Europe in August can be very frustrating for birds, young have fledged, birds are quiet and in general not a great time for bird photography.

While at my birth town of Cavignaga, Italy, my cousin told me about a lovely climb to the summit of Mount Penna, a mountain (1,735 m) on the border between Liguria and Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, part of the Ligurian Appennines. It is included in the Natural Regional Park of the Aveto, and overlooks the Val di Taro; the sources of both the Taro and Ceno Rivers are located in Monte Penna’s slope.

I asked  who wanted to go and on August 17th, 8 of us climbed to the top, my cousin Mauro, his brother-in -law, daughter Marika, her boyfriend Massi, Marco, Neda Bernabo and of course, Sue and I .   It took us about an hour of steady climbing up a 45-55 degree slope, I was last of course, lugging 40 pounds of camera equipment can slow you down but I enjoyed every minute of it.  Its funny my 72 year old cousin told me it was a gentle climb, maybe his idea of a joke…

We all made it up and the view was spectacular… Click on the image below and see it full size.

This image shows a split view from the top and the view from the bottom…

This bronze casting was carried up to the top by men from the surrounding villages, with the help of a few mules.