Verdant Nebrodi

We headed today to the nearby Nebrodo National Park, at 85,000 ha one of the biggest in Europe. 50,000 ha is woodland, predominantly Beech and Oak.

We walked for 10 km below the 1847m Mt Soro through a beautiful landscape - fresh green leaves on all the trees, flower filled meadows, and a beautiful little lake where the courting frogs were making a lot of noise. Looked like their second time around - the lake shallows were full of tadpoles. The singing birds were largely familiar - this could have been a wildwood in Britain.

We also saw quite a few pig families - the black Nebrodi shuffle through the leaf litter looking for morsels.

I liked this shot - a flower filled meadow, a sylvan landscape, and - just to prove this isn't England - the extraordinary sight of distant Etna erupting, with a huge ash cloud heading south- eastwards towards Taormina.