Bird Sightings in Ravenna, Italy

June 26, 2023

The bus ride to the Ravenna train station gave us quite a few birds. Barn Swallows, Common Magpies and Yellow-legged gulls were spotted at the start of the trip, and as we passed the marshland areas we were able to spot herons, Great Cormorants, a Little Egret and a Common Shelduck in passing. In Ravenna, pigeons were as present as always, (and any notes Domani has for Ravenna birds here). The Italian countryside between Ravenna and Venice had lots of birds, but for the most part everything passed too fast to get any kind of solid ID. It's definitely somewhere to go back and explore if given the chance.

Venice itself had comparatively few birds; the usual city suspects such as pigeons and yellow-legged gulls were around, of course, but the only other species spotted was a Common Blackbird. However, its nest and the presence of its juvenile offspring definitely added to the experience!

June 27, 2023

The day in Ravenna, while short, was probably the best day of birding we had the entire trip. We started out just before noon, and immediately found Great Cormorants, Yellow-legged gulls, Slender-billed gulls and Common Terns in the area around the port. Additionally, in the fenced off area near the port, we spotted a bird that took us an entire month to get a solid ID on: a Zitting Cisticola, which we affectionately dubbed “Flapcheep, Menace of the Marshlands” in the meantime. From the port we strolled out into the suburbs, spotting House Sparrows, Barn Swallows, Common Magpies, Common Blackbirds, Eurasian Collared Doves, and pigeons along the way. We walked along a short walking and biking trail, through another small neighborhood and onto a shaded side road leading up towards someone's farm. There we spotted a Blue Tit in the trees, along with a Common Kestrel and a juvenile Greenfinch. Since we couldn't go any farther down the road without going too close to someone's property, we turned back and headed towards a marshland watchtower. In this area we spotted more Zitting Cisticolas, as well as a European Bee-eater perched on one of the bushes sticking out of the reeds. The marsh itself was where most of the birds were, though. Along with the Purple and Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Great and Pygmy Cormorants, we spotted several smaller shorebirds such as the Black-winged Stilt, the Eurasian Oystercatcher, the Eurasian Curlew, and the Redshank. Yellow-legged gulls were there, along with Slender-billed gulls and Black-headed gulls, plus a pair of Common Shelducks. The most exciting birds we spotted, though, were the Squacco Heron and a flock of five Greater Flamingos. The former was a bird we'd both hoped to see because of its ridiculous-sounding name, and the latter were just insanely cool to see. We have Flamingos here in Florida, but I don't think either of us really expected to see Flamingos in Italy! After an exciting few hours of birding, though, we had to head back to the ship to make sure we didn't get left behind. Even though we thought we were done for the day, the trip to the ship still had one new species in store for us: a Eurasian Jay perched in the pines on the way back.