Birdwatching at the Pian di Spagna

The Pian di Spagna and Lago di Mezzola nature reserve covers the alluvial plain between Lake Como and Lake Mezzola, where the Valtellina and the Valchiavenna meet.

Its almost 1,600 hectares are a mix of lakes, rivers, channels, ponds, reed beds and farmland. It is a wetland of international importance, on the list of the Ramsar Convention. It lies on one of the routes migrating birds follow to cross the Alps. In March and April, when the weather is bad over the Alps, many migrants stop on the plain and wait for it to improve. In autumn, after crossing the mountains, they come down here to rest and feed. In winter hundreds of ducks stay on Lake Mezzola, on the Mera and at the northern tip of Lake Como. Many waterbirds can be watched at close range, even without special equipment, from dirt roads and paths that are almost all level, and from the hides. The main routes take two to three hours.

1. 01Visits are possible in every season, but the best period is November to May. Go in the first hours of the morning; in summer, avoid the hottest part of the day.
2. 02On the lakes and rivers there are diving ducks, such as tufted duck and pochard, and dabbling ducks, such as mallard, teal and wigeon. Peregrine falcons nest on the rock faces west of Lake Mezzola; in summer black kites arrive from Africa.
3. 03Without a car: the northern nature trail (Percorso naturalistico Nord) starts at Baletrone, next to Dubino station on the Colico–Chiavenna railway. It is an easy loop. It crosses the fields to the Cascina Poncetta, where the reserve has its scientific bird-ringing centre and a picnic area, and goes on to the reed beds of Lake Mezzola. Allow about three hours.
4. 04From the Ponte del Passo a two-hour route follows the Mera to the little lake at Dascio. Here ducks, grebes, coots and cormorants can be watched at close range; mute swans also nest in numbers in the reserve. The route then climbs to the Sasso di Dascio, which looks over the whole reserve. The best period is November to March.
5. 05From the Trivio di Fuentes, near the road 36 bridge over the Adda, a level dirt road, rideable by bike too, follows the north bank of the river to its mouth, with its beaches and reed beds. At the ponds along the road you may see grey herons and kingfishers fishing. The route takes three hours.
6. 06The routes run mostly around the edges of the reserve, and some can be walked in full only with a reserve guide.

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