Malancrav 10/07 - 14/07

A new set of villages, and a new set of students/volunteers. Although I know I'm here to identify and record the birds, it's very easy to get distracted by all the other wildlife. For instance, this (I think a Balkan Wall) Lizard used to sunbathe just outside my tent every day. 

I also spotted my first Red Squirrel of the trip from the campsite to. As well as lots of Lizards, there were to be good number of snakes here too, again proving the abundance of general wildlife. Having only ever seen two Snakes in the UK, I was very pleased to be able to get great views of this Grass Snake.

Anyway back to the birds (as that's why I'm here). This particular village had a large orchard on one of the hills, which was full of bird life (presumably because they don't use pesticides?) including Bee-eater, Red-backed Shrike, Golden Oriole and at least 4 species of Woodpecker. We did manage a few hours mist netting here, which again resulted in only catching a few birds. But  we did manage to catch 2 Woodpeckers, a Green and this awesome Lesser Spot.

Serin was also added to the species list here, with other notable species seen again including Scops Owl, Woodlark, Hobby, Honey Buzzard, Black Redstart, Wryneck, Tree Sparrow and Hawfinch.

Viscri 05/07 - 08/07

I can't believe two week has passed by already!! But we're still managing to pick up new species. On the bird front new species were Jackdaw, Rook, and unidentified large Warbler sp and this handsome Little Owl. There turned out to be a family of six at the farm where we found him.

Although we're finding lost of evidence of large mammals (footprints and scats), we're still not seeing many so it was nice to see a Roe Deer and 2 Brown Hares on the walk from Mesendorf to Viscri. We also found a very large dog paw print, which from the size we think was probably from a Wolf?!?

I've added this picture for comedy value. While out on one of the surveys, Maria spotted this Grasshopper. She thought it was giving birth and said 'what a magical moment', only for do to be doing  poo!!

Mesendorf 01/07 - 04/07

On the walk from Crit to Mesendorf we were already seeing some good Species including this displaying Honey Buzzard carrying some food to its 'screaming' mate.

The birds life was much the same again here, with a few more notable species Golden Oriole, Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Tawny Owl and Scops Owl.

The mist nets finally turned up while we were here. This meant myself and Alex could demonstrate to the students how mist netting works, and why it's such a useful way of monitoring birds. Despite only actually five birds in this village, we weren't complaining as they were Marsh Tit, Common Whitethroat, Hawfinch, Middle Spotted Woodpecker and a SCOPS OWL!!!

(a very happy Alex Tozer)

(the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, with an excited Matt Payne in the back ground)

Crit 24/06 - 30/06

Well after what seem like an age, I've finally made it out to Romania where I'll be spending the next 8 weeks leading groups of students around numerous village in the Tarnava Mare region recording all the species of birds and their abundance to prove how beneficial the traditional  farming methods are to the wildlife here. As well recording all the bird life out here, I'll also be looking for other interesting wildlife too.

It's only the first village, and I'm already realising it's going to be impossible to write down everything seen, so I'll just write down the highlights from each village. The Star bird for me so far has to be the Red-backed Shrike, not only are the males stunning to look at there's just so many of them. Other notable birds include Corncrake, Quail, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Hobby, Black Redstart, Hoopoe, Wryneck, Bee-eater, Grey-headed Woodpecker, Hawfinch and Corn Bunting to name but a few.

As well as the incredible bird life, there's some amazing insects too, including several of these Humingbird Hawk Moths.

I've added this photo of the White Stork as well, because it shows how rich the meadows are with wild flowers.

Holy Moley...

While out and about today, I was surprised to see this little chap trying to cross the road!

I quickly pulled the car over and helped it to the other side. Those front claws are amazingly strong, and he was soon burried under the ground again.

 

 

On the work front, it was nice to find a Peregrine nest (using an old Ravens nest) with 3 eggs in today. I thought they might have hatched by now, but everything is late this year!. Last year we only managed to ring 1 Peregrine chick! Lets hope this year the weather hold out and they do a lot better this year.

 

 

Going a bit Cuckoo...

It's not every day that you see a Cuckoo, even rarer for one to sit on a post for you to take a photo of it. So today I made the most of this opportunity.

 

 

Also managed to find another Tawny Owl this afternoon. I was a bit concerned/surprised that it was another single chick, but I suppose with the weather so far this year they're doing well to raise just the one!

 

 

 

Owls about that...

While out and about today (surveying Kites), I heard a lot of alarm calling from some of the smaller birds. After a look aroud I found out what all the fuss was about.

 

 

Sitting pretty...

After a very slow start to year, the Kites have finally got round to laying their eggs and are now incubating them. Normally around this time of year Red Kite chicks would be starting to hatch!!

This sunset was a very nice end to a very busy!!

 

Butterflies and Bees...

Despite it officially being spring for several weeks, today was the first day that actually felt like it was! Lots of Butterflies and Bees were making the most of the hot sunny weather. I saw at least 6 Small Tortoisehell Butterflies and large numbers of Bees (several different species, but I'm not up to scratch with my Bees).

 

 

I want one of those...

While out and about in mid Wales today, I was very envious of two para gliders hanging in the thermals with at least 6 Red Kites!

 

I wonder if I can convince the Welsh Kite Trust we need one of these to monitor the kites??

Just out of reach...

While carrying out Merlin surveys, Tony spotted a Raven nest up on some craggy rocks. After a quick look from ground level we decided that they were reachable, and we would climb up and ring the chicks. Unfortunately, when we got to the top we realised that they were just out of reach!!

 

 

On the plus side it was good to see that the chicks were healthy, which is pretty amazing considering the weather we've had recently!!

Pullus season begins...

For those who don't know 'pullus' is the term ued for ringing chicks in the nest before they're fully grown. Normally around this time of year several species of birds are well on their way to fledging their their young, but with the awful weather we've been having so many birds have put off nesting for at least another 2 or 3 weeks!! I was a bit conserned that a clutch of Dipper eggs wouldn't hatch, as they had been laid right in the middle of our sub zero spring!! Thankfully when I went and checked them today, there were 4 hungry mouths looking at me. These will hopefully be the first of hundreds of chicks ringed by myself if the weather improves.

 

 

It was also a good chance to check on some of the adults that had been ringed earlier on during the winter months.