Below some tips that I sent to another BF user last year, for an Autumn trip. As I said I don't know which ones of these areas are accessible at present. I have written comments relevant to the season in red.
Be warned, these are not necessarily birding hotspots in the proper sense, but nice walks where we have had good birds in the past. I have also included one place which is simply stunning but I don’t have any birding experience there as I went in the winter, for skiing.
The San Vigilio area I included because it’s one of my favourite places in the world.
1) Longiarù - Rifugio Ciampcios (http://www.uetiaciampcios.com)
The restaurant is probably closed right now but the trail is still very nice, if there is no snow
Park the car a little past Longiarù here:
★★★★☆ · Area di parcheggio
goo.gl
A slow, scenic climb. Unfortunately the Puez-Odle Park Map is pretty useless, but I have found a few links online:
Longiarù - Utia Ciampcios 2021-10-01
https://www.alltrails.com/it-it/explore/italy/south-tyrol/san-martin-de-tor--3?b_tl_lat=46.643504623851555&b_tl_lng=11.80490352373019&b_br_lat=46.61648520722741&b_br_lng=11.86844421692345&mobileMap=true&ar[]=10182337&diff[]=hard
We took the right hand side trail (should be no. 5) and came back the same way.
The climb wasn’t particularly birdy apart from the usual species, but after lunch at the Rifugio (highly recommended) we climbed a bit further and spent some time on top of the hill just over the restaurant. There was good migration with several birds of prey including a highly unexpected Griffon Vulture. Also our guide said that the opposite slope was good for Rock Partridge.
2) Monte Muro/Maurerberg
This opens on June 1st as per their website, but again, nice walk
Another easy hike through forest first and then moorland with spectacular views and quality birds, still in the Passo delle Erbe area. The forest has Pygmy Owl, Three-toed Woodpecker, Crossbills, Tits, Nutcracker and all the usual mountain species, plus Capercaille, which we saw during our second visit. Reputed to be one of the best areas for Capercaillie in the Alps. The moorland above the restaurant hosts several pairs of Black Grouse (seen on both our visits), plus is good for birds of prey and moorland species. We had a Goshawk mobbing a Hen Harrier here. You can go down a different way - you can sort of see the trail on Google Maps in the Satellite view on the left of the screen, thus to the right of the restaurant.
The car park is here:
Parcheggio Pe de Börz · SP29, 39030 Funes BZ, Italia
And this is the restaurant - we didn’t eat lunch here but they had mind-boggling cake
Rifugio Monte Muro (Alto Adige) nelle Dolomiti | Maurerberghütte
3) Rifugio Santa Croce.
I fear this may be closed too
A beautiful place, not sure how it fares in terms of birds as I’ve been there in February while on a skiing trip, but the restaurant is very good and I’m pretty sure those cliffs must hold Golden Eagles.
https://www.lacrusc.com
4) The San Vigilio di Marebbe area.
This is probably your best bet at this time of the year and can be pretty birdy. It's a nice drive/walk/bike ride, even if the restaurant at the end of the valley opens at the end of May.
A small valley off the narrowest part of the Val Badia and part of the Sennes-Fanes-Braies Park. If you drive to the end of the valley to the Pederu restaurant (
Albergo Alpino Pederü | Berggasthaus Pederü), you can then hike to the top of the Fanes plateau (2 restaurants there, although imho the food at Pederu is much better) and further up and then down towards either San Cassiano or Cortina. High mountain species like Ring Ouzel, Alpine Chough etc and the small lake has migrating ducks and waders. Also Chamois, Ibex and Marmot can be seen here. The plateau itself is spectacular.
The valley from San Vigilio to Pederù itself is mostly forest, with the usual species, Crested, Willow and Coal Tits, Woodpeckers (Black, 3-toed), Capercaillie, 2-3 pairs of Golden Eagles, Fieldfare, Song and Mistle Thrush, Nutcracker, Dipper in the stream (usually there is a pair here
46°41'16.2"N 11°57'03.4"E, we have never failed to see it, Autumn, Summer and Winter.
The scree on the sides of the valley where the forest ends has Rock Partridge but we have never seen it.
This cliff here:
46°39'15.5"N 12°00'34.2"E is good for Golden Eagles and Wallcreeper.
The Col d’Ancona between San Vigilio and Piculin in the Val Badia was very birdy (Tits, Goldcrest, Nuthatch and Shrikes, Kestrel and Water Pipit on the road up) when we visited in late June and the only place where we have seen a Grey-headed Woodpecker, but not sure what it’s like in
May.
goo.gl
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Hope this helps! Have a good trip.
