Breeding season at the coastal wetlands

Spring goes by so fast that we don't even have the time to keep you posted on all the work & censuses we carry at the nature reserves where we work: Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve and Strunjan Landscape Park. As the breeding season is now coming to an end, it's time for a short photo review of the wildlife we worked with on a daily basis. Beginning with Škocjanski zatok we can say that the breeding season in the brackish lagoon was overall quite successfull, mostly because of the numerous pairs of Common Terns Sterna hirundo (around 100 p), Little Terns Sternula albifrons (around 10 p) and Redshanks Tringa totanus (9-12 p) that have successfully fledged many juveniles. On the contrary the 20 or so pairs of Black-winged Stilts Himantopus himantopus seemed to have a weak nesting success, with only a few pairs fledging their chicks. Avocets Recurvirostra avosetta didn't breed in the lagoon this year (after two consecutive nestings), however we were again glad to have a few breeding pairs of Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus and two pairs of Great Crested Grebes Podiceps cristatus. The freshwater marsh produced yet again a brood of Purple Herons Ardea purpurea (5th consecutive year), one of Greylag Geese Anser anser and several pairs of Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus & Water Rail Rallus aquaticus, as well as other commoner waterbirds and passerines. Like every year, we carried out regular weekly censuses, bird mappings and several escursions with kayak to the most inaccessible parts of the reserve, to map breeding birds. Photos of nests & chicks were taken during bird mapping censuses & bird ringing sessions in the lagoon and serve to give the idea about the nesting habitat of each presented species.

As the autumn migration is upon us, recently there were also some interesting migrant sightings at the reserve. The now-famous Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus is a story by itself (last seen Monday 9 August), but among other goodies we also recorded: Black Stork Ciconia nigra (4), Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia (1-2), Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus (2-4), Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida (2), Little Crake Zapornia parva (1) and others. As usual, for more detailed & regular bird sightings info, check the reserve's official website & FB page.

Common Tern Sterna hirundo ringed as a chick in 2017 at Škocjanski zatok and now breeding in the same place.

Common Terns like to nest in the central part of the muddy islands, on the "higher ground".

Common Tern's nest with newly-hatched chicks.

Little Tern Sternula albifrons

Little Tern's nest, typically on the flatter part of an island, close to the water.

Little Tern Sternula albifrons - small and big chick.

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

Black-winged Stilt's nest - a larger "woody" construction, containing 4 large pointed eggs.

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus - 3 juvenile sizes.

Common Redshank Tringa totanus & Little Tern Sternula albifrons

Common Redshank's nest - difficult to find as it's usually well hidden in the halophyte bushes.

Common Redshank's chick.

Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius

Little Ringed Plover's nest.

Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius - juvenile.

Puccinellia palustris - a salt-loving grass, growing on muddy islets in the brackish lagoon.

Kayaking the brackish lagoon during a census, with the town of Koper in the background.

Pygmy Cormorant Microcarbo pygmaeus - good numbers in summer, up to 45 individuals.

Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos - July/August is the peak migration time of this species at the reserve.

Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola - another common migrant from July onwards.

Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus - female

Little Bittern Ixobrychus minutus - juvenile

Purple Heron Ardea purpurea - adult above & juvenile below.

Greylag Goose Anser anser - adult with juveniles.

Summer roost: Little Egrets Egretta garzetta & Pygmy Cormorants Microcarbo pygmaeus.

Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis - small numbers are present throughout summer.

Young Fox Vulpes vulpes - big trouble for breeding birds when these are around.

Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur - juvenile (increasingly rare breeding bird).

Green Woodpecker Picus viridis - juvenile in the nest (1st breeding for the reserve).

Rose-coloured Starling Pastor roseus - small numbers were present in Starling's roosting flocks throughout June, following the usual late May/early June "invasion".

Black Stork Ciconia nigra - group of 4 juveniles.

Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus - see here.

"Southern Bladderwort" Utricularia australis - a rare species of water carnivorous plant.

European Tree Frog Hyla arborea hiding in Wild Teasel Dipsacus fullonum

Breeding bird's surveys in the wildest parts of Škocjanski zatok.

Meanwhile at Strunjan Landscape Park, despite the summer invasion by hordes of people and the encroaching pressure by parking lots and tourist attractions, wildlife still survives. Bee-eaters Merops apiaster are the main protagonists of the summer, with at least 4 pairs breeding again this year (see post from 2020) in the olive groves. By now most of the chicks are already out of the nests, but last week there was still some young-feeding action, with adults bringing large cicadas to their offsprings. The saltpans on the other hand this season hosted 3 pairs of Kentish Plovers Charadrius alexandrinus (but sadly with no fledgling success) and 4-5 pairs of Black-winged Stilts Himantopus himantopus. Large numbers of Mediterranean Gulls Ichthyaetus melanocephalus gather in the saltpans in summer for pre-roost and flocks of up to 500 individuals can be counted, while the sea hosts good numbers of Mediterranean Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis ssp. desmarestii. Autumn migration in the last days was visible here too with a nice summer-plumaged Dunlin Calidris alpina, showing extremely well and close on a muddy bank by the visitor centre.

Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus incubating

Kentish Plover's nest.

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus - smaller & larger juveniles.

Bee-eater Merops apiaster carrying cicadas to the nest.

Bee-eater's nest-hole and a prey leftover - Surreptitious Palm-borer Paysandisia archon

Bee-eater Merops apiaster - chick at the nest-hole & after leaving the nest.

Typical Beer-eater nesting site at Strunjan.

Mediterranean Gulls Ichthyaetus melanocephalus (different ages).

Dunlin Calidris alpina

There's also other interesting wildlife to be found in Strunjan, including a whole variety of truly Mediterranean species that are otherwise rare in Slovenia. One of them is the impressive Mammoth Wasp Megascolia maculata, a parasite wasp whose larva feeds on the larva of the European Rhinoceros Beetle Oryctes nasicornis (another Mediterranean species). Sara has managed to photograph this wasp back in June, feeding on Wild Privet Ligustrum vulgare blossoms. Also interesting was the find of a "Beach Tiger Beetle" Calomera littoralis on a muddy bank in the saltpans, representing another rare & specialised species of the Slovenian fauna.

Mammoth Wasp Megascolia maculata (compare size with the bee).

"Beach Tiger Beetle" Calomera littoralis

Strunjan's flysch cliffs - the largest remnant of untouched natural coast in Slovenia.

Mega at the workplace

Not something we usually post here, as chasing rarities is not in our nature... at least not anymore - you know, we grew up :-) However a truly exotic bird is stirring the Slovenian birding scene at the moment. Yesterday morning photos of a strange unidentified lapwing photographed at Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve appeared on Facebook. Soon knowledgeable birders came to the conclusion that the bird in question was a Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus, an extremely rare vagrant from the Far East, the first for Slovenia and only the 5th for the Western Palearctic! Of course we didn't happen to be on the coast at the time of the find - Domen did his weekly monitoring at Škocjanski zatok only the day before, but as the bird was discovered at his working place, it would have been unprofessional not to go and see it. Therefore we swiftly changed our family plans for the afternoon and dragged some of our relatives on a "pretty normal" birdwatching walk around Škocjanski zatok. The bird was on view from the observation point number 5, grazing on the wet meadows not far from the horses & their Cattle Egrets Bubulcus ibis. It was indeed a very unusual-looking bird for our latitudes (actually longitudes!). The species doesn't even have an official name in Slovenian and until yesterday we didn't even know it existed! Grey-headed Lapwing (yesterday baptised as "pepelasta priba" or "sivoglava priba" in Slovenian) breeds in parts of Northeastern China and Japan, wintering in Southeast Asia and South Japan. Therefore it is a rather unlikely vagrant to Europe, hence the very few records for the Western Palearctic so far. Some say that records from Sweden and the Netherlands have probably involved the same bird, therefore this might be only the 3rd individual Grey-headed Lapwing to have reached the Western Palearctic! 

Today the bird was still there in the same area and around 15 twitchers must have come to see it - this is a lot for Slovenian standards! Given its rarity, the species obviously represents a strong drag for birders/twitchers from surrounding countries and more visitors are expected over the weekend. Fingers crossed the bird will stay here for more admirers to enjoy.

Dinaric dreams... of bears and beetles

Last weekend was super intense and all packed in a fantastic two-day adventure in the Dinaric mountains. As Sara had other work to do and didn't seem to like the proposed plan, I (Domen) was joined by two friends who were eager to search for the iconic Alpine Longhorn Beetle Rosalia alpina in the Dinaric forests of central Slovenia. As my two fellows didn't have a plan where to spend the night, we first decided to do a dusk-to-dawn wildlife watching session on the Snežnik plateau. In the evening we were strategically positioned on the edge of the forest, waiting for wildlife to emerge and feed, under a bright full moon. While driving to the spot we already encountered a magnificent Red Deer Cervus elaphus stag close to the road, so our morale was high and the evening seemed promising indeed. Soon after the sun set and still in good light conditions, our dreams came true very quickly: a mother Brown Bear Ursus arctos with cub emerged from the forest and walked through a meadow in full view! For the next half an hour or so we could watch the two bears (the young being 2021-born) wandering around the meadow and looking for food. The female was most probably a young mother, as this is usually the case with bears that wander out of the forest and show well before darkness. Young bears always try to avoid encounters with night-roving older bears (especially alpha males) that rely on darkness for safety. As the site looked incredibly promising, we waited there a considerable amount of time, even when darkness descended. We were hoping to watch some more animals on the meadows enlightened by the full moon's strong light. And of course our patience was rewarded. When the female bear with cub was still around, first a stag Red Deer and then a female appeared, although shortly. Later and rather suddendly, two large black shapes materialised in the moonlight - they were two new bears, certainly adults. The visibility was not very good, so we could only make out the bear's shapes. When the bears left it was then time for a group of Wild Boars Sus scrofa, another strictly nocturnal animal in these forests. Meanwhile it was also lively in the trees around us. We expected to see a Ural Owl hunting on the forest's edge, but in fact we observed 2 different Long-eared Owls Asio otus, certainly a quite rare species in this area (and on Snežnik's plateau in general). At last we also heard a singing Ural Owl Strix uralensis in the trees above our heads, but also two distant Tawny Owls Strix aluco. We were however quite surprised by the complete absence of Edible Dormice Glis glis and their quintessential squeaking noises.

Brown Bear Ursus arctos (last pic by Silvio Davison).

Red Deer Cervus elaphus by the road (by Silvio Davison).

 

Our spot for the night was a cosy little hill at the edge of the forest, where we wanted to scan the surrounding meadows first thing the next morning. When we woke up at dawn, deer were still out grazing on the meadows. We came across a loose group of 10 Red Deer Cervus elaphus grazing the rocky meadows, all nice males with large velvet antlers. At the very edge of the forest several Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus were around, including a female with two young. It was quite windy, so not ideal for any dawn chorus, although there was a Rock Bunting Emberiza cia singing nearby. Later as the sun rose and the its first rays hit the rocky slopes below us, raptors began to appear. Apart from good numbers of Common Buzzards Buteo buteo and Kestrels Falco tinnucnulus (probably all local birds with juveniles), we were surprised to see a Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus hunting and successfully catching a small reptile (probably a lizard) at around 6.30 in the morning. It was a distinctive bird, with an extremely white plumage colouration and had literally no dark markings on the underparts. Sitting on a pine nearby was another Short-toed Eagle, probably its partner.

Wild night out.

Scanning the rocky meadows at dawn.

 

Red Deer Cervus elaphus

Roe Deer Capreolus capreolus

Rocky meadows on the edge of Snežnik's plateau.

Great Yellow Gentian Gentiana lutea subsp. symphyandra

Garlic Cress Peltaria alliacea

 

As the day wore on, we found ourselves driving through the extensive forest roads of the Snežnik & Javorniki mountains, in the direction of the Rakitna plateau. Along the gravel roads we frequently stopped to admire interesting forest butterflies, like the impressive Purple Emperor Apatura iris or the abundant White Admiral Limenitis camilla, two typical summer species of this habitat. Upon reaching the Rakitna plateau, an area of extensive Dinaric forests, but known for its many forest streams, we also spotted an individual of the rare Balkan Goldenring Cordulegaster heros, Slovenia's largest dragonfly, living in small untouched forest streams.

Purple Emperor Apatura iris (by Silvio Davison).

White Admiral Limenitis camilla

Brown Bear's droppings on a forest road.

Balkan Goldenring Cordulegaster heros

"Carniolan" Yellow Bellflower Campanula thyrsoides subsp. carniolica

 

Finally we reached an area of beech forest where we were supposed to look for the rare Alpine Longhorn Beetle Rosalia alpina (aka Rosalia Longicorn), an endangered Natura 2000 species of international conservation concern (see this post). These attractive beetles, sporting an amazing blue-grey colouring on the elytra (vaguely similar to the much commoner Morimus funereus) live in sunny beech forests, especially those on steep slopes. Like other forest specialists they depend on the presence of dead beech wood, where they lay the eggs. Trees affected by windfall, ice-storms or the like are particularly suitable places for the reproduction of Rosalia Longicorns. Even more attractive to them are freshly-cut beech trunks piled at the side of forest roads by lumberjacks. The smell of freshly-damaged wood is very attractive to the beetles that flock to these logs from far away (Rosalias are excellent fliers). After mating, the female beetles deposit the eggs inside dead wood, where the larva develops and emerges as imago (adult) after three years. The main conservation issue with this species in commercial forests is that the beetles deposit their eggs in log piles that are soon removed by the forestry and the broods are therefore destroyed. Still, checking such log piles in summer is an efficent method of finding the Alpine Longhorn Beetle. And that is exactly what we did. At first the area we worked didn't seem very promising as no log piles were found, but then we came across three large beech trunks stacked at the side of the road and... there it was - a marvellous Rosalia alpina! We then spent a good half an hour there, photographing the beetle, as well as checking the surroudings for any other potential Rosalias, but with no more luck. It was the only one we saw that day and needless to say we were truly overexcited!

Typical view of Rosalia alpina

Alpine Longhorn Beetle Rosalia alpina (last pic by Silvio Davison).

Rosalia addicts.

Wearing the perfect t-shirt for the occasion, as usual!