I will be in Italy at the end of May. Does anyone know sites( or people working on)
rhinolophus blasii
Vespertilio murinus
Miniopterus schreibersii
Thanks
Jon
RFI. Bats in Italy
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Have a look at my trip report – it gives directions to M. sh. site in Ostia Atica.
We might go to Italy in June – this time from Rome south, to Abruzzo, Sicily, Stromboli and everything in between.
IUCN lists R. blasii as extinct in Italy, by the way.
Afaik, there are only one or few old record of Rhinolophus blasii for Italy. Vespertilio murinus is present but scarce only in the oriental Alps, in Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, I don’t know more. For Schreiber’s, the easiest site is that quoted by Vladimir Dinets, i.e. the Cisterna di Nettuno (in the Palestra di Nettuno) in the Ostia Antica archaeological site: I never missed it there, all months, but you find few today.
THanks very much for the information. Do you happen to have any very reliable places for Porcupines in Tuscany?
I have no direct experience of night driving in Tuscany and don’t have information of reliable sites for porcupines there. But I’m sure that night driving anywhere in Tuscany can be productive for porcupine, for example in the Maremma Regional Park or in the Chianti area. Remember that a lot of night driving is required to see one, it’s a common but very shy beast. Personally, I would choose a beautiful agriturismo with swimming pool and would night drive for hours along the small country roads around the agriturismo. Quite random, but could be productive. I saw many porcupines in my small town in the Marche Region, Recanati, there I know a country path that is more reliable in my experience.
Grazie mille! That’s good to know and is my plan. But all information is useful in case there is a more reliable spot. Thanks
This is the spot where I saw porcupines many times, twice even two together (but after a lot of searching, hours and hours of drive), best period march to september:
Drive from Recanati to Porto Recanati on the Strada Statale 77, after a couple of miles you have to turn right, following the signs to P.R.. Now you are on a windy provincial road, be careful cause people drive like crazy there during the night, lots cof car crashes. After around 4-5 kms the road makes a fork (many small crossroads, but only one fork: cannot miss), take to the right on the smaller road, so leaving the recanati-portorecanati provincial that goes to the left.
After 150 yards you turn right again on a road going steeply down (and then steeply up) a hill: exactly at the bottom of this down & up, you enter to the left a very bad small earthen country road (better 4×4 wd). Well, the first 400 yds of this path are my spot for porcupines. Of course you cannot drive for hours those 400 yds, but a net of country roads there allow you not to get crazy. Just a last advice: police and carabinieri patrol the countryside cause of thefts in villas, so if they stop you try to be convincing on mammalwatching, show a field guide, ecc ecc, but I think you are familiar with this.
ciao
[…] asked this before – here and here – but I continue to fail dismally at finding Porcupines in Italy. So I will ask again just in case […]