10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

I counted them very roughly, but I do have a lot of experience estimating flocks. The next specialty is the Red-footed Falcon in the Deliblato Sands Nature Reserve in the east of Serbia: “Two European Rollers await us on the wires, while one Eurasian Hoopoe flies by. Then 20 more joined them, so I entered 100 in my notebook.

2018 118

2018 Serbia Falcons Greece 118

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

I used to live in Botswana, where there are about 450 bird species in an area a few dozen miles from the capital; then somewhat naively moved back to Serbia with mere 250 species around the capital. So, the perfect country to move to needs to have at least twice as many species as Serbia. And it shows. As is every one after it.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

I observe them, but feel I still lack experience to tell with certainty the SEO from LEO in flight. Back in November, one group of British birders visited Serbia and, as one of them later wrote in his blog, their local guide promised them the GGS – “That one is guaranteed“, the guide declared. ‘He Long-eared Owls are irresistibly cute.

Serbia 244

Serbia Owls Rodents Eagles 244

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

I was canoeing the Danube backwaters inside Belgrade, Serbia, on a warm and sunny November day when a Northern Goshawk tried to catch one of two Pygmy Cormorants. Northern Goshawk in Serbia, (c) Szekeres Levente. Entering some old data at eBird, I found myself puzzled with one record. This Goshawk was actually drowning its prey!

Serbia 254

Serbia 2004 Eagles Chickens 254

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2015

To those unfamiliar with the Old World geography, this means that these grebes breed way north from the banks of the Danube, where I reside, and overwinter by the coasts, away from land-locked Serbia. As a consequence, this species is only a rare vagrant in Serbia. Which costed me a lifer.

Serbia 176

Serbia Norway France Japan 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 28, 2015

I have asked myself that same question many times over the last six months, until last week, when I was involved in an opening ceremony of five new bird hides at the Palic Lake, by the town of Subotica in the very north of Serbia, along the border with Hungary (all photos are from that area). They got the message right. And so did I.

Serbia 254

Serbia Birds Spain Hungary 254

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2014

even before I took binoculars, I was always chasing, hmm… impressionable experiences. The intensity of experience is not the same, but, e.g. focusing on a single bird and trying to solve the puzzle… or finding the rarest owl of India , that was a mind-blowing one. Birding Europe Serbia wetlands' Town squares?

Farming 247

Farming Serbia Europe India 247

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 26, 2015

And I had a friend working in the museum, who put me in touch with their birds curator (with whom I recently birded the Griffon Vulture gorges of western Serbia) and who answered all my questions at the time. I still believe that choosing the right approach may be the most important phase of any research.

Serbia 189

Serbia Bosnia Research Lions 189

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 22, 2018

Have you heard of a small town in Serbia graced by the presence of its 700 communally roosting Long-eared Owls ? You may have read about them in the Wall Street Journal , the BBC Wildlife Magazine , or perhaps watched them on BBC, who filmed them here twice, for the Planet Earth II in 2015 and for the One Planet in 2018.

Owls 230

Owls Protest Protesting Protesters 230

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences. I’m wondering as I write if you are shaking your head, uneasy that all these FACTS will interfere with your love of observing owls, an experience that easily borders on the mystical for some of us. But what do we know beyond these commonly seen and heard behaviors?

Owls 224

Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

10,000 Birds

MARCH 1, 2018

Yet, it takes great logistical effort to organize the census all the way from Germany to Austria, Hungary and Serbia in the same day, to count on numerous volunteers and hope for the best February weather. Yet, David, who has much more experience with bustards, isn’t convinced: “In winter, some females develop bristles, too.”.

Hungary 157

Hungary Serbia Austria Eggs 157

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2016

What made the story better (and a worse experience for him) was the fact that the cops had seen the Dogs of War. When my friend, Slobodan Puzovic, was taken to the local police station in Serbia, the cops took his field guide and actually asked him to tell them the scientific names of various birds. In real life!

Belize 241

Belize Birds Africa Dogs 241

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Next time I will try my local patch of Beljarica backwaters in Belgrade and check how much different the NL experience is. Well, an escapee it may be, but still something totally new and challenging (also, a first for Serbia). With just about every other bird I had one of those “wow” moments.

Chile 306

Chile Argentina Raised Serbia 306

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

” Landfill often made me wander off into some half-forgotten gulling experience of mine. Caspian gulls have a strange quality: they’re more aggressive than herring gulls but also I think more beautiful.” At one moment I even realised where I’d like to be while reading it: deep in rural Norfolk.

Angola 195

Angola United Kingdom Mozambique Botswana 195

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2018

As you know, I started to bird from a canoe, exploring the Danube backwaters in Belgrade, Serbia. What I have always missed there and what I still miss is to experience presence of the European Beaver.

Beavers 127

Beavers Serbia Eagles Hungary 127

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2016

What experience do I have to confirm my qualifications? E.g., up to 10 percent of the European population of Pygmy Cormorants overwinters in Belgrade , Serbia. My agenda is to help to make the Ross Sea an international marine protected area. This is WHY. And I do need YOUR VOTE for that. But am I qualified for the job?

Agenda 180

Agenda Protection New Zealand Argentina 180

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2017

I have just returned from Costa Rica, the country about which I knew very little, despite it coming under my radar all the way back in 1999 when the “Africa – Birds & Birding” magazine published some of John Graham’s experiences from his visit in 1993. times more birds than my native Serbia and about 1.5 to great birding.

Costa Rica 190

Costa Rica San Jose Serbia Europe 190

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 13, 2014

My best bird of the weekend was a Great Black-backed Gull , a rarity in a land-locked Serbia, with less than 10 observations so far. Before I acquired my own Swarovski binoculars, I had the chance to test both ELs and CLs for months at a time and so, from my own experience I knew what level of quality this brand guarantees.

Greece 169

Greece Battery Experience Experiments 169

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2020

7 beats contributed their sightings from 7 countries (Hong Kong, UK, China, USA, Serbia, Australia and, of course, Costa Rica). These are included as part of the summary and are maintained in the list, despite objections by some purists, to give the full, rich experience as enjoyed by your lucky, lucky beats. Brant (Branta bernicla).

2020 154

2020 Sparrows Niger Woodpeckers 154

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2017

Worried that such experience might traumatise young Spongebob, I held the paddle as an obstacle, pointed at the angry bird. The swan didn’t intend to stop there, but went into another attack, only now I posted a paddle as a guard, so he hit my paddle shaft twice before landing and swimming threateningly alongside of the canoe.

Birds 129

Birds Namibia Greece Feral 129