Birdwatch & Insects, Autumn-Winter 2017

Steve Jones rounds off the year, puzzled by the absence of some birds he expected to see.

Common Scarlet Darter Dragonfly Common Scarlet Darter Dragonfly Photo: Steve Jones

As we came into Autumn there was the expected movement, with lots of finches appearing, predominantly Chaffinch, Goldfinch with a few interspersed Serin, feeding on seed heads. I am always on the lookout for Brambling amongst the Chaffinch but it seems I have to make to do with the two sightings in early January. The Serin pictured below was at the pond (which still had very little water after the hot dry summer). The picture came out better than I was expecting, even though I was looking into the sun. I think it is probably a male in winter plumage, which becomes incredibly bright in Spring time.

Serin, 18th October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

October 13th: Still seeing odd Swallows and this morning a Swift. Lots of Wagtails on the airfield, up to 50, and this week a big movement of Stonechats which I didn’t notice at all last year. I've seen 30 - 40 at various locations this week. I was very pleased with this picture of the goldfinch / gardelin - you really don't get too much closer than this. I took about 20 shots this morning, slowly edging closer, shielded by some grape vines.

Goldfinch, October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

In October, 'Nature' journal publicized a report from Denmark1 showing changes in breeding patterns as well as a decline in numbers of starlings (sturnusa vulgaris) in a long-term study. Over 45 years from 1971 to 2015, dairy farmer Peder V. Thellesen logged the habits of the birds, which had 27 nesting boxes on his property2. The changes are attributed largely to climate change, and give cause for worry. Similarly, I know of in-depth studies of curlew on Dartmoor, which have suggested that curlew in the south of England could be extinct within 7 years, unless something is done. the situation is complex, but in this case predation is apparently the biggest problem.

October 18th: I saw a Swift two days ago at Jelsa fire station. There are still lots moving, most notably Stonechats. I have also seen several Pipits, but have not been able to get anywhere near close enough for a decent picture. Sparrow Hawks have been about regularly, but again they have escaped the camera. Robins are back in large numbers, and they are the most prominent singers at the moment. Robins may well be here throughout the year, but if they are, they're certainly not obvious.

Robin, December 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

October 19th: There was a flock of 20 plus Starlings at airfield this morning. Oddly, I hadn't seen one in all the time I had been going there until January/February of this year (I even mentioned this when we did an interview for the magazine Dobra Kob at the beginning of the year). And now this is the second lot I have seen this Autumn. What a surprise!

Starlings, 19th October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

Towards the end of October I had another first for me and the island – Wood Lark, there were up to seven on the airfield for around a week.

Wood lark, October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

Blackcaps seemed to be actively feeding on the remaining figs. I did manage a glimpse of another new species, a Firecrest.

Firecrest. Photo: John Ball

Stonechats were clearly passing through for about 10 days, I saw them regularly regularly down near the pond. Up to 50 Pied Wagtails were on the airfield amongst occasional pipits and Yellow Wagtails, and I was still seeing the odd Swallow and Swifts well into October. (A Grey Wagtail was often to be seen in Stari Grad, but he has not provided me with a decent picture). It's worth noting that 'pied wagtail' used to be the general term for two groups of birds which were very similar, whereas nowadays it's more usual to differentiate between 'pied wagtails' and 'white wagtails'. In fact most of the the ones on Hvar are white wagtails.

Yellow wagtail, 14th October 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

The latter part of October saw the arrival of Great Tits and Blue Tits. Sparrowhawks and Buzzards were also seen now on an almost daily basis, but both were extremely uncomfortable near the camera.

Buzzard, Dol, November 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

October 29th: I am 99% sure I had a Goldcrest the other day. I am not 100% certain, but fellow bird-watching enthusiast John Ball had a definite sighting with a fine photograph to prove it on October 13th, from the beach by the Senses resort in Vrboska, where he was staying. So Goldcrest is included in the year's list of sightings, bringing the total to just above 90 species for the year. Say I miss about 10% the true figure could be close to 100 species for the year.

Goldcrest, October 2017. Photograph: John Ball

This week saw the return of Black Redstarts (I first saw them on 2nd November last year, 2016). There were still Tawny Pipits on airfield and at last I managed a picture this week - not a brilliant one, but good enough for certain identification.

Tawny pipit. Photo: Steve Jones

 Common Darters (dragonflies ) are laying / mating at the remaining water in the pond.

Common darter dragonfly. Photo: Steve Jones

The Grey Wagtail keeps escaping the camera in Stari Grad but I have been seeing and hearing it most days now. Yesterday I saw good numbers of Clouded Yellow butterflies, but as for getting one on the camera ........... Ummmmm.

In November I started using the little bird feeding station I had created. Initially it was all very quiet, but once they got used to the food they started to come in numbers. I was inundated with Great Tits - up to 20 at one time -, also Blue Tits and Chaffinch.

Blue tit, November 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

A very occasional Dunnock appeared, also a Wren (but I have not been lucky enough to get a decent photograph of him yet). There were a few Black Redstarts around, but they didn't come to the feeders.

Great tit, November 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

In early December I was delighted with another new species on the Island - Hawfinch. I had only seen one briefly in the UK once before. I managed to see three in the following days, but not close enough for a picture, until I managed this on the 12th December.

Hawfinch, 12th December 2017. Photo: Steve Jones

December 19th. My feeding station has proved to be very successful, I could easily get rid of 1kg of bird food in a day (and at 18 kuna a kilo I am rationing it somewhat)!! It is interesting how the birds come in waves, appearing in grouops of 20 - 30, although there are mainly just three species. They feed just for a few minutes and then are gone. I suspect it is a strategy to fool the neighbouring cats, as three have taken to lying in wait at the bottom of the feeder or in a tree nearby.

I have still been hearing the Wren in the neighbourhood, but he's escaped the camera so far. I am sure I will get a picture at some stage during the winter. As we passed the shortest day you may well have noticed how the Blackbird was more prominent, starting to feed on the ivy berries. Before long they would be actively singing as the New Year begins………………. Bringing with it another list of bird species sightings!

With the end of another year upon us, it seems I have to settle for 93 species sighted in 2017, not the 100 I had been hoping for. I accept from the areas I cover I could have missed several species, but on balance, given the frequency with which I have visited “my patch” I am happy with what I have recorded. I don’t do any sea-watching – for no other reason than on the times I have tried, it has offered little, which is surprising. I am also puzzled as to why certain “common” species aren’t seen on the island, such as Magpie, Jay, Crow and Jackdaw, which I was used to seeing in large numbers in the UK. However, here there are lots of Hooded Crows, which are very apparent at the moment, so maybe they do the job of all those others. I also have not seen Long Tailed Tits or Coal Tits at all, and Blue Tits are rare, appearing only in single numbers. I am planning a couple of trips to the mainland in 2018 for some bird watching – it may just be to do with the location of the island.

© Steve Jones 2017

References:

1. Fox, A., Heldbjerg, H. 2017. Ornothology: Danish dairy farmer delivers data coup. Nature, 550, 333 (19 October 2017) doi:10.1038/550333b

2. Thellesen, P.V. 2017. Kuldstørrelse og yngletidspunkt hos Stær i Sydvestjylland, 1971-2015. Dansk Ornitol. Foren. Tidsskr. 111, 87-95.

For more of Steve's nature pictures, see his personal pages: Bird Pictures on Hvar 2017, and Butterflies of Hvar

You are here: Home Nature Watch Birdwatch & Insects, Autumn-Winter 2017

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Labour’s measures to ban deep-peat burning aim to safeguard habitats, tackle carbon emissions, and protect wildlife, so why are hunters up in arms?

    Burning vegetation on deep peat will be banned under government plans to protect nature and reduce carbon emissions.

    Vegetation on peatland is often burned to create habitat for grouse, which like to feed on the fresh shoots of new plants that grow after the burn. This increases the number of birds available to be shot for sport.

    Continue reading...

  • South Africa’s Marion Island is a breeding ground for the birds, but their chicks are being eaten alive by rodents. Now, the world’s largest operation to eradicate the invasive species is about to get under way

    By 2015, scientists knew from camera trap evidence that mice were attacking albatross chicks on Marion Island, but no one had ever witnessed it first-hand on the small volcanic outcrop off the coast of South Africa. So, when researchers Stefan and Janine Schoombie came across a badly wounded wandering albatross chick in a relatively accessible part of the island, they resolved to return at night. After hiking for 30 minutes in the dark, Stefan started quietly setting up his camera equipment behind a rock. “We were expecting to have to stalk, but the mice were climbing all over us,” he says.

    It didn’t take long for the mice to start feeding on the albatross chick. “The bird was a complete fluffball,” says Janine. “So, they just climbed up its back and started nibbling at its head. We could see their teeth going into its flesh.” The bird, too young to walk let alone fly, could only shake its head in irritation. “As scientists our job is to not intervene,” says Stefan. “But we really wanted to help that bird.”

    Continue reading...

  • With a leg-span the size of your hand, the UK’s biggest spider, ultra-rare and known for its extraordinary hunting skills, has many admirers

    Meet an Olympian among Britain’s 660 spider species: a palm-of-the-hand-sized arachnid that hunts in three dimensions and can even devour fish.

    The fen raft spider (Dolomedes plantarius) is a magnificent ambush predator: harmless to humans but lethal if you’re a pond skater, tadpole or even adult dragonfly.

    Araneae have been feared and discriminated against throughout history

    Between 24 March and 2 April, we will be profiling a shortlist of 10 of the invertebrates chosen by readers and selected by our wildlife writers from more than 2,500 nominations. The voting for our 2025 invertebrate of the year will run from midday on Wednesday, 2 April until midday on Friday, 4 April, and the winner will be announced on Monday, 7 April.

    Continue reading...

  • Annual peak is lowest on record, covering 5.53m sq miles – about 30,000 sq miles below the previous low in 2017

    Winter sea ice in the Arctic has reached a record low in 2025, according to Nasa and the US’s National Snow and Ice Data Center. The annual peak, recorded on 22 March, was the lowest since records began 47 years ago, with sea ice covering just 5.53m sq miles – about 1.1m sq miles less than last year – and 30,000 sq miles below the previous low in 2017. The Gulf of St Lawrence had almost no ice, while the Sea of Okhotsk experienced notably lower than average sea ice extent.

    In late January, sea ice extent in the Arctic unexpectedly decreased, losing an area the size of Italy (more than 115,000 sq miles). This can be attributed to cyclones pushing southerly winds in the Barents and Bering seas, causing ocean waves that broke apart and melted thin ice at the edge of the ice sheet. Temperatures up to 12C above normal were recorded between northern Greenland and the north pole.

    Continue reading...

  • By grazing between trees and removing potential wildfire fuel, wild horses help protect Galicia’s delicate ecosystems, but Europe’s largest herd has declined to just 10,000

    Continue reading...

  • Long Dean, Cotswolds: This is a world – and a worldview – away from the rush to get lab-grown meat on to the market

    It’s a test of patience waiting for a calf. But in our closed (ie we don’t buy in) small-scale herd, ensuring successful delivery of new life is vital. I’m now several days into regularly checking for signs of labour. By day, I stride through the greening wood, spring’s symphony of birdsong overlaid by woodpecker percussion, and by night, moonlit or torchlit, I stumble, observed by owls but without pausing to dwell on what those dark scufflings might be. These calves have been nine months in the making, a few more days won’t matter. Nature, after all, dictates her own pace.

    By contrast, in the news recently, the Food Standards Agency is seeking to speed up the approval of lab-grown meat. These products, originating from animal cells, will be developed in small chemical plants before being processed to look like food, and it is claimed they are better for the environment and health. Putting aside the irony that they seem to be the “ultimate” in processed food, it might be that using science is the most “efficient” way to produce meat. But – pardoning the pun – there’s much more at stake here than that.

    Continue reading...

  • We asked 18 Republicans whose districts benefit most from Biden’s IRA climate law if they back Trump’s demands

    Billions of dollars in clean energy spending and jobs have overwhelmingly flowed to parts of the US represented by Republican lawmakers. But these members of Congress are still largely reticent to break with Donald Trump’s demands to kill off key incentives for renewables, even as their districts bask in the rewards.

    The president has called for the dismantling of the Inflation Reduction Act – a sweeping bill passed by Democrats that has helped turbocharge investments in wind, solar, nuclear, batteries and electric vehicle manufacturing in the US – calling it a “giant scam”. Trump froze funding allocated under the act and has vowed to claw back grants aimed at reducing planet-heating pollution.

    Continue reading...

  • The thylacine might walk again. Or Lake Pedder might rise again. The possibility of ecological restoration in the island state plays into the appeal of going back in time

    There is something about Tasmania that makes it a place where people want to restore the past, and not just because Tasmanians still regularly report seeing thylacines bounding off into the forest.

    Certainly, it’s a retro kind of place. The landed gentry are still a thing, the powerful families of modern Tasmania tracing their ancestry back to the original squatters, who either took the land by force or bought it from the colonial government, no questions asked. Georgian mansions scatter the rural landscape; in Hobart, convict hewn stone is a building material of choice. Nearly 70% of Tasmanians had both parents born in Australia (the overall figure for the country is 47%), and more than 80% identify with a white ancestry (65% for Australia as a whole). If you ignore the giant cruise ships, the Teslas and the puffer jackets, you could imagine yourself in mid-century Australia.

    Continue reading...

  • Riot of native wildflowers that enthralled visitors in the past several years have failed to sprout due to too little rain

    It’s one of the best known rites of spring in California: extraordinary displays known as “superblooms” that coat the hillsides in an abundance of color. Some years the blooms are massive enough to draw tourists from around the world to revel in the fields, such as in 2023 when more than 100,000 people showed up on a weekend to gawk at the poppies in Lake Elsinore, a small city about an hour outside Los Angeles.

    But this year, not so much. Thanks to a brutally dry winter, the hills around the usual southern California superbloom hotspots have been conspicuously bare. Callista Turner, a state park ranger, could count the number of blooms on two hands as she surveyed the 8 miles of rolling hills at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve in the final week of March, which is typically when superbloom season peaks. “We’re still waiting to see what kind of season we have,” she says. “It’s a very slow start.”

    Continue reading...

  • The last two big storms to hit Mexico have left the city vulnerable to organised crime and in fear of the next climate shock

    Flora Montejo always dreamed of buying her own home. After almost three decades working as a nurse, the 68-year-old invested her retirement savings in a two-storey house in San Agustín, a working-class suburb of the Mexican resort town of Acapulco.

    Montejo’s retirement dream was shortlived. Not long after moving into her newly remodelled home, Hurricane John dumped record levels of rainfall on Acapulco, triggering landslides and flash floods after calm creeks turned into roaring rivers.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds