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.

ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD - Divača (SLO)

I've just spent a relaxed sunny Sunday having a family lunch in a restaurant in Divača (Slovenia). After the delicious and abundant meal I had the brilliant idea to take my mum on a short stroll in the nearby grassland (airfield) of Ležeški Gabrk. I was expecting to see the odd Great Grey Shrike... but instead I got far more than that. Approaching the airfield by car I immediately spotted a soaring Buzzard with a very white tail-base. At that instant I realised what kind of buzzard was that.
So I jumped from the car and had binoculars ready on it: *ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD*!! The bird glided slowly towards me, then started to soar above my head. On few occasions it tried a short hover. A few minutes after it rose so much up in the sky that I lost it. I was quite impressed by the overall whitness of the bird, contrasting with the dark carpal markings and brown belly. The white seemed just so pure and hoary that it was like the angelic form of a Buzzard.
This represents indeed one of my best finds in the last weeks! And by the way Rough-legged Buzzard is still considered a rarity here, so twice the enjoyment!
Unfortunately I had no telescope, so the above pics were made through the bins - binoscpoing works at times!
The Buteo lagopus was actually contending its airspace with a Common Buzzard and most surprisingly, a migrating female Marsh Harrier. A few Ravens were also nearby.

Later while driving back home, a flock of +100 Fieldfares near Lipica was also quite interesting to see.

Merlin, Alpine Accentor, Wallcreeper - the best of winter on a sunny February day!

Škocjanski zatok NR: this morning I was back doing my monitoring, after several weeks of absence. The main water bodies were still frozen after the very cold spell. Wildfowl has decreased steadily, but was compensated with a flock of 474 White-fronted Geese. These birds are present in the area since the beginning of February (maybe even before), but numbers fluctuate between the 300 and 500 birds. As I said, today I counted 474 birds, grazing on the freshwater marsh (last pic above). The best bird in the area though was a nice male MERLIN that decided to perch on the ground in the grazing marsh - giving excellent views for 10 long minutes (pics above).
Other birds around included: 8 Little Grebes (!! where have all the grebes gone?), 4 Greylag Geese (among the White-fronts), 17 Wigeons, 1 female Pintail, 8 Shovelers, 35 Teals, 15 Pochards, 10 Tufted Ducks, 1 Buzzard, 496 Coots (steady numbers), 3 Curlews, 4 Greenshanks, 465 Black-headed Gulls, 48 Common Gulls (interesting and quite high number for the area), 6-7 CASPIAN GULLS (still several 1st winters in the area; some were very distinctive), 282 Yellow-legged Gulls, 4 Skylarks, 5 Water Pipits, 10 Penduline Tits, 23 Jackdaws and a flock of 30 Linnets on the saltings.
This 1st cy Caspian Gull was very obvious:


Goose flock on the grazing marsh:

Early in the afternoon I enjoyed the warm sunshine on the cliffs of mount Stena - Glinščica valley, just out of Trieste. The first thing I saw when I got out of the car was a migrating flock of 35-40 White-fronted Geese heading north. Perhaps part of the flock from Škocjanski zatok...?
Initially the situation on the cliffs was very calm, with nothing of note apart from a Raven. I waited in silence for about 45 minutes. Suddendly some odd calls: quite metallic and... they were approaching. Few seconds after I was watching 2 ALPINE ACCENTORS flying over my head along the cliff ridge. Pity they didn't stop.
Then a Peregrine followed: it arrived in very quick flight from west (maybe from the town) and landed on its usual perch (see pic). From the colouring I guessed a female.
One last bird remained to be seen... But it was time to go. A last scan with bins on the cliff...and there it was: WALLCREEPER! Like my first one several years ago - same place, same circumstances: at that time I was leaving when I decided to take a last look at the cliff. That look gave me my first ever Walcreeper, flashing those crimson butterfly wings.
In the pine wooddland a few Crested and Coal Tits were of interest as well as a calling Black Woodpecker.
Peregrine:

Common winter birds on Cerkniško jezero

Today I've spent a lovely sunny Sunday on the Cerknica lake. Even if the temperatures were reported as very low in the morning (-10 degrees C) me and a friend of mine decided to give it a try. Fortunately the sun made everything easier with the temperatures rising considerably by midday.
On the way to Cerkniško jezero, the usual "must-stop" near Planina produced a fine male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker calling over our heads (first two pics above). Some Siskins were heard there too, but nothing very special around.
The Cerknica lake instead was almost completely frozen over. All the wildfowl was confined to a larger patch of ice-free water in the middle of the lake. Unfortunately as we scanned, we discovered that all the ducks were in fact Mallards - over 2000 birds! Just about 10-15 of them were Goldeneyes (both sexes). During the day we didn't see much else around but had some other birds like: 30-40 Buzzards, 3 Great Grey Shrikes (in different parts around the lake), a total of 10 Hen Harriers (6 together; all females except 1 male), 5 Common Gulls, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Mistle Thrush (drinking on the ice - see pics above), 1 female Sparrowhawk on Grahovo's church (last pic above), 2 Great Egrets, flock of 10 Fieldfares around Gorenje Jezero, 2 Kestrels and 4 Roe Deers in the forest.
On the way back home (in the afternoon) we stopped at Rakov Škocjan, where we could add a few Crossbills to our short day-list.
An enjoyable day, despite the lack of birds!

Owl trio in the Trnovo forest

Yesterday I was back again in the Trnovski gozd (SLO) with a couple of other friends. We spent the morning looking for diurnal movement of Ural Owls and walking some really beautiful parts of the forest. In the evening we concentrated on the other owls, trying the good places by car. Before arriving to Predmeja (on the forest's border) a stop out of Ajdovščina revealed the local Great Grey Shrike sitting on the wires.
In the forest, during the afternoon/evening we got a total of at least 15 Ural Owls. We managed to see well a male in complete daylight, while it was mobbed by Jays in the beech forest. For about 15 minutes we followed its movement as it flew from tree to tree, at times perching for prolonged periods. Otherwise we did see some brief movement of other Ural Owls in the evening with the aim of the torch.
The TENGMALM'S OWLS were quite active too, with up to 6 different birds heard in the course of the evening. Only one of these gave its true "po-po-po-po" song, the others were just uttering the squeaking odd calls. We even managed to see one in flight over the conifers.
The third owl-highlight was in the form of a PYGMY OWL singing in the evening while already dark. Even if quite distant, the song was clearly audible for some minutes.
The forest was active with all the usual commoner birds including: Coal, Crested and Willow Tits, Mistle Thrushes, Siskins, several Bramblings within bigger flocks of Chaffinches, a few Meadow Pipits (flying over Mala Lazna), some Crossbills, lots of Black Redstarts, Goldcrest, Black Woodpecker (the commonest bird!), Raven and Eurasian Treecreeper.
The Edible Dormice were instead very quiet in the evening, with just a few heard squeaking.
On the way back home a total of 3 Red Foxes, 2 Brown Hares and 2 Roe Deers from the car.
The two above photos were taken two years ago in the same area (see post)
Below a view over Smrekova Draga:


Colourful fungi on the forest's floor:

A Black Woodpecker's "dining table":

Trnovski gozd rarely disappoints

Yesterday I finally managed to re-visit the Trnovo forest (W Slovenia) after so long from the last trip there. I took a birding friend with me and together we went looking for owls and gamebirds. Just out of Ajdovščina, a GREAT GREY SHRIKE was spotted by my mate, perching on a distant wire. It flew off several times over the fields to catch some prey. Always a pleasure to see the first GGS of the winter! In the surrounding fields also a Whinchat was around with some Black Redstarts and 5 Meadow Pipits flew overhead.
The time in the forest was spent driving around the tracks and trying some good spots for Hazel Grouse (while still light) and owls (in the evening). No luck with the grouse, but the usual "dose" of owls was very welcome. Top sightings included a total of 11 Ural Owls heard (both sexes, calling and singing, sometimes in duet) but none seen. They were actually present on every spot we stopped the car. 2 TENGMALM'S OWLS were also heard calling just over our heads (odd, squeaking call; not the usual song: "po-po-po-po") and seen briefly a few times, while they flew from a fir to the other.
Other birds around included: Crossbill (a few flocks overhead), Hawfinch (heard), 2-3 calling Bullfinches, 2 Black Woodpeckers (calling), Mistle Thrush (very common -see pics above), 2 calling Nutcrackers (in an area of small spruce plantation-like growth), 1 Goshawk (heard), 1 Sparrowhawk soaring overhead, flocks of Coal Tits and Goldcrests in the conifers, along with many Dunnocks, Wrens and Robins (common forest birds) and a few Bramblings mixed with tons of Chaffinches.
We also managed to pull out several mammal species, with a lifer for both of us... In the dark, a small rodent crossed the forest road, just in front of the car, so we stopped and had a look around with the torch. And there it was: by the road a tiny COMMON DORMOUSE (Muscardinus avellanarius) staring back at us! It showed well for a couple of minutes, then we decided to leave it in peace and we left. Very distinctive were the long, furry tail, big black eyes and big pinkish snout. As the name suggests is probably quite common even here in Slovenia, but rarely seen.
On the other hand Edible Dormice were absolutely everywhere (as always), running up and down the trees and making that awful noises. We managed to see a few that crossed the road or showed for some minutes on the trees. Other mammals recorded included 1 Brown Hare, several Roe Deers and 1 Red Squirrel (black morph).
First two pics above: Mistle Thrush on spruce
Last pic: sunset over the forest - a chill in the air, the fog lifts and 4 Ural Owls start to call...

Planina & Cerkniško jezero (with special DIPPER)

I spent an enjoyable day in Slovenia and "tasted" a bit of fresh continental weather. On the way to the Cerknica lake I couldn't skip the usual stop at Planina (near Postojna). To delight me was a handsome WHITE-THROATED DIPPER, sitting on floating vegetation in the the local stream. It allowded a quite close approach, so I could take some photos (see above) - video here. It wasn't particularly worried, not even by the anglers, fishing nearby. Two metres away from it, was a nice Snipe (perching on the riverbank). I watched the Dipper for about 10-15 minutes, then suddendly heard the call of a Grey-headed Woodpecker. Another bird answered and soon I was watching two indivuduals on the same tree. They seemed to be female/juvs (see pics below).


The quite rich birdlife in the area (although common species) gave additional attraction: 4 Little Grebes in the stream, Tree Pipits overhead, tons of Hawfinches, Long-tailed, Blue, Great, Marsh and Coal Tits, Short-toed Treecreeper, Blackcap, 3 Whinchats (nearby fields), Chiffchaff, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chaffinch, Blackbird, White Wagtail and few House Martins overhead. All these birds more or less at the same time.
At mid-morning I arrived on the Cerkniško lake. The most abundant bird was the Common Buzzard. All the fields were literally full of them... I think I got about +50 different Buzzards in the whole day. Along with them were many Kestrels.
Species of higher note included: Tree Pipit, 3 Stonechats (2 m and 1 f), 1 Yellowhammer, several Linnets, +5 Yellow Wagtails, some Skylarks, 3 juvenile Marsh Harriers (in different parts of the lake), 9 Great Egrets (at Dolenje Jezero), Mistle and Song Thrush, Hawfinch, Goldcrest, 1 Garden Warbler (near Otok), 2 GOSHAWKS (1 calling in the forest and 1 juvenile perching on a pole just out of Martinjak!), about 30 Crossbills (flocks near Otok), 1 Spotted Flycatcher, Crested and Coal Tits in the forest, 1 Black Woodpecker (forest), 2 Serins, 2 Willow Warblers, 6 Whinchats, 1 Northern Wheatear (1st winter near Martinjak) and 3 Honey Buzzards soaring at midday over Martinjak.