A rainy day near the Morava River
Sunday, May 15, 2011
On Sunday we’ve visited floodplain meadows of the Morava River and Sandberg, which is a part of the National Nature Reserve Devínska Kobyla. It was rather windy and only 12 degree Celsius.
Despite this inconvenient weather we have seen 52 species of birds, among others in Morava floodplain area also Western Great Egret (Egretta alba), male Gadwall (Anas strepera), Black Kite (Milvus migrans) and Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla). We were very pleased with the observation of Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) which we have seen just a few meters from fish-hunting Western Great Egret. White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) and Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) sat on their nests. Of plants we have seen beautiful Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica), Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus) and Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) in blossom. Owing to the weather several species of snails in high numbers and leech came out directly on the path.
Afterwards we moved to Sandberg, where we wanted to see European Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster), which unfortunately haven’t appeared, probably due to the weather conditions. Instead we examined tertiary marine fossils, which are visible here on many places. Of plants we have seen extraordinary species of grass – Greyish Feather Grass (Stipa joannis) in blossom.
In spite of being a little bit wet and cold we really enjoyed our trip and were satisfied with this alternative for a rainy day.
List of observed bird species:
Common Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 1
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 2
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 1 male
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 20
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) 2
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 6
Great Egret (Ardea alba/Egretta alba) 4
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) 1
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) 1
Black Kite (Milvus migrans) 1
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) 1
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) 2
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 4
Feral Pigeon (Columba livia f. domestica) 20
Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) 4
Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) 4
Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) 2 H
Common Swift (Apus apus) 15
Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) 3
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) 1 male
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) 1 male
Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) 2 H
Jay (Garrulus glandarius) 1 H
Common Magpie (Pica pica) 1
Jackdaw (Coloelus monedula/Corvus monedula) 4
Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) 1
Great Tit (Parus major) 1 H
Common Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 4
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
House Martin (Delichon urbicum)
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) 2
Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) 1 H
Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris) 3 H
Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) 4
Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) 1
Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) 1
Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) 1
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Blackbird (Turdus merula) 2
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) 2
Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) 1
Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) 1
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) 4
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) 3
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) H
Serin (Serinus serinus) 2
Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) 2
Corn Bunting (Emberiza calandra) 1 H
Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) 2
Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus) 1 H
number of observed individuals is mentioned only if we were able to count them, or make an estimation; “H” means that we heard it
