OTTER at Cerkniško jezero!

Today I had a stop at the Cerknica lake (in Slovenia) on my way back home from "official business" in Ljubljana. It proved to be a very wise idea.
It was a wonderful day for being outdoors with about -10° to -1° C (coldish), but with a bright sun shining all over the snowy countryside. There must have been about 1 metre of snow on the ground. So I had a nice walk into the snow up to the knees (and sometimes even deeper). The walk brought me to my usual "watchpoint" above the lake, where I had a good view over the main unfrozen water bodies. As soon as I began scanning, a huge perched silhouette appeared on a short pole - an adult WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. It was perched near the biggest water body which contained a thousand or more Mallards, +20 Teals, 9 female Tufted Ducks, a few Coots and some Mute Swans. It stayed there for a long time and sometimes changed perches - also seen on the other side of the lake in the afternoon:

Minutes after the eagle discovery, I was about to have a heart attack when a Coypu-shaped animal appeared in my scope. Coypus are of course (and unfortunately) common around freshwater places, but here one would appear a bit out of place. And after the first look I realized this was no Coypu... it was an OTTER! The animal was quite distant (maybe 1 km away), somewhere right at the centre of the lake. It was showing well, completely out of water, while feeding on the ice. I could watch it for 6 minutes and see all the main features, including the strong, smooth tail, elongated head profile and smooth fur (see pics). Sometimes it moved around a bit and showed even better. Then, after finishing its meal, it dived into the water, never to be seen again.

What an animal! In Slovenia, Otters inhabit places like the Cerknica lake, but they are far from numerous, quite localised, extremely shy and hard to see - especially by day. I still think about the Otter as a "ghost animal"... a bit like the Lynx. I think I had a considerable amount of luck today and maybe the icy conditions influenced the animal's activity.

The third highlight of the day followed shortly afterwards when I heard the characteristic call of COMMON CRANES. I looked up and saw a flock of 17 birds flying SW, high over the lake. The firsts of the season, lovely!
Otherwise it was a bit quiet, with not even a single Great Grey Shrike seen (usually present in the area). The only other thing of interest were some mid-sized flocks of Fieldfares hopping on the ice edges all around the water bodies. Also quite funny to hear two Water Rails responding to a dog's barking.

 And here some magnificent landscape views to round up the day

Wallcreeper & Alpine Accentor

This afternoon I found two cliff specialities that are typical winter visitors along the karstic ridge, but never guaranteed. In the warm afternoon sunshine I decided to check the cliffs of mount Stena which overlooks the Glinščica valley (Val Rosandra), just minutes out of Trieste.
After the usual wait of about half an hour on my preferred clifftop, the first glimpse of crimson flashing on the distant rocks: a WALLCREEPER. At first it was quite far, but in a few minutes it flew closer and gave brilliant views for the rest of the afternoon (see above). A video here. While watching it, hopping up and down the rocks, I noticed another movement a few metres away from it. I was a small Dunnock-like bird that in my bins appeared magically as an ALPINE ACCENTOR. So I could watch both birds at close distance from one another, feeding in the same area of the cliffs. The accentor also ventured into some vegetation and looked for food among the grassy tufts growing out of the rocks. It was also quite vocal and a few times it seemed there were more birds calling, but it was quite difficult to judge the direction of the sound. When you hear a lone Alpine Accentor you always expect to see a whole flock of birds. Instead there's only one calling (a bit like the Jackdaw's call).

Alpine Accentor

Some distance away from the two birds there was also a female Black Redstart on the cliffs, along with a calling Rock Bunting. Otherwise the area was very quiet, as usual in winter. Just two Ravens passing by and a few tits and Goldcrests in the pines.

Earlier in the morning I had my weekly count at Škocjanski zatok, but there wasn't anything really of note. Maybe 2 Black-throated Divers in the lagoon and 4 migrant Lapwings were the highlight. The Great Grey Shrike by the road was also still present.

Winter goodies on the coast

Today I had a really good time along the coast, discovering some freshly arrived "winter gems". In the morning we had a walk with the local bird group at Lisert where we managed to see quite an astonishing number and diversity of grebes and divers. Best bird of the day was a handsome SLAVONIAN GREBE fishing on the sea, just metres away from the concrete bank we were standing on (pics above). Thus I had my best views ever of this northern species. Needles to say it was a season's first.
The sea was literally stuffed with divers: +30 Black-throated Divers (incl. 17 together and one breeding plumaged bird!) and +10 Red-throated Divers (pics below). Two Red-necked Grebes were also present, along with just a few Great Cresteds and about 30 Black-necked Grebes all concentrated in the bay of Panzano. In a nearby marina we picked out the first COMMON GULL of the season among a group Black-headed Gulls.
Other birds in the Lisert area included: 20 Curlews, 2 Common Eiders, Water Pipit, 6 Pintails & Shovelers, 15 Skylarks, 1 Greenshank, 1 Peregrine (soaring high above Monfalcone), 5 Common Sandpipers, several Sandwich Terns out on the sea, 2 Goldcrests, Reed Buntings & Penduline Tits in the reedbed, 1 Song Thrush, 1 Short-toed Treecreeper, both Rock and Cirl Bunting, 15 Jackdaws, 1 Stonechat, 1 Snipe and a few commoner things.

In the afternoon we went to Isola della Cona and had some additional highlights in the form of: 1 male MERLIN hunting on the saltmarsh (first of the season), 2 ringtail Hen Harriers, 1 Red-necked Grebe (Quarantia canal), 2 Tufted Ducks, about 15 Goldcrests, 6 Dunlins, 1 Marsh Harrier and other commoner marshland stuff.
Also glad to see the returning White-fronted Geese - at least 60 seen today in the freshwater marsh. But others will follow...

PALLAS'S GULL - Medvedce reservoir (NE Slovenia)

Just back after a successful twitch of the above PALLAS'S GULL (aka Great Black-headed Gull). I went to see it this morning, on the other part of the country; to be precise on Zadrževalnik Medvedce (Medvedce reservoir, NE Slovenia). The first-winter bird was discovered yesterday and fortunately it stayed around long enough for me to see it. I spotted it at 9.40 am, minutes after I arrived. I had some good views of it, also in flight, until 10.30 am when it took off and headed directly north with a Yellow-legged Gull (see last two pics). Not seen again after that.
If I don't get wrong this should be the 5th record for Slovenia...or something. The area held the usual mix of waterfowl, but the other most interesting birds were 1 male HEN HARRIER quartering the fields (first for the season for me), 2 Great Grey Shrikes and a nice flock of 45 ROOKS feeding on the ground.
Waders included something like 30 Lapwings and 2 Dunlins. Also 34 Greylag Geese and quite a lot of Penduline Tits feeding on the Typhas.

Stock Dove... again

I spent some time at the airfield of Divača this afternoon, checking the always potentially good fields and grasslands.
A pleasant surprise was a STOCK DOVE sitting on a wire of the high-voltage line. It gave pretty good views in the warm autumn sunshine (see pics above). In my opinion still an interesting bird - the second I see on the Karst in a short period of time.
Two handsome Great Grey Shrikes were also present in the area; as always, sitting on the bushes right by the airfield. Needles to say, they were flushed every time a propeller took off. After a long flight, one of the shrikes landed on some low pines right next to a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. So I had both birds in the same scope's view! Later another two (clearly different) Lesser Spots called from the nearby woodland.
The area was otherwise pretty silent and calm. The only other birds of note included 5 Rock Buntings (feeding on the path), +30 Mistle Thrushes (always common on the airfield), 3 Ravens, 1 Black Woodpecker, 1 Crested and 1 Coal Tit, flock of 10 Woodlarks, a couple of Meadow Pipits on the ground, some Siskins going overhead and a female Black Redstart.
I also tried some nearby cliffs for the potential Wallcreeper, but with no success. Maybe it's still too early...

LONG-EARED OWL at Škocjanski zatok!

Škocjanski zatok NR: when I arrived this morning I was greeted by one of the wardens who showed me the above LONG-EARED OWL sitting calmly on a fence by the hedge, not far away from the hut. It was discovered earlier in the morning in semi-darkness, when one of the wardens arrived. I think it remained there for the rest of the morning (at about 11.00 am it was still there).
It is the first record for the reserve! Not a bad start of the day.
Later in the brackish marsh I found another very interesting bird for the reserve: a BAR-TAILED GODWIT resting with some Curlews. This should be the second record for the reserve if I don't go wrong.
Other birds today included: 1 late Wryneck in the hedges (also singing!), 2 Dunlins in the lagoon, 1 Snipe, 9 Curlews, 31 Wigeons, 41 Shovelers, 53 Teals, 2 Black-necked Grebes, 7 Pygmy Cormorants, 6 Water Rails (2 crossed the path, showing very well), 491 Coots (up!), 16 Greenshanks, 2 Kingfishers, 3 Jackdaws, 2 Skylarks (on the grazing marsh), 1 Coal Tit (probably the first I see at the reserve), 2 Goldcrests, 9 Chiffchaffs, 2 Sedge Warblers, 2 Black Redstarts, 3 Song Thrushes, 5 Meadow Pipits, 11 Water Pipits (some showing well on the grazing marsh), Reed Bunting, Penduline Tit, 1 Brambling & flocks of Siskins going overhead, 1 Linnet and 1 Serin.

A week in Slovenia

Here we are again. Back at home after six days spent on a camp in Slovenia. Settled in the tiny village of Rakitovec (southernmost Karst) we explored some nearby areas, but also concentrated in finding the typical birds of the different habitats (grassland, forest, coast, wetland). It wasn't real hardcore birding, but it was good anyway. We managed to see 105 species.
The weather remained extremely changeable during all the time (cloudy with a stiff south wind and sunny sprouts, plus rain showers).
In general there was a large migratory frenzy with Jays literally everywhere and Willow Warblers calling from every bush. Also quite a lot of migrant Common Redstarts. Other common birds we used to see regularly inlcuded: Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Goshawk, Kestrel, Wheatear, Cirl and Rock Bunting, small flocks of Swallows and House Martins (flying south), Marsh, Coal & Crested Tit, Chiffchaff, Mistle Thrush, Raven (up to 20 on the Lipnik), Garden Warbler, Black Redstart, Nuthatch, Tree Pipit, Yellowhammer, Lesser Whitethroat, Whinchat, Stonechat, Pied Flycatcher, Marsh Harrier, Woodlark, Hawfinch.
Around Rakitovec we had Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on a daily basis, as well as a calling Little Owl in the evenings. Mount Lipnik (just above the village) was visited on the first day. The highlight was a Quail that we flushed on the grassy slopes on the top of the hill.
On the second day we explored the forest and meadowland around Pivka (pic on top of the post) and the nearby forest of Mašun (Snežnik mount). Here we got great views on a Tawny Owl in the evening, but weren't successfull with the other forest owls. There was the usual assortment of upland birds of conifer forests like Willow Tit, Goldcrest, Crested Tit, Crossbill and Black Woodpecker. We also saw a small group of Rock Buntings in a forest clearing at Mašun and were quite surprised to find them here in this habitat.
Mammals were at large in the evening and included Roe Deer, Brown Hare, 2 Foxes and a Beech Marten. The real spectacle though were the RED DEERS. Several rutting males were heard around the forest and two magnificent stags with huge antlers were seen at dusk, quite close to our car.
The next day we visited Škocjanski zatok nature reserve where we enjoyed a really exceptional ringing session. There were about a hundred birds caught in the nets, but included some real goodies: up to 8 BLUETHROATS, 1 juvenile GRASSHOPPER WARBLER, 3 Common Redstarts and a handsome male Wheatear (still in beautiful plumage). Other more numerous catches included Garden Warblers, 2 late Great Reed Warblers, 2 Whinchats, lots of Robins, 1 Cetti's Warbler, about 10 Blackcaps and good numbers of Reed Warblers. Of course also the odd Blue Tits got caught in the nets a few times. 

Bluethroats, Grasshopper Warbler and Wheatear

The freshwater marsh and lagoon in itself held fewer birds than expected with the highlights being a female Marsh Harrier, 2 showy Sedge Warblers and several of the already mentioned warblers in the hedges.
On Tuesday we visited the Sečovlje saltpans (salinas) and saw some more waders. The most notable were 6 juvenile Ringed Plovers, 1 Ruffs and 1 Wood Sandpiper. At the river Dragonja's estuary there was a mixed flock of 5 Pintails, several Shovelers, 1 Wigeon and Teals. A male Pochard in one of the inner saltpans was also of interest, along with a flock of 100 Alpine Swifts circling above the Dragonja's valley.
We then spent the last day on the Karst (both Slovenian and Italian) exploring different areas of cliffs and woodland. Highlights came in the form of a hunting Short-toed Eagle (watched hovering for 15 minutes), a Peregrine sitting on a crag and two Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers calling to each other and giving brilliant views.
A good couple of days!