on Linosa
Still got some posts to do at this amazing place and the folk who go there. Here’s a collection of some of the Pipits and Wagtails I saw on the island in early November and also why they were interesting…
Walking with some of the guys towards the harbour. This is just on the edge of town on the south (sort of SW corner) side of the island. The bird’s below all pretty much occurred in the area just in front of the view you see. It’s one of the best ‘pipit areas’ on the island.
Linosa. The white arrow is approx. where the photo above was taken
Red-throated Pipit
Occasionally found amoung the commoner Meadow Pipits. I really enjoyed at least a couple of hours watching this bird at very close range. Thankfully Igor was close by when it showed particularly well and I had no camera.
Red-throated Pipit, Linosa, November 2011. © Igor Maiorano. Unfortunately I never heard it call.
Hybrid mixed calling Wagtail
This one I only saw briefly and heard it give a ‘sweet’ flavissima/ flava-like call. However other also hear it give both feldegg like raspy calls as well as sweet flava -like calls. It does have blackish tones in the head and an interesting breast pattern.
Presumed feldegg/ flava mixed gene wagtail. Linosa, November 2011. © Michele Viganò
White Wagtail and eastern birds
Lots of White Wagtails seen and. Every so often would see one (especially adult males) with what seemed like particularly broad greyish-white fringes to the greater coverts. I don’t really know variation in alba. I know eastern dukhunensis gets downgraded in the big pipits and wagtails book, and some in the east have clearly wider pale fringes than here. Just curious. Do lots of White Wagtails North West Europe look like the first couple of birds below in fresh autumn plumage? All these taken in early Nov. 2011. Different ages and stages to explore.
White Wagtail, Linosa, early November 2011 © Ottavio Janni
White Wagtail, Linosa, early November 2011 © Igor Maiorano.
White Wagtail, (above 2), Linosa, early November 2011 © Michele Viganò
Not far from the harbour. The wacky flava above was along this track, 5 Cattle Egrets took up residence, overhead birds of prey included Peregrines and Eleonora’s Falcons and a flock of Greater Flamingoes flew north over the sea. The ‘firestone’ lava (dry stone) walls and Prickly Pear Cactus are ubiquitous on Linosa.
Interesting post on a really interesting group. I was lucky enough to find a thunbergi in May – to me its calls seemed indistinguishable from flava/flavissima. On the other hand, I watched breeding cinerocapilla (?) in the Camargue in the summer. I was particularly struck by the call of the latter subspecies – seemed very reminiscent of feldegg (although it is a few years since I listened to those). Presumably, the local birders would be pretty familiar with cinerocapilla call though, thinking about it! Geoff