The Italian Alps

Now I know that this is not about Lundy or Kefalonia, but I wanted an excuse to show you some photos I took, so this is a holiday blog post. 

In January, Simone and I joined some friends on a skiing trip to Sestriere in the Italian Alps, near the French border. I don't ski anymore, but I was looking forward to the challenge of photographing wildlife in the mountains. We had only 7 days there, so I took some black, oiled, sunflower seeds to attract the birds and maybe a red squirrel.

I am always up early, and after a quick breakfast, I went in search of suitable photography sites. Half an hour later, I was back at the hotel as I had forgotten the seeds. It was minus 8 degrees outside, but walking about trying not to slip, kept me warm. It soon became apparent that I needed to be out of the town, so a long slog down through Sestriere and out into the woods. I passed the Husky Experience (sledding with huskies), and found a quiet lane, snaking around the mountainside. The views were superb, with an almost eerie silence, only broken by snow falling from the trees and the occasional call of a carrion crow. 

 I saw lots of tracks in the snow, mostly deer, rabbit and hare. Unfortunately, the bears were

hibernating, and it was too close to the town for wolves. I caught a slight movement down in a valley and spotted 2 roe deer making for cover. They were a long way off, but I managed a couple of shots. This was very encouraging, but they turned out to be the only deer I saw. 

I found 3 sites that gave me cover and good views of unbroken snow and spread the seed around. I visited them often during the first 3 days, but no birds appeared. On my way back to the hotel on the third day, I passed a layby with a flatbed trailer parked in it. I thought I could use the trailer for cover, so I spread some seed under the trees nearby and headed home. The next morning, as I was approaching the trailer, I saw a few birds in the trees. I spread more seed and hid behind the trailer. Great tits and coal tits were soon feeding on the seed and then I saw my first crested tit. What a cracking little bird. They were quick, and seemed nervous, so I had to be patient even though my hands were going numb. 

I stayed until the pain from the cold got unbearable, but I left with a big grin on my face. As I got near the huskies, I spotted more birds on the treetops, and as my hands were warming, I took a few shots. When I got back to the hotel, and after a hot shower, I checked and realized I had just got my first crossbills. We have crossbills on Kefalonia, I often hear them calling in the pines when at Livadi Marsh, but I had never seen them. These are wonderful birds, the female being an olive green- grey and the males an exuberant red. Their crossed bills are used to prise seeds out of the fir cones. 

The fifth day was cloudy, but I went straight to the trailer and stayed as still as possible waiting for the tits to arrive. I heard a car pull up behind me, but as a tree creeper had just perched on a nearby tree, I ignored the car. “scusi, scusi”, I heard. I turned around and there was a police car, with 2 policemen looking at me. I guess they saw someone leaning against a trailer and not moving and wondered what was occurring. “OK”, one of them asked. “Si, grazie”, I replied in my west country accent. They waved and left me to it. 

 The tree creeper had gone but shortly after a greater spotted woodpecker arrived, it stayed in the trees though. I went for a walk to get some feeling back into my feet and hands. It had warmed up to minus 7, so I shouldn’t have been complaining. A goldcrest suddenly appeared along a bank near me. It didn’t stay still at all and was constantly flitting about. I struggled to get a good shot. 

I stopped near the huskies on my way home and managed to get more shots of the crossbills. A male flew down to the road for a close up. 

On our sixth day, it snowed most of the day. I was keen to get snowy shots of the birds, but the route down through the town was treacherous. I slipped several times and landed heavily on my bum. I got to the trailer, spread some seed and walked along the lane, looking for deer. No joy, but I spotted a red squirrel, high in the trees. The sun was trying to shine through the snow and was directly behind the squirrel, so the few shots I got were silhouettes. 

Back at the trailer I was trying to stay warm and failing. Flapping your arms around and jumping up and down does not encourage birds to visit. I did get a few shots in before another car arrived. A young man got out and walked towards me, jabbering away in Italian. I was trying to explain my lack of understanding, when he undid his trousers, pulled out his **** and started to urinate. I turned away, not really knowing what to do, I did have my telephoto zoom lens, but it wasn’t the shot I was looking for. He finished, got in his car and drove off, very strange. 

On our last day, it snowed again all day. I got a few shots but only managed 2 hours as it was bitterly cold. I have to say that it was a very interesting experience, with some wonderful new birds to capture. Overall though I think I prefer hunting for wildlife here on Kefalonia, in the warm.