Should I carry my binoculars or monocular? No, this trip to Italy is not a birding trip! Maybe carry a decent lens on my camera to get a good photo of the bird I see? No…. Repeat after me, this is not a birding trip!

While touring in Sicily, I heard birds and almost felt naked without my camera and binoculars! But thankfully Merlin Bird ID saved me some frustration. Between the sound and photo ID available on that app, I was able to identify nearby birds while I traveled in Sicily.

A better look at any bird would have been better, but you cannot pack everything into carry-on luggage! Even without binoculars and my usual camera, I did hear/see 26 birds in Sicily … wow! I even had fellow travelers in my tour group hearing birds and being sure I heard them too. What fun!

My favorite bird was an Eurasian blackcap, especially its song. And one bird I caught a quick photo of was a white wagtail!