Thursday 29 March 2012

MEGA: GREEN-WINGED TEAL!!







Škocjanski zatok NR: this morning while counting the Teals I came across one of my best finds ever: a beautiful drake **GREEN-WINGED TEAL**! Needles to say I immediately recognised the duck due to the vertical white stripe down the shoulder. There was almost no golden/buff border on the green eye-stripe (as seen in Teal), so the head seemed a bit different as well. It didn't seem to have any rings on the legs, but we'll have a check in the next days (if the bird remains there). If accepted it would be the second ever record for Slovenia and of course the first for Škocjanski zatok NR!
Tomorrow I'll be probably back there trying to get more views. For now I leave you with the above photos.
Quite a lot of other movement today, with several new arrivals. First of all I had both Porzanas in a day: a female LITTLE CRAKE and a SPOTTED CRAKE - both showing well at the edge of a reedbed area (freshwater marsh). Little Crake being the year's first.
A female Ferruginous Duck was on the Jezerce pond, along with several Pochards and 2 Tufted Ducks. A flock of about 20 Alpine Swifts over the reserve held a COMMON SWIFT as well - my first this year!
The lagoon produced the first 3 COMMON TERNS of the season.
Other commoner birds included: 3 Wigeons, 10 Garganeys, 2 Black-necked Grebes (lagoon), 2 female Marsh Harriers, 5-6 Black-winged Stilts, several Little Ringed Plovers, 6 Wood Sandpipers, 3-4 Green Sandpipers, 1 Redshank, 2 Spotted Redshanks, Greenshank & Curlew, 2 Black-tailed Godwits, lots of Snipes, cca 60 Ruffs, 1 Common Gull, about 10 Swallows over the reserve, Water Pipit (a few remaining birds - in breeding plumage), YELLOW WAGTAIL (heard repeatedly).

Saturday 3 March 2012

Slovenian Eagle Owl census


Yesterday the DOPPS (Birdlife Slovenia) organised an evening Eagle Owl census that took part all over the Slovenian Karst. There were about 50 groups of people/recorders scattered around the various potentially good areas. I was in group with two other friends and a site near the border with Italy was assigned to us. Just before the sunset we got to the spot and immediately had succes with a singing male Eagle Owl. The owl sang with different intervals from about 17.45 to at least 19.30. So we could confirm its presence on that site. By the time it was dark, we were also able to hear several migrating Teals (calling in the sky).
Later in the evening we had a meeting with all the other recorders (near the Park of Škocjanske jame) and gathered the datas. The Eagle Owl was found on 7 locations out of 49 (or something... I don't really remember).
We then had an informal meeting (let's say fun), late in the evening and went to bed (on site) quite late too.