering raptors in Sicily. For this reason I have been all around the island, taking some pictures of the beatiful and unexpected landscape. In particular inland there are both few people and trees. Weather was not so cold and sometimes flowers covered the green hills in front of the sea.

Falcon’s bath

I really enjoy spending some days waiting in a hide, specially when the waiting is successful. Last time it happened in October when I took pictures of Eleonora’s falcons. During the second half of October falcons were at the end of their breeding season and many juveniles, just fledged, used to go around the island looking for some migrating passerines or insects. The cliffs in front of the sea were full of exciting falcons and I met good photographic opportunities. However the most fascinating situation was at a spring at the foot of a cliff just in front of the sea, falcons are using to go there drinking and washing at midday when temperature grows up. But in few days the falcons left the island starting the migration en route to Madagascar and the Egean island appeared to be desert…