GrumpyEagle
Well-known member
I have been working in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina since 3 September and have been birding as often as possible. Bosnia seems to be uncharted territory for most birders, so here are some details of my birding in this country.
The weekend before last I went birding with Brane, a Bosnian Serb friend who is a keen ornithologist and has been birding in BiH for around 30 years. On Saturday we went to Bardaca, a reserve in the north of the country, which has a number of lakes, three small rivers and small areas of woodland (+ lies close to 2 major rivers). This was my first experience of birding in the snow, which was often very heavy. Brane was amazed at the lack of ducks, other than numerous mallards there were only very small numbers of gadwall, teal, shoveler and goldeneye. The only waders were a few green sandpipers, snipes, one lapwing and a flock of curlew. This was also unusual, more waders were expected. However, there were a number of highlights – three new species for me (2 white-tailed eagles, some red-necked grebes and a tree full of long-eared owls) as well as fantastic close up views of a great grey shrike, vole in beak, 3 spoonbill, at least 10 kingfishers, around 300 great white egrets, around 500 grey herons, a few pygmy cormorants and a beautiful male hen harrier, my first, having seen only females in the past (at Elmley). The day yielded 51 species in total.
Bardaca is an excellent habitat, but sadly hunting is permitted. I was unable to look at the hunters without wishing them all sorts of misfortune. I believe there are plans to turn Bardaca into a ‘proper’ nature reserve, i.e. banning hunting in the hope that wildlife enthusiasts from around Europe will visit. I hope this happens sooner rather than later and if it does, would strongly recommend a visit to any birders who have not visited the region.
On Sunday, we went to Pliva Lake. Again I managed three ticks, although would have struggled to have identified any of them if it weren’t for my far more experienced and knowledgeable companion. These were short-toed treecreeper, water pipit and black-necked diver. There was a pair of the latter, showing extremely well on the lake, the best view my friend had ever had of the species. There were many black redstarts, very common in BiH, but fantastic little birds. Also abundant were marsh tits, lovely birds and dippers, a species I have only ever seen in BiH and once in Scotland (despite plenty of looking in Cumbria) and never tire of watching. We were lucky enough to have brilliant views of a middle-spotted woodpecker and also saw a black-necked grebe, a few siskin, at least 50 little grebes, a single brambling and another cormorant. My friend could not believe his eyes when we saw a (male) blackcap, unheard of at this time of year. He would have said it was impossible until we came face to face with it! Ducks were again conspicuous by their absence, only a few mallards, one ferruginous duck and 3 pochard. After leaving the lake, we stopped at a site nearby where I was promised a good chance of hawfinch. Indeed there were several of the species, albeit in flight, but it rounded off an excellent weekend’s birding. 42 species on Sunday, a total of 71 for the weekend.
Previous trips have also come up with some interesting species, including a further 9 ticks, listed below by location:
Blagaj/Stjepan Grad – Goshawk, probably rock bunting, red-backed shrike, crag martin, rock nuthatch (latter two species both ticks for me)
Jahorina mountain – Willow tit, wheatear, raven, buzzard, black redstart, nutcracker (latter two species both ticks)
Hutovo Blato – middle spotted woodpecker, ferruginous duck, woodchat shrike (all ticks)
Lisina mountain – siskin, black redstart, buzzard, golden eagle, crested tit (latter two species both ticks)
Vlašić mountain – yellowhammer, coal tit, plus one tick – crossbill at last!
Wood Warblers are also common in the centre of Sarajevo, hence it was a tick for me on my first weekend here.
And finally, last weekend I visited Park Vrelo Bosne at Ilidža, only half an hour from Sarajevo. As it was a cold morning, there were few people around, but plenty of birds seen with very little effort, including nuthatches, treecreepers (probably short-toed) a middle-spotted woodpecker, I think both willow and marsh tits, plus with a bit more patience a number of bramblings, one spectacular male bullfinch, a great close-up of a hawfinch, plus one species that I could not identify:
The bird was sitting on a high branch of a tall tree. It was a similar size and shape to a cuckoo, which was my first thought when I saw it. Of course, the time of year precludes that species, but nothing else seems close. It sat in the tree for several minutes before flying off out of sight and made no noise. The bird was probably around 30cm, but it was difficult to judge size due to the distance. It was mostly grey, the breast was grey with a white stripe across it, about one third of the way down. Above the stripe was grey with black markings, below the stripe was grey. The beak seemed quite small, thin and pointed, similar to a cuckoo or thrush, the tail was quite long and thin and I think it had a slight fork. I’m stumped, as is Brane from the description - any suggestions welcome! (I have also posted this question elsewhere on Birdforum.)
The weekend before last I went birding with Brane, a Bosnian Serb friend who is a keen ornithologist and has been birding in BiH for around 30 years. On Saturday we went to Bardaca, a reserve in the north of the country, which has a number of lakes, three small rivers and small areas of woodland (+ lies close to 2 major rivers). This was my first experience of birding in the snow, which was often very heavy. Brane was amazed at the lack of ducks, other than numerous mallards there were only very small numbers of gadwall, teal, shoveler and goldeneye. The only waders were a few green sandpipers, snipes, one lapwing and a flock of curlew. This was also unusual, more waders were expected. However, there were a number of highlights – three new species for me (2 white-tailed eagles, some red-necked grebes and a tree full of long-eared owls) as well as fantastic close up views of a great grey shrike, vole in beak, 3 spoonbill, at least 10 kingfishers, around 300 great white egrets, around 500 grey herons, a few pygmy cormorants and a beautiful male hen harrier, my first, having seen only females in the past (at Elmley). The day yielded 51 species in total.
Bardaca is an excellent habitat, but sadly hunting is permitted. I was unable to look at the hunters without wishing them all sorts of misfortune. I believe there are plans to turn Bardaca into a ‘proper’ nature reserve, i.e. banning hunting in the hope that wildlife enthusiasts from around Europe will visit. I hope this happens sooner rather than later and if it does, would strongly recommend a visit to any birders who have not visited the region.
On Sunday, we went to Pliva Lake. Again I managed three ticks, although would have struggled to have identified any of them if it weren’t for my far more experienced and knowledgeable companion. These were short-toed treecreeper, water pipit and black-necked diver. There was a pair of the latter, showing extremely well on the lake, the best view my friend had ever had of the species. There were many black redstarts, very common in BiH, but fantastic little birds. Also abundant were marsh tits, lovely birds and dippers, a species I have only ever seen in BiH and once in Scotland (despite plenty of looking in Cumbria) and never tire of watching. We were lucky enough to have brilliant views of a middle-spotted woodpecker and also saw a black-necked grebe, a few siskin, at least 50 little grebes, a single brambling and another cormorant. My friend could not believe his eyes when we saw a (male) blackcap, unheard of at this time of year. He would have said it was impossible until we came face to face with it! Ducks were again conspicuous by their absence, only a few mallards, one ferruginous duck and 3 pochard. After leaving the lake, we stopped at a site nearby where I was promised a good chance of hawfinch. Indeed there were several of the species, albeit in flight, but it rounded off an excellent weekend’s birding. 42 species on Sunday, a total of 71 for the weekend.
Previous trips have also come up with some interesting species, including a further 9 ticks, listed below by location:
Blagaj/Stjepan Grad – Goshawk, probably rock bunting, red-backed shrike, crag martin, rock nuthatch (latter two species both ticks for me)
Jahorina mountain – Willow tit, wheatear, raven, buzzard, black redstart, nutcracker (latter two species both ticks)
Hutovo Blato – middle spotted woodpecker, ferruginous duck, woodchat shrike (all ticks)
Lisina mountain – siskin, black redstart, buzzard, golden eagle, crested tit (latter two species both ticks)
Vlašić mountain – yellowhammer, coal tit, plus one tick – crossbill at last!
Wood Warblers are also common in the centre of Sarajevo, hence it was a tick for me on my first weekend here.
And finally, last weekend I visited Park Vrelo Bosne at Ilidža, only half an hour from Sarajevo. As it was a cold morning, there were few people around, but plenty of birds seen with very little effort, including nuthatches, treecreepers (probably short-toed) a middle-spotted woodpecker, I think both willow and marsh tits, plus with a bit more patience a number of bramblings, one spectacular male bullfinch, a great close-up of a hawfinch, plus one species that I could not identify:
The bird was sitting on a high branch of a tall tree. It was a similar size and shape to a cuckoo, which was my first thought when I saw it. Of course, the time of year precludes that species, but nothing else seems close. It sat in the tree for several minutes before flying off out of sight and made no noise. The bird was probably around 30cm, but it was difficult to judge size due to the distance. It was mostly grey, the breast was grey with a white stripe across it, about one third of the way down. Above the stripe was grey with black markings, below the stripe was grey. The beak seemed quite small, thin and pointed, similar to a cuckoo or thrush, the tail was quite long and thin and I think it had a slight fork. I’m stumped, as is Brane from the description - any suggestions welcome! (I have also posted this question elsewhere on Birdforum.)
