My Mediterranean
29/11/2001. Olive trees. Salento, Italy. [scanned slide]
6/4/2010. "Due sorelle", Salento, Italy.
29/8/2014. In the rocky crevices along the coast of Salento, layers of salt build up as seawater spray from storms evaporates under the strong summer sun. I noticed the splash of orange in a solid salt pool. It was a female southern gatekeeper (Pyronia cecilia) that had become mummified by the saltwater and entombed in a coffin of salt crystals. Most of her wing scales had gone, perhaps as she fluttered to try to escape, but her characteristic eyespots were still visible.
9/9/2003. Sea fennel (Crithmum maritimum) growing on rock formations shaped by haloclasty, Marettimo (Sicily), Italy. [scanned slide]
13/3/2009. Sun and wind in Cabo de Gata, Spain.
23/9/2009. Eleonora's falcon stooping after dusk. Columbretes archipelago, Spain.
17/8/2015, Salento, Italy. I took this picture from the place where I was born, and were I still live, even if only during summer. From here I can observe a wide stretch of the Otranto channel and in this period is not rare to spot amazing electric storms. However, this one has been probably the best one I have ever seen, because of the predictability and the frequency of the lightnings, that allowed me to take several shots with different lenses and compositions. For very short moments the landscape was illuminated almost as during the day.
7/8/2009. Mediterranean night (2). Kornati National Park, Croatia.
9/3/2010. Audouin's gulls (Larus audouinii), Mediterranean 100%. Alicante, Spain.
19/12/20922. The pristine coast of Eastern Sardinia
20/4/2003. Tree spurge (Euphorbia dendroides) during spring. Salento, Italy. [scanned slide]
10/5/2005. Icterine warbler (Hippolais icterina) on giant fennel (Ferula communis). Panarea, Sicily, Italy. [scanned slide]
26/6/2022. Mediterranean monk seals and Neptune grass
2/9/2015. Sea cave. Salento, Italy.
26/1/2015. Cretan date palm (Phoenix theophrasti). Crete, Greece.
When I sit in front of the Mediterranean Sea, observing the passage of migratory birds, within the flavoured bushes of the macchia, I feel there is no better place to stay in the world. As a naturalist, I grew up in Mediterranean landscapes and for my researches I had the opportunity to land on many islands scattered across the Mare Nostrum. Nothing can stimulate my will to travel and explore more than a horizon interrupted by faraway mountains rising over the sea.
Quando sono seduto di fronte al Mediterraneo, osservando il passaggio di uccelli migratori, tra i profumati cespugli della macchia, credo che non ci sia miglior posto nel mondo dove trovarsi. Come naturalista, sono cresciuto in ambienti mediterranei, e per le mie ricerche ho avuto l’opportunitá di visitare molte delle piccole isole del Mare Nostrum. Non c’è niente che stimoli la mia voglia di viaggiare ed esplorare più di un orizzonte interrotto da montagne lontane che emergono dal mare.
Cuando estoy sentado delante el Mediterráneo, observando el paso de las aves migradoras, entre las perfumadas matas del matorral, creo que no hay mejor lugar en el mundo. Como naturalista, me he formado en los medios mediterráneos, y para mis investigaciones he tenido la posibilidad de visitar muchas de las pequeñas islas del Mare Nostrum. No hay nada que estimule mi gana de viajar y explorar más que un horizonte interrumpido por lejanas montañas que emergen de la mar.