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The slaughter tourism trade in Serbia

10,000 Birds

Twenty years ago, flocks consisting of a thousand European Turtle Doves were a common sight in Serbia in spring. As we speak, in Serbia these birds are still hunted in August and September. Turtle Doves have been declining in Europe since the 1970s, and in this century alone, the continent has lost 40% of its population of the species.

Serbia 270
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The Final Days of the Danube backwaters in Belgrade: Chinese Belt and Road Initiative is coming to Serbia

10,000 Birds

And here in Europe, they are the real deal, an indigenous species and not domesticated animals gone wild. The only wildcat I found was illegally killed by hunters during closed season. Annex II of the Bern Convention lists 45 of Beljarica’s bird species, with a further 91 species in Annex III. All in the name of progress.

Serbia 246
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Acheron Delta, Greece: Hell is Closed for Renovation

10,000 Birds

The coastal delta includes low, scrub-dominated hills and brackish marshes, the habitats with the greatest species richness in moderate zones. These birds have already left my native Serbia, further north, and this is not just the only one I have seen in Greece, but my last bee-eater of the season.

Greece 162
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All my patches

10,000 Birds

Consequently, my first local patch becomes a largish Danube River floodzone opposite to Belgrade (Serbia) city centre (cover photo: April 1992). With about 110 recorded species, the Kozara becomes truly magical place when the Danube swells and reclaims what is rightfully his. Kozara backwaters. The Ada Huja riverbank.

Serbia 246
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Definitively the Egyptians!

10,000 Birds

But, from the existing data, the authors have drawn a different conclusion – there is no proof that the breeding population ever existed, that the south of Africa was beyond the species range and that that all observations were of vagrant individuals. During my lifetime, this species was rare in my native Serbia, too.

Sudan 241
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BIRDING ACHERON: Hell is closed for renovation

10,000 Birds

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. Whinchat.

Greece 205
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We are Just Money Grubbers

10,000 Birds

Out of just under 200 bird species I observed this year in SE Europe, there are 6 threatened species. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens. point to just one problem source, one over-abundant and highly invasive species – Homo sapiens. 933,000 in 1992-1993.

Serbia 203