10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2021

Also, it is a part of the international ecological corridor and the “Confluence of the Sava and the Danube Rivers” Important Bird Area (IBA), already proposed for a nature reserve by the Government’s Institute for the Protection of Nature of Serbia. White-tailed Eagles in Beljarica. mi2 of the Danube Backwaters in 2014 (cover photo).

Serbia 277

Serbia Protection Deer Boars 277

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2017

Yet, I was there with journalists every other day, the site was in the media almost every day and the first effect of the Save the Belgrade Amazon campaign is now visible: quite unusual for Serbia, the rules are strictly applied. In the 21st century this may sound like 19th century reasoning, but I fight because it’s the right thing to do.

Rights 118

Rights Serbia Collecting Abandon 118

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

JUNE 1, 2023

Not at all, they are very right to protest, and I have no issue with the farmers – we all share the same enemy, our own President. Why should something so unimaginable in Germany be possible in Serbia? Am I annoyed with the farmers, angry at them? He started his political career as Slobodan Milosevic’s Minister of Propaganda.

Protest 183

Protest Protesting Protesters Germany 183

10,000 Birds

JUNE 15, 2023

North of Belgrade, Serbia, lies once a vast floodplain (155 mi2 / 400 km2) mostly dried up and turned into a bread basket, but several larger floodzones between the rivers and embankments remain. What is the right stuff for you? Time and effort-wise, what types of birding do you recognise?

India 181

India Birds Africa Serbia 181

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. For the eastern section, follow the first (potholed) or the second dirt track right (better), after the Dubovac village.

Turtles 172

Turtles 2002 Serbia Eagles 172

10,000 Birds

JUNE 3, 2021

Not just mine, but all the most active birders of Belgrade, Serbia, were visiting this site at least 2-3 times a month: it is so conveniently close to the city, and even reachable by the city bus 108. Personally I wasn’t happy, but I do not live there and do not have a septic tank in my backyard, so I felt that I had no right to complain.

Otters 263

Otters Protest Protesting Protesters 263

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

all the time pointing with my right hand while holding the steering wheel with my left, and the hardest thing, keeping my eyes on the road. More productive areas of the Balkans have January eBird lists from 105 to 115 species (but I combined several areas in two countries, Greece and Serbia), so I have every reason to be satisfied.

Owls 106

Owls Greece Serbia Woodpeckers 106

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2014

The night temperatures in Belgrade, Serbia, were already below minus 10 Celsius / 14 degrees Fahrenheit for two weeks. And asking yourself the right question is more than half the way towards the answer. Large windows and unobstructed views of the river are a criterion for the right observation point.

Serbia 196

Serbia Protection Legislation Europe 196

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. mi after the village of Gaj and spreads at the right-hand (southern) side of the road.

Europe 234

Europe Serbia Woodpeckers Birds 234

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. Two hundred yards further, the first Common Goldeneye and Smew started to appear and, while counting Smew and geese, a Great Bittern took flight from one stand of reeds to another, right in front of us.

Geese 149

Geese Serbia Birds Estonia 149

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

Iron Gates (Djerdap) national park, Serbia. Right in front of us, one more bird lands on a wire: a woodpecker! This one is most likely my latest swift in Serbia ever. Small canyon among wooded hills. Although the sun has risen, the cliffs around us are still deeply shadowed. Exeunt Eric and Dragan.

Serbia 258

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Bears 258

10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2014

Avala, some 10 miles south of Belgrade, Serbia. At the right spot. Trees to the right of us, trees to the left of us, trees in front of us, only the Common Chaffinches are singing loudly… There it is – on a tree?! Birding Black Woodpecker Europe Serbia woodpeckers' at the very top of Mt. And we wait.

Serbia 218

Serbia Woodpeckers Europe Blackbirds 218

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). Hence, I had the be equally grumpy to explain to them that I had an equal right to be there (equal right? Birding Europe Patch Birding Serbia' armed with binoculars only?),

Serbia 243

Serbia Stray Dog Protection Botswana 243

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

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 Birding Europe Mammals otters Serbia' kilometres / 0.7 miles towards the Danube River ahead of me. Photo Matthias Kabel / Wikimedia Commons.

Otters 179

Otters Serbia Fish Mammals 179

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 16, 2017

A month ago I was in the Iron Gates National Park in eastern Serbia, where one Black Woodpecker flew across the road, right in front of us (proving it is an extant taxon). Iron Gates National Park in eastern Serbia.

Serbia 184

Serbia Geese 2001 Ducks 184

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. Beljarica floodplain, from the Danube at the left to the embankment at the right hand side. Only two years ago, in the spring 2014, Serbia had catastrophic floods.

Serbia 171

Serbia Protection Eagles Ducks 171

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2014

These days I am busy with something called the “avitourism product“ of Belgrade, Serbia. By the end of a day, the best bird was the White-tailed Eagle that caught and ate a fish right in front of us – a species they have seen in the UK only once. Pygmy Cormorant – winter (it breeds in Serbia, but overwinters in Belgrade).

Serbia 180

Serbia Eagles Birds Sparrows 180

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 19, 2015

The city of Belgrade, Serbia, has about 1.7 Less than two years ago, I wrote here how I found the 4th GBBG for Serbia. Organisations involved in the research: Bird Study and Protection Society of Serbia, League for Ornithological Action and the Birds of Prey Protection Fund. Birds city birds Europe gulls Serbia'

Serbia 166

Serbia Birds Ukraine Europe 166

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. Serbia Birding calendar. Downsizing the checklist to 217 birds, I asked Geoff Laight to choose the top-20 for me to describe where to watch them.

Serbia 249

Serbia Birds Woodpeckers Breeding 249

10,000 Birds

MAY 7, 2020

This was only my seventh observation of this species in Europe (3 in Greece, 4 in Serbia). The local levee warden sometimes shepherds his cows here, and the eagle would stand right above him, giving him no second glance. The first thing to appear was its yellow bill – a locally rare Cattle Egret ! I am a stranger in his realm.

Greece 239

Greece Bulgaria Birds Serbia 239

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 20, 2015

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. So, the perfect country to move to needs to have at least twice as many species as Serbia. And it shows.

Sri Lanka 257

Sri Lanka Botswana Africa Serbia 257

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). They got the message right. And so did I.

Serbia 249

Serbia Birds Spain Hungary 249

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

The first stop of the morning: young White–tailed Eagle , right next to the road and several dozen Rooks around. Back in November, one group of British birders visited Serbia and, as one of them later wrote in his blog, their local guide promised them the GGS – “That one is guaranteed“, the guide declared. ‘He

Serbia 242

Serbia Owls Rodents Eagles 242

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 3, 2015

I was canoeing the Danube backwaters inside Belgrade, Serbia, on a warm and sunny November day when a Northern Goshawk tried to catch one of two Pygmy Cormorants. A female Mallard was running on the water right out of the thickets, flapping its wing frantically. Northern Goshawk in Serbia, (c) Szekeres Levente.

Serbia 251

Serbia 2004 Eagles Chickens 251

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”. Trips birdfinder Europe Serbia' eBird list. More: 10000birds.com/all-my-patches.htm.

Serbia 238

Serbia Birds Ducks Eagles 238

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.

Serbia 189

Serbia Bosnia Research Lions 189

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2018

As you know, I started to bird from a canoe, exploring the Danube backwaters in Belgrade, Serbia. Locations, dates, species and numbers, right? Nevertheless, Nagy was right. But what do you write in your notebook? Well, with some limitations, that much I could understand. Among the common species, Nagy mentions the Corn Crake.

Beavers 123

Beavers Serbia Eagles Hungary 123

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2014

Even among the protected areas of Serbia, the Iron Gates National Park (in Serbian: Djerdap) stands out as better preserved. Go right after the bridge with bright red railings and follow the international Danube cycling route sign for the Kladovo and the Donji Milanovac. Trips birdfinder Europe Serbia' Milovanovic and M.

Serbia 192

Serbia Turtles Birds Eagles 192

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2014

Several Eurasian (Western) Marsh Harriers later, two clumsy young European (Brown) Hares are hopping towards us and then, in surprise, suddenly stop right in front of the car, only to retrace their steps back. Birding Europe Serbia wetlands' We are in the reserve buffer zone and around us are wheat fields. Farewell, sweet playfellow.”.

Badgers 229

Badgers Deer Serbia Europe 229

10,000 Birds

JULY 6, 2017

While Serbia claims to strive towards the EU membership, it is back to the Chinese credit and Chinese environmental standards. Especially threatened areas of the city are the banks of New Belgrade and the right bank of the Sava, where the controversial Belgrade Waterfront project is taking shape.

Eagles 172

Eagles Campaign Otters Serbia 172

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 24, 2016

He may have been looking for the best way to sabotage a power supply, right? When my friend, Slobodan Puzovic, was taken to the local police station in Serbia, the cops took his field guide and actually asked him to tell them the scientific names of various birds. You noticed it: it doesn’t even live in Western Africa at all!

Belize 238

Belize Birds Africa Dogs 238

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

They are about the same length (NL 6.2in / 158mm; EL 6.3in / 160mm) and weight (NL 30oz / 850g; EL 29.6oz / 840g), and obviously, the same lens diameter, hence, they should feel the same, right? Well, an escapee it may be, but still something totally new and challenging (also, a first for Serbia). Nothing can be more wrong.

Chile 305

Chile Argentina Raised Serbia 305

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2018

I am at one of my favourite local patches, the Reva Pond , on the northern outskirts – but still inside the city of Belgrade, Serbia. This is clearly one of its first flights – it may have even taken the first flight today! Before (May 2016, by Zeljko Stanimirovic)…. It was announced that the works should be finished in four months.

2016 174

2016 Eagles Birds Otters 174

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2016

One raft of 20+ Mallards swims by the bank, right in front of jackals, careless like if they were just two sheep! All this happens less than a mile from the nearest houses. They are sitting in the wet grass at the edge of the water, observing the bird movements around them.

Serbia 133

Serbia Sheep Birds Eagles 133

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

This section of the river is known as the Labudovo okno reserve, a Ramsar site and the most important waterbird wintering area in the whole of Serbia. Yeah, right. Labudovo okno reserve, photo (2) by Marko Sciban. Scanning the water for rarer species… S. warns me of two locally rare Bean Geese. Watch for the dark beaks.”

Geese 179

Geese Hunting Boars Birds 179