Présentation
Some species of migratory birds that travel at night use the stars to orient themselves, and from the island of Asinara, the stars are perfectly visible.
Small islands like this one are essential stopping-off points on migratory routes across the Mediterranean. To study this phenomenon, every year, once in spring and once in autumn, ornithologists set up camp in Tumbarino at the Osservatorio faunistico del parco dell'Asinara to capture, weigh, measure and ring the birds before releasing them.
Every day, from the first light of dawn until late at night, the ornithologists, accompanied by volunteers, check the nets strategically positioned to capture the birds.
The gestures are repeated and the days go by almost like a ritual. Once night falls, the tourists and visitors leave the park on the last ferry; very few humans remain on the island. The darkness deepens and, on the horizon, the lights of Sardinia come into view.
At times, the silence seems dense, with an almost palpable weight and consistency, sometimes interrupted by the braying of albino donkeys (an endemic species that thrives on the island), the sound of a hare jumping, or the fluttering wings of moths. Nature reclaims the area and the local fauna come out of hiding to reoccupy the site.