Škocjanksi zatok NR: back at the reserve for the weekly census today. By 9 o'clock it was already quite hot and the bird activity (especially songbird) was really low. I must say that here it already feels like summer!
Best bird of the day was a MARSH WARBLER (a year's first) singing in a thick stand of bushes and reeds by the main path.
I also had my first Melodious Warblers of the season, singing on the bushes all around.
Great Reed Warblers were literally everywhere and by the end of the morning I counted something like 15 singing birds. A few Reed Warblers and a single Sedge Warbler were also noted.
Ducks numbers are obviously really low now with Mallards being the most numerous. Actually there were no other species of ducks around, except for a fly-by Shoveler and a drake Garganey.
Herons are now pretty much the main attraction. Today I got nice views on the three best species: 2 Squacco Herons, 2 immature Night Herons (flying by) and one Purple Heron.
The breeding activity in the brackish lagoon is in full swing now with lots of Common Terns on the nest, along with several pairs of Black-winged Stilts (also freshwater marsh) and Little Ringed Plovers. It is presumed that a pair of Common Redshanks is breeding this year as well - there are two very noisy (territorial) birds around.
The only other things of interest today were 6 Wood Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Ruffs, 1 Alpine Swift (fly-by), 2 Sand Martins, Yellow Wagtail and a few Nightingales.
In the last week the Glossy Ibis was joined by several other birds and yesterday there were about 5 birds around. Today I didn't see any (even if there probably were some) because of the high vegetation cover all over the marsh.
Above is the great painting of a Marsh Warbler by Szabolcs Kokay
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