Thursday 7 April 2011

Wagtail tree








Škocjanski zatok: nice to have 3 subspecies of Yellow Wagtail on the same tree! The flock present in the freshwater marsh included mainly Blue-headed (flava), some Ashy-headed (cinereocapilla) and 2 Black-headed (feldegg) Wagtails (see pics above).
Other birds in the area today: 4 Shovelers, 21 Garganeys, 1 male Pochard, 1 White-fronted Goose (the usual blind one), 19 Black-winged Stilts, 10 Little Ringed Plovers, 22 Ruffs, 3 Curlews, 1 breeding plumaged Black-tailed Godwit, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Spotted Redshank, 20 Greenshanks, 25 Wood Sandpipers, 1 Green Sandpiper, 7 Snipes, 11 Common Terns, 2 Swallows, 1 House Martin, 5 Cetti's Warblers, 7 Blackcaps, 3 Chiffchaffs, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 31 Jackdaws (landed in the freshwater marsh to drink), 1 Serin, 1 Linnet (overhead). Also the first Wall Brown Butterflies and Scarce Swallowtail.
Pics above: the first two show the overview of the tree; the third concentrates on one Black-headed (right), one Ashy-headed (centre left) and two Blue-headeds (left above and below); the fourth concentrates on the Blue-headeds (and one Ashy-headed in the background); the fifth shows again one Black-headed, one Blue-headed and one Ashy-headed; the sixth shows a Black-headed while the last is zoomed on a Blue-headed.