Looking for Blue Rock Thrushes

For the past week or so I've spent my mornings walking on the Rilke Path searching for Blue Rock Thrushes. These elusive birds are breeders (and maybe year-round residents) on the cliffs in Duino, and the only time you really stand a chance of seeing them is in spring when the males are singing. I'm trying to get a good photograph of one this spring, but so far I've had no luck. The birds are blue-grey in color and are amazingly well-camouflaged against the grey rocks and blue sky. We're lucky to have them here in Duino at all because ordinarily they are found on alpine cliffs far out of reach without doing a Via Ferrata.

Last year I hardly ever saw them...and Kristen never saw them. This year we finally learned to recognize their song so they have gotten easier to locate, but they are still really difficult to see. Kristen and I have had nice looks at them from the Rilke Path and while paddling in the sea below the cliffs. Getting a photograph is proving much more difficult because the birds like to hang out on the steepest cliffs. There are a few very safe places to climb down a bit, like the one here, so hopefully I'll get lucky and get a photo soon before they stop singing and vanish in the rock crevices for the summer.