The river Arno running through the centre of Florence deserves its very own "Springwatch". The river changes endlessly and is now gently subsiding from the winter full flow. The large bricked walls give an easy indication that the level is lower, the grass is reappearing on either side. The canoe club by the Ponte Vecchio(perhaps the most expensive in Europe!) has gorgeous roses in full bloom and today I saw a duckling family (6 or perhaps 7) with a protective mother hissing away the crow.
The river hosts a surprising variety of wild life: mallards, grey herons and little egrets, hooded crow, pigeons (of course) 2 varieties of gull, kingfisher (the whizz of colour is incredible), sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, swallows, wagtails and a small yellow bird that I can't identify and several species of geese
The range of birds is lovely, but it is the mammal and reptile population that I particularly like: otters, geckos and terrapins. As for fish, we've seen plenty of fishermen and some sudden flaps in the water, but no evidence of actual fish.
Humans are not absent; beneath some of the bridges sleep Roma families, and as you walk by in the day you can spot bags of belongings stashed in openings and shelves, whislt their owners are presumbably working the streets.
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