106
Iz ornitolo{ke bele`nice / From the ornithological notebook
Bosnia & Herzegovina/ 
Bosna in Hercegovina
Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus
^opasti ponirek – na treh ~etrtinah vodne
povr{ine Bu{kega jezera (UTM XY63,
Hercegovina) je bilo dne 9.6.2002 pre{tetih 523
osebkov. Glede na enakomerno razporeditev ptic se
je na jezeru tega dne verjetno zadr`evalo okoli 700
osebkov. Glede na habitat zaradi velikega nihanja
vodne gladine vrsta verjetno tu ne gnezdi. 
While taking a quick look through field glasses at Bu{ko
jezero (Herzegovina) on June 9th 2002, I noticed a large
number of Great Crested Grebes in display plumage
swimming either in pairs or in small groups on the lake’s
surface. From the spot near the village of Mi{i, I eventually
surveyed, with a telescope, about three quarters of the lake.
I counted no less than 532 individuals. Considering the
fairly regular distribution of the grebes on the surface, I
presumed that some 700 individuals frequented the lake
on that particular day. In spite of the fact that they were
mostly adults and that many swam in pairs, they did not
breed there, presumably due to the lack of suitable
breeding sites. Namely, the lake’s shore is bare, and in view
of this as well as of some visible signs of rapidly changing
water surfaces it could be presumed that the water-level
was being regulated at the nearby dam at short intervals.
Great Crested Grebe stay quite late at their nest-sites and
appear on their wintering grounds only in October or
November [Il’i~ev, V.D., ed. (1985): Handbuch der Vögel
der Sowjetunion, Bd. 1. Gaviiformes, Podicipediformes,
Procellariiformes, 1. Aufl. Wittenberg, Lutherstandt].
Considering this fact as well as my own observations at
suitable places in Herzegovina (Svitavsko jezero, June 12th
2002, 110 pairs of Great Crested Grebes), it could be
expected that the grebes would breed there at that time of
the year. On Lake Constance in Germany, up to 2,500
pairs of Great Crested Grebes gather in summer flocks, but
the breeding population still reaches 1,400 pairs on the
very same lake [Gönner, C. (1999): Haubentacher –
Podiceps cristatus. In: Heine, G., H. Jacoby, H.
Leuzinger & H. Stark, (eds.): Die Vögel des
Bodenseegebietes. Orn. Jh. Bad.-Württ. 14-15: 190-194].
The question of why such great number of sexually mature
individuals gathered here - but did not breed on the lake
owing to the unsuitable habitat as a result of the oscillating
water-levels - thus remains unsolved.
Borut Rubini~, Institute Ornis balcanica, Pra`akova 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana,
Slovenia, e-mail: rubinic@siol.net 
Kotorna Alectoris graeca
Rock Partridge – a number of Rock Partridges calling
at the foot of Mt. Snije`nica (1804 m a.s.l.) on the
NW edge of the Sutjeska canyon (UTM CP10, SE
Bosnia) on April 15th 2002. The author observed a
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus attempting to
capture one of the partridges. 
Severozahodni rob kanjona Sutjeske stra`i Snije`nica (1804
m n.v.), slikovita gora, ki se strmo in v skalnatih kaskadah
pne nad Sutjesko ter obenem povezuje gori Vu~evo (1512 m
n.v.) na severovzhodu ter Magli} (2386 m n.v.) na
jugovzhodu. Dne 15.4.2002 sem stikal pod zahodnim
ostenjem gore in ves ~as je bilo sli{ati ogla{anje velikega
{tevila kotorn, ki so ostenja tudi pogosto preletele. Toda ob
vrnitvi iz pragozda Peru~ica sem opazil, kako se je samica
sokola selca Falco peregrinus zaganjala za kotorno, ki pa si je
sre~no na{la zavetje v ozki skalni razpoki v stenah Snije`nice.
Ogla{anje sokoljega para sem zasledil nedale~ od
omenjenega dogodka, in sicer s sten Vidikovca, kjer po vsej
verjetnosti tudi gnezdi, saj se je svarilno ogla{al v obeh dneh,
ko sem se zadr`eval ob vzno`ju stene. Ob robu pragozda se
je ravno tako iz smeri Vidikovca ogla{al {e planinski orel
Aquila chrysaetos, ki je kasneje tudi zajadral proti Volujku
(2396 m n.v.). Velja zabele`iti {e omembo Milo{a, lovskega
~uvaja v Nacionalnem parku Sutjeska, da je kamenjarica,
kot tu imenujejo kotorno, precej pogosta vrsta ptice v {ir{em
obmo~ju kanjona Sutjeske.
Bo{tjan Surina, @upan~i~eva 22, SI-6250 Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenija, e-mail:
bostjan.surina@guest.arnes.si
Common Crane Grus grus
@erjav – ve~ opazovanj v Hercegovini med 6. in
9.3.2002: (1) 5 osebkov v bli`ini vasi Sajkovi}i
(severni del Livanjskega polja, UTM XJ37), (2) 23
osebkov v Mostarskem blatu (UTM YJ10), (3) 10
osebkov blizu Karaotoka (Hutovo blato, UTM
HY26), (4) 14 osebkov na vzhodnem obre`ju Bu{kega
jezera (UTM XJ63) in (5) okoli 50 osebkov v letu
prek Biokova
During our three-day stay in Herzegovina between March
6th and 9th 2002, the three of us, i.e. B. [tumberger, M.
Schneider-Jacoby and the author, were constantly
accompanied by most capricious spring weather. The rare
moments of spare time and the short stops on the way to
our destination in Mostar we dedicated in full to the
observation of migrants in this ornithological poorly known
region. We were particularly surprised by a large number of
Common Cranes observed in various wetlands on our way.
For the first time we noticed them on March 6th in the
northern part of Livanjsko polje near the village of
Sajkovi}i, when five (5) individuals flew towards the
northern and almost entirely inundated part of the field. On
the following morning of rainy March 7th, we counted 23
individuals during a short survey of Mostarsko blato. The
cranes were not in a closely-knit group but in four (4)
groups with two (2) adults and one (1) second-year bird
each (4 x 2 ad. +1 juv.), and in groups of three adults (3 ad.),
two adults (2 ad.) and six (6) individuals whose age,
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