2022 highlights of a wilder Italian life (part 1)
Hooded Crows and koinophilia
In Rome in 2022 we could see 300 Hooded Crows in an evening in a single field, as they roosted in safety. Hooded Crows are far more sociable birds than Carrion Crows. There must be something which keeps them from interbreeding, since they could, quite easily, so I wrote a blog all about koinophilia.
Koinophilia is the tendency of animals to choose mates with fewer unusual or mutant features. Naturally I had to get a few bird-in-flight shots to illustrate my blog.
In volo
I spent quite a while in ‘The Pratone’, a field of waste ground which counts as the natural world in a city like Rome. There, Black Redstarts set off from branches at an explosive pace. They’re so fast that it was a significant challenge to capture them.
A Pallid Harrier
If I had a spirit animal it would be a Hen Harrier. The closely-related Montagu’s Harrier, which has similar harrying habits, will do though. Isn’t it magnificent? Here’s my joyful experience of a Montagu’s Harrier in Italy:
Pink Flamingos
I could watch Flamingos all afternoon, and I did. Those candy-pink stick-of-seaside-rock legs are my favourite.
Flying Flamingo
It’s tricky getting near to Flamingos. We were at Orbetello in Italy where the wooden hide was set well back from their favourite part of the laguna. As we were wondering how to get closer to them, without disturbing them, a young one flew fast and low directly past us.
What a thrill.
Diplomatic ambassadors of life from deep time
I spent some time in 2022 writing slightly longer blogs, considering extinction and our role as carers for life on Earth.
There’s nothing you can do to make an Osage Orange edible. You can’t boil it, fry it, roast it or casserole it. It’s not just humans who won’t eat it, either. Other animals won’t touch it, because it’s hard and dry and too big to get your mouth around. Wherever it is grown, these large tennis-ball-green, brain-like fruits lie untouched under the trees which bore them.
It’s a mystery I unravelled here:
The cooked eyes of the Sardinian Warbler
Spending time with nature is a wonderful thing. I adored spending time with this little character. The Italian name of the Sardinian Warbler, Curruca melanocephala, is Occhiocotto. That means cooked-eye. You can see why here:
The habits of Monks
I was thrilled to watch Monk Parakeets in Rome. They are beautiful to watch, but seriously out of place. Until they accumulate some natural predators and competitors, they will march on and spread unchallenged:
Helping a Skink to cross the road
I did my good deed with this Italian Three-Toed Skink, Chalcides chalcices, which was trying to cross the footpath at Parco della Caffarella in Rome. It looks like a snake, but I can see tiny legs. Can you?
A Great Green Bush Cricket on a Long-Lipped Tongue Orchid
I spent some time wandering around a meadow in Rome looking for a fresh Long-Lipped Tongue Orchid, Serapias vomeracea. I was surrounded by hundreds of them but they were all ‘over’ and had started to wither after flowering. They have beautiful, large flower spikes with pointed bracts from which hairy flowers with long tongues emerge. I’d been there a few times and scoured the area but there was nothing worth photographing.
Then we finally saw a fresh one, with the added bonus of a Great Green Bush Cricket, Tettigonia viridissima, clinging on to it.
2022 brought many added bonuses, and unexpected discoveries. What will I find to surprise and delight in 2023? I can’t wait to find out. Thanks for coming on the journey with me.