10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2018

Our destination lies further west, along the Drina River, which marks the border between Serbia and Bosnia. Due to mass wolf poisonings in the 1960s and the 1970s, Griffon Vultures in Serbia suffered a dramatic population crash. Povlen, a quick stop filled with a song that sounds familiar, but I haven’t heard it since last year.

Serbia 107

Serbia Bosnia Herzegovina Sheep 107

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 12, 2023

The night temperatures in Belgrade, Serbia, were already below minus 10 Celsius / 14 degrees Fahrenheit for two weeks. Up to the mid-20th century, Pygmy Cormorant was a common breeding species of wetlands around Belgrade until most wetlands were drained and the birds were lost, at one moment – from the entire territory of Serbia.

Protection 279

Protection Serbia Legislation 2004 279

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2018

We were heading to the Djerdap (Iron Gates) Gorge National Park, stretching along the south bank of the Danube in eastern Serbia, to do the 400 km / 250 mi bird tour interconnecting possibly the very best sites around Belgrade reachable within a day. Michael’s summer birding along the Danube in Serbia appeared first on 10,000 Birds.

Serbia 120

Serbia Woodpeckers Birds Bears 120

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2023

Before I was born, it used to be a rare breeding species in mountainous areas south of Belgrade, but became extinct after the 1960s due to intensive poisoning of wolves. There’s an eagle… a White-tailed Eagle , a relatively common and numerous breeding species of riparian forests along large water courses and fishponds.

Bulgaria 264

Bulgaria McDonalds Eagles Serbia 264

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2021

In Belgrade, Serbia, winter months offer surprisingly good birding possibilities. Also, a rare Greater Spotted Eagle was spotted here in December (only about a dozen of them overwinter in Serbia). Winter is a season of extremes – opt for the very top and the very bottom of the city.

Serbia 301

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Ducks 301

10,000 Birds

MARCH 25, 2021

The adventure of the second European Breeding Bird Atlas, or EBBA2, was the topic of one of my first posts here at 10,000 Birds: In a warm Catalonian March, Barcelona is filled with sunlight and full of Rose-ringed and Monk Parakeets. In a very short time, we get two responses, two birds calling from opposite directions.

Europe 264

Europe Breeding Birds Denmark 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 3, 2020

mi2 of the Danube backwaters in Belgrade, Serbia. Out of my total of 15 observations ever, this is only the third within Serbia (the rest were half in India, the other half in Greece). published in the US as “Birds of Europe”), shows only a male in breeding plumage. And I am in the southeast of Europe. My favourite poplar tree.

Serbia 275

Serbia Birds Ducks Cyprus 275

10,000 Birds

MARCH 5, 2015

Two years ago, I was counting active nests of Rooks in the flat agricultural landscape north of Belgrade, Serbia. We drove for about 290 km through the 400 square kilometres expanse of Pancevacki Rit and found 8 breeding colonies with 252 occupied nests, or a density of 1.6 Birds city birds crows eBird Europe Serbia'

Experience 247

Experience Experiments Science Serbia 247

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. Cranes breed in very small numbers in UK but are always impressive en masse. Black Storks migrate along and breed in the Danube flood zone.

Serbia 249

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 249

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 24, 2015

Here is a joint media release: WWF, Decembar 11, 2015 – This December, 3,800 Pygmy Cormorants are wintering by the river Sava in Belgrade, Serbia, representing 2 percent of the global population and 5.4 “The Pygmy Cormorant is a strictly protected bird species in Serbia, as well as in the European Union. .

Serbia 184

Serbia Protection Europe 2015 184

10,000 Birds

APRIL 9, 2020

Part of the Labudovo okno Ramsar Wetland and protected within the Deliblato Sands Special Nature Reserve , this section of the Danube, downriver from Belgrade, Serbia, is unique for its wide shallows, before the river narrows downstream from the village of Ram. When to visit: best during winter and migration season, but also breeding season.

Mali 264

Mali Serbia Eagles Birds 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2015

Serbia has a large number of pigeon fanciers and a long history of lack of law enforcement in the field of wildlife crime ( Newsweek on poaching in the Balkans ). This time it is not in Serbia, but in Zurich, Switzerland, where this particular Serbian pigeon fancier / blogger lives. Painting (c) by Paschalis Dougalis.

Switzerland 197

Switzerland Serbia Feral Falcons 197

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

Photo: This area holds 3 to 4 breeding pairs of White-tailed Eagles , which represents the biggest density per square mile anywhere in the country. Wigeons are only migrants and not a breeding species in Serbia and August is a bit too early for any longer distance duck movements. Photographed by Szekeres Levente. and one ad.).

Serbia 171

Serbia Eagles Protection Ducks 171

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 3, 2019

The next specialty was the Great Bustard at the Pastures of Great Bustard Nature Reserve in the north of Serbia: “The Association for the Protection of the Great Bustard had just about enough counters to cover the reserve and the neighbouring areas (birds often spend the winter in arable fields outside the reserve).

2018 118

2018 Serbia Falcons Greece 118

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

These days I am busy with something called the “avitourism product“ of Belgrade, Serbia. Okay, that choice is something to be expected, but how about this: some seven years ago I was guiding another British couple to a nearby fish farm where I was happy to show them the Great White Pelican – the only one I have ever seen in Serbia!

Serbia 180

Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 180

10,000 Birds

JUNE 13, 2013

Serbia holds 13 per cent of the European breeding population of this “electrified” species which is not only Endangered in Europe but also listed as Globally Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Conservation Europe falcons Serbia' We were searching for the territories of Saker Falcons. Illustrations.

Falcons 229

Falcons Serbia Europe 2007 229

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 15, 2018

I am preparing for the new census of one of the rarest birds of Serbia, the globally threatened Great Bustard , taking place two days from now. Habitat destruction combined with hunting has pushed them away from their former breeding grounds. Bustards are being counted in February because their breeding season starts in March.

Serbia 105

Serbia Romania Hungary Hunting 105

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. When to go: breeding and migration seasons (April to June and late August to mid-September).

Europe 234

Europe Serbia Woodpeckers Birds 234

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”. While regular in winter, Pygmy Cormorants do not breed in the vicinity and are absent in spring and summer.

Serbia 238

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 238

10,000 Birds

MARCH 26, 2020

LABUDOVO OKNO Ramsar Site and an Important Bird Area represents a section of the Danube floodplain downriver from Belgrade, Serbia, and situated in the south of the Deliblato Sands Special Nature Reserve. Water Rail and Spotted Crake were also recorded here, as well as the Pied Avocet , Dunlin and Little Stint.

Turtles 172

Turtles Serbia 2002 Eagles 172

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2019

The other day I counted my favourite section of the Danube River, the wide and shallow Labudovo okno Ramsar site in Serbia. These globally threatened raptors breed from Ukraine eastward through Siberia and only a few come to overwinter here. The biggest count ever was less than 10 birds in the whole of Serbia.

Geese 149

Geese Serbia Birds Ukraine 149

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).

Serbia 249

Serbia Birds Spain Hungary 249

10,000 Birds

MARCH 15, 2018

There are 240+ breeding birds in Serbia, but the colonial breeders and raptors were treated separately, and for a few dozen uncommon species there wasn’t enough data for computer modeling software. Cannot wait to see it published, but it will take a few more years.

Serbia 101

Serbia Breeders Breeding Turtles 101

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2014

The night temperatures in Belgrade, Serbia, were already below minus 10 Celsius / 14 degrees Fahrenheit for two weeks. Up to the mid-20th century, Pygmy Cormorants were a common breeding species of wetlands around Belgrade… until the wetlands were drained and the birds were lost, at one moment – from the whole of Serbia.

Serbia 196

Serbia Protection Legislation Europe 196

10,000 Birds

APRIL 16, 2015

One Common Raven is disappearing towards its nest among the branches of the poplar plantation, only to reappear a few minutes later to give a good chase – aerial acrobatics included – to its first neighbour, the White-tailed Eagle which breeds in the vicinity. Birding Europe Mammals otters Serbia' kilometres / 0.7

Otters 179

Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 179

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Most perching birds have already left us sometime from late August and September; soaring birds do migrate over Serbia, but there is no known bottleneck site to observe them (it is believed that they follow the main river valleys to the east and south); while waterbirds will start arriving in a month or so. Birding city birds Europe Serbia'

Serbia 230

Serbia Europe Netherlands Eagles 230

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 10, 2015

In the Old World, Horned (Slavonian) Grebe breeds in a wide belt stretching from Scandinavia to Kamchatka and it spends winters along sea coasts, from Japan to China and from Norway to France, plus the Adriatic and the Black Sea (west and east of the Balkans, respectively). As a consequence, this species is only a rare vagrant in Serbia.

Serbia 171

Serbia Norway France Japan 171

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2020

Then about a 100 km to the Ismarida Lake and Porto Lagos lagoons for breeding and migrating waders. This was only my seventh observation of this species in Europe (3 in Greece, 4 in Serbia). From there to the nearby Evros River Delta, at the very border with Turkey, with more easterly species such as the Spur-winged Plover.

Greece 239

Greece Bulgaria Birds Serbia 239

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 3, 2013

In short, the accepted view used to be that a small breeding population of Egyptian Vultures inhabited Southern Africa, but has vanished facing the spread of towns, roads and farms. During my lifetime, this species was rare in my native Serbia, too. The work is expected to take two months, after which the killer line will be removed.

Sudan 231

Sudan Macedonia Serbia Botswana 231

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

This map shows the distribution of the World’s bird species, based on overlying the breeding and wintering ranges of all known species. 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.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

10,000 Birds

JULY 10, 2014

Consequently, my first local patch becomes a largish Danube River floodzone opposite to Belgrade (Serbia) city centre (cover photo: April 1992). It is a winter trap for rare gulls and that is where I found the 4th Great Black-backed Gull for Serbia this winter, as well as the 6th Pallas’s Gull two winters ago.

Serbia 243

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 243

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. What more would I ask from eBird?

Serbia 189

Serbia Bosnia Research Horses 189

10,000 Birds

JUNE 25, 2015

Zlatar in western Serbia, heading towards the town of Sjenica and, behind it, the bridge on the River Vapa. This is my first visit to this area, known as the Madz Brod, where two new breeding species for the country were discovered a decade ago. As we go lower, from glorious sunshine, we enter the morning fog. Still, we are lucky.

Europe 249

Europe Serbia Russia Breeding 249

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2018

As you know, I started to bird from a canoe, exploring the Danube backwaters in Belgrade, Serbia. Nowadays this species is declining in Serbia and the biggest number I ever saw at once was 6 and that area most likely has the highest population density – 3 pairs – anywhere in the country.

Beavers 123

Beavers Serbia Eagles Hungary 123

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2016

Technically, it was a possibility, but if that was the case, he would never defend a PhD thesis on birds breeding along the high voltage powerlines in a treeless agricultural landscape. He may have been looking for the best way to sabotage a power supply, right? You noticed it: it doesn’t even live in Western Africa at all! In real life!

Belize 238

Belize Birds Africa Serbia 238

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2017

That is hardly a surprise: this area holds 3 to 4 breeding pairs of White-tailed Eagles, which represents the biggest density per square mile anywhere in the country! While Serbia claims to strive towards the EU membership, it is back to the Chinese credit and Chinese environmental standards.

Eagles 172

Eagles Campaign Otters Serbia 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

Marshes are the habitats with the greatest species richness in moderate zones, also significant as breeding, wintering and migratory stopover sites for birds; it therefore comes as no surprise that this one is among the 10,000 Important Bird Areas of the World (one per each bird species?). Saxicola rubetra.

Greece 194

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 194