Davide_Videvitt
Active member
Last Friday I went birding with my partner in the countryside around one of the largest nature parks in Turin, the city where we live. We arrived around 6.30 p.m., me with my Monarch M7 8x42 and her with her Vortex DB HD 8x32. It was a cloudy day, with a few narrow openings in the sky, but still a suggestive dusky light. The walk began with the sighting of some bee-eaters, three to be exact, resting in a tree a few dozen metres away from us. Far away, but not too far that we couldn't see them and also appreciate their marvellous colours, especially when, in turn, they hovered in the air to catch an insect, spreading their black-rimmed wings in front of us and the blue of their belly and, more delicately, their tail, contrasting with the golden yellow of their underbeak. It was the first time we had been able to observe them so well, but we were soon to be even luckier. A few metres further on, as we continued our walk, we came across a tree with at least twenty bee-eaters. Here they were definitely closer than the previous ones, but they were against the light, so the observation of the livery was not all that good. After that, restricting myself to the less common species, we saw, twice, a great spotted woodpecker, two Eurasian jays and a pair of black kites, perched on bare branches, which we managed to get very close to.
Towards the end of the walk, more bee-eaters. This time, though, dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds. Perched on a tree about 40-50 meters from us. After observing them for a few minutes, we approached the tree (we had to pass by there) and suddenly the bee-eaters flew into the air, all together and at the same moment, giving us a breathtaking spectacle of hundreds of colorful wings beating against the darkening sky, with a few breaks in the clouds allowing the red-brown evening light to pass through.
Finally, a note that doesn’t concern birds. Just before the path brought us back to where we had parked the car, it passed alongside a slight grassy rise, just a few meters high. I decided to walk up it out of curiosity to see the landscape beyond the little hill and was rewarded with the sight of a beautiful fox with an earth-orange coat with mandarin highlights. After moving a few meters away from me, the fox turned and stared at me for a few seconds, partially hidden by the tall grass. I watched it in return through the lenses of my binoculars, managing to see every detail of its young (or so it seemed to me) face.
(Attached is a terrible photo of some bee-eaters)
Towards the end of the walk, more bee-eaters. This time, though, dozens and dozens, maybe hundreds. Perched on a tree about 40-50 meters from us. After observing them for a few minutes, we approached the tree (we had to pass by there) and suddenly the bee-eaters flew into the air, all together and at the same moment, giving us a breathtaking spectacle of hundreds of colorful wings beating against the darkening sky, with a few breaks in the clouds allowing the red-brown evening light to pass through.
Finally, a note that doesn’t concern birds. Just before the path brought us back to where we had parked the car, it passed alongside a slight grassy rise, just a few meters high. I decided to walk up it out of curiosity to see the landscape beyond the little hill and was rewarded with the sight of a beautiful fox with an earth-orange coat with mandarin highlights. After moving a few meters away from me, the fox turned and stared at me for a few seconds, partially hidden by the tall grass. I watched it in return through the lenses of my binoculars, managing to see every detail of its young (or so it seemed to me) face.
(Attached is a terrible photo of some bee-eaters)
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