Winter sea robin Winter sea has a special charm, the fog brings a silent poetry in the small port town and the cold wind beat the great deserted beaches by tourists, on which they can finally the most diverse creatures roam undisturbed, from waterfowl to mice! Even the despised
Marina Julia has an unexpected wildlife footage for winter!
So we took advantage of the misty morning to take a walk - with the faithful mutt to follow - from Nova to Marina Marina Julia!
The first nice surprise was the sighting of a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), who was standing quietly with their feet soaking a few meters from the shore, not at all afraid of us (maybe a bit 'worried for Frodo!).
This elegant bird belongs to the family Ardeidae, which also includes herons. In spring, the Little Egret is further adorned with a beautiful tuft of long feathers that he needs to impress the girls!
E 'use to be close to the banks of rivers, lakes or swamps (and only rarely seen in the sea) in the shallow water, where small prey fish, crustaceans and molluscs from plunging his beak through the long legs.
Another surprise was to see two male red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) swim safely, also a few meters from the beach! Belong to the family Anatidae as the Mallard, which looks from afar, but from which it differs, in addition to the red beak and long, disheveled for the clump that can be found behind his head.
It 's a species that lives in northern Europe - Iceland, Scandinavia, North of England - and that winters in the south but we only rarely, preferring in general to Greece or the south coast of Spain.
photos are not the best because of fog, but keep in mind the sacrifice to bring them closer to the photographer who promptly entered into the sea in January with his shoes and pants still on!
avifauna of course talking about Marina Julia can not miss the Seagulls 'i crocai'!
This picture above is a real Mediterranean gull (Larus michahellis) , we'll talk more in the future is their relationship with humans and how they are urbanized in the city of Trieste.
is usually present in greater numbers, but today, however, there was only one surrounded by many common gulls (Larus ridibundus), its 'cousins' children.
summer are easily recognizable by the black plumage that covers the entire head, while in winter remains only a small dark gray spot around your ear.
The most interesting thing was to observe two of these gulls were fighting fiercely to the ephemeral territory, chasing each other from a small square of sand surrounded by the sea, just emerged thanks to the low tide. Perhaps the achievement and maintenance of this 'territory' is aimed more to define and establish hierarchical relationships among the gulls.
To report aggressive intentions
the gull takes an expression very particular and recognizable, the classic attitude of "tax" means the body lowered and beak open and stretched upwards, all accompanied with a verse and rhythmic sharp similar to laughing (hence the name of the species 'ridibundus').
If the gull intimidated no signs of leaving the field, we move from the threat of an attack!
But it's time to go home to get warm, not just the photographer wet shoes, but the mutt could not resist the temptation to jump into the sea in a vain attempt to catch a seagull!
