Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wednesday, March 30: A Look at the Past Week, Eurasian Spoonbill

     The morning dog walks have not yielded much in the past week. New arrivals in Kobelja Glava were Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) on Sunday, 27.03, and a Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) today (30.03). Along with the usual cast of corvids, I now see Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus), Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros), and Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) on a more or less regular basis during the walks. Fieldfares, which were omnipresent earlier in March, have now "disappeared."

     A Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) highlighted a trip to Dolovi/Gornje Telelovo Polje this morning. According to Ptice Kantona Sarajevo (2010) by Kotrošan et al., sightings have previously been limited to August, October and November, so this represents a first Spring record. The bird flew in from upstream on the Miljacka and landed briefly twice opposite the sewage treatment facility before flying off in the downstream direction of the Bosne River.

     Also today, the partially flooded field on the west side of the Bosne near Dolovi produced just 4 species of waders: 8-10 Lapwings (Vanellus vanellus), 2 Green Sandpipers (Tringa ochropus), a Ruff (Philomachus pugnax), and 1 basic-plumaged Dunlin (Calidris alpina), a new bird for my Bosnia list.

     On Saturday, we had to exit the country and come back in with a new 90-day stamp, so we drove down to the Adriatic via Mostar. Alas, in Croatia not Bosnia, a Short-toed Eagle (Circaetus gallicus) hovered virtually motionless in a headwind over a low ridge, while a probable Levant Sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes), looking almost falcon like, made a couple of short diving passes over the same ridge before disappearing.

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