Last Saturday of January is a date, when annual census of wintering White-tailed Eagles on Slovak section of Danube is taking place. I was one of few tens of volunteers who decided to spent 5 hours on the assigned observation point somewhere between Devín and Štúrovo. After previous years' censuses that I spent further down the stream of Danube below Bratislava, this year I was assigned to the point in the outskirts of Petržalka. It is less than 1,5 km from the nearest blocks of flats and less than 1km away from the sewage plant.
It was snowing in the morning. Clouds were grey and low. Not the best conditions for birdwatching. Despite the fact, one of the first observed birds was a Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis). In following 1,5 hour I observed its several flyovers.
High voltage powerlines, distant chimneys of the Slovnaft oil refinery, mounds of gravel. One would say that nothing special could be seen here.
The skies were slowly clearing. On the surface of Danube were flocks of Tufted Ducks (Aythya fuligula), Common Goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula) and few Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) were diving for fish.
Several Geese (Anser sp.) flocks were flying in the heights. Danube is an amazing highway for migrating birds.
It is a highway for cargo ships as well.
Tufties and Goldeneyes were flushed several time by the passing ships.
Four Great Egrets (Ardea alba) flew over. Another highlights were 3 Goosanders (Mergus merganser) and distant calling Raven (Corvus corax).
Beside Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) I spotted also some soaring Common Gulls (Larus canus).
While waiting for White-tailed Eagles I observed few other birds of prey species - Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo), Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus).
After almost 4 hours of waiting there was finally a White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). It was flying towards my observation point.
Beautiful adult White-tailed Eagle with glowing white wedge-shaped tail started to soar over my head. In a while another White-tailed Eagle appeared. It was a brown-tailed juvenile. They were soaring together for a few minutes and were slowly flying away from me. After 10 minutes it was all over.
Finally time for writing down some precious data. Juvenile White-tailed Eagle showed itself again in 5 minutes and in a couple of minutes was gone from my sight. (Red arrow shows my observation point)
Bratislava offers plenty of possibilities for birdwatching. One can choose walk in the city parks or around urban lakes. But there is an amazing fact that Danube is a super highway for migrating birds and species such as White-tailed Eagle, Kingfisher, Goosander or Great Egret could be spotted so close to the center of the Slovak capital.
