"Birdwatching in Italy? You must be joking! Don't they shoot everything there?" So chorused our friends when we announced that we were the winners of a week’s free accommodation and board in Italy's Po Delta, in a competition organised by Delta 2000 at the British Birdwatching Fair last year. "Well, sort of," we replied, "there is a hunting problem in some parts of Italy, and that's one of the reasons why we joined LIPU. But there’s plenty of excellent habitat over there and lots of birds to see!". We probably sounded rather defensive, but little did we know that not only was all that we said true but that we on the brink of a few days’ outstanding birding.

The truth could hardly have been more different. We were almost the only guests left on the site, the peak months of July and August having passed. Friendly and attentive staff made us feel very welcome, the food and facilities were excellent, and what was more, the site itself was full of birds. Landscaped among pine woods and near to some excellent brackish lagoons, the campsite is ideally placed for birding on foot or by bike. Small passerines abounded in the pines, especially Pied Flycatchers and tit species, and we saw both tree and Italian sparrows around the chalets. The scrub on the seaward side of the site produced excellent views of Cetti’s Warbler, Red-backed Shrike and Orphean Warbler, as well as many commoner migrants such as Redstart, Whinchat, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Goldcrest.

The adjacent lagoons of Bellocchio are protected from the sea by a sandy ridge, and our first visit there gave us an early glimpse of the huge local population of heron species. Little Egrets abounded, whilst in the deeper water stately Great White Herons were a common sight. Grey Herons were also present in good numbers, along with a host of wading birds and ducks. Often loafing on posts in the middle were Gull-billed Terns, a scarce breeding bird in the area, and on one day we found several Caspian Terns there. Equally exciting were two Ospreys, which sailed into view as we were watching the terns. A migratory species in this part of Italy, we were lucky enough to see several during our time in the Delta.

One of the most productive birding places locally is Valle Mandriole, an superb habitat of marshland and open water, teeming with birdlife. An excellent tower hide overlooks one of the main lagoons, and from there we enjoyed good views of Night Heron, Spoonbill, Marsh Harrier, Black-winged Stilt, two Hobbies repeatedly hounding a flock of Starlings, and a Peregrine zooming overhead.

It was here that we had hoped to find the two species that we particularly wanted to see: Pygmy Cormorant and, perhaps even more exciting, Ferruginous Duck. Apparently up to 80 ‘pygmies’ had been present the previous week, but - typically - they had all disappeared the day before we arrived. And although there were plenty of duck present, we could not find any Ferruginous among them. What we did see however were several coypu, introduced into the Delta a few years ago and regarded by some local ecologists as being of positive conservation benefit in the sense that their healthy appetite for reeds helps keep the canals and dykes clear of vegetation, thereby improving the circulation of water around the system. From there we went to nearby Pialasso della Baiona, where we managed to locate a couple of elegant Slender-billed Gulls amongst the groups of black-headeds, although the passing Swallowtail butterflies caused almost as much excitement.

On one day we were taken out by local birding expert Menotti Passarella. Menotti knows the whole area exceptionally well, and took us to several excellent spots that we would never have found otherwise. Foremost amongst these were the rice-fields of Bonifica Gallale. The Delta is Italy’s premier rice-growing region, and large areas of low-lying arable land are given over to rice production. The requirement of rice for ample water means that the whole area is full of frogs, which in turn attract herons galore. We saw hundreds of Little and Cattle Egrets there, as well as several Purple Herons and the occasional Squacco, the latter usually lurking unseen in a ditch before suddenly taking flight as we approached. There were also good numbers of raptors hunting over the fields, including both Marsh and Montagu’s Harriers, as well as interesting small migratory birds, such as Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail.

With Menotti we also visited the shores of the Valle di Commacchio, one on the largest of the lagoons in the area. Here we found a group of fifty or so Flamingos, which this year nested in the Delta for the first time. Kentish Plover, Avocet and Shelduck were also present, and we were lucky enough to find two Marsh Sandpipers among the large groups of Redshank and Greenshank. The nearby complex of scrub, reedbeds and small channels held Kingfisher, Stonechat, Bearded Tit and yet more Red-backed Shrikes, but the reed-fringed pools still would not yield the two species we had initially been interested in! A road circumnavigates much of the Valle di Commacchio on a raised dyke, and from here we had excellent close views of several Black-necked Grebes, a wintering bird in this part of Italy. Apparently in January and February this area can be full of wintering wildfowl.

The highlight of our day with Menotti came at the Ostellato Pools, another potential venue for the long-awaited Ferruginous Duck. There were no ducks of any description there, but consolation of the most dramatic kind came with the arrival of no less than six Red-footed Falcons, including three beautiful adult males, which proceeded to hunt dragonflies right in front of us, down to range of a few feet. They were a quite magnificent sight, arguably the highlight of the trip, and somehow rather unexpected, although Menotti told us that they have recently begun to breed locally. Against a backdrop of Black and Whiskered Terns hawking over the pools, they looked truly superb.

One of the great advantages of the Po Delta (in a non-birding sense!) is its proximity to some fantastic cultural sites. We spent a wonderful afternoon in nearby Ravenna looking at the famous mosaics, and Venice is an easy day trip away. We finished our holiday with a couple of days in Verona, where we were still adding birds - Grey Wagtail and Common Sandpiper along the Adige river in the city centre! All in all, we saw 104 species in what were effectively only three days of full birding (the rest spent sunbathing and being cultural), and we weren’t trying too hard - no 6am starts for instance! We cannot recommend this part of Italy highly enough for birdwatchers and would urge more people to go there, as this will help the efforts of local conservationists to secure its future and protect the local wildlife more effectively. The staff at the Delta 2000 office were incredibly helpful, and Menotti Passarella was an excellent guide - a real star at picking out the local bird highlights.