Wallcreeper at Devín Castle Rock
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Almost every winter a rare Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria) appears at the Bratislava Devin Castle Rock. We decided to prepare a common birdwatching event for general public before it will take off and flew back to the Alps, where these particular birds probably come from. This species is a regular breeder in Slovakia but it nests only in the higher mountains, and only very rarely.
Our event started exactly at noon and Wallcreeper appeared sharply at 12:01. It seemed that we had an appointment with him. The first observation lasted for several minutes. Then it appeared again at one o’clock, as if he was coming every hour. Luckily for us, he did not stick to this program and occurred more frequently. He even flew to the famous Virgin Tower of the Devín Castle, where he stayed for a while. By differences in color, we found that in fact, we are observing two different individuals, what was confirmed also later. Suddenly two of them appeared at once and began to chase and then flew away together. Around 15:30 one of them appeared for the last time. Overall more than 70 people took part at our Wallcreeper observation and almost all of them had the honor to say goodbye to this interesting tiny creature resembling butterfly before his departure back to its breeding grounds.
List of observed species:
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus / Larus ridibundus)
Feral Pigeon (Columba livia)
Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus)
Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major / Picoides major)
Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)
Jackdaw (Coloeus monedula / Corvus monedula)
Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
Great Tit (Parus major)
Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
Wallcreeper (Tichodroma muraria)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
