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 131

Beavers Serbia Eagles Hungary 131

10,000 Birds

JUNE 9, 2016

Paljuvi Dam, some 30 miles SW of Belgrade, Serbia, is a known angling, but not so well known birding destination. All of these are reasonably common breeding species, yet, while Great Crested Grebes and Mallards do nest at the dam, only Grey Herons are known to nest some 15 miles from here. No, it cannot.

Turtles 121

Turtles Serbia Breeding Breeders 121

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. Circaetus gallicus.

Greece 205

Greece Serbia Hunters Cows 205

10,000 Birds

JUNE 23, 2016

Although quite a few species will have a second brood ( European Starlings among them), in the lowlands, mid-June is the end of the breeding season for many small passerines. They normally breed inside roof spaces of tall buildings and neither of us has observed them using clay cliffs. Three hours later, the census is done.

Abandon 162

Abandon Abandoning Abandonment Serbia 162

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2018

“I would certainly recommend Serbia to visiting birders. Nonetheless, I visited some excellent habitats, especially the flooded wetlands, and saw some good birds,” wrote the UK Birdwatch Magazine journalist Mike Unwin of his bird tour of northern Serbia 15 years ago. Black Stork and three pairs of White-tailed Eagles breed here.

Serbia 174

Serbia Birds Bulgaria Farming 174

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. This section also offered a European Turtle Dove.

Farming 264

Farming Birds Fish Boars 264

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 22, 2016

For example, I simply cannot comprehend how such seemingly common species such as the Common Pochard (yes, for the third time, the common), still allowed for shooting in Serbia and many other countries, found its way into the Red List of Threatened Species. Disturbance on breeding grounds (e.g. Lesser White-fronted Goose by Ingar Oien.

Serbia 203

Serbia Greece Montenegro Bulgaria 203

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2017

Shallows provide an ideal spawning ground for almost 50 fish species and submerged islands breeding ground for more than 100 bird species. Beside several well-showing Red-backed Shrikes , the highlight was one uncommon Lesser Grey Shrike (highly localized ** , with only 700 to 1000 breeding pairs in Serbia). I like driving.

Romania 131

Romania Serbia Turtles Blackbirds 131

10,000 Birds

MAY 10, 2018

Turning off the asphalt, I enter the Deliblato Sands steppe, between the Danube and the Carpathian Mountains in the northeast of Serbia, where the first bird to greet me is a Northern Wheatear , followed by a Crested Lark. They do not build nests, but occupy old nests of Rooks and breed colonially among them. I must digress further.

Serbia 136

Serbia Eagles Falcons Farming 136

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 4, 2016

July is that boring period after the breeding and prior to migration season. I know that you believe that Serbia is a land-locked country, but Belgrade city was actually built on an island in the sea. Sandy terrains are at their best during spring migration and this is the off season for such habitats.

Sheep 136

Sheep Turtles Squirrels Europe 136