10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 19, 2019

In mid-December, I was birding along the Beljarica levee (Beh-LYAH-ritza), my local patch north of Belgrade, when something other than birds attracted my attention: three wild boars , appearing all black because they had just swam through the swamp to reach the bottom of the levee. I think all were males, at last two huge ones certainly were.

Serbia 243

Serbia Otters Boars Eagles 243

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2016

At first, the road is paved, but as soon as the tarmac ends, the tracks become decorated by hunters in orange vests. It’s the boar hunting season. The soil is disturbed by foraging boars (and there is not a single shot from those hunters). The Greater Spotted Eagle is a threatened species. Enough of the mountains.

Greece 249

Greece Woodpeckers Boars Eagles 249

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

The fish owl is an endangered species, and before Slaght’s work, very little was known about it, especially in Russia. (It The fish owl is Jonathan Slaght’s grail and also, more prosaically, his dissertation topic. He wanted to do research that would have a conservation impact. So, Blakiston’s Fish Owl it was.

Owls 132

Owls Russia Fish Research 132