Lake di Porta

Lucca (Italy) afternoon

In my search for animals, I got the advice to visit the Lake di Porta, here near by. Basically it is a lake really close to the sea, so to the Versilia area, something like 30 minutes from my home place. It is a lake/river/swampy area, famous among birdwatchers. Of course, this is not the right time of the year to go to look for birds, but I was curious to see the area anyway. It was also such a nice day to be outside, that a nature walk was just the best way to spend a day (below a picture of the area next to the river and of the swamp).

It was not the right season to find many animals, but I anyway saw a triton, a bunch of frogs (one below), a clutch of frogs eggs (picture below) and quite some birds. I used for the first time my new binocular to see better two cormorants, then I saw an heron, I heard a woodpecker (too bad I didn't see that), and saw a lot of ducks.

So, it was a nice relaxing walk. I love so much to look for animals and being outside.
But I have to admit something....I still cannot understand very much birdwatchers....They cannot really appreciate the animals they see, since the animals are always far or hidden somewhere or recognizable by the way they sing (which for anyone who is not of the field is a nightmare), the way they fold their neck when they fly (even worse than the singing behavior) or the color (of course for the females and males often the coloration is different and sometimes you just see the bird flying quickly in front of you and I want to see how you can really be able to detect the color)....It is still not my thing. I can appreciate a few bird, just because I like them and they are less shy than others...but definitively not my thing....But I enjoy their songs anyway as a background and I love to hear woodpeckers!