First days of May

Cuckoo Cuculus canorus, Slovenian Karst, 2nd May 2017. A still quite common, but declining species in Slovenia. Its song is the quintessential sound of spring and no patch of forest should be without a Cuckoo!

Orchis pallens, Slovenian Karst, 2nd May 2017. A quite scarce orchid in Slovenia that is rarely encountered on the Karst. We were lucky to find this single specimen in a patch of woodland, not far from Divača. It favours light woods, woodland edges and overgrown meadows.

Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio, Trieste (NE Italy), 7th May 2017. The first have returned from Africa at the beginning of May. The species breeds on the Karst on grasslands with bushes and hedges, in vineyards and extensive farmland areas. Has declined steeply in recent years, especially on the Italian Karst, but it seems to be doing better in some areas in Slovenia.

Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur, Trieste (NE Italy), 7th May 2017. We observed up to 6 birds together in an area of vineyards and bushes on the outskirts of Trieste, where the species is an increasingly rare breeder.

Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra, Trieste (NE Italy), 7th May 2017. Another species of open grassland areas and cultivated landscapes. Quite common breeder on the Slovenian Karst, but rare on the Italian side.

Woodlark Lullula arborea, Trieste Karst (NE Italy), 4th May 2017. One of the commonest birds of dry karstic grasslands, also found in areas overgrown with small trees and bushes that serve as essential singing posts. Its song can be heard as early as February - one of the really first signs of spring!

Ophrys holosericea, Trieste (NE Italy), 7th May 2017. One of the commonest Ophrys species in this area, favouring dry meadows and open woodlands.

Neotinea tridentata, Slovenian Karst, 7th May 2017. A common orchid on dry karstic grasslands in full bloom at the moment. Interestingly it is one of the most "Slovenian" orchids as it was first named by Scopoli in 1772 and already known by Valvazor in 1685 (two of the most important naturalists of the former Carniola).

Iris illyrica (I. pallida ssp. illyrica), Trieste Karst (NE Italy), 4th May 2017. Typical inhabitant of sunny and stony grassland areas, common on the Karst and mountain areas in western Slovenia.

Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus, Cerkniško jezero, 8th May 2017. May is the best month of the year to observe this species, when good numbers stop on migration in Slovenia. The fields and meadows around lake Cerknica are the most important stop-over site in the country.

Dactylorhiza majalis, Cerkniško jezero, 8th May 2017. Note the dark-spotted leaves, which are unspotted in the very similar D. incarnata. The latter also flowers in the same habitat but a few weeks later.

Whinchat Saxicola rubetra, Cerkniško jezero, 8th May 2017. A species suffering a steep decline in Europe and even in Slovenia, despite being a still quite common breeder in some areas like Cerknica lake and Ljubljansko barje.

Vicia oroboides, Cerkniško jezero, 8th May 2017. First found and described in Carniola in 1790 by F.X. Wulfen. It is a quite common find in mountain forests of central Slovenia, especially in the Dinaric region.

White Stork Ciconia ciconia, Cerkniško jezero, 8th May 2017. One of the very few arboreal Stork's nests in Slovenia can be seen in the village of Dolenje Jezero by the lake Cerknica. It's a relatively new nest (built last year) and is most probably firstly being used this spring. Cases of tree-nesting White Storks are rare even on a European level.

Bee-eater Merops apiaster, Isonzo/Soča rivermouth (NE Italy), 6th May 2017. A colourful bird to end the post. Bee-eaters have returned in great numbers on their breeding colony at Isola della Cona and can be easily observed and photographed from a special hide.

Middle Spotted Woodpecker nesting in the Karst!

After the return from the Danube delta we can now enjoy in our favourite environment: the forest! This time of year is particularly busy for the woodland inhabitants, especially woodpeckers. In this post we'd like to share some exciting moments we've witnessed recently at our local patch on the Slovenian Karst, just a few minutes drive from our home.

Since 2015 we've been working on the occurrence of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers Dendrocopos medius in the Karstic region and right now a paper on the species is about to be published. In the last years, we carried out censuses in suitable karstic woods, where this rare oak-tree specialist might be present (see here & here). So far we have only found probable signs of nesting... until a few days ago, when we finally confirmed the nesting of this species in the Karst with the most obvious sign: an active nest-hole!
The activity in and around the nest is frantic, with the parents going in and out of the hole, delivering beakfulls of caterpillars to their chicks...

Despite being an oak-tree specialist, Middle Spotted Woodpecker doesn't always excavate nest-holes in oak, but prefers other soft-wood trees. In fact the choice of a nesting tree is dictated mainly by the state of wood decay, rather than the actual tree species. Having a quite weak bill, Middle Spotted likes to excavate in rotten wood, frequently close to some tree fungi (like Polypores), where the timber is even softer. 

In our case, the nest is located on a rotten branch of a beech Fagus sylvatica in a woodland of sessile oaks Quercus petraea. The hole is about 4-5 meters above the ground. In the first photo below two other larger holes are visible - those most probably belonged to Great Spotted Woodpecker.

In the next photos, note the characteristic erected red feathers on the head of the male (first two pics). Males have brighter crown feathers than females and when erected, they tend to be more conspicuous. The head colour can be easily compared when seeing both sexes together, such in the case of a nesting pair. Moreover when males approach the nest, they tend to erect the crown feathers as a sign of display. If you compare the sexes in all the photos, you will see that the female tends to have a more "gentle" look and not so bright red crown feathers. Note also the facial expression of the bird looking out from the hole (3rd photo below) - it is quite unlike any other woodpecker as it lacks moustachial stripes and the face looks quite plain.

When observing the nesting pair we payed attention not to disturb them and watched from a safe distance. Nevertheless the pair seemed very concentrated in bringing the greatest possible amount of food to the chicks and didn't bother our presence (short VIDEO). Middle Spotted Woodpeckers find their food mostly by gleaning and search the oak bark for small invertebrates and their larvae. At this time of year the main food brought to the chicks are caterpillars found in the tree canopies, but also other small insects (see pics below). In this respect Middle Spots are a bit like Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus or other Parus species that need to coincide their breeding with the greatest prey availability - that is, when the new green leaves are full of caterpillars.

The frentic activity of feeding the chicks should continue for at least a week, so we'll keep checking the status of the brood in the coming days.
Meanwhile the forest around the nest is alive with many other species. A Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus is "disturbing" the Middle Spots, drumming a few meters away from their tree and a Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius should also be nesting somewhere in the same wood, together with a pair of Green Woodpeckers Picus viridis. And two more occupied cavities were found not far away...

A female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos minor is looking out of her nesting hole. Note the tiny beak of the species, not really woodpecker-like. In fact its feeding technique is more similar to that of tit Parus species rather than that of other woodpeckers. But despite this, Lesser Spots still need to build the nest to rise up the chicks and usually every year a new hole is excavated.

Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major has a more poweful beak and usually excavates several new nesting holes every year. Here it chose to do so in a rotten beech Fagus sylvatica - such trees have softer wood and in general are preferred by most woodpeckers.

The Karst's woodlands now also resound with the trills of migrating Wood Warblers Phylloscopus sibilatrix and with the songs of Cuckoos Cuculus canorus, while on the ground, some amazing flowers are in full bloom...

Paeonia officinalis with flowers as large as fists!

Rhagium mordax (Cerambycidae) feeding on Paeonia's nectar.

Ophrys insectifera - rather rare on the Karst, but we have it "in the backyard"!

Cephalanthera longifolia - a common woodland orchid.

Orchis purpurea - like woodland edges and sunny open woods.

At the end a note is necessary: all the above woodpecker's holes were found exclusively by Sara, whose primary interest this spring seems to be nest-hole finding! ;-)

Forest specialists: White-back & Three-toe

Some days ago, while looking for Three-toed Woodpeckers in the mixed forests of Javorniki mountains we stumbled upon this female White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos (ssp. lilfordi). We watched it for at least one hour during which it was observed repeatedly drumming and even excavating a nest-hole in a rotten beech Fagus sylvatica. From a distance we could also hear a second bird drumming...perhaps its mate? VIDEO (watch HD and listen out for the drumming). White-back is one of Slovenia's rarest breeding birds (estimated 100-150 pairs) and any nesting pair is potentially interesting. The species has a quite narrow ecological niche, being a broadleaved forest specialist, inhabiting only natural or semi-natural forests with large amounts of dead timber where it finds its main food (wood-boring beetle larvae). Thus it is nowadays rare over much of Europe. 

Habitat where the White-backed Woodpecker was found: a mixed Dinaric forest of beech Fagus sylvatica and silver fir Abies alba, with elements of Norway spruce Picea abies, on a steep hill (around 1000 above sea level) in the Javorniki mountains.

Fomes fomentarius - a common fungus in Slovenia's forests, usually found on beech Fagus sylvatica or other broadleaved trees.

Later on we were at last successful in our search as we found this stunning male Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus (ssp. alpinus) feeding very close to the road on a dead silver fir Abies alba. As usual with this species, the bird proved very cooperative and allowed very close views, without any sign of fear. It even moved towards us a few times and wasn't even flushed by two passing cars. VIDEO. Three-toed Woodpecker inhabits mountain conifer and mixed forests with large amounts of dead or dying trees. It is an absolute conifer specialist and for feeding favours standing trees where wood-boring insects and its larvae are found.

Mountain Dinaric forest of beech and silver fir (Abieti-Fagetum) - habitat of the Three-toed Woodpecker. In the Notranjska region the greenery is several weeks late in comparison to other, low-lying forests.

Fresh green leaves of beech Fagus sylvatica in the area where we found the Three-toed Woodpecker. The forest in this area has been affected by an ice storm several years ago and the consequences are still visible on the trees. Bark beetles have consequently attacked the weaker trees and have caused major dyings among conifers. Three-toed and other woodpeckers benefit from these outbreaks as they find more food (beetle's larvae) in affected stands and thus are more easily found in areas where the forest looks "poor" and ill.

Omphalodes verna is a very common woodland flower in Dinaric forests and so important in this habitat that has also given the name to the forest association Omphalodo-Fagetum. To the left of it are the shiny leaves of Geranium nodosum.

A young silver fir Abies alba slowly making its way towards the light.

Hacquetia epipactis is a characteristic flower of early spring in Slovenian forests and woods.

A male Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius feeding on a stump, not far from its White-backed cousin. This species is widespread in a variety of forest habitats and plays a crucial role in giving other animals a home - many species readily occupy Black Woodpecker's old tree-holes.

Out of the forest - the village of Laze pri Gorenjem Jezeru by the lake Cerknica.