Download 2014 Brochure (.pdf) - Ornitholidays

I TA LY
Italy at Leisure
Birds & Wine
Gran Paradiso
National Park
Valnontey
Camino Milan
ITALY
Thursday 12 June – Thursday 19 June 2014
Leaders: Nicola Scatassi and Mike Witherick
2014 Cost: £1,999 single room supplement £200
Rome
his will be the fourth Ornitholidays tour to Italy and who better to lead this particular tour than our bird and wine expert, Mike
T Witherick. We have planned a two-centre holiday, visiting the mountains and valleys of the famous Gran Paradiso National
Park in northwest corner of Italy, and then descending to the lowlands to explore the rice-fields and woodlands of the Po plain and
the rolling landscapes of the Piedmont and the Apennine foothills. We visit at a time when there will still be snow lying in the upper valleys of the Alps,
but many birds will be well into their breeding cycle and the alpine flowers will be producing a glorious show of blue gentians and white pasque flowers.
There will also be many butterflies on the wing with alpine specialities including Apollo and Alpine Grayling.
Some of the key species we hope to find in the mountains include Golden and Short-toed Eagles, Alpine Chough, Ring Ouzel, Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush,
White-winged Snowfinch and Western Bonelli’s Warbler. As we descend to the lowlands, many birds will have their youngsters either in the nest or just
fledged and again there will be flowers and butterflies to look for as well. In the lowlands we shall look for Great and Little Bitterns, European Honey Buzzard,
Montagu’s Harrier, Moltoni’s (Subalpine) Warbler, Lesser Grey Shrike and European Roller.
Throughout the tour we will sample the delights of the local wines which will be included with all meals and Mike will make sure that a great variety will be
tasted! Travel with Ornitholidays to Italy to savour not just the Birds and Wine of this fascinating region, but also its excellent cuisine.
View above Valnontey
ITINERARY
Days 1 to 3
We leave London, or regional airports, on our
flight to Milan where we arrive around midday.
Here we meet our local guide and driver and
transfer to our hotel in Valnontey, at the foot of the
Gran Paradiso National Park. For the next three
full days, we can explore this delightful park with
its rugged and ice-capped mountains, forests,
swift-flowing streams and alpine meadows. On
the streams we will find White-throated Dippers
and Grey Wagtails, with Black Redstarts singing
from the roofs of village buildings. We will drive up
a number of valleys looking for some of the
raptors that frequent the area such as Golden
Eagle, Short-toed Eagle and Northern Goshawk,
with the chance of a Lammergeier and Eurasian
Griffon Vulture. The woods hold Spotted
Nutcracker, Crested Tit, Firecrest and Common
Redpoll. Most of the areas will now be devoid of
snow, but some may remain at tops of the valleys.
Here we have a chance of finding White-winged
Snowfinch, Ring Ouzel, Rock Bunting and Citril
Finch, as well as both Alpine and Red-billed
Choughs. We shall scan the vertical rock faces for
Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush and Eurasian Crag
Martin. There is also an outside chance of spotting
Wallcreeper that nest in these cliffs.
But there is much more to the wildlife here than
just birds. Butterflies are particularly abundant and
our sightings should include Apollo, Black-veined
White, Green Hairstreak, Mountain Clouded
Yellow, Mazarine Blue, Piedmont and de
Prunner’s Ringlets, Shepherd’s Fritillary and
Alpine Grayling. We will hear the piping call of the
Alpine Marmots; on the rocky crags we may spot
the curved-horned Alpine Ibex, while Chamois
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For a previous tour report or further information please call: 01794 519445