Caspian Gulls along the Romagna Riviera, NE Italy

The 110 kilometres of the Romagna Riviera between Ravenna and Rimini, include the largest tourist area in Europe with approximately 40 million tourists a year, particularly during summer. In winter only few people are wandering along the sandy beaches, so there are plenty of gulls feeding on wrecked debris. This winter a lot of Caspian Gulls Larus cachinnans are present, with more than 50 between Cesenatico and Rimini found recently by Adriano Talamelli, besides 8 at Tavullia refuse dump on January 14. Yesterday there were at least 15 of them at Cesenatico and today a record of 25 was present at the big Ravenna refus dump, observed by me, Ian Lewington and Nic Hallam. The photo shows a first winter Caspian Gull (left), with a first winter and an adult Yellow-legged Gulls Larus michahellis (right).

20:28 - Monday, January 16, 2006 - post comment