Re: [MDOsprey] RFI: Italy
David (dstrother@pop.dn.net)
Sat, 11 Sep 1999 12:44:09 -0400
Tom and Anna Dougherty wrote:
> I will be going to the Brindisi/San Vito/Bari area of Southern Italy in Nov
> for 6 straight months. I will be living in Brindisi and would like to hear
> from anyone who has birded there on what to expect. Also, I need a tip on
> the best field guide to use while there, ...any and all information will be
> appreciated!.....Thanks
>
> Tom Dougherty
> tomannadoc@earthlink.net
> 301-528-6266
Dear Tom: Haven't birded there, so can't help with that. As for the "best"
field guide, my recommendation would be that you get and carry two books that
have complementary qualities:
a) Lars Jonsson's "Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East" the
ISBN of which is 0-691-026483 (Princeton Paperbacks); and
b) Collins Pocket Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe with North Africa and
the Middle East, for which the ISBN is 0-00-219894 (HarperCollins...make sure
you get the 1998 edition, or later if there's been yet another revision in
quick succession, since there was a complete re-do in 95, text revisions in 97,
and more text revisions in 98).
If you're over at Audubon Naturalist or anywhere that they've have both in
stock, a quick comparison of what's shown for the Lammergeier will demonstrate
the complementarity.
Collins has a really good section on "Birds of Prey in Flight" (pp. 100-103).
The same information is in Larsson, but alongside each bird, rather then all
together to facilitate differentiation on site.
That said, I'll also suggest that you have a look at the "New Generation Guide
to Birds of Britain and Europe" published by the University of Texas Press.
It's less of a field guide and more of a magisterial learning text (which is no
surprise, since David Attenborough is the General Editor of the Series).
Finally, since you'll be birding with Italians and wanting to use the language
(and to know what the Italian common names are), you'll want to:
a) bookmark http://www.mumm.ac.be/~serge/birds/ for translations (and be
aware that you will on occasion first have to translate from American to
British, since a search for "loon" turns up nothing whilst a search for "diver"
turns up four types, of which gavia immer translates into Italian as "strolaga
maggiore".) This translator will also allow you to enter common names in
Italian and provide all the other versions (German, French, Spanish, Dutch,
Swedish, and non-Cyrillic Russian). The list in the searcher contains birds
found in the EU; no new world birds, so there won't be an Italian name for a
trogon.
b) buy Italian bird books. Try hard to find out if there's been an Italian
translation of Rob Hume's "Discovering Birds", published by Duncan Peterson. I
have the French version, "Les Oiseaux d'Europe dans Leurs Milieux" ("The Birds
of Europe in Their Environment") published by Nathan, and find it a wonderful
way to learn about birds in their habitats and work on my French at the same
time. Now all I have to do is go birding in France..............
If you've never seen a hoopoe (Ital. upupa), you're in for a real treat.
Buona fortuna ed buon viaggio!
David
PS: If you can take the opportunity to get over to Egypt, by all means do so.
To arrange birding there, you'll want to contact Sherif Baha el-Din
(baha@internetegypt.com) and also listed at
(http://www.dutchbirding.nl/dbems/egypt.html ) well in advance to make
arrangements. He and his enthusiastic wife Mindy are always ready for birding
in the Delta, oases, wadis, and the open desert. They have a four-wheel drive
vehicle, and are incredibly knowledgable about what birds are where and when.
On occasion, if they're already booked and your schedule is inflexible, they
can arrange for you to go out with a knowledgable driver.....so long as there
is agreement on what birds you want to see in what kind of environment.
There's an interesting article about Sherif at
http://www.cairotimes.com/cairotimes/content/issues/envir/sherif.html