10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2020

It has been a while since I wrote on where to watch birds (unbelievable, I know), and will now focus on the nature reserve of Deliblato Sands and the adjoining Labudovo okno Ramsar Wetland, about an hour east from Belgrade, Serbia. Dominant easterly winds have shaped the prominent dune relief rising from 70 m / 200 ft a.s.l. (the

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Europe Serbia Woodpeckers Birds 241

10,000 Birds

MARCH 14, 2019

Some five years ago I was involved in a project of ecotourism evaluation of the river Danube in Serbia, which included the city of Belgrade, founded at the bank of this river. Yet, I narrowed the city limits to encompass only the urbanised areas (220 km2) and skipped many good birding spots nearby. The best spot is the Reva Pond #6.

Serbia 250

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 250

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

These days I am busy with something called the “avitourism product“ of Belgrade, Serbia. Yes there are birding sites and there are birds – but hardly much info about them (beside Fat Birder ). Local birding sites are well known – among local birders. Nevertheless, describing where to bird is easy.

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Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 185

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2015

I am parked at the bridge over the Reva Pond in the suburb of Belgrade, Serbia, mere 150 metres away from the nearest buildings behind me, but facing the fascinating undeveloped 1.2 The water is misty-golden and the fishes are all glossy in the early morning sun. Because they aren’t fishes, but – Eurasian Otters!

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Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 183

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2014

While there are some two dozen birding spots in Belgrade, Serbia, that stand out, in this guideblog I will focus on the river Danube and its floodplain, inside the Important Bird Area “Confluence of the Sava and the Danube Rivers”. The next winter bird spot lies some 4.5 Bus: 79 & 24. eBird list. eBird list.

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Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

MAY 29, 2014

Sharing our thoughts at Facebook and looking for a place to go now, without a prior plan and early start, the four of us ended up at the nearby Veliko Blato fish farm, swallowed by the city’s recent spread. Birds eagles Europe Serbia wetlands' Keen on a free meal, gulls started the chase. Photos (c) Slobodan Panjkovic.

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Stray Cat Eagles Serbia Europe 188

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 31, 2013

This bird differs from the Baltic race of the LBBG Larus f. The rubbish dump lies a mere 8 kilometers from my present location and, as a curiosity, it was last year at this very spot that I found the sixth ever Pallas’s Gull (or Great Black-headed Gull) recorded in Serbia. Is it because the number of birds is increasing?

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Serbia Croatia Hungary 2012 198

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2018

Usually only several birds overwinter in Serbia – the biggest count ever was less than 10. There weren’t that many birds at all, they hated the sounds as much as I did. And then a bird of prey appeared in low flight through the tree crowns. And the bird I miss the most is the Redwing. Their claim to fame?

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Moldova Birds Serbia Greece 121

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Wigeons are only migrants and not a breeding species in Serbia and August is a bit too early for any longer distance duck movements. Are these very early migrants or possibly breeding birds of a wider area? Okay, obviously a bird-productive area, but what about the title? White-tailed Eagles by Szekeres Levente.

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Serbia Protection Eagles Ducks 177

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Beside birds, in this park you stand a chance of spotting the Eurasian Lynx , Brown Bear and Gray Wolf ! Even among the protected areas of Serbia, the Iron Gates National Park (in Serbian: Djerdap) stands out as better preserved. Well, do you really? So, yes – it is possible, but by no means easy. Am I complaining about it?

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Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 197

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

January is sort of a birding sprint – you start fresh and, all of a sudden, head for them all. In a typical birding year, no other month will bring you that many new species as January. The most agile in quick jumping in and out of the car become the bird spotter, the least experienced become the bird recorder and I was the driver.

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Serbia Geese 2001 Ducks 187

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

Since I have started to bird by kayak, it took me a lot of time to realise that paddling is not the synonym for birding and that I can bird without a paddle, although I cannot paddle without a pair of binoculars. Which birds can be seen there? But, more than just quantity, this spot offers some quality birding, too.

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Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 245

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2022

In the previous period I wrote mostly book reviews (but of some really great books ), yet I cannot remember when the last time was that I wrote of birding itself? Perhaps in my December posts on birding Colombian Amazonia ? Driving with open windows (to hear the birds) becomes unbearable and I am heading out of this fish farm.

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Breeders Mules Farming Fish 223

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 7, 2016

Shaded dark, even when focused – out of focus, like watching some early Charlie Chaplin movie and trying to ID the birds flittering in the background. One bird was flying towards us and, just prior to avoiding us, only slightly raised its head (showing us its yellow throat) before picking up an insect in mid-air. And the view?

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Birds Serbia Eagles Fish 189

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2017

I have been there several times last month, but barely ever managed to do any proper birding! So, the Belgrade press become acutely interested in birding? While Serbia claims to strive towards the EU membership, it is back to the Chinese credit and Chinese environmental standards. Photo: Gordan Pomorisac.

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Eagles Campaign Otters Serbia 177

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Such a large bird in such a small pool and only the first of many Dalmatian Pelicans I will see that day. The catch is, the station often pumps some small fish into the pool, hence the jolly bird party. The shallows at the place where the river enters the lake – the „delta“, quickly become a heaven for birds.

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Greece Pelicans Serbia Eagles 188

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2017

I go to the Hotspots page to click on the Past week only, to see which reachable Belgrade sites – especially my favourite patches – were recently visited and which birds were spotted there. And the birds moved to the island. They lay eggs in late January or early February, and the Statehood Day of Serbia is in mid-February.

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Montenegro Eagles Serbia Fish 109

10,000 Birds

MAY 1, 2014

We sail into the relative calm of a cliff, the mast takes an upright position, navigation becomes calm and quiet… quiet enough for our bird guide, Andrea Bonetti to pick up a voice of a Western Rock Nuthatch coming from the rock face. We come closer to it, but I cannot find the bird with binoculars. Chukar (c) Marius Bolck.

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Greece Malta Croatia Birds 242

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2018

This October, a previously unknown name shined in the eBird alerts in Serbia: Raphael Nussbaumer. He made a whirlwind tour of some of the best birding areas in the country, from the Karajukica Bunari peat bog in the extreme southwest (by the border with Montenegro) all the way to the Slano Kopovo Crane Sanctuary in the northeast.

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Serbia Switzerland Farming Birds 143

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

In the more normal years, I would spend January visiting the very best wildfowling spots along the Danube and seeing the best birds there are, so in February I would be well saturated with birds and feeling: Still winter? I observed White-tailed Eagles likely a few thousand times, and this didn’t strike me as the dark young bird.

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Otters Croatia Eagles Protection 263

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

With longer and warmer days, we feel the urge to bird in the country, away from our local city patches. So, if you were coming into my neck of the woods – Belgrade, where would I suggest you go birding? Finally, when you finish birding, it’s time for a beer or some lunch. The rest is grazing pasture and steppe.

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Serbia Woodpeckers Owls Eagles 263

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2018

“I would certainly recommend Serbia to visiting birders. My own trip was not an intensive birding experience, and August is clearly not the most productive month. I chalked up 132 species in a pretty relaxed eight days, during which birds shared the agenda with culture. 2 Baranda fish farm. 2 Baranda fish farm.

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Serbia Birds Bulgaria Farming 168

10,000 Birds

MARCH 30, 2017

A few years back, I birded northern Greece with a couple from Namibia. Nicolaas, who can see them back home any day commented that they are the most numerous wading birds in the world (the “most numerous” equaling “the least interesting”). Here comes the angry bird. All photos (6) by Vladimir Milovanovic.

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Birds Namibia Greece Feral 129

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2017

Bank Swallow) holes, among 60+ other bird species. However easy they might be, I was there so early and the sun was so low that their white undersides were bright-WHITE and I had to observe several birds in a row just to be sure. In the Bird Identification guide, it is deservedly described as an introvert.

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Serbia Breeding Woodpeckers Feral 123

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2016

It has been a while since I birded a new area for the first time – I sure missed the feeling. Paljuvi Dam, some 30 miles SW of Belgrade, Serbia, is a known angling, but not so well known birding destination. Or are these birds taking a year off to see the world? As a result, I had 15 species in the first hour.

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Turtles Serbia Breeding Breeders 117

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2021

The very best wetland birding around Belgrade, Serbia, is not to be found in the locally famous and tourist-promoted Obedska or Carska Bara Ramsar areas, but at Beljarica Backwaters and the fish farm triangle of Centa, Baranda and Sakule villages, in the Tamis River floodplain. mi ahead of Beljarica, bus No.

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Farming Birds Fish Boars 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2021

…we bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird in the marsh the whole day thru. My birding list for November totals 15 species. 313 Fish Crow – Corvus ossifragus. 313 Fish Crow – Corvus ossifragus. Can’t think why. The life list sits stubbornly at 4081.

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Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots Costa Rica 218

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. Alright, it did focused on the weldings of the barge and not the bird, but it was still amazing. (I winter waterfowling at fish farms), but always preferred to leave it behind.

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Greece Battery Experience Experiments 169

10,000 Birds

MAY 15, 2014

Our bird guide, Georgos Spiridakis, is driving slowly along this dirt track, checking the mud all the time. The bird is not showing again, so we use the elimination system: the first and the last are way too different, and dealing with the other two, we ID it as a Lesser Spotted Eagle.

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Greece Pelicans Breeding Buffalo 163

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2016

Here it goes: Second: Get to know your birds. I used to bird almost exclusively by kayak and since I published a few papers on birds of that area, I made the stats on how much I paddled (published in the “Methodology” chapter). That new map looked like this: Third: Propose the IBA.

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Protection Eagles Jamaica Farming 127

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). Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus). The post Collaborative List – May 2020 appeared first on 10,000 Birds. 149 checklists were submitted, accounting for 465 species. Oriental Magpie (Pica serica).

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2020 Sparrows Niger Woodpeckers 154

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2020

Who remembers birding parties? With some of the beats locked down still, or again, the birding has been patchy. However, 10 beats from 7 countries were able to submit some 127 checklists containing 597 birds from 7 countries (USA, UK, Serbia, China, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and Costa Rica). Nice distancing.

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2020 Sparrows Woodpeckers Blackbirds 183

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2023

I’ve been fortunate to encounter many owls in my birding life, sometimes because I’m looking for them, sometimes happily by happenstance. It’s also about human-owl interaction on an individual level and a wider sociocultural level, and ultimately how we can use all this for habitat and bird conservation.

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Owls Science Barn Owls Penguins 224

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 1, 2022

8 of them sent 153 lists, noting 645 species of bird across 7 countries (Mexico, UK, USA, Serbia, Australia, Costa Rica, Colombia). It has not resulted in extraordinary numbers of sightings personally, but the beats have been busy on their respective patches and have sent me their lists to collate. The year list finishes at 1628.

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Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots Owls 245

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2021

Wherever you might be birding, please stay safe and keep those around you safe too. 9 beats submitted 140 checklists from 7 countries (USA, UK, Costa Rica, Serbia, Australia, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago) during October to account for 585 species. 358 Fish Crow – Corvus ossifragus. 6 Brant – Branta bernicla.

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Woodpeckers Sparrows Blackbirds Ducks 248

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2021

Lock downs and restrictions have curbed our birding, so if you can summon any blessings to mind, count them instead. December’s beats found 609 birds after submitting 116 checklists from 8 countries (USA, UK, Costa Rica, China, Mexico, Serbia and Australia).

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2020 Sparrows Woodpeckers Parrots 237

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2021

The White-tailed Eagle is one of the easiest birds to observe in Belgrade, Serbia (almost guaranteed). Ten pairs mean 20 territorial adults staying here year-round, plus usually 20 young birds every spring, plus more than 20 immatures overwintering in the Danube backwaters. There are about ten pairs around the city.

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Eagles Bald Eagle Eggs Serbia 264