Land of Beavers!

I use to find signs of Beavers occurrence regularly during my walks in the nature in the surroundings of Bratislava. Have a look what I found yesterday:

tree with freshly nibbled wood, next to the Danube's seepage channel

marks of beaver's teeth

another site, signs of beavers again: small creek along the road, red arrow shows to the dam

creek with the beaver dam

beaver dam from above

First winter guests on Danube

I made another birdwatching bike ride. Despite it is November already, the weather was pleasant. I rode along Danube and I made several stops to check the surface of Hrušovská zdrž water reservoir for newly arrived winter or migration guests. I got my only second sighting of Shelducks (Tadorna tadorna) in Slovakia. Ten of them were swimming in compact flock along with thousands of other ducks. First Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) appeared. There was a group of 13 Goosanders (Mergus merganser). Beside Tufted Ducks and Mallards the numbers of Teals (Anas crecca) and Wigeons (Anas penelope) are arising. I counted 83 Teals and c130 Wigeons today. I spotted only 2 Pygmy Cormorants (Microcarbo pygmeus), but at least I know first of these unusual migrants are here. Pygmy Cormorants migrate not southwards but to the northwest from the Danube delta. In the peak of winter we could have here up to 1000 birds. In addition I observed Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) for a while and flyover of a White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla).  Great Egret (Egretta alba) with something like tumour on its leg need to be mentioned as well. I'm not sure if it will survive winter.

Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)

signs of presence of Beavers

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

pair of Pygmy Cormorants (Microcarbo pygmeus) in the right

Great Egret (Egretta alba) with tumour on its leg

numbers of waterbirds are beginning to rise

flock of 10 Shelducks (Tadorna tadorna)

White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)

Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Teals (Anas crecca)

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

List of recorded birds:

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) c250
Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 10
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 1
Wigeon (Anas penelope) 130+
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 2000
Teal (Anas crecca) 83
Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina) 3
Pochard (Aythya ferina) 50
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 700
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 8
Goosander (Mergus merganser) 13
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) c20
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 20+
Great Egret (Egretta alba) 2
Pygmy Cormorant (Microcarbo pygmeus) 2
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) 200+
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) 1
Coot (Fulica atra) c100
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
large Gull (Larus cachinnans/michahellis)
Feral Pigeon (Columba livia f. domestica)
Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) 1
Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) 1, calling
Common Magpie (Pica pica)
Jackdaw (Coloeus monedula)
Rook (Corvus frugilegus)
Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix)
Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

Is this spring?

After the weekend that was full of duties I made regular walk along seepage channel of Danube's Hrušovská zdrž water reservoir to count the wintering waterbirds. Weather forecast looked bad but I had no other option. First 2 hours it was only cold and windy and after 8:30 it began to snow. I spotted my first Stonechats (Saxicola torquata) and Grey Wagtails (Motacilla cinerea) of the year. Snowdrops started to bloom two weeks ago, now Two-leaf Squills (Scila bifolia) appeared. I was lucky to observe Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) and was able to shoot short video of an Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber). The second half of my walk was covered under snow blanket. Pretty weird to see flowers under snow. I spotted also one Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and three Roedeer (Capreolus capreolus) Fortunately the rain came in late afternoon so the only problem was snow on my spotting scope and freezing hands.

Horned Grebe (Podiceps auritus) and Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

happy Beaver (Castor fiber)

Two-leaf Squill (Scila bifolia)

road along seepage channel covered with snow

not very typical photo from spring birdwatching walk

Two-leaf Squill under snow

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)

Bear's Garlic (Allium ursinum)

Bear's Garlic meadow under snow blanket

I found these feathers: upper two are from Wood Pigeon, undermost is from Pheasant