Acrocephalus 28 (132): 1-2, 2007 Indeksirana resnica The Indexed Truth Biotska raznovrstnost (ali biodiverziteta) je klju~na za `ivljenje na Zemlji. To je preprosta in o~itna resnica. Vsi dokazi ka`ejo na to, da smo pri~a tako imenovanemu {estemu izumiranju vrst na Zemlji. @e leta 1993 je E.O. Wilson, biolog z univerze Harvard, ocenil, da na leto izumre pribli`no 30,000 vrst, ali natan~neje, ~e `elite, tri vrste na uro. Tokratno izumiranje je nekoliko druga~no od prej{njih petih. Peto ob koncu krede je, denimo, najverjetneje povzro~il trk Zemlje z enim ali ve~ bolidi iz vesolja. [esto povzro~ajo pametne gole opice, z drugo besedo, mi. To izumiranje ima nekatere zna~ilnosti. Spremlja ga preobrazba pokrajine, pretirano izkori{~anje drugih vrst, onesna`evanje in naseljevanje tujerodnih vrst. (Eldredge 1998) Nekoliko te`je kot ugotoviti, da je biotska raznovrstnost pomembna, je defnirati, kaj biodiverziteta sploh je. Razmislek nam da precej presenetljiv rezultat: je vsa biotska spremenljivost od genov do ekosistemov. Sklep, ki iz tega nemudoma izhaja, je, da jo je v celoti zelo te`ko izmeriti. Primerjajte denimo genom neke bakterije in ekosisteme na ravni celine ali oceana. (Purvis & Hector 2000) Politika je na tem mestu za~ela nekoliko prehitevati znanost. V letu 2001 so ~lanice Evropske unije sprejele, na tako imenovanem Gothenbur{kem vrhu, strategijo trajnostnega razvoja Evropske unije. Eden izmed ciljev te strategije je ekspliciten: »Ustavitev zmanj{evanja biotske raznovrstnosti v EU do leta 2010 in u~inkovito prispevanje k znatnemu zni`anju svetovne ravni zmanj{evanja biodiverzitete do leta 2010« (Komisija evropskih skupnosti 2005). Politika se na tej stopnji ni spra{evala, kako bomo ta upad izmerili. Tukaj je sicer mo`nih kar nekaj stranpoti. Logi~no je, da obstaja zadosti podatkov o velikih, redkih in markantnih `ivalih, vpra{anje pa je, kako dobro predstavljajo cel ekosistem oziroma celotno biotsko raznovrstnost. Nasploh je te`ko poiskati posamezno krovno vrsto (angl. umbrella species), s katero bi merili ugodno ali neugodno stanje vrst v {ir{em smislu. Prav tako le malokatere raziskave se`ejo prek meja ene dr`ave. Logi~no je tudi, da ima pri merjenju upada biotske raznovrstnosti spremljanje populacije ptic osrednji pomen, tako iz znanstvenih kot prakti~nih in politi~nih razlogov. Politiku je la`e zagovarjati ukrepe za ohranitev slavca ali orla belorepca kot pa nekega neznatnega hro{~a, ki ga poznajo le znanstveniki. Seveda pa ni vedno nujno, da so ptice najprimernej{i znanilci stiske drugih taksonov na nekem obmo~ju. Primer: ^e upada populacija vrtnega strnada, ali je morda problem na njegovem prezimovali{~u v Afriki, morebiti kje na poti ali pa resni~no na gnezdi{~ih? [e en razlog je pomemben pri izboru ptic kot indikatorjev biodiverzitete: pozna jih na tiso~e ljudi, ki so pripravljeni `rtvovati svoj prosti ~as za njihovo spremljanje in za{~ito. »Pti~ji« indikatorji morajo tako v grobem izpolnjevati dva kriterija: odsevati morajo spremembe v naravi in dati osnovo za logi~no razlago teh sprememb, prav tako pa morajo biti prakti~no izvedljivi na transnacionalni ravni celih kontinentov. Ne i{~emo natan~nih razlag za dvig ali upad posameznih vrst, ampak {irok vpogled v populacijska dogajanja, izra`en s preprosto {tevilko, »indeksom«. Ni druge mo`nosti, da tak{ne indikatorje spremljajo prostovoljci, sicer bi bilo spremljanje predrago. Obenem pa to pomeni, da mora biti metoda spremljanja Uvodnik / Editorial preprosta in robustna. Tu lahko bolj ali manj zanemarimo zahtevne populacijske raziskave, ki jih lahko opravljajo samo strokovnjaki profesionalci, kar pa nikakor ne negira njihovega pomena na nekaterih drugih podro~jih. (Gregory 2006) Zahtevne naloge razvoja bioindikatorjev, ki bodo v bistvu premo{~ali vrzel med znanostjo in politiko, se je lotil Evropski svet za cenzus ptic (EBCC; European Bird Census Council). Kot najbolj{a mo`na re{itev so se pokazali sestavljeni pti~ji indeksi. Klju~na zadeva pri teh indeksih pa je izbor vrst. Generalisti, kot sta {~inkavec in ~rnoglavka, nam lahko poka`ejo obraten trend in zakrijejo sicer{nje propadanje specialistov (pojav se imenuje biotska homogenizacija). Redke vrste, kot denimo ~igra, lahko do`ivljajo preporod zaradi uspe{nih, ozko usmerjenih interventnih akcij. Oboji nam kaj malo povedo o splo{nem stanju okolja in narave. Nasprotna primera sta denimo belohrbti detel in poljski {krjanec, vsak s svojimi specif~nimi zahtevami. Pri sestavljenih indikatorjih je tako klju~en izbor vrst, s katerim dolo~amo, katero okolje nas pravzaprav zanima. V tem segmentu so sestavljeni pti~ji indikatorji (in s tem indeksi) podobni borznim indeksom. (Gregory et al. 2003 & 2005) V okviru Evropskega sveta za cenzus ptic (EBCC) so tako spro`ili projekt Panevropska shema monitoringa pogostih ptic (PECBMS), ki zdru`uje vso heterogeno paleto metodologij po posameznih dr`avah in omogo~a tudi enotno statisti~no obdelavo. Za nekatere dr`ave so `e na voljo ve~desetletni podatki. V na~rtu je tudi podobna shema za ogro`ene vrste in IBA-je. Prvi rezultati denimo ka`ejo, da so populacije gozdnih ptic v Evropi v plitkem upadu – ptice kmetijske krajine pa so po dolgem upadanju zdaj stabilne. In kje smo pri spremljanju populacij ptic v Sloveniji? Povsem na za~etku. [e pred nedavnim je na zemljevidu Evrope zijala bela lisa namesto Slovenije. V letu 2007 pa smo se na Dru{tvu za opazovanje in prou~evanje ptic Slovenije lotili prvega transektnega popisa 46 tetrad (kvadrat 2x2 km) v prete`no kmetijski krajini, v naslednjih letih pa imamo namen popis raz{iriti na ozemlje celotne dr`ave. [ele spremljanje v recimo 10 letih pa nam bo dalo prvi osnovni in kvantitativni vpogled, v katero smer so obrnjeni trendi populacij na{ih ptic. Odve~ je pripomniti, kako pomemben je tak{en podatek. Naj ta uvodnik izzveni tudi kot povabilo k udele`bi v tem velikem in pomembnem projektu. Primo` Kmecl Literatura Eldredge, N. (1998): Life in the Balance. Humanity and the Biodiversity Crisis. - Princeton University Press, Princeton. Gregory, R.D. (2006): Birds as biodiversity indicators for Europe. - Signifcance 9: 106-110. Gregory, R.D., Noble, D., Field, R., Marchant, J., Raven, M. & Gibbons, D.W. (2003): Using birds as indicators of biodiversity. - Ornis Hungarica 12/13: 11-24. Gregory, R.D., Van Strien, A., Vori{ek, P. , Gmelig Meyling, A.W., Noble, D.G., Foppen, P.B.R. & Gibbons, D.W. (2005): Developing indicators for European birds. - Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 360: 269-288. Komisija evropskih skupnosti (2005): Sporo~ilo komisije svetu in evropskemu parlamentu o pregledu strategije trajnostnega razvoja - Izhodi{~a za ukrepanje. COM(2005) 658 kon~., Bruselj. Purvis, A. & Hector, A. (2000): Getting the measure of biodiversity. - Nature 405: 212-219. [http://www.bio.ic.ac.uk/research/apurvis/pubs/Purvis2000Nature.pdf] Acrocephalus 28 (132): 3-15, 2007 Possibilities for fre as a management tool on Kras (SW Slovenia): a bird’s perspective Gozdni po`ar kot orodje upravljanja zemlji{~ na Krasu (JZ Slovenija): pti~ja perspektiva Maarten de Groot1 & Dejan Bordjan2 1 Redelongijeva 26a, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, e-mail: m.degroot@rocketmail.com 2 Notranjski regijski park, tabor 42, SI-1380 Cerknica, Slovenia, e-mail: dejan.bordjan@notranjski-park.si The response of birds to wildfires in sub-Mediterranean areas and the possible use of fire as a nature management tool in Kras (SW Slovenia) is reviewed. In recent years the limestone region called Kras was forested with Austrian Pine Pinus nigra and became more and more overgrown by bushes and trees due to depopulation and land abandonment, which has made it more vulnerable to fire. The latter patterns in particular are occurring throughout the whole sub-Mediterranean area and are affecting bird diversity drastically. Bird mortality during fires is low. For the first few years after a fire the richness and abundance of bird species decrease, and the species composition turnover rate is very high, from open habitat species to scrubland species. However, birds will colonise the burned area only when there is a neighbouring source population. In addition, larger burned areas are colonised more quickly than smaller ones. It is assumed that many birds will emigrate, while a number of species will adapt their territory size, nesting and foraging behaviour to the changed habitat. The severity of the habitat alteration and the change in food availability affect bird population dynamics. Bird species composition changes in parallel with vegetation succession. The effects of different aspects of fire, such as the size of the burned area, fire intensity, fire frequency and burning season, are reviewed. There are still many gaps in our knowledge of bird responses to fire, such as bird emigration after fires. However the impact of fire on birds is apparently not always detrimental and can even have a positive effect on populations. We therefore emphasize the importance of the continuation of research into the possibilities of fire as a management tool. Key words: birds, Aves, Karst, Slovenia, wildfire, prescribed fire, population dynamics Klju~ne besede: ptice, Aves, Kras, Slovenija, po`ar, nadzorovani požar, populacijska dinamika 1. Introduction Fire has infuenced landscapes throughout the ages and all over the world. However, the severity of fres is dependent, among other factors, on the ecosystem and meteorological conditions. With the appearance of humans, fre frequency increased dramatically. The combination of human initiated fre and natural fres, such as those caused by lightning, can alter habitats dramatically. In Europe the most fre-adapted biogeographical region is the Mediterranean basin. Kras, as a sub-Mediterranean region in Slovenia, is very sensitive to fres (Global Fire Initiative 2004). By the 15th century, Kras had been deforested by humans and sheep and was only covered by stones. Kras became overgrown again due to forestation of Austrian Pine Pinus nigra and natural vegetation (mainly oaks Quercus sp.) The depopulation of the countryside and the abandonment of pastures and meadows in M. de Groot & D. Bordjan: Possibilities for fre as a management tool on Kras (SW Slovenia): a bird’s perspective more recent decades accelerated the succession. The accumulation of woody material, like dry bushes and needles from Austrian Pine (so-called fuel), increases the chance of fre in Kras. One of the methods of preventing wildfre is prescribed fre. Prescribed fre has already been used for a few centuries in Central Europe (Goldammer & Page 2000). It varies from burning garbage to burning large patches for agriculture. However with the increasing fear of fre, these practices disappeared. Nowadays prescribed burning is also suggested for nature conservation (Global Fire Initiative 2004). First of all, fammable fuel can be removed with smaller prescribed fres. Secondly, the destructiveness of fre can create new local habitats which can increase regional biodiversity (Moreira et al. 2003). Moreover, the increase of open areas could attract endangered open area birds such as Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris and Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana (Pons & Bas 2005). As a reaction to the awareness of using fre for conservation purposes, much research has been done on this phenomenon. This review will focus mainly on the consequences of fre for birds, with a special focus on the possibility of fre as a management tool on Kras. Only one report on birds in Slovenia takes a sub-Mediterranean ecosystem into account (Geister 1999), so we have included research from comparable ecosystems. 2. Study area Kras is an area located in the southwest of Slovenia. It is divided between Italy and Slovenia and has a sub-Mediterranean climate. It is a limestone area and karstic phenomena exist in most parts, so that there is almost no surface water. Kras supports a wide variety of vegetation types due to human management and exploitation. In former times most of it was covered by pastures and meadows but nowadays it is slowly becoming overgrown with scrub of a variety of species, depending on the local (and very variable) climate. Moreover, Kras is largely covered by Austrian Pine, which was planted in the 18th century by Austrians (Kranjc 1997). Over the last six years, 15.5 ha on average of Primorska, the southwesteren province of Slovenia, was burned annually ([ipec et al. 2000, [ipec & Babic 2001, [ipec & Babic 2002, [ipec & Babic 2003, [ipec & Babic 2004, [ipec & Krupenko 2005). Although the burned area is a small percentage of the province, large parts, such as Sne`nik and urban areas, are less fre-prone, while most wildfres occur in the dryer Kras region. 3. Fire as a management tool Fire is a phenomenon full of possibilities for nature management, as can already be seen with wildfres. Factors like size, intensity, frequency and season can interact and have different individual effects and, further, can easily be adapted. A higher frequency of fres for instance can take the ecosystem back into succession (reviewed in Boerwinkel et al. 2004). With the necessary experience and the right conditions, the intensity of a fre can be adapted with burning against (back fre) and with (head fre) the wind. The effects however are completely different. Back fres are known to be much hotter and go deeper into the ground, with detrimental effects for the litter layer, the seed banks and sheltering ground arthropods. The head fre, on the other hand, is used for burning the woody species, as they develop high temperatures in the upper fame ranges (up to 1000°C) and run fast through the vegetation, leaving the soil layer incompletely burned (reviewed in Boerwinkel et al. 2004). The burned area can vary, resulting from fres that create heterogeneity at the micro habitat scale to large fres at the landscape level (reviewed in Boerwinkel et al. 2004). Another important factor which should be taken into account is the season in which burning occurs. On Karst for instance one can identify a dry and a wet season. The dry season will often result in hot fres, which burn everything, whilst the wet season results in less hot fres with less complete burns (reviewed in Boerwinkel et al. 2004). All these factors can interact, producing different effects on the ecosystems. Another important factor is the amount of the fuel (e.g. dry wood, bushes, leaves etc.). The spatial heterogeneity in fuel will also give heterogeneity in fre intensity and burned area size (reviewed in Boerwinkel et al. 2004). However, one has to be very careful with fre and therefore guidelines are issued by many authorities (Nature Conservancy 2007). 4. Effect of fre on birds 4.1. Direct effect The direct consequences of fre depend on the severity, uniformity and season of the burn (Kruse & Piehl Acrocephalus 28 (132): 3~IJ, 2OO7 1986, Lehman & Allendorf 1989, Robbins & Myers 1992, Smith 2000). During the fre, mortality, feeing, disorientation and even attraction can occur. The mortality among adults is relatively low, as they can easily escape (Rotenberry et al. 1995, Finch et al. 1997, Smith 2000). However a fre during the breeding season has detrimental effects on nestlings and fedglings (Patton & Gordon 1995, Finch et al. 1997, Smith 2000). In other cases breeding success may be reduced due to reductions in food supply (Patton & Gordon 1995, Finch et al. 1997). Another consequence is attraction. Swallows are known to hunt near the smoke as there are lots of insects, whilst raptors and scavengers may search for carcasses behind the fre (reviewed in Pons 2002). 4.2. Post-fre dynamics Pons (2002) has already pointed out that the population dynamics after fres are mainly infuenced by colonisation, emigration, site tenacity, philopatry, and local breeding success (Table 1). However, we must frst examine how the bird community reacts to fre and try to explain this with the above mentioned population dynamics. In the frst or second year after stand replacing fres, several studies have found that there is a decline of bird abundance and species richness in Mediterranean shrubland and in several types of pine forest (Prodon et al. 1987, Pons & Prodon 1996, García 1997, Izhaki & Adar 1997, Smith 2000, Moreira et al. 2003). In the frst years the turnover rate was also faster than in later years (Izhaki & Adar 1997). Izhaki & Adar (1997) found that, in a burned forest of Aleppo Pine Pinus halepensis, species richness increased when compared with the surrounding unburned areas. After the usual initial decline, there were different patterns for the species richness, varying from increase (Pons & Prodon 1996) to no change (Wilson et al. 1995, Artman et al. 2001) or even decrease (Pons 1999). One study even reports species richness and abundance higher than that of the surrounding unburned control habitats (Herrando et al. 2002a). Contrasting results have been found regarding seasonal variability, varying from low difference of species richness in burned areas (Izhaki & Adar 1997) to low species richness in winter but high in the breeding season (Herrando et al. 2002b). Depending on the vegetation type it is estimated that bird species composition and richness can recover after 1 year in dry grassland, some 15 years in a Cork Oak Quercus suber forest and probably around one century in a mature Evergreen Oak Quercus ilex forest (Prodon 1988). Although it is assumed that, in parallel with the alteration of the habitat, the species composition also may change dramatically, Herrando et al. (2002a) found no temporal shift between the frst and the sixth year after a fre. Moreira et al. (2003) suggest that the fre-created scrublands provide habitats for specialists that would otherwise be unavailable. Increasing numbers of insectivores (Izhaki & Adar 1997), granivorous and omnivorous bird species (Bendell 1974, Woinarski 1990) were found on the burned sites. The burned area can also be used as a hunting site for scavengers and birds of prey, because prey is more abundant or more exposed. However, forest species are also often still observed in the burned areas. With forest fres, ground-dwelling bird populations are likely to be affected by fres of any severity, whereas canopy dwelling populations may be unaffected by understory fres (Smith 2000). However these responses of bird communities to fre depend on the subsequent management, as the snags provide nest and foraging sites (Finch et al. 1997). 4.3. Colonisation The colonisation of burned areas by birds is dependent upon both regional and local factors. On the local level, the nature of the pre-fre bird community (Wooller & Calver 1988, Pons & Prodon 1996), the post-fre habitat structure (Hobson & Schieck 1999) and the site tenacity of survivors (Pons et al. 2003a) are of importance as colonisation factors, while on the large scale the magnitude and proximity of population sources are important (Brotons et al. 2005). However, Brotons et al. (2005) suggest that local scale ecological processes may be more important than regional scale processes. Although, long distance colonisations are occasionally reported (Brotons et al. 2005), most colonisers are likely to come from neighbouring populations. Whenever abundance decreases, post-fre colonisation becomes less likely. Pons & Bas (2005) also reported biogeographical constraints on colonisation of new habitats created by fre. Isolation and accessibility are important for re-colonisation of an area. For example, when a fre affects previous heavily forested areas, birds of open habitats would have diffculty in colonising the sites unless areas with similar habitats were nearby (Brotons et al. 2005). Habitat heterogeneity is an important factor (Dunning et al. 1992) as it enhances colonisation by open habitat M. de Groot & D. Bordjan: Possibilities for fre as a management tool on Kras (SW Slovenia): a bird’s perspective Table 1: Comparison of effects of fre on birds in Mediterranean habitats. It should be noted that the fre variables of area extent, intensity, frequency and season frequently interact and should not be considered individually, but be taken together when determining the overall effects on bird populations. Tabela 1: Primerjava tabela u~inkov ognja na ptice v sredozemskih habitatih. Parametrov po`ara (obseg, jakost, pogostost in obdobje leta) ne smemo obravnavati lo~eno od ostalih ampak le njihov skupni (kombinirani) vpliv na populacije ptic. Short term trend/ Long term trend/ Kratkoro~ni trend Dolgoro~ni trend Site tenacity/ Vztrajanje na gnezdi{~u Reproduction/ Razmno`evanje Colonization/ Kolonizacija Forest and populations populations increase, shrubland birds/ decrease, but do species richness does Gozdne in not always become not decrease/ grmovne ptice extinct/ nara{~a, vrstna populacije upadajo, diverziteta ne upada vendar vedno ne izumrejo a low percentage survives in remnants of bushes and because of high food availability/ nizek procent pre`ivi v ostankih grmovja zaradi dobre dostopnosti hrane low reproduction due no information to less suitable habitat available and behavioural change/ nizka produktivnost zaradi manj primernega habitata, kar je povezano s spremembami v obna{anju Open habitat increase/ decrease, species no information no information mostly local birds/ nara{~a richness decreases/ available/ available/ colonization, Ptice odprtih upada, vrstna ni podatkov ni podatkov few examples habitatov diverziteta prav tako upada of regional colonization/ ve~inoma lokalna, nekaj primerov regionalne kolonizacije References Izhaki & Adar 1997, Wilson et al. 1995, Pons & Prodon 1996, Herrando & Brotons et al. Pons 1998, Artman et al. 2001, Pons et al. 2003a Brotons 2002 2005, Pons & Bas 2005 Pons 1999, Pons & Bas 2005 Herrando et al. 2002a Acrocephalus 28 (132): 3~IJ, 2OO7 continuation of Table 1 (right side) / nadaljevanje tabele 1 (desna stran) Fire area extent/ Obseg po`ara large burned areas affect forest and shrub bird diversity negatively / velika obmo~ja po`ara vplivajo negativno na diverziteto gozdnih in grmovnih ptic shrub birds are less negatively affected when small bushes remain in the larger burned area or when smaller areas of their habitat are burned/ ptice grmi{~ so manj prizadete, ~e na ve~jem pogori{~u ostane manj{e grmovje ali pa ~e so pogori{~a manj{a, sredi njihovega habitata the smaller the forest fragments remaining after a fire, the larger is the negative effect on forest birds/ gozdne ptice so bolj prizadete, ~e so fragmenti gozda po po`aru manj{i Fire intensity/ Jakost po`ara more intensive wildfires are more detrimental than prescribed burning/ intenzivni gozdni po`ari so bolj {kodljivi od na~rtovanih po`arov Fire frequency/ Pogostost po`ara fire frequency of once every 5 years can maintain the habitat of shrub birds/ pogostost po`arov enkrat na pet let lahko ohranja habitat grmovnih ptic fire frequency of once every 15-29 years is maximal for maintaining the habitat of Grey Partridge Perdix perdix/ pogostost po`arov enkrat v obdobju 15-29 let vzdr`uje habitat jerebice Perdix perdix Fire season/ Obdobje v letu fire during breeding season can be destructive/ ogenj med gnezdilno sezono je lahko destruktiven “Wet” seasons affect habitat (bushes) less and are better for shrubland birds like Grey Partridge/ po`ari med “mokrimi” sezonami so bolj{i za vrste grmi{~nih habitatov (jerebica) large, evenly burned areas favour open habitat birds/ velika enakomerno po`gana pogori{~a pozitivno vplivajo na ptice odprtih habitatov no information available/ ni podatkov fire frequency of not more than fire during breeding once every 20 years, necessary for season can be maintaining the habitat of open destructive/ habitat birds/ ogenj med gnezdilno pogostost po`arov enkrat na 20 sezono je lahko let za vzdr`evanje habitata ptic destruktiven odprtih habitatov fire frequency of prescribed burning once every 1 to 7 years, coupled with additional grazing, maintains the habitat of open habitat birds/ pogostost po`arov enkrat na 1-7 let nadzorovanih po`arov z dodatno pa{o za vzdr`evanje habitatov ptic odprtih habitatov Novoa et al. 1998, Moreiri et al. 2003, Herrando et al. 2003, Pons & Bas 2005 Pons et al. 2003a Moreiri et al. 2003, Herrando et al. 2002a, Pons et al. 2003b Smith 2000, Novoa et al. 1998 M. de Groot & D. Bordjan: Possibilities for fre as a management tool on Kras (SW Slovenia): a bird’s perspective species, as well as scrubland species which still fnd refuge in the scrubby and forested habitats from which they can colonise the area (Herrando et al. 2003). These fndings suggest that the landscape context is an important factor in colonisation of a site. Post-fre habitat quality and spatial extent are important in determining the suitability of the burned areas for colonisation (Pons & Bas 2005). However, re-colonisation in an Allepo Pine forest was found to be strongly tied to plant succession (Izhaki & Adar 1997). Burned areas are regarded as second-choice habitats for scrubland species and more asymmetrical juveniles were found in burned areas than in unburned ones, although the origin of these juveniles was not known. The size of the burned areas is also important (Herrando & Brotons 2001). Larger burned areas have a higher probability of being discovered and of containing a suitable habitat. Large areas tend to have higher habitat diversity and, as a result, more bird species are able to fnd available niches (Pons & Bas 2005). Birds re-colonised a burned Allepo Pine forest just 3 to 5 years after the fre (Izhaki & Adar 1997). The best colonisers of recently burned areas were generalists in terms of habitat structure (Pons & Bas 2005). 4.4. Emigration The dispersal of birds after large fres has not been well investigated. Pons (2002) reported an increase of Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala at a ringing station two weeks after a huge fre 20 km away. 4.5. Site tenacity Site tenacity here refers to local survival of the population. The plasticity of habitat use and nest selection by birds after an alteration of their habitat are mechanisms that allow site tenacity to occur (Winter & Best 1985, Brooker & Rowley 1991, Pons & Prodon 1996, Pons 2001, Pons et al. 2003a). Birds have been shown to exhibit these behaviours in several studies (reviewed in Smith 2000, Pons and Prodon 1996, Herrando et al. 2003). Site tenacity has been demonstrated especially for warblers with colour ringed birds (Pons et al. 2003a). Furthermore it was observed that birds can demonstrate a larger variation of nest site selection (Winter & Best 1985, Brooker & Rowley 1991). Winter and Best (1985) found that, as a result of reduced cover after a fre, Sage Sparrows Amphispiza belli bred not only in bushes but also began breeding on the ground. However this has not yet been reported from a European ecosystem. Among some feeding guilds, such as foliage dwelling birds, site tenacity is impossible where foliage is almost completely burned (Pons 2001). However for birds from other feeding guilds site tenacity is probably the reason why, immediately after a fre, there is no dramatic decrease in abundance of these birds, and post-fre effects are therefore probably delayed (Pons et al. 2003a). 4.6. Local reproduction After a fre, it is found that some breeding populations decline dramatically. It is suggested that the cause is a decrease in the recruitment rate and an increase in the proportion of non-breeders. The Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata is usually unable to breed in the frst year after a severe fre (Prodon & Lebreton 1983, Prodon et al. 1987, López & Guitian 1988, Sgardelis & Margalis 1992, Herrando et al. 2002a). Pons et al (2003a) saw that two adults of this species which previously had territories, but were no longer territorially active. A similar case is described for the Red Grouse Lagopus l. scoticus (Watson 1985). On the other hand, Smith (2000) reported that nesting success in a post-fre habitat depends on the pre-fre quality. In another habitat type, the Rocky Mountains, most nesting birds used broken-topped snags which were already present before the fre (Hutto 1995, Smith 2000). 5. Habitat and fre One of the most obvious effects of fres is habitat modifcation, which affects birds through changes in food supply, or changes in abundance of competitors and predators (Rotenberry et al. 1995). These effects may be especially important because many birds respond strongly to habitat features (MacArthur & MacArthur 1961, Koplin 1969, Lovejoy 1974, Tomoff 1974, Willson 1974, Power 1975, James & Warner 1982, Rotenberry 1985). Fires reduce or destroy the organic soil layer (Urban~i~ 2002) that contains the bulk of the soil fauna (Mr{i~ 1997) and seeds. Although large, intense burns greatly alter bird habitat in the short-term, they may be necessary for long-term maintenance of natural forest succession patterns of some forest types (Hejl et al. 1995, Hutto Acrocephalus 28 (132): 3~IJ, 2OO7 1995). Plant species diversity on Kras is higher after fres (Bati~ 2001). Some insect- and plant-eating bird populations depend on such alterations in food and cover (Smith 2000). Prodon et al. (1987) showed that the recovery of bird populations in Mediterranean successions depended on how vegetation regenerated. Many species of deciduous trees and some shrub species in the sub-Mediterranean region show great ability to re-sprout from roots in the same season after a large fre (Bati~ 2001). Many oak species re-sprout after a fre and may recover quickly, even if top-kill occurs (Caprio & Zwolinski 1992, Barton 1995). Some oak species may need more sunlight than they would get in the shade of closed-canopy forests. Therefore, although fre may reduce the number of large oaks in the short-term, in the long-term, fre-created openings can be benefcial in maintaining oak as a landscape component (but see Barton 1995). The herbaceous and shrub layer are one of the important components in the vegetation for birds in Maritime Pine Pinus pinaster stands (Moreira et al. 2003). After prescribed fre a modal growth occurred with maximum development of the herbaceous vegetation after ca. 3 years, and shrub development increased linearly with time after the fre. Five years after the fre, understory vegetation structure was similar to that in control plots (Moreira et al. 2003). Besides food and cover changes, life history characteristics also infuence the response of particular bird species to fre. Cavity-nesting birds, timber-drilling birds, granivores, and some fycatchers generally respond positively to burns in the short term because of increased nesting substrates, such as snags for cavities and foraging and nesting resources (Blackford 1955, Stoddard 1963, Koplin 1969, Bock & Lynch 1970, Kilgore 1971, Granholm 1982, Raphael et al. 1987, Hejl et al. 1995, Hutto 1995, Finch et al. 1997, Blondel & Aronson 1999, Jur~ 2001). Habitat suitability for woodpeckers declines over time as snags fall and food resources decrease (Koplin 1969, Bock et al. 1978, Raphael et al. 1987, Finch et al. 1997). Fire is a key mechanism of creating and maintaining habitat heterogeneity in Mediterranean landscapes, by turning continuous woody landscapes into mosaics of forest and shrubland (Herrando & Brotons 2002). Mediterranean landscapes periodically and frequently exposed to fres are characterized by a turnover of habitat types from grasslands to forests (Blondel & Aronson 1999) which replace each other in space and time like a “moving mosaic” (Moreira et al. 2001). Although fres reduce the cover of available habitat for Mediterranean forest bird species, they simultaneously create new landscapes where the remaining forest patches are suitable habitats for these species. However, the size of the forest patches is positively correlated with the species richness of the canopy birds, with the result that the patch size is important for promoting forest bird communities in Mediterranean landscapes (Herrando & Brotons 2002). 6. Food and fre Although it is known that bird populations respond to changes in food availability (e.g. arthropods and seeds) caused by fre (Smith 2000, Moreira et al. 2003), not many studies deal with the direct relationship between the trend of bird populations and food availability in a post fre habitat (Herrando et al. 2005). Fire causes a disastrous change in the composition of insect species and species richness (Moreira et al. 2003). Foliage insects, the main food source of insectivores in forested and bushy areas, decrease dramatically after wildfres (Swengel 2001, Herrando et al. 2005), although, in the unburned patches of bushes in the burned sites, foliage insect numbers were higher than in the adjacent unburned sites (Herrando et al. 2005). The loss of foliage insects was replaced by an increase in fying insects (Pons 1998, Herrando et al. 2005). Also for hunters of ground-dwelling insect species, like shrikes, there will probably be a decline, since important food sources, like carabid beetles and other ground dwelling insects, are drastically reduced (Swengel 2001, Cook & Holt 2005), although the population will never be reduced to zero (Swengel 2001). Colonisation of insects like carabid beetles occurred rapidly from underground and from long distances (Cook & Holt 2005). However the resilience of arthropods is likely to differ between different habitats. Although arthropod availability appears to be important for bird populations, Herrando et al. (2005) found that it was still high enough to sustain the pre-fre number of birds and that the reason for the decrease in bird populations in the frst few years after a fre was therefore due to something other than decrease in food availability. In several habitat types, seed accessibility increased after the fre (Dean 1987, Woinarski 1990) and, in consequence, there is often an infux of seed eaters. Some tree species adapt to this situation; directly after a fre Aleppo Pine releases dark grey-brown seeds, M. de Groot & D. Bordjan: Possibilities for fre as a management tool on Kras (SW Slovenia): a bird’s perspective whereas late-disperse seeds are a yellowish colour (Saracino et al. 1997). The greyish seeds were found to be less predated by birds on ash grey background, produced by fre, than on pre-fre yellowish background (Saracino et al. 2004). Therefore it can be argued that if the birds are favoured by the increase in seed availability if some seeds are less visible due to an equal coloured background. 7. Effects of different fre variables 7.1. Area size The size of a fre is highly important in infuencing bird populations (Finch et al. 1997, Pons et al. 2003a). In the literature we found examples of small-scale fres (up to 18 ha) (Moreira et al. 2003, Pons & Bas 2005) and large-scale fres (more than 300 ha) (Herrando et al. 2003). With small-scale fres the species abundance and species richness did not change dramatically (Moreira et al. 2003). In a mosaic landscape in the Pyrenees, the small size of the burned areas (patches of 0.9–16.5 ha) allowed habitat heterogeneity and high beta diversity, including both open habitat and forest species (Pons et al. 2003b). For a ground dwelling bird, such as the Grey Partridge Perdix perdix, there should be cover in the surroundings and the area size should therefore not be large. Novoa et al. (1998) recommend a burned area of less than 5 ha, separated by patches of 10-15 ha. On the other hand, large replacement fres exhibit a dramatic change in species composition from forest or scrubland species to those of open habitat (Pons & Bas 2005). As noted above, the larger burned areas may be more easily discovered and therefore more easily colonised (Brotons et al. 2005). However, bird diversity depends strongly on habitat heterogeneity within burned areas (Herrando 2001, Herrando et al. 2003, Pons et al. 2003b), which is a consequence of the spatial pattern of fre intensity. 7.2. Intensity Only one study takes the effect of intensity of fre into account by comparing wet and dry fres, i.e. fres with high and low intensity (Novoa et al. 1998). Most wildfres have a greater intensity than prescribed burning, so we compare the differences between wildfres and prescribed burning as rather than intensity differences. Novoa et al. (1998) found that Grey Partridges were more affected by the burning of brood habitat by dry fres than by wet fres. The habitat for nesting hens and nestlings contains a large cover of two vegetation layers providing protection against predators (0.05-0.25 m and 0.25-0.50 m), these suitable habitat recovers after more then eight years while the 3 week old broods, need less cover of shrubs and their habitat can therefore already recover after fve or six years. The local survival of some bird species tended to be more affected by wildfre than by prescribed burning (Pons et al. 2003a). Other studies had found that prescribed burning has a relatively low impact on bird communities (Bock & Bock 1983, Petersen & Best 1987, Pons 1998) – but see Robertson & Jarvis (2000). The replacement of shrubland by grassland does not always mean an increase in erosion (Garcia-Ruiz et al. 1996). Prescribed burning can be used to eliminate the aerial shrub layer without burning the grass, thus preventing erosion in mountain areas (Pons et al. 2003b). On the other hand, stand replacement fres, which are often more intense, result in the pre-fre species being replaced by new species (Hutto 1995). In contrast, cool understory burns in forests have little effect on the canopy species composition (Horton & Mannan 1988). 7.3. Frequency Only fve studies considered the frequency of fres when studying at their effect on birds (Novoa et al. 1998, Herrando & Brotons 2002, Herrando et al. 2003, Moreira et al. 2003, Pons et al. 2003b). At the landscape level, Herrando et al. (2003) suggest that the wildfre frequency should be approximately once 20 years. This is favourable for open habitat birds when there is a nearby population from where the burned area can be colonised. The consequences of a fre in a Mediterranean landscape that affected mainly understory vegetation height and cover – an important feature for birds – were studied at the local level (Moreira et al. 2003). After fve years the vegetation cover and bird abundance had recovered. For particular species the recovery time may be longer, for instance for the Grey Partridge the frequency of fres should not exceed one every 15-29 years (Novoa et al. 1998). In Railleu, France, the preferred management for open habitats is a moderate burning of the shrubland 'C Acrocephalus 28 (132): 3~IJ, 2OO7 followed by cattle grazing, repeated at intervals of 1 to 7 years. This proved to be sustainable for the plant community (Rigolot et al. 2002) and benefcial for bird conservation (Pons et al. 2003b). 7.4. Time of the year A spring fre during the breeding period is the most destructive for birds (Ward 1968, Erwin & Stasiak 1979, Smith 2000). Ground-nesting birds are especially vulnerable to spring fres (Smith 2000). Bird nest site selection, territory establishment and nesting, among others, can be affected by the season of fre (Smith 2000). Birds can also be affected indirectly by the season of the fre. In areas with contrasting wet and dry seasons, as in Australia, the season of the fre can dramatically alter the bird community (Valentine et al. 2007). The season infuences the intensity of the fre and therefore the post-fre habitat. On Kras, precipitation increases slightly in the second part of the year, but still reaches less than 200 mm a month (ARSO 2007). In this situation of very low precipitation throughout the year it would nevertheless be interesting if the seasons affected the post burned habitats differently. 8. Concluding remarks and discussion Local populations can be affected severely by fre and may suffer from increased mortality and decreased reproduction and recruitment. Bird community succession is the result of an assembly of responses of species to a variety of environmental factors that go further than simple changes in the local habitat (Herrando & Brotons 2002, Herrando et al. 2003, Herrando et al. 2005). Bird populations often decline after scrubland fres, but decline may be offset by populations that rebound if the fre spread is patchy, leaving some areas unburned, and if species usually associated with grassland communities invade the burn (Smith 2000). The consequences of wildfres are not necessarily detrimental and can even enhance the bird diversity. Increases in the number of open area species and of species abundance have been reported. In southern Europe, burned areas appear to be very important for decreasing and vulnerable bird species (Prodon 1987, Pons & Bas 2005). Geister (1999) also found an increase in a few species that are declining in Europe in recently burned areas of Kras. Furthermore, fres usually help to maintain the open Mediterranean landscape. Wildfres often exhibit completely different behaviour from that of prescribed fres. The latter are often less intense and have therefore less deleterious impact than wildfres. This has to be taken into consideration when comparing the value of the two. Furthermore most of the research reviewed here was carried out on a Mediterranean landscape, which has a long fre history. Kras has a sub-Mediterranean landscape that is sensitive to fre, although this disturbance does not occur regularly. Bird responses to fre are known to have biogeographical constraints. Most of the impacts have been assessed by examining the situation found after a fre. Simple aspects of fre type, area or intensity are still poorly understood (but see Novoa 1999), although we have tried to assess them in this review. Within a wildfre these elements always interact and it therefore becomes diffcult to draw frm conclusions. In addition, checks on the various aspects, pre-fre assessments and control measurements are often lacking. There is a need for a proper experimental design to address this problem. In this review the underlying assumption has been made that the regenerated post-fre habitat is similar to the pre-fre habitat. Nowadays some plant species invade ecosystems and alter them by out competing native species. Burned areas can be perfect areas for invasion, due to a lack of natural enemies or biotic resistance. For example a North American tree, the False Acacia Robinia pseudoacacia is colonising certain areas in Slovenia and starting to dominate burned areas. It is therefore important to predict the responses of bird populations to such a habitat alteration. Another gap in research relates to population dynamics and, in particular, the diffcult study of emigration after a fre. Where do the birds go? Do they come back or is the population lost forever? The need for proper management to recreate open areas and, by this, to increase the biodiversity of Kras, makes it important to take every possible management tool into account. Although fghting fre with fre is literally a hot topic, this review suggests that the consequences for birds are mainly not detrimental. However it should to be emphasized that only birds have been taken into account. This suggests that more research should be carried out on invertebrate taxa, as these are often under-represented in the literature, and by this to come to a better insight into the consequences of fre for the ecosystem. M. de Groot & D. Bordjan: Possibilities for fre as a management tool on Kras (SW Slovenia): a bird’s perspective Acknowledgement: We are grateful to Drs P. Pons, I. Izhaki, L. Brotons and J. Retana, who provided us with additional information, and to two anonymous referees for their helpful comments. Furthermore we thank P. Tout for comments and for reviewing the English in this manuscript. 9. Povzetek Pregledni ~lanek obravnava odziv ptic na po`are v naravi v submediteranskih obmo~jih in njihovo morebitno uporabo kot orodje za upravljanje naravnih obmo~ij na Krasu (JZ Slovenija). Kras je bil pogozden s ~rnim borom Pinus nigra, na ostalih delih pa se intenzivno zara{~a, zaradi ~esar je ranljiv za po`are. Ta polo`aj je zna~ilen tudi za ostale submediteranske regije, kar drasti~no vpliva na diverziteto ptic. Smrtnost ptic med po`ari je nizka. Prvih nekaj let se diverziteta vrst in {tevi~nost zmanj{ujeta, sestava vrst pa se hitro spreminja, od ptic odprte krajine h grmovnim vrstam. Ptice kolonizirajo pogori{~a le, ~e je v bli`ini primerna izvorna populacija. Ve~ja pogori{~a so kolonizirana hitreje kot manj{a. Veliko vrst se odseli, nekaj vrst pa novim razmeram prilagodi velikost teritorija ter gnezditveno in prehranjevalno obna{anje. Populacijska dinamika se spremeni v odvisnosti od velikosti spremembe habitata in dostopnosti hrane. Sestava vrst ptic se spreminja so~asno s sukcesijo vegetacije. ^lanek obravnava u~inke razli~nih parametrov po`ara: velikosti pogori{~a, intenzitete, pogostosti in sezone. V splo{nem ugotavlja slabo raziskanost odseljevanja ptic z obmo~ja po`ara. Vplivi po`arov niso vedno negativni in je pomembno raziskovati njihovo uporabo kot orodje upravljanja. 10. References ARSO (2007): Climatic changes over the last 30 years – [www.arso.gov.si/vreme/napovedi%20in%20podatki/ podneb_30_tabele.html] Artman, V.L., Sutherland, E.K. & Downhower, J.F. (2001): Prescribed burning to restore mixed-oak communities in southern Ohio: effects on breeding-bird populations. – Conserv Biol 15: 1423-1434. Barton, A.M. (1995): Fire adaptations in pines and oaks: Tree population responses to fre suppression in Arizona’s Madrean forests. - Symposium on fre in wilderness and park management, Res. Stn. Ogden, UT., USDA Forest Service. Bati~, F. (2001): Vpliv po`arov na vrstno sestavo vegetacije na primerih s Krasa in Istre v jugozahodni Sloveniji. -Zbornik gozdarstva in lesarstva 66: 25-38. Bendell, J.F. (1974): Effects of fre on birds and mammals. T.T. Kozlowski and C.E. Ahlgren Fire and ecosystems. Academic Press, New York. Blackford, J.L. (1955): Woodpecker concentration in burned forest. - Condor 57: 28-30. Blondel, J. & Aronson, J. (1999). Biology and Wildlife of the Mediterranean region. - Oxford University press. Oxford, UK. Bock, C.E. & Bock, J.H. (1983): Responses of birds and deer mice to prescribed burning in Ponderosa pine. - J Wildl Manage 47: 836-840. Bock, C.E. & Lynch, J.F. (1970): Breeding bird populations of burned and unburned conifer forest in the Sierra Nevada. - Condor 72: 182-189. Bock, C.E., Raphael, M.G. & Bock, J.H. (1978): Changing avian community structure during early post-fre succession in the Sierra Nevada. - Wilson Bulletin 90: 119-123. Boerwinkel, F.S., De Groot, M., Mies, G.W., Poutsma, J. & Tuyl, M.H. M.V. (2004): From smoking swamps to hot heather: fre as nature management tool. - AMC report, Wageningen University: 57. Brooker, M.G. & Rowley, I. (1991): Impact of wildfre on the nesting-behavior of birds in heathland. - Wildlife Research 18: 249-263. Brotons, L., Pons, P. & Herrando, S. (2005): Colonization of dynamic Mediterranean landscapes: where do birds come from after fre? - J Biogeography 32: 789-798. Caprio, A.C. & Zwolinski, M.J. (1992): Fire effects on two oak species, Quercus emoyi and Q. oblongifalia, in southeastern Arizona. - Ecology and management of oak and associated woodlands: perspectives in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. P. F. Ffolliott, G.J. Gotttried, D.A. Bennett et al. Fort Collins, CO, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. Cook, W.M. & Holt, R.D. (2005): Fire frequency and mosaic burning effects on a tallgrass prairie ground beetle assemblage. - Biodivers Conserv 15 (7): 2301-2323. Dean, W.R.J. (1987): Birds associating with fre at Nylsvley Nature Reserve, Transvaal. - Ostrich 58: 103-106. Dunning, J.B., Brent, J.D. & H.R., P. (1992): Ecological processes that affect populations in complex landscapes. - Oikos 65: 169-175. Erwin, W.J. & Stasiak, R.H. (1979): Vertebrate mortality during the burning of reestablished prairie in Nebraska. - Am Midl Nat 101(1): 247-249. Finch, D.M., Ganey, J.L., Yong, W., Kimball, R.T. & Sallabanks, R. (1997): Effects and Interactions of Fire, Logging, and Grazing. pp. 152. - W. M. Block and D. M. Finch Songbird ecology in southwestern ponderosa pine forests: a literature review., Department of Agriculture, Forest service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Colorado. García, J.A. (1997): Caracterización y uso del hábitat por la avifauna en los bosques quemados de la provincia de León, Universidad de León. Garcia-Ruiz, J.M., Lasanta, T., Ruiz-Flano, P. , Ortigosa, L. & White, S. (1996): Land-use changes and sustainable development in mountain areas: a case study in the Spanish Pyrenees. - Landsc Ecol 11: 267-277. Acrocephalus 28 (132): 3~IJ, 2OO7 Geister, I. (1999): Gnezdilke popogori{~nega habitata na Petrinjskem Krasu. - Annales, series Historia et Sociologia 17 (2): 299-302. Global Fire Initiative (2004): Fire, Ecosystems and People, a preliminary assessment of fre as a global conservation issue. - The Nature Concervancy. Talahasee, FL. Goldammer, J.G. & Page, H. (2000): Fire History of Central Europe: Implications for Prescribed Burning in Landscape Management and Nature Conservation. - Baltic Exercise for Fire Information and Resources Exchange. Granholm, S.L. (1982): Effects of surface fres on birds and their habitat associations in coniferous forests of the Sierra Nevada, California. Davis, University of California. Hejl, S.J., Hutto, R.L., Preston, C.R. & Finch, D.M. (1995): Effects of silvicultural treatments in the Rocky Mountains. pp. 489. T.E. Martin and D.M. Finch Ecology and management of Neotropical migratory birds. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Herrando, S. & Brotons, L. (2001): Fluctuating asymmetry in Sardinian Warblers Sylvia melanocephala inhabiting two shrublands affected by fre. - Bird study 48: 180-187. Herrando, S. & Brotons, L. (2002): Forest bird diversity in Mediterranean areas affected by wildfres: a multi-scale approach. - Ecography 25: 161-172. Herrando, S., Brotons, L., Del Amo, R. & Llacuna, S. (2002a): Bird community succession after fre in a dry Mediterranean shrubland. - Ardea 90: 303-310. Herrando, S., Brotons, L. & Llacuna, S. (2002b): Does fre increase the seasonal variability of bird communities? A case in Mediterranean shrublands. - Revue d’écologie 57 (2): 151-163. Herrando, S., Brotons, L. & Llacuna, S. (2003): Does fre increase the spatial heterogeneity of bird communities in Mediterranean landscapes? - Ibis 145: 307-317. Herrando, S., Brotons, L. & Llacuna, S. (2005): Post-fre in Mediterranean shrubland: are bird communities structured by arthropod availability? - Revista Catalan d’Ornitologia 21: 17-28. Hobson, K.A. & Schieck, J. (1999): Changes in bird communities in boreal mixedwood forest: harvest and wildfre effects over 30 years. - Ecol Appl 9: 849-863. Horton, S.P. & Mannan, R.W. (1988): Effects of prescribed fre on snags and cavity-nesting birds in southeastern Arizona pine forests. - Wildl Soc Bull 16 (1): 37-44. Hutto, R.L. (1995): Composition of bird communities following stand-replacement fres in northern Rocky Mountain conifer forests. - Conserv Biol 9 (5): 1041-1058. Izhaki, I. & Adar, M. (1997): The effects of post-fre management on bird communities succession. - Int J Wildland Fire 7 (4): 335-342. James, F.C. & Warner, N.D. (1982): Relationships between temperate forest bird communities and vegetation structure. - Ecology 63: 159-171. Jur~, M. (2001): Vpliv po`arov na entomofavno - predvsem subkortikalno, v monokulturahcrnega bora (Pinus nigra Arn.) na slovenskem krasu. - Zbornik gozdarstva in lesarstva 66: 39-64. Kilgore, B.M. (1971): Response of breeding bird populations to habitat changes in a giant sequoia forest. - Am Midl Nat 85: 135-152. Koplin, J.R. (1969): The numerical response of woodpeckers to insect prey in a subalpine forest in Colorado. - Condor 71: 436-438. Kranjc, A. (1997): Slovene classical karst. -Znanstvenoraziskovalni center SAZU, Zalosba ZRC & Institut za raziskovanje krasa ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana. Kruse, A.D. & Piehl, J.L. (1986): The impact of prescribed burning on ground-nesting birds. - The prairie: past, present and future: Proceedings, 9th North American prairie conference, Moorhead, MN. Fargo, ND: Tri-College University Center for Environmental Studies. Lehman, R.N. & Allendorf, J.W. (1989): The effects of fre, fre exclusion and fre management on raptor habitats in the western United States. In: Proceedings of the western raptor management symposium and workshop; 1987 October 26-28; Boise, ID. Scientifc and Technical Series No. 12. Washington, DC: National Wildlife Federation: 236-244. López, B. & Guitian, J. (1988): Evolución de las comunidades de aves después del incendio en pinares de la Galicia Occidental. - Ardeola 35: 97-107. Lovejoy, T.E. (1974): Bird diversity and abundance in Amazon forest communities. - Living Bird 13: 127-191. MacArthur, R.H. & MacArthur, J.W. (1961): On bird species diversity. - Ecology 42: 594-598. Moreira, F., Delgado, A., Ferreira, S., Borralho, R., Oliveira, N., Inácio, M., Silva, J.S. & Rego, F. (2003): Effects of prescribed fre on vegetation structure and breeding birds in young Pinus pinaster stands of northern Portugal. - Forest Ecology and Management 184: 225-237. Moreira, F., Ferreira, P.G., Rego, F.C. & Bunting, S. (2001): Landscape changes and breeding assemblages in northwestern Portugal: the role of fre. - Landsc Ecol 16: 175-187. Mr{i~, N. (1997): @ivali na{ih tal Uvod v pedozoologijo - sistematika in ekologija s splo{nim pregledom talnih `ivali. - Avtor in TZS. Ljubljana. Nature conservancy (2007): Global Fire Initiative -Integrated Fire Management - http://www.nature.org/ initiatives/fre/strategies/art18357.html. Novoa, C., Dumas, S. & Prodon, R. (1998): Changes in reproductive habitat of gray partridge after burning. - J Range Manage 51: 607-613. Patton, D.R. & Gordon, J. (1995): Fire, habitats, and wildlife, USDA Forest Service, Coconino Natl. For. Flagstaff, AZ.: 85. Petersen, K.L. & Best, L.B. (1987): Effects of prescribed burning on nongame birds in a sagebrush community. -Wildl Soc Bull 15: 317-329. Pons, P. (1998): Bird site tenacity after prescribed burning in a Mediterranean shrubland. L. Trabaud Fire Management and Landscape Ecology. International Association of Wildland Fire, Fairfeld, Washington. M. de Groot & D. Bordjan: Possibilities for fre as a management tool on Kras (SW Slovenia): a bird’s perspective Pons, P. (1999): Brulage dirigé et incendie sauvage: ont-t-ils l’un et l’autre le me^me impact sur l’avifaune? - Foret Méditerranéene 20: 103-113. Pons, P. (2001): The wintering of migrant Dunnocks Prunella modularis in two habitats after fre. - Bird study 48: 68-75. Pons, P. (2002): The population responses of birds to fre in Mediterranean ecosystems. Fire, landscape and biodiversity: an appraisal of the effects and effectiveness (ed. by G. Pardini & J. Pinto´ ), pp. 57-68. Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat de Girona, Girona. Pons, P. & Bas, J.M. (2005): Open-habitat birds in recently burned areas: the role of the fre extent and species’ habitat breadth. - Ardeola 52 (1): 119-131. Pons, P. , Henry, P.Y., Gargallo, G., Prodon, R. & Lebreton, J.D. (2003a): Local survival after fre in Mediterranean shrublands: combining capture-recapture data over several bird species. - Popul Ecol 45: 187-196. Pons, P. , Lambert, B., Rigolot, E. & Prodon, R. (2003b): The effects of grassland management using fre on habitat occupancy and conservation of birds in a mosaic landscape. - Biodivers Conserv 12: 1843-1860. Pons, P. & Prodon, R. (1996): Short term temporal patterns in a Mediterranean shrubland bird community after wildfre. - Acta Oecol 17 (1): 29-41. Power, H.W. (1975): Similarity among avifaunas of the Galapagos Islands. - Ecology 56: 616-626. Prodon, R. (1987): Incendies et protection des oiseaux en France méditerranéenne. - L’Oiseau et la Revue Française d’Ornithologie 57: 1-12. Prodon, R. (1988): Dynamique des systemes avifaune-végétation apres déprise rurale et incendies dans les Pyrénées méditerranéennes siliceuses, Université Paris: 333. Prodon, R., Fons, R. & Athias-Binche, F. (1987): The impact of fre on animal communities in Mediterranean area. pp. 121-157. L. Trabaud The role of fre on ecological systems. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague. Prodon, R. & Lebreton, J.D. (1983): Prediction of bird census from vegetation structure. Application to the study of a post-fre succession. - Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Bird Census Work, University Leon, Leon. Raphael, M.G., Morrison, M.L. & Yoder-Williams, M.P. (1987a): Breeding bird population twenty-fve years of postfre succession in the Sierra Nevada. - Condor 89 (3): 614-626. Rigolot, E., Lambert, B., Pons, P. & Prodon, R. (2002): Management of a mountain rangeland combining periodic burnings with grazing: impact on vegetation. pp. 325-337. T. L. and P. R. Fire and Biological Processes. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, The Netherlands. Robbins, L.E. & Myers, R.L. (1992): Seasonal effects of prescribed burning in Florida: a review. Misc. Pub. No. 8. Tallahassee, FL, Tall Timbers Research: 96. Robertson, A. & Jarvis, A.M. (2000): Oxpeckers in northeastern Namibia: recent population trends and possible negative impacts of drought and fre. - Biol Cons 92: 241-247. Rotenberry, J.T. (1985): The role of habitat in avian community composition: physiognomy or foristics? -Oecologia 67: 213-217. Rotenberry, J.T., Cooper, R.J., Wunderle, J.M. & Smith, K.G. (1995): When and how are populations limited? The roles of insect outbreaks, fres, and other natural perturbations. pp. 489. T.E. Martin and D.M. Finch Ecology and management of Neotropical migratory birds, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Saracino, A., D’Alessandro, C.M. & Borghetti, M. (2004): Seed colour and post-fre bird predation in a Mediterranean pine forest. - Acta Oecol 26: 191-196. Saracino, A., Pacella, R., Leone, V. & Borghetti, M. (1997): Seed dispersal and changing seed characteristics in a Pinus halepensis Mill. forest after fre. - Plant Ecol 130: 13-19. Sgardelis, S.P. & Margalis, N.S. (1992): Effects of fre on birds and rodents of a phryganic (east Mediterranean area) ecosystem. - Isr J Zool 38: 1-8. Smith, J.K. (2000): Wildland fre in ecosystems: effects of fre on fauna. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42. Ogden, UT: U.S., Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 83. Stoddard, H.L. (1963): Bird habitat and fre. In: Proceedings, 2nd annual Tall Timbers fre ecology conference; 1963 March 14-15; Tallahassee, FL. Tallahassee, FL: Tall Timbers Research Station: 163-175. Swengel, A.B. (2001): A literature review of insect responses to fre, compared to other conservation managements of open habitat. - Biodivers Conserv 10: 1141-1169. [ipec, S. & Babic, D. (2001): Naravne in druge nesre~e v Republiki Sloveniji v letu 2000. Ljubljana, Uprava Republike Slovenije za za{~ito in re{evanje Ministrstva za obrambo. [ipec, S. & Babic, D. (2002): Naravne in druge nesre~e v Republiki Sloveniji v letu 2001. Ljubljana, Uprava Republike Slovenije za za{~ito in re{evanje Ministrstva za obrambo. [ipec, S. & Babic, D. (2003): Naravne in druge nesre~e v Republiki Sloveniji v letu 2002. Ljubljana, Uprava Republike Slovenije za za{~ito in re{evanje Ministrstva za obrambo. [ipec, S. & Babic, D. (2004): Naravne in druge nesre~e v Republiki Sloveniji v letu 2003. Ljubljana, Uprava Republike Slovenije za za{~ito in re{evanje Ministrstva za obrambo. [ipec, S. & Krupenko, G. (2005): Naravne in druge nesre~e v Republiki Sloveniji v letu 2004. Ljubljana, Uprava Republike Slovenije za za{~ito in re{evanje Ministrstva za obrambo. [ipec, S., [parovec, F. , Babic, D., Damjan, J. & [egatin, J. (2000): Naravne in druge nesre~e v Republiki Sloveniji v letu 1999. Ljubljana, Uprava Republike Slovenije za za{~ito in re{evanje Ministrstva za obrambo. Tomoff, C.S. (1974): Avian species diversity in desert scrub. - Ecology 55: 396-403. Urban~i~, M. (2002): Vpliv po`arov na tla v crnoborovih in puhavcevih gozdovih Slovenskega primorja. - Zbornik gozdarstva in lesarstva 69: 9 - 40. Acrocephalus 28 (132): 3~IJ, 2OO7 Valentine, L.E., Schwarzkopf, L., Johnson, C.N. & Grice, A.C. (2007): Burning season infuences the response of bird assemblages to fre in tropical savannas. - Biol Cons 137: 90-101. Ward, P. (1968): Fire in relation to waterfowl habitat of the delta marshes. - Proceedings, 8th annual Tall Timbers fre ecology conference, Tallahassee, FL., Tall Timbers Research Station. Watson, A. (1985): Social class, socially-induced loss, recruitment and breeding of red grouse. - Oecologia 67: 493-498. Willson, M.F. (1974): Avian community organization and habitat structure. - Ecology 55: 1017-1029. Wilson, C.W., Masters, R.E. & Bukenhofer, G.A. (1995): Breeding bird response to pine-grassland community restoration for redcockaded woodpeckers. - J Wildl Manage 59: 56-67. Winter, B.M. & Best, L.B. (1985): Effect of prescribed burning on placement of sage sparrow nests. - Condor 87: 294-295. Woinarski, J.C.Z. (1990): Effects of fre on the bird communities of tropical woodlands and open forests in northern Australia. - Aust J Ecol 15: 1-22. Wooller, R.D. & Calver, M.C. (1988): Changes in an assemblage of small birds in the understorey of dry sclerophyll forest in south-western Australia after fre. - Aust Wildl Res 15: 331-338. Arrived / Prispelo: 1.11.2006 Accepted / Sprejeto: 26.10.2007 Acrocephalus 28 (132): 17-21, 2007 Population development of the White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in Bulgaria in the period from 1977 to 2005 Razvoj populacije belorepca Haliaeetus albicilla v Bolgariji v obdobju od 1977 do 2005 Bojidar Ivanov Institute of Zoology BAS, 1 Tzar Osvoboditel Str., BG-1000 Sofa, Bulgaria, e-mail: bai_bobo@yahoo.com By the end of the 1970s only one breeding pair of White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla was left in Bulgaria. New data on the species, collected in the succeeding decades for the whole country, are presented in this paper. The material was sampled mainly from the mid-winter counts on the Danube between 1977 and 2005, and from observations in the country, at times including the breeding season. A defnite increase of the number was found. It is more pronounced along the Danube. At least 9 pairs were recently breeding along the Danube and a further 3 pairs along the Black Sea coast. The positive change started in the late 1980s. The reasons are the strict protection of the species and the recovery of the White Poplar Populus alba forests on many places on the islands along the Danube river. The White-tailed Eagle has also been observed recently in many places inland in the country. Special attention should be given to further protection of the White Poplar forests on the Danube islands. Key words: White-tailed Eagle, Haliaeetus albicilla, population, Bulgaria Klju~ne besede: belorepec, Haliaeetus albicilla, populacija, Bolgarija 1. Introduction The White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla is closely associated with water habitats rich in fsh or supporting large waterfowl populations. Persecution and environmental changes in the 19th and 20th centuries have reduced its population and the species disappeared from many parts of its range. Protection permitted population growth, but the chemical pollution from the 1950s to the 1970s reversed this tendency. More recently, an increase in the number of breeding pairs has been established for the countries of Northern and Central Europe. In Southern Europe the White-tailed Eagle remains rare (Hagemeijer & Blair 1997, BirdLife International 2004). In Bulgaria, it was still a relatively common breeding bird along the Danube and the Black Sea coast till 1950 (Jordans 1940, Pateff 1950), but a negative trend had already been observed (Harrison 1933). The next 20 years were the most critical for the species. By the end of the 1970s only one breeding pair was left (Ivanov 1985). Simeonov et al. (1990) did not add any new information to this picture. The aim of this study is to present the data on the species collected in the period from 1977 to 2005 for the whole country, and to clarify the species’ status. 2. Material and methods Mid-winter counts have been available in Bulgaria since 1977. They present a good opportunity for monitoring the population of this large eagle. Pairs are sedentary in their breeding territory, and only young birds usually wander from their natal areas, occasionally very far (Cramp & Simmons 1980). During the winter the White-tailed Eagle feeds mainly on waterfowl and stays close to their large concentrations. It perches on trees or rests on the sand banks in the Danube, and is easily visible. The material presented here was collected mainly during the mid-winter counts on the B. Ivanov: Population development of the White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in Bulgaria in the period from 1977 to 2005 Danube in the period 1977-2005. Between 1977 and 1985 a point scheme for the river was used and each place was visited by car. Very often bad meteorological conditions (fog, snow cover) did not allow the team to reach the bank and provide successful observations. Later (1984, 1990, 1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2005) we used the regular trips of the ship of the Agency for Navigation, maintaining and investigating the Danube in the Somovit-Silistra stretch. Each trip started from Russe, so we had the possibility to monitor the river from Russe to Somovit and Russe to Silistra twice in 2-3 days in good meteorological conditions. Part of the data was collected during visits to the country, at times including the breeding season. With the generous permission of BSPB we used the BSPB data base for some of the localities. 3. Results Figure 1 shows regular sightings of White-tailed Eagle in Bulgaria on the UTM grid. The most westerly situated locality of the White-tailed Eagle in the past was the island of Goliam Kalafat by Vidin (UTM FP57). Subsequent deforestation of the island made further nesting impossible (Djuninski 1980). In January 1977, 2 immatures were resting in this region, near a large concentration of Mallards Anas platyrhynchos. Two years later, near the town of Vidin, we saw an adult bird and in the following year a pair was present. Later observations confrmed the restoration of the breeding pair in the region of Vidin. An adult bird was observed near the island of Gorni Zibar (UTM GP05) in 1979 and again in 1980. We assume that, on that very large island, a pair is also breeding, but we do not have more reliable information. The region of the village of Zagrajden (UTM LJ04) is known as a wintering place for White-fronted Geese Anser albifrons whose numerous focks overnight on the sand bank of the river. On 15 Jan 1978 4 young eagles were observed and during the counts in 1983 and 1997 only 1 adult per year was recorded. The latter birds could be part of the pair of the nearest nest on the Romanian island of Kalnovaz (UTM LJ14). On this island an old bird was still seen in January 1991 but both partners were registered for the frst time resting together on 23 Jan 1996 at the mouth of the river Olt. Belene (UTM LJ53) is the largest Bulgarian island in the Danube. A reserve has been established here since 1981. This is the oldest and permanent breeding locality of the White-tailed Eagle in Bulgaria. Most often the pair used the nest on the neighbouring small island of Milka. Besides the two old birds in January 1984, 3 immatures also overwintered here. Immatures were recorded in 1998 and 1999 also. Shurulinkov et al. (2005) presumed that 2-3 breeding pairs were in the region. In January 2005, two pairs and two immatures were found in the region of Belene island. In the following breeding season, nesting was confrmed for both pairs (Todorov pers. comm.). The island of Vardim (UTM LJ73) is situated east of Svistov and is known to be an old breeding place of the White-tailed Eagle. There are no exact data in the literature as to when it nested for the last time. We found a new pair here in 1984. During the next midwinter counts, the birds were regularly present and, in 1990, one young bird after the frst moult was also present in this territory. In January 2005 the pair was followed by one immature after the third moult. The nest was not found. These birds often visit the nearest fshponds in the village of Hadjidimitrovo and clearly they penetrate further inland, reaching the Gorni Dabnik dam near the town of Pleven (Shurulinkov et al. 2005). Till 1961 one pair bred on Batin island (UTM LJ93; Geissler 1962). A couple of eagles were here again in 1984. On different places between this island and the town of Russe, adult and young birds were seen regularly during the following years. It is possible that around 1999 two pairs still had their territories, but only in 2005 was it possible to determine defnitely that on this part of the river there were three pairs. One of them has its nest on the island of Batin and the other two were assumed to nest on Romanian territory. The river bank here is less populated and not urbanized. In the past another pair bred, possibly near Rjahovo (west of Russe; UTM MJ37), where it was last observed in September 1964 (Baumgart 1971). We found a pair there again in 1998. In 1990 it was followed by a young bird. In 1999 the nest was built on a poplar on Marten island (UTM MJ26). Further west, between the town of Tutrakan and the village of Popina, there are several large islands suitable for the eagle. Some of them have still not been changed by man. The island of Kosui (UTM MJ77), which belongs to this group, is a protected area. Since 1990 old birds have been regularly observed here. They often visited and fshed in the farm west of the town of Tutrakan. Obviously a pair has its territory here. On 19 Jan 2005, together with 2 immatures, it was observed on a sand bank by the village of Popina (UTM MJ98). The islands of Vetren (Bialata prast) and Devnja (UTM NJ08) are known as a traditional breeding place of the White-tailed Eagle. They are close to the Srebarna reserve, famous for its rich bird fauna. Acrocephalus 28 (132): 17-21, 2OO7 Figure 1: The UTM squares in Bulgaria where the White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla was observed regularly in the period 1977-2005 Slika 1: UTM kvadrati v Bolgariji, kjer je bil belorepec Haliaeetus albicilla redno opa`en v obdobju 1977-2005 The pair bred here till 1967 (Michev 1968). It was observed here again in 1972, but there was no evidence for breeding (Königstedt & Robel 1977). In January 1985 an immature bird was seen near Silistra and, from 1990 onwards, also during the breeding season, a pair was regularly present. Possibly it occupied the territory again in the late 1980s. The island of Vetren is in Romanian territory and it is not possible to search there for the nest, but the birds regularly rest there and hunt in the Srebarna reserve, which is a good indication of breeding. In 2005 we found at least 3 pairs between Ruse and Silistra. Currently, at least 12 pairs breed along the Bulgarian-Romanian stretch of the Danube, 9 of which have their nests on Bulgarian territory. A defnite increase in the number of White-tailed Eagles along the Danube thus took place during the period of investigation. In the past the Black Sea coast was the second most important breeding area for the White-tailed Eagle. Its numbers diminished here more quickly than along the Danube. In 1957 a pair was observed at Djavolska river (UTM NG67; Balat 1962) and in 1960 another at Mandra Lake (UTM NG39) by Burgas (Mountfort & Fergusson-Lees 1961) - both without evidence of breeding. The eagle bred at the Ropotamo reserve (UTM NG58) till 1965 (Baumgart 1971), which was the last pair along the coast. By the early 1960s it was still very common during the winter in the region of Burgas (Prostov 1964), but later on, associated mainly with the large concentrations of waterfowl. Single birds were rarely observed during migration or in the winter (Dontchev 1980, Kostadinova & Dereliev 2001, Michev et al. 2004). In May 1992 we again observed a pair in the Ropotamo reserve and we were assured by the forestry ranger that it bred in the forest. This probably also occurred earlier. Since the early 1990s the species has recovered as a breeding bird in Mandra Lake also (Michev et al. 2004). More recently (since 1997) breeding was established in the Kamchia reserve (UTM NH66) (Georgiev pers. comm.). At the moment there are 3 pairs of White-tailed Eagles on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The last documented breeding inland was in 1942 in the region of Jambol (UTM MH50; Arabadjiev 1962). During the midwinter counts, single and most often immature birds, were rarely reported at the dams, B. Ivanov: Population development of the White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in Bulgaria in the period from 1977 to 2005 with large concentrations of ducks (Kostadinova & Dereliev 2001, Michev & Profirov 2003, Shurulinkov et al 2005). After the breeding season and in the winter, birds from the Danube penetrate inland and can be seen on the nearest lakes, fshponds and dams more than 100 km away (Shurulinkov et al. 2005, own data). During the last winters birds, possibly from the Danube Delta, visit Durankulak and Shabla Lakes more regularly. A general tendency to increased presence during the winter on the inland pools has been recorded. In January 2005 a pair was observed close to the Greek border at Ivailovgrad dam (UTM MG01; Iankov pers. comm). The pair was observed here many times during the breeding season and there were indications of breeding, but the nest was not found. 4. Discussion Information on the White-tailed Eagle for Bulgaria is scanty and does not permit the history of the population decline to be detailed. Clearly the time between the 1950s and 1960s was the most critical for the species. Mainly in this period, most of the large wetlands along the Danube were drained. The islands were deforested and planted with poplars, which destroyed the typical breeding habitats of the eagle. Additional negative effects were the winter hunting of waterfowl and the practice of using poisoned carcasses for reducing the number of large carnivores (Baumgart 1971). This latter also affected the wintering migrants and the dispersing young birds originating outside the region. The forest policy of island deforestation eliminated the big White Poplar Populus alba trees, used by the birds as nesting places. This was practised also on some Romanian islands (Djuninski 1980). As a result, during the breeding season of 1965, only 4 birds were present on the Bulgarian stretch of the river (Michev 1968) and in 1979 only one breeding pair existed on the island Belene. During this study we found a defnite increase in the number of White-tailed Eagle in Bulgaria. This was more pronounced along the Danube. At least 9 pairs were recently breeding along the Danube and 3 pairs along the Black Sea coast. This number is slightly higher than that given by Kostadinova (1997) and close to the assessment of Nankinov (2004). The restoration of the population probably started at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. The reason appears to be the strict protection of the species. Another factor is the recovery of the White Poplar population on many places on the islands. Most of the nests we found were built on relatively young trees. The 2C several big fsh farms existing till 1990 along the river offered an additional good food supply for the birds. The White-tailed Eagle has been observed recently in many places (predominantly reservoirs) inland in the country. There is still no proved breeding, but the case of the Ivailovgrad dam gives some hope. Future conservation measures and actions should involve protection of the existing nests and special attention should be given to saving the White Poplar trees on the Danube islands. Acknowledgment: We are very grateful to the BSPB, Dr Petar Iankov and Irina Kostadinova for giving us the possibility to use the materials concerning the White-tailed Eagle from the winter counts and for valuable comments and remarks. 5. Povzetek Do konca sedemdesetih let dvajsetega stoletja je v Bolgariji gnezdil le {e en par belorepca Haliaeetus albicilla. Novi podatki iz zadnjih desetletij, zbrani predvsem med zimskim {tetjem vodnih ptic na reki Donavi v obdobju 1977-2005, so predstavljeni v tej {tudiji. Prav tako so upo{tevani tudi vsi ostali zbrani podatki. Populacija belorepca v Bolgariji je v tem obdobju nara{~ala, kar je predvsem izra`eno Donavi. V zadnjem ~asu vzdol` reke Donave gnezdi 9 parov belorepcev, vzdol` ~rnomorske obale pa trije. Populacija je za~ela nara{~ati konec 80-tih let prej{njega stoletja. Razlogi so najverjetneje stroga za{~ita vrste ter dejstvo, da si je opomogel gozd belega topola Populus alba na otokih vzdol` Donave. Nekaj podatkov pa je tudi o opazovanjih belorepca iz notranjosti de`ele. V prihodnosti bo potrebno dati {e ve~ poudarka za{~iti gozdov belega topola. 6. References Arabadjiev, I. (1962): Birds of prey in Bulgaria. - Nauka i izkustvo, Sofa. Balat, F. (1962): Contribution to the knowledge of the avifauna of Bulgaria. - Prace 34 (10): 445-491. Baumgart, W. (1971): Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Greifvogel Bulgariens. - Beitr. Vogelkd. 17 (1): 33-70. BirdLife International (2004): Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. (BirdLife Conservation Series No 12). Cramp, S. & Simmons, K., (eds.) (1980): The birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol.2, Oxford, London, New York, Oxf. Univ. Press. Djuninski, E. (1980): On the status of some rare birds in the district of Vidin. - Orn. Inf. Bull. 7/8: 64-69 (In Bulgarian). Acrocephalus 28 (132): 17-21, 2OO7 Dontchev, S. (1980): Bird migrations along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. - Ecology 7: 68-83. Geissler, K. (1962): Ornithologische Beobachtungen im Naturschutzgebiet von Srebarna (Bulgarien). - Falke, 9 (10): 327-331. Hagemeijer, W. & Blair, M., (eds.) (1997): The ABCC atlas of European breeding birds: their distribution and abundance. - T&A D Poyser, London. Harrison, J. (1933): A contribution to the ornithology of Bulgaria. - Ibis 13 (3): 494-521, 589-611. Ivanov, B. (1985): White-tailed Eagle. In: Red data book of Bulgaria, Vol. 2, Animals, BAS, Sofa. Jordans, A. (1940): Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Vogelwelt Bulgariens. - Mitt. aus d. Kgl. naturw. Inst. Sofa 13: 49-152. Königstedt, D. & Robel, D. (1977): Ornithologische Reiseeindrücke aus Süd- und Ostbulgarien. - Falke 24 (4): 124-131; (5): 168-171. Kostadinova, I. (ed.) (1997): Important bird areas in Bulgaria. - Bulgarian society for the protection of birds, Conservation series - Book 1, Sofa. Kostadinova, I. & Dereliev, S., (eds.) (2001): Results from the mid-winter counts of waterbirds in Bulgaria for the period 1997-2001. - Bulgarian society for the protection of birds, Conservation series - Book 3, Sofa. Michev, T. (1968): Neue Angaben über die Ornithofauna des Naturschutzgebiets Srebarna in der Süddobrudja. - Bull. De l’Institut et Musee de zoologie 27: 13-21 (Zusammenfassung). Michev, T. & Profirov, L. (2003): Mid-winter numbers of waterbirds in Bulgaria (1997-2001). - Pensoft, Sofa, Moskow. Michev, T., Profirov, L., Dimitrov, M. & Nyagolov, K. (2004): The birds of Atanasovsko Lake. Status and Checklist. - Bourgas Wetlands Publication Series, Nr. 1. Mountfort, G. & Ferguson-Lees, J. (1961): Observations of the birds of Bulgaria. - Ibis 103a: 443-471. Nankinov, D. (2004): Breeding totals of the ornithofauna in Bulgaria, 2004. - Green Balkans, Plovdiv. Pateff, P. (1950): The birds of Bulgaria. - BAS, Sofa. Prostov, A. (1964): Untersuchungen der Ornithofauna im Gebiet von Burgas. - Bull. de l’Institut et Musee de zoologie 15: 5-68 (Zusammenfassung). Shurulinkov, P. , Tsonev, R., Nikolov, B., Stoyanov, G. & Asenov, L. (2005): Birds of the Middle Danube plane. - Green Balkans, Plovdiv. Simeonov, S., Michev, T. & Nankinov, D. (1990): Fauna of Bulgaria, Vol. 20, Aves, Part 1, BAS, Sofa. Arrived / Prispelo: 4.7.2006 Accepted / Sprejeto: 26.10.2007 Acrocephalus 28 (132): 23-31, 2007 Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji Results of the International Waterbird Census (IWC) in January 2007 in Slovenia Luka Bo`i~ DOPPS–BirdLife Slovenija, Kamen{kova ulica 18, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenija, e-mail: luka.bozic@dopps-drustvo.si Januarsko {tetje vodnih ptic je bilo leta 1997 prvi~ zastavljeno kot celosten, koordiniran in standardiziran popis vodnih ptic na ozemlju celotne Slovenije ([tumberger 1997). Od takrat naprej {tetje pokriva vse ve~je reke, celotno Obalo in ve~ino pomembnej{ih stoje~ih voda v dr`avi ([tumberger 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 & 2005, Bo`i~ 2005 & 2006). K temu sta pripomogla predvsem dobra organizacija in veliko {tevilo sodelujo~ih prostovoljnih popisovalcev. V ~lanku so predstavljeni rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007. Januarsko {tetje vodnih ptic je leta 2007 potekalo 13. in 14. januarja. Organizacija, potek in uporabljena metoda {tetja so bili tak{ni kot leta 1997 ([tumberger 1997). Za organizacijo popisovalcev na sedmih {tevnih obmo~jih so bili zadol`eni lokalni koordinatorji. Pri obdelavi in predstavitvi rezultatov smo upo{tevali tudi nekatere podatke, zbrane zunaj organiziranega {tetja, vendar najve~ deset dni pred ali po koncu tedna, predvidenega za {tetje. Kormorane Phalacrocorax carbo, z izjemo {tevnih obmo~ij Notranjske in Primorske ter Obale in reke Kolpe, smo pre{teli na skupinskih preno~i{~ih. Moko`e Rallus aquaticus smo na ptujskih studen~nicah, Ljubljanici, potoku ^rnec, in {e nekaterih manj{ih lokalitetah {teli s pomo~jo predvajanja posnetka ogla{anja. Metoda je podrobneje opisana v Bo`i~ (2002). Zimsko obdobje 2006 / 2007 je v klimatskem pogledu zbujalo pozornost po nadpovpre~no toplem vremenu. Temperature v decembru in januarju so bile povsod po dr`avi pomembno vi{je od dolgoletnega povpre~ja. Januar 2007 je bil v ve~jem delu Slovenije celo najtoplej{i, odkar merijo temperaturo. Temperature so bile decembra ve~inoma 2-5°C nad dolgoletnim povpre~jem, januarja pa 4-7°C nad dolgoletnim povpre~jem. Padavin je bilo v SZ Sloveniji decembra veliko, drugod pa je bil to eden najbolj suhih decembrov doslej, {e posebej v SV Sloveniji. Januarja je bila nadpovpre~na vi{ina padavin zabele`ena na Ko~evskem in Beli krajini, suho pa je bilo na Obali, Gori{kem in skrajni SV Sloveniji. Srednji mese~ni pretoki rek so bili decembra v povpre~ju za 30% manj{i kot navadno, nekoliko bolj vodnate so bile reke v zahodni Sloveniji. Januarja so bili srednji mese~ni pretoki rek v povpre~ju za 18% manj{i kot navadno. Polovico manj vode kot navadno so imeli zgornji del Save, Sora in Dravinja, pretoki Kolpe, Mure, Vipave in Idrijce pa so bili nekoliko ve~ji od januarskega povpre~ja. Dne 13. in 14.1.2007 je bilo nad zahodno in srednjo Evropo obmo~je visokega zra~nega pritiska. Na Primorskem in Notranjskem je prevladovalo obla~no vreme, drugod pa je bilo delno Tabela 1: Število pregledanih popisnih odsekov in njihova skupna dolžina na posameznem {tevnem obmo~ju v januarskem {tetju vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji Table 1: Number of surveyed sections and their total length in separate survey areas in January waterfowl counts in 2007 in Slovenia Števno obmo~je / Count area Skupaj / Total Skupno {tevilo popisnih odsekov/ Total number of sections Dolžina/ Length (km) 426 1622.1 Št. pregledanih odsekov / Sections surveyed Dolžina / Length (km) Mura 59 212.3 57 196.8 Drava 126 362.1 120 339.4 Savinja 27 104.6 26 79.4 Sava (zgornja / upper) 90 270.8 79 222.6 Sava (spodnja / lower) 80 379.9 58 248.5 Notranjska & Primorska 32 251.5 27 200.0 Obala / Coast 12 40.9 12 40.9 379 1327.6 L. Bo`i~: Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji Slika 1: Popisni odseki januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji; ~rne ~rte ozna~ujejo pregledane, bele nepregledane odseke Figure 1: Survey sections of the January waterfowl counts in 2007 in Slovenia, with black lines indicating surveyed and white lines unsurveyed sections jasno z ob~asno pove~ano obla~nostjo. Ponekod je pihal jugozahodni veter. Bilo je zelo toplo, najvi{je dnevne temperature so bile od 10 do 17°C (ARSO 2006 & 2007). V ~asu {tetja so bile vse reke nezaledenele. Nezaledenela je bila tudi velika ve~ina drugih lokalitet, vklju~no z vsemi pomembnej{imi stoje~imi vodami. Redke manj{e stoje~e vode so bile zaledenele najve~ do 1/2. Leta 2007 je v januarskem {tetju vodnih ptic sodelovalo 253 prostovoljnih popisovalcev. Pregledali smo 379 popisnih odsekov na rekah v skupni dol`ini 1327.6 km (tabela 1). Poleg tega smo obiskali tudi 184 drugih lokalitet (134 stoje~ih voda in 50 potokov). S tem je bila dose`ena najve~ja pokritost vodnih teles v doslej opravljenih januarskih {tetjih vodnih ptic na ozemlju Slovenije. Leta 2007 smo {tetje prvi~ organizirali na rekah Sori ter Me`i in Mislinji. Popisne odseke, pregledane v {tetju leta 2007, prikazuje slika 1, pregledane druge lokalitete pa slika 2. Skupaj smo pre{teli 60,744 vodnih ptic, ki so pripadale 58 vrstam. To je najvi{je {tevilo vodnih ptic, dotlej pre{tetih v Sloveniji. Tako kot vsa leta poprej smo najve~je {tevilo vodnih ptic pre{teli na {tevnem obmo~ju reke Drave, in sicer 25,597. To je 42.1% vseh vodnih ptic, pre{tetih v Sloveniji. Mlakarica Anas platyrhynchos je bila v {tetju leta 2007, tako kot ob vseh prej{njih {tetjih, dale~ naj{tevilnej{a vrsta (50.0% vseh vodnih ptic). Po {tevilu pre{tetih osebkov sledijo rumenonogi galeb Larus michahellis (11.4% vseh vodnih ptic), liska Fulica atra (7.5% vseh vodnih ptic), re~ni galeb Larus ridibundus (6.7% vseh vodnih ptic) in kormoran (4.6% vseh vodnih ptic). [tevilo 1000 pre{tetih osebkov so presegli {e kreheljc Anas crecca, mali ponirek Tachybaptus rufcollis in siva ~aplja Ardea cinerea. Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007 po uveljavljeni shemi razdelitve na sedem {tevnih obmo~ij, ki jim je dodano novo obmo~je Kolpa ([tumberger 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 & 2005), so predstavljeni v tabeli 2 (priloga). [tevna Acrocephalus 28 (132): 23-31, 2OO7 Slika 2: Druge lokalitete (stoje~e vode – beli krogi; potoki – temni krogi), pregledane v januarskem {tetju vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji Figure 2: Other localities (stagnant waters – white circles; streams – dark circles) surveyed during the January waterfowl counts in 2007 in Slovenia obmo~ja so podrobneje razdeljena na posamezne reke in obmo~ja z ve~jim {tevilom drugih lokalitet, kot so poplavne ravnice, doline, ravnine ipd. Leta 2007 smo pre{teli najve~je {tevilo vranjekov Phalacrocorax aristotelis, velikih belih ~apelj Egretta alba, sivih ~apelj Ardea cinerea, belih {torkelj Ciconia ciconia, mo{katnih ble{~avk Cairina moschata, konopnic Anas strepera, mlakaric, rac `li~aric Anas clypeata (skupaj z letom 1999), tatarskih `vi`gavk Netta rufna, ~rnoglavih galebov Larus melanocephalus, rumenonogih galebov in povodnih kosov Cinclus cinclus v okviru januarskih {tetij vodnih ptic doslej. Pri nekaterih vrstah so najve~ja {tevila prejkone posledica na~rtnega {tetja na preno~i{~u (vranjek), deponijah na Obali in Primorskem (rumenonogi galeb) oziroma alpskih rekah (povodni kos). Veliko je bilo tudi malih ponirkov, ki smo jih ve~ pre{teli samo leta 2002. Najni`je {tevilo v desetih letih januarskih {tetij smo zabele`ili pri mali beli ~aplji Egretta garzetta, malem `agarju Mergellus albellus, pribi Vanellus vanellus in malem martincu Actitis hypoleucos. [tevilo pre{tetih lisk je bilo najni`je po letu 1997, ~opastih ~rnic Aythya fuligula najni`je po 1999, kormoranov, labodov grbcev Cygnus olor in velikih `agarjev Mergus merganser pa najni`je po letu 2001. Ob razmeroma majhnem {tevilu kormoranov je treba dodati, da je bilo precej v zadnjih letih tradicionalno zasedenih preno~i{~ praznih ali pa so imela majhno {tevilo kormoranov. Leta 2007 smo kar na treh {tevnih obmo~jih pre{teli najve~ vodnih ptic v dosedanjih januarskih {tetjih, in sicer na {tevnem obmo~ju Drave, Zgornje Save in Obale. Na {tevila in raz{irjenost nekaterih vrst je vplivala nenavadno mila zima. Tako je bila ve~ kot polovica {tevilne zimske populacije velikih belih ~apelj pre{teta na travnikih in njivah, ki so ob visokih temperaturah in brez sne`ne odeje zagotavljali ugodne razmere za prehranjevanje. Veliko vodnih ptic je bilo pre{tetih na razli~nih stoje~ih vodah. Ve~ina med njimi je v ~asu januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic navadno v celoti zaledenela, tokrat pa je precej stoje~ih vod imelo na L. Bo`i~: Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji nacionalnem nivoju pomembna {tevila vodnih ptic, predvsem mlakaric. To velja zlasti za nekatere ve~je stoje~e vode v SV Sloveniji, kot so na primer Gaj{evsko jezero, zadr`evalnika Medvedci in Po`eg ter @ovne{ko jezero. Verjetno prav zaradi tega je bilo na strugah rek ponekod v SV Sloveniji malo vodnih ptic. Zahvala: Vsem popisovalcem, ki so {teli vodne ptice, gre zasluga, da smo ponovno sistemati~no in hkrati popisali vse pomembnej{e vodne povr{ine v Sloveniji. Brez nesebi~nega truda to ne bi bilo mogo~e. Lokalni koordinatorji so po`rtvovalno organizirali mre`o popisovalcev na {tevnih obmo~jih. Vsem najlep{a hvala. Leta 2007 so v januarskem {tetju vodnih ptic sodelovali: Branko Bakan, Danica Barovi~, Ernest Bedi~, Antonija Bogdan, J. Brandner, Gregor Domanjko, Milan Feren~ak, Vinci Feren~ak, Franc Ferk, Borut Ficko, Valentin Gregor, Darko Ip{a, Gorazd Klemen~i~, Igor Kolenko, Franc Kosi, Valika Ku{tor, Anton Lejko, Kristjan Mala~i~, Cvetka Marhold, Janez Maro{a, Marjan Mauko, Valentina Novak, I. Purr, S. Ringert, Milan Rus, G. Salzer, W. Stani, Vojko Stolnik, Velimir Turk, Branko Vajndorfer, Marjan Vaupoti~, M. Weißensteiner, M. Wirtitsch, S. Wolf, @eljko [alamun, Bernard Zanjkovi~, L. Zechner (Mura), Smiljan Ba~ani, Tilen Basle, Dominik Bombek, Luka Bo`i~, Katja Bo`i~ko, Franc Bra~ko, Boris ^eba{ek, Niko ^elofga, Angela Fras, Stanko Jamnikar, Ana Jan`ekovi~, Franc Jan`ekovi~, Matja` Ker~ek, Ven~eslav Kmetec, Boris Ko~evar, Jure Ko~evar, Aleksander Koren, Albin Kunst, Katja Logar, Marjan Logar, Tina Lon~ar, Klemen Mlinari~, Marija Peganc, Iris Petrovi~, Alen Ploj, Matja` Premzl, Darja Remsko, Andreja Slamer{ek, Darja Slana, Jakob Smole, Igor Stra`i{nik, Borut [tumberger, Ale{ Toma`i~, Tadej Trstenjak, Marjan Trup, Martina Trup, Vesna Trup, Vladka Tucovi~, Rok Tu{, Andrej Valenti, Miroslav Vamberger, Iztok Vre{, Davorin Vrhovnik, David Vujinovi~, Bojan Weitzer, Gregor @nidar (Drava), Milan Cerar, Ivan ^ede, Matej Gamser, Vasiljka Gamser, Miha Kronov{ek, Bo{tjan Pokorny, Tamara Podhra{ki, Zdravko Podhra{ki, Primo` Sedminek, Janez Senega~nik, Janko Skok, Marija Sodja Kladnik, Meta Zaluber{ek (Savinja), Katarina Ale{, Henrik Cigli~, Maarten de Groot, Petra Dem{ar, Damijan Denac, Katarina Denac, Mitja Denac, Blanka Dolinar, Petra Dra{kovi~, Andreja Dremelj, Katica Drndeli~, Dare Fekonja, Nata{a Gorjanc, Janez Gra{i~, Jurij Han`el, Vojko Havli~ek, Maja Ho~evar, Anja Hren, Alenka Iva~i~, Vesna Ja}imovi}, Toma` Jan~ar, An`e Kacin, Barbara Kaiser, Tone Karer, Andrej Kelbi~, Ale{ Klemen~i~, Ur{a Koce, Jure Ko~an, Ivan Kogov{ek, Ivica Kogov{ek, Jo`e J. Kozamernik, Boris Kozinc, An`e Kristan, Radko Legat, Katja Lenar~i~, Janez Lotri~, Mathieu Lu-Dac, Marjana Mandeljc, Toma` Miheli~, Dany Morisset, Anja Mo{kerc, Ana Novak Velkavrh, Sava Osole, Jo`ef Osredkar, Dan Podjed, Julija Prepeluh, @iga I. Remec, Toma` Rem`gar, Rok Rozman, Borut Rubini}, Mirko Silan, Sergij Stepan~i~, Jo{t Stergar{ek, Nata{a [alaja, Sara [emrov, Metka [tok, Tanja [umrada, Janko Tav~ar, Rudolf Tekav~i~, Miroslav Trampu{, Tone Trebar, Zlata Vah~i~, Barbara Vidmar, Jani Vidmar, Nu{a Virnik, Eva Vukeli~, Miha @nidar{i~ (Zg. Sava), Jadranka Ajkovi~, Janez Bo`i~, Majda Bra~ika, Alenka Brada~, Franc Bre~ko, Matja` Cizel, Vito Cizel, Angela ^uk, Zdravko ^uk, Ivan Esenko, Tea Ferlan, Jolanda Gobec, Marjan Gobec, Andrej Hudoklin, David Kap{, Marinka Kastelic, Du{an Klenov{ek, Luka Krajnc, Marjan Kumelj, Joaquin Lopez Lopez, Valentina Mavri~ Klenov{ek, Tina Mirt, Petra Mohar, Rudi Omahen, Hrvoje Or{ani~, Blanka Perpar, Martina Peterlin, Zdravko Podhra{ki, Terezija Poto~ar, Katarina Po`un Brinovec, Peter Po`un, Robert Ro`aj, Tone Strni{a, Pavel [et, Branimir Vodopivec, Milena Vraneti~, Robert Zorko, Sa{o @inko (Sp. Sava), Alenka Brada~, Maja Cipot, Petra Dem{ar, Laura Javor{ek, Andrej Kelbi~, Ur{a Koce, Toma` Miheli~, Primo` Pahor, Barbara Zak{ek (Kolpa), Andrej Berce, Jo`e Berce, Toma` Berce, Darjo Bon, Marjeta Cvetko, Igor Dakskobler, Vid Dakskobler, Ana Drole, Milan Fakin, Andrej Figelj, Jernej Figelj, Martin Gerli~, Marko Gregori~, Peter Gro{elj, Toma` Hain, Leon Kebe, Ivan Kljun, Primo` Kmecl, Irena Kodele Kra{na, Borut Kokalj, Peter Kre~i~, Borut Kumar, Bogdan Lipov{ek, Sonja Maru{i~, Jurij Mikuleti~, Marko Nabergoj, Horymir Ondra~ka, Maja Ondra~ka, Nevenka Pfajfar, Gregor Podgornik, Slavko Polak, Miran Pregelj, Alja` Rijavec, Erik [inigoj, Viljana [i{kovi~, Drago Teli~, Gregor Torkar, Polonca Voglar (Notranjska & Primorska), Enrico Benussi, Igor Brajnik, Bojana Lipej, Dario Marke`i~, Andrej Medved, Borut Mozeti~, Tadeja Oven, Stanka Primc, Bia Rakar, ribi{ka dru`ina Koper, Borut Rubini}, Matej Somrak, Willi Stani, Peter Trontelj, Al Vrezec, Petra Vrh Vrezec (Obala). Lokalni koordinatorji leta 2007 so bili: @eljko [alamun (Mura), Matja` Ker~ek (Drava), Luka Bo`i~ (Savinja), Katarina Denac, Vojko Havli~ek, Toma` Miheli~ (Zg. Sava), Andrej Hudoklin, Du{an Klenov{ek, Hrvoje Or{ani~ (Sp. Sava), Toma` Miheli~, Borut Rubini} (Kolpa), Andrej Figelj, Borut Rubini} (Notranjska & Primorska), Borut Rubini} (Obala). Summary In Slovenia, the 2007 International Waterbird Census (IWC) was carried out on 13 and 14 Jan. Waterbirds were counted on all main rivers and most important stagnant waters in the country. There were 253 volunteer participants. During the census, 379 sections with total length of 1,327.6 km and 184 other localities (134 stagnant waters and 50 streams) were checked. Altogether, 60,744 waterbirds of 58 species were counted. The largest number of waterbirds were Acrocephalus 28 (132): 23-31, 2OO7 counted on the Drava, i.e. 25,597 individuals (42.1% of all waterbirds in Slovenia). The most numerous species was the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos (50.0% of all waterbirds), followed by the Yellow-legged Gull Larus michahellis (11.4%), Coot Fulica atra (7.5%), Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus (6.7%) and Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (4.6%). Three additional species exceeded 1,000 individuals: Teal Anas crecca, Little Grebe Tachybaptus rufcollis and Grey Heron Ardea cinerea. Literatura ARSO (2006): Mese~ni bilten 13 (12): 3-29, 71-74. ARSO (2007): Mese~ni bilten 14 (1): 3-30, 53-56. Bo`i~, L. (2002): Zimsko {tetje moko`ev Rallus aquaticus v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 23 (110/111): 27-33. Bo`i~, L. (2005): Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2004 in 2005 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 26 (126): 123-137. Bo`i~, L. (2006): Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2006 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 27 (130/131): 160-167. [tumberger, B. (1997): Rezultati {tetja vodnih ptic v januarju 1997 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 18 (80/81): 29-39. [tumberger, B. (1998): Rezultati {tetja vodnih ptic v januarju 1998 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 19 (87/88): 36-48. [tumberger, B. (1999): Rezultati {tetja vodnih ptic v januarju 1999 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 20 (92): 6-22. [tumberger, B. (2000): Rezultati {tetja vodnih ptic v januarju 2000 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 21 (102/103): 271-274. [tumberger, B. (2001): Rezultati {tetja vodnih ptic v januarju 2001 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 22 (108): 171-174. [tumberger, B. (2002): Rezultati {tetja vodnih ptic v januarju 2002 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 23 (110/111): 43-47. [tumberger, B. (2005): Rezultati {tetja vodnih ptic v januarju 2003 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 26 (125): 99-103. Arrived / Prispelo: 11.3.2007 Accepted / Sprejeto: 26.10.2007 L. Bo`i~: Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji Acrocephalus 28 (132): 23-31, 2OO7 APPENDIX / DODATEK Tabela 2: Število pre{tetih vodnih ptic v januarskem {tetju leta 2007 v Sloveniji (DA – Drava Alpe: meja z Avstrijo pri Libeli~ah – Selnica ob Dravi, MM – Meža in Mislinja, D – Drava: Selnica ob Dravi – meja s Hrva{ko pri Sredi{~u ob Dravi, DV – Dravinja, P – Pesnica, DPP – Dravsko in Ptujsko polje: ribniki, gramoznice, kanali, potoki in polja na Dravskem in Ptujskem polju ter bližnji okolici, M – Mura, Š~ – Š~avnica, LD – Ledava, MR – Mura razno: jezera, ribniki, gramoznice, mrtvice in potoki v Pomurju ter bližnji okolici, S – Savinja, ŠAL – Šale{ka jezera: Škalsko, Velenjsko in Šo{tanjsko jezero, SR – Savinja razno: jezera, ribniki, manj{e reke in potoki na Savinjski ravni ter bližnji okolici, ZGS – zgornja Sava: Sava Bohinjka, Sava Dolinka, Sava do Gornje Save (Kranj), SOR – Sel{ka Sora, Poljanska Sora in Sora, SRS – srednja Sava: Gornja Sava (Kranj) – Breg pri Litiji, LB – Ljubljanica, SAR – Savska ravan: jezera, gramoznice, manj{e reke in potoki na Savski ravni, LBA – Ljubljansko barje: jezera, ribniki, kanali in potoki na Ljubljanskem barju, SSO – Sava soteska: Breg pri Litiji – Zidani Most, SS – spodnja Sava: Zidani Most – meja s Hrva{ko, MI – Mirna, K – Krka, ST – Sotla, SSR – spodnja Sava razno: jezera, ribniki, gramoznice in potoki na Kr{ki ravni ter bližnji okolici, KO – Kolpa, KOR – Kolpa razno: jezera, manj{e reke in potoki na Ko~evskem in Beli krajini, SO – So~a, I – Idrijca, VI – Vipava, VID – Vipavska dolina: jezera, glinokopi in potoki v Vipavski dolini, NOT – Notranjska: notranjska kra{ka polja in ponikalnice, Cerkni{ko jezero, RE – Reka, O – Obala: slovensko obalno morje, OS – Obala soline: Se~oveljske in Strunjanske soline, OZ – Obala zatok: Škocjanski zatok, OR – Obala razno: reke in stoje~e vode v Koprskih brdih). Število kormoranov Phalacrcorax carbo, ki so bili pre{teti na preno~i{~ih, je ozna~eno s krepkim tiskom. Table 2: Results of the International Waterbird Census (IWC) in January 2007 in Slovenia (DA – Drava Alpe: from border with Austria at Libeli~e to Selnica ob Dravi, MM – Meža and Mislinja, D – Drava: from Selnica ob Dravi to border with Croatia at Sredi{~e ob Dravi, DV – Dravinja, P – Pesnica, DPP – Dravsko polje and Ptujsko polje: fsh ponds, gravel pits, channels, streams and felds on Dravsko and Ptujsko polje and neighbourhoods, M – Mura, Š~ – Š~avnica, LD – Ledava, MR – Mura other: lakes, fsh ponds, gravel pits, backwaters and streams in Pomurje and neighbourhoods, S – Savinja, ŠAL – Škalsko, Plevelovo, Velenjsko and Družmirsko Lake, SR – Savinja other: lakes, fsh ponds, small rivers, and streams on Savinja plain and neighbourhoods, ZGS – Upper Sava: Sava Bohinjka, Sava Dolinka, Sava to Kranj, SOR – Sel{ka Sora, Poljanska Sora and Sora, SRS – Middle Sava: from Kranj to Breg pri Litiji, LB – Ljubljanica, SAR – lakes, gravel pits, small rivers and streams on Sava plain, LBA – lakes, fsh ponds, channels and streams on Ljubljansko, SSO – Sava gorge: from Breg pri Litiji to Zidani Most, SS – Lower Sava: from Zidani Most to border with Croatia, MI – Mirna, K – Krka, ST – Sotla, SSR – Lower Sava other: lakes, fsh ponds, gravel pits and streams on Kr{ko plain and neighbourhoods, KO – Kolpa, KOR – Kolpa other: lakes, small rivers and streams in Ko~evsko region and Bela krajina, SO – So~a, I – Idrijca, VI – Vipava, VID – Vipavska dolina: lakes, clay pits and streams in Vipava valley, NOT – Notranjska: Notranjska: karst felds of S Slovenia (eg. Cerkni{ko polje), RE – Reka, O – Slovene coastal sea, OS – Coastal saltpans: Se~oveljske in Strunjanske soline, OZ – Škocjanski zatok, OR – other localities on coast: rivers and stagnant waters in Koprska brda). The number of Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo counted on roosting places is denoted with bold print. L. Bo`i~: Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2007 v Sloveniji Tabela 2 / Table 2: IWC 2007; naslov glej str. 29 / title see page 29 Drava Mura Sava (zgornja / upper) Kolpa Vrsta / Species Skupaj vse/ Total overall DA MM D DV P DPP Skupaj/ Total M Š^ LD Skupaj/ MO Total ZGS SOR SRS Skupaj/ LB SAR LBA Total Skupaj/ K0 KOR Total Gavia stellata 4 Gavia arctica 60 1 1 2 T. ruficollis 1449 14 429 15 5 16 479 6 2 18 6 32 36 2 310 114 1 22 485 72 1 73 Podiceps cristatus 214 1 15 1 17 2 6 12 20 2 2 4 5 1 6 Podiceps grisegena 6 Podiceps nigricollis 92 Phalacrocorax carbo 2791 464 583 1047 267 267 116 176 46 338 65 65 P. aristotelis 321 Egretta garzetta 45 Egretta alba 605 73 9 54 141 277 8 41 62 44 155 1 5 6 47 59 2 2 Ardea cinerea 1267 35 35 112 54 61 126 423 34 8 26 30 98 88 28 51 27 6 47 247 19 19 Ciconia ciconia 5 1 4 5 Cygnus olor 991 23 331 2 17 16 389 27 22 33 82 9 140 2 6 157 Anser fabalis 158 158 158 Anser albifrons 10 10 10 Anser anser 4 2 2 Anser sp. 33 33 33 Tadorna ferruginea 1 Tadorna tadorna 12 1 1 Cairina moscbata 14 1 1 1 1 2 Aix galenculata 6 1 1 1 2 5 Anas penelope 352 21 2 23 3 2 8 13 5 18 23 4 4 Anas strepera 51 12 1 13 3 3 1 7 8 Anas crecca 1706 578 51 629 24 10 34 39 40 79 1 1 Anas platyrhynchos 30396 274 363 9219 303 465 4152 14776 376 964 610 13451 3295 934 252 1783 2214 499 190 5872 576 83 659 Anas acuta 5 2 2 1 1 Anas clypeata 90 1 1 Netta rufina 6 1 1 Aythya ferina 835 6 707 6 719 7 7 45 4 49 Aythya nyroca 1 Aythya fuligula 802 2 545 2 549 1 1 2 6 218 226 Aythya marila 2 1 1 Clangula hyemalis 1 1 1 Melanitta fusca 4 1 1 Bucephala clangula 845 761 2 763 1 1 28 28 4 4 Mergellus albellus 45 40 40 1 1 Mergus serrator 107 3 3 Mergus merganser 270 32 66 12 110 15 15 14 28 84 5 131 2 2 Haliaeetus albicilla 5 3 1 4 Rallus aquaticus 73 5 18 23 21 21 12 12 1 1 Gallinula chloropus 168 7 1 8 4 4 1 69 6 26 102 2 2 Fulica atra 4533 63 2507 3 97 2670 11 7 19 37 40 438 25 14 517 12 1 13 Vanellus vanellus 4 1 1 2 2 Calidris alpina 18 L. minimus 1 1 1 Gallinago gallinago 53 1 1 3 2 1 6 Scolopax rusticola 3 1 1 2 2 Numenius arquata 24 Tringa totanus 35 Tringa nebularia 8 Tringa ochropus 49 11 1 12 30 1 31 1 1 2 Actitis hypoleucos 1 L. melanocephalus 11 Larus ridibundus 4087 1743 6 1749 1 1 Larus canus 409 335 335 1 1 Larus michahellis 6922 4 247 23 274 4 4 Sterna sandvicensis 32 Alcedo atthis 123 14 4 1 2 21 6 1 8 15 7 8 7 2 4 28 4 4 Cinclus cinclus 579 3 56 1 60 1 1 106 62 9 4 181 Skupaj / Total 60744 926 454 18557 400 608 4652 25597 781 1021 784 1582 4168 1359 379 3343 2602 546 346 8575 770 86 856 iC Acrocephalus 28 (132): 23-31, 2OO7 Nadaljevanje tabele 2 (desna stran) / continuation of Table 2 (right side) Sava (spodnja / lower) Savinja Notranjska & Primorska Obala / Coast SSO MI K ST SSR1 Skupaj/ Total S ŠAL SR Skupaj/ Total SO I VI VID NOT RE Skupaj/ Total O OS OZ OR Skupaj/ Total G. ste. 1 1 3 3 G. arc. 1 1 57 57 T. ruf. 1 26 201 16 244 3 17 20 3 1 14 6 14 2 40 20 22 24 10 76 P. cri. 2 2 3 7 17 17 2 16 1 19 122 2 124 P. gri. 3 3 1 1 2 2 P. nig. 3 3 1 1 88 88 P. car. 5 275 7 61 348 256 113 369 47 24 82 73 4 230 117 8 1 1 127 P. ari. 321 321 E. gar. 21 19 5 45 E. alb. 1 10 13 4 28 2 2 3 1 30 7 16 57 2 21 1 1 25 A. cin. 9 40 5 61 4 17 136 53 23 43 119 27 41 43 31 13 1 156 6 26 26 11 69 C. cic. C. olo. 33 227 20 280 2 41 16 59 23 23 1 1 A. fab. A. alb. A. ans. 2 2 A. sp. T. fer. 1 1 T. tad. 2 2 7 2 9 C. mos. 1 1 5 5 5 5 A. gal. 1 1 A. pen. 9 9 3 3 2 2 13 245 17 275 A. str. 8 1 9 18 18 A. cre. 45 45 50 14 64 494 360 854 A. pla. 135 809 23 885 38 2611 2151 744 368 697 1809 313 65 182 176 107 18 861 136 635 163 39 973 A. acu. 1 1 1 1 A. cly. 31 58 89 N. ruf 5 5 A. fer. 15 15 34 34 5 2 7 4 4 A. nyr. 1 1 A. ful. 1 10 11 14 14 1 1 A. mar. 1 1 C. hye. M. fus. 3 3 B. cla. 2 2 2 45 47 M. alb. 1 1 3 3 M. ser. 93 11 104 M. mer. 6 6 2 3 1 6 H. alb. 1 1 R. aqu. 4 4 1 1 1 3 4 3 11 G. chl. 9 1 10 4 4 9 8 17 9 6 6 21 F. atr. 192 30 258 | 480 412 37 449 2 5 53 60 196 109 2 307 V. van. 1 1 C. alp. 18 18 L. min. G. gal. 4 4 1 1 3 33 3 39 2 2 S. rus. N. arq. 24 24 T. tot. 35 35 T. neb. 1 1 7 7 T. och. 4 4 A. hyp. 1 1 L. mel. 2 2 9 9 L. rid. 1 1 5 160 165 989 168 302 712 2171 L. can. 60 60 7 6 13 L. mic. 32 1500 1532 1365 1716 129 1902 5112 S. san. 32 32 A. att. 1 1 1 5 9 17 5 5 7 2 6 1 16 2 13 1 1 17 C. cin. 4 14 18 14 14 143 149 10 3 305 158 1461 36 1513 42 623 3833 1090 1104 813 3007 600 286 389 2138 226 26 3665 3416 3696 1239 2692 11043 Acrocephalus 28 (132): 32-34, 2007 The breeding of White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos on mount Lisina near Mrkonji}-Grad (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Gnezditev belohrbtega detla Dendrocopus leucotos na gori Lisina pri Mrkonji}-Gradu (Bosna in Hercegovina) Branislav Ga{i} Muzej Republike Srpske, \ure Dani~i}a 1, BA-78000 Banjaluka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, e-mail: muzejrs@inecco.net Observations of White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos are rare on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegivina in recent times. I observed it only twice: (1) 27 Apr 2002 Previle near Mrkonji}-Grad in a Beech Fagus sylvatica forest; 1> few from the slopes of Lisina to the nearby mountain Orugla, where I observed it; in the vicinity, drumming of another woodpecker was heard; Figure 1: The location of the White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos breeding ground on Mt Lisina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in 2006 Slika 1: Lokacija gnezdi{~a belohrbtega detla Dendrocopos leucotos na gori Lisina (Bosna in Hercegovina) v letu 2006 Figure 2: Habitat around the nest of White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos (photo: R. Ga{i}) Slika 2: Habitat v okolici gnezda belohrbtega detla Dendrocopos leucotos (foto: R. Ga{i}) (2) 16 Jul 2005 Jahorina Mt, Rajska dolina (trees in the hotel resort), I observed 1 individual. A few times I heard »White-backed Woodpecker like« drumming, but could not determine species with absolute certainty. In 2006 R. Ga{i} found an active nest of White-backed Woodpecker on Mt Lisina west of Mrkonji}-Grad (UTM XK61; Figure 1). During his mycological work, Radoslav Ga{i} noticed a pair staying in a particular area on 16 Apr and 1 May 2006, the habitat being Beech forest on the locality Kotac (44°22.527’ N, 17°04.427’ E, 1110 m a.s.l.; Radoslav Ga{i}, pers. comm.; Figure 2). This awoke suspicion that an active nest was nearby, moreover since he had observed a pair during spring 2005. On 16 May 2006, while observing this pair, he located the entrance of the nest in the upper part of a dry Beech. The nest was just a few metres below the Previle to [ibovi forest road. He photographed the nest and the birds carrying some kind of material from the nest. To begin with I thought they were carrying chips of wood from the hollow. I visited this nest personally for the frst time on 20 May 2006. The nest was approx. 14 m from ground level, with the opening oriented west. Further observations conducted by myself and R. Ga{i} (20 & 27 May 2006) showed that in the nest there were already feathered young and that the parents were carrying their excrement from the hollow (Figure 3 & 4). We could not determine the actual number of young but there were not less than three. The young were seen in the nest on 27 May 2006 and on 3 Jun the nest was empty. B. Ga{i}: The breeding of White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos on mount Lisina near Mrkonji}-Grad (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Figure 3: Young White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos on the nest (photo: R. Ga{i}) Slika 3: Mladi~ belohrbtega detla Dendrocopos leucotos na gnezdu (foto: R. Ga{i}) The general impression concerning White-backed Woodpecker in Bosnia and Herzegovina is that it is widespread but in low numbers and therefore rarely seen. Plenty of data exists from the period of Otmar Reiser in Sarajevo, 1887-1920. The presence of White-backed Woodpecker was registered at a relatively large number of localities (44). These data were collected and presented by Svjetoslav Obratil (Obratil 1977). There is one report regarding the breeding: on Mt Vla{i} -Han Go{tjel on 23 Apr 1890, 1 pair breeding (Obratil 1977). Specimens from 7 localities were denoted as juv. and from one additional locality as semipull. which is an indirect proof of this species’ breeding in Bosnia and Herzegovina before World War II. After World War II very few data exist. Rucner & Obratil (1973) refer to it as the species of mountain forest communities (Musco-Fagetum, Mercuriali-Fagetum, Abieti-Fagetum, Orchido-Abietetum & Dryopteridi-Fagetum) and of subalpine forests (Aceri-Fagetum, Aceri visianii-Fagetum, Vaccinio-Fagetum & Aceri-Fraxinetum). However neither actual nesting data nor population data in these habitats are presented, only the number of individuals and pairs in specifc transects. Obratil (1987) reports that this species is present during the summer in montane Beech forests (Fagetum moesiacae montanum Ble~. et Lk{i} 1970) at 1040 m a.s.l., in the beech-fr community (Abieti-Fagetum moesiacae Ble~. et Lk{i} 1970) on locality Drago{ sedlo at 1200 m a.s.l., and in the community of subalpine beech forests (Luzulo-Fagetum moesiacae Lk{i} 1969) on Prijevor at 1040 m a.s.l. There are no concrete breeding data. There is only one additional piece of data: Hutovo Blato on 29 Nov 1960 when one a female White-backed Woodpecker was shot. There are no data from northern Bosnia according to Obratil (Obratil 1983). Povzetek Dne 16.5.2006 je bilo najdeno aktivno gnezdo belohrbtega detla Dendrocopos leucotos v bukovem gozdu na planini Lisini v bli`ini Mrkonji}-Grada Figure 4: Male White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos near the nest (photo: R. Ga{i}) Slika 4: Samec belohrbtega detla Dendrocopos leucotos v bli`ini gnezda (foto: R. Ga{i}) Acrocephalus 28 (132): 32-34, 2OO7 (UTM XK61). Gnezdo je bilo v duplini v odmrli bukvi na lokaliteti Kotac (44°22.527’ N, 17°04.427’ E, pribli`no 1110 m n.v.). Natan~no {tevilo mladi~ev ni bilo ugotovljeno, vendar ocenjeno na najmanj tri. Zadnji~ so bili na gnezdu mladi~i opa`eni 27.5.2006. References Obratil, S. (1969): Ptice Hutova Blata. - Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzeja BiH, N. S. - Prirodne nauke VIII: 87-143. Obratil, S. (1977): Pregled istra`ivanja ornitofaune Bosne i Hercegovine VI (Columbiformes, Cuculiformes, Strigiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Apodiformes, Coraciiformes i Piciformes). - Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzeja BiH, N. S. – Prirodne nauke XVI: 203-223. Obratil, S. (1983): Avifauna sjeverne Bosne. - Glasnik Zemaljskog Muzeja BiH, N. S. - Prirodne nauke 22: 115-176. Obratil, S. (1987): Naselje ptica (Aves) u `ivotnim zajednicama na trajnim plohama Nacionalnog Parka “Sutjeska”. - Godi{njak Biolo{kog instituta u Sarajevu 40: 73-87. Rucner, D. & Obratil, S. (1973): Prilog poznavanju avifaune planinskog podru~ja Magli}a, Volujaka i Zelengore. -Larus 25: 61-93. Arrived / Prispelo: 19.2.2007 Accepted / Sprejeto: 21.5.2007 Acrocephalus 28 (132): 35-36, 2007 Poljska vrana Corvus frugilegus ponovno gnezdi v Sloveniji Rook Corvus frugilegus once again breeding in Slovenia Andrej Hudoklin Zavod RS za varstvo narave, OE Novo mesto, Adami~eva 2, SI-8000 Novo mesto, Slovenija, e-mail: andrej.hudoklin@zrsvn.si V evropskem prostoru je poljska vrana Corvus frugilegus splo{no raz{irjena vrsta, ki {teje od 20 do 35 milijonov osebkov (BirdLife International 2004). Globalni trendi gibanja {tevil~nosti populacije niso bili kvantifcirani. Podatki sicer ka`ejo, da ta pada (Madge & Burn 1993, Snow & Perrins 1998), vendar se {e ni pribli`ala pragu, da bi jo lahko uvrstili na rde~i seznam IUCN. Vrsta je tako opredeljena kot manj ogro`ena (LR). Razmere v Sloveniji so druga~ne. @e pri nastajanju rde~ega seznama ogro`enih ptic gnezdilk Slovenije leta 1994 (Bra~ko et al. 1994) je bila poljska vrana uvr{~ena v kategorijo domnevno izumrlih vrst (Ex?). Vanjo se uvrstijo vrste, katerih navzo~nost je bila na obmo~ju Slovenije znana, `e dalj{i ~as pa jih kljub iskanju ni ve~ najti, zato obstaja utemeljen sum, da je vrsta izumrla. V isto kategorijo jo je leta 2002 uvrstil tudi Pravilnik o uvrstitvi ogro`enih rastlinskih in `ivalskih vrst v rde~i seznam (Uradni list RS 2002). Iz Ornitolo{kega atlasa Slovenije (Geister 1995) lahko razberemo, da so bile v osemdesetih letih prej{njega stoletja zabele`ene gnezdilne kolonije na posameznih lokacijah panonskega obrobja Slovenije. Zadnje poro~ilo se nana{a na kolonijo v Peti{ovcih, ki so jo leta 1992 uni~ili z vodnimi curki (Gregori 1993). Poljska vrana zaradi {kod, ki jih povzro~a na polju, med ljudmi ni bila priljubljena. Za re{evanje problema so se ljudje o~itno pogosto poslu`evali uni~evanja ob~utljivih gnezditvenih kolonij, verjetno pa je k izginotju gnezde~e populacije pripomogel tudi nezakonit lov. Po letu 2000 so bile ob reki Savi na Kr{ko-bre`i{kem polju v poletnem in jesenskem obdobju pogosto opazovane jate poljskih vran, ki so verjetno prihajale iz gnezdi{~ na sosednjem Hrva{kem. V poznem poletju leta 2004 je bilo opa`eno 16 gnezd na sestoju visokih robinij Robinia pseudoacacia, na obrobju ene od gramoznic ob avtocestnem priklju~ku za Kr{ko. Glede na velikost gnezd in njihovo kolonijsko postavitev, je bilo mogo~e sklepati, da gre za gnezdenje poljske vrane (D. Klenov{ek osebno). To se je spomladi Slika 1: Kolonija poljske vrane Corvus frugilegus v bli‘ini Kr{kega (JV Slovenija) v letu 2005 (foto: A. Hudoklin) Figure 1: The colony of Rook Corvus frugilegus near Kr{ko (SE Slovenia) in year 2005 (photo: A. Hudoklin) naslednje leto tudi potrdilo, saj je na isti lokaciji gnezdila kolonija, ki je {tela 40 do 50 osebkov (slika 1). Ob ve~kratnem obisku je bilo videti, da je bilo gnezdenje uspe{no. ^lana DOPPS Andrej Figelj in Borut Rubini} sta med ogledom lokacije leta 2005 govorila z lastnikom, ki je omenil, da nameravajo drevesa zaradi potreb gramoznice posekati. Na vztrajanje lastnika so poseg odlo`ili (A. Figelj & B. Rubini~ osebno). Spomladi leta 2006 so poljske vrane ponovno pri~ele gnezditi, a je prav takrat pri{lo aprila do podiranja dreves. Vrane so se tako prestavile na dob Quercus robur, edino ve~je drevo v neposredni sose{~ini ob cesti. Maja je bilo opa`enih 12 gnezd (D. Klenov{ek osebno). Gnezditveni uspeh ni bil preverjen. Gnezdenje poljskih vran pri Kr{kem med leti 2004 in 2006 v kvadrantu 08/53 (UTM WL1) tako po dalj{em obdobju (1992) nakazuje mo`nost vra~anja vrste v Slovenijo. Lokacija gnezditvene kolonije je glede na izkazano nenaklonjenost upravljavcev gramoznice potrebna velike naravovarstvene pozornosti. V primeru ponovnega gnezdenja ptic bo treba izvesti komunikacijo z lastniki bli`njih zemlji{~ in izvajati nadzor. Summary For the frst time after its last colony in Slovenia was destroyed in 1992 a new colony with 16 nests was found (40-50 individuals), nesting on Black Locust Robinia pseudoacacia trees near gravel pond in the vicinity of town Kr{ko (UTM WL1). A. Hudoklin: Poljska vrana Corvus frugilegus ponovno gnezdi v Sloveniji Literatura BirdLife International (2004): Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status. BirdLife Conservation Series No. 12. - BirdLife International, Cambridge. Bra~ko, F., Sovinc, A., [tumberger, B., Trontelj, P. & Vogrin, M. (1994): Rde~i seznam ogro`enih ptic gnezdilk Slovenije. - Acrocephalus 15 (67): 165-180. Gregori, J. (1993): @alostna usoda gnezditvene kolonije poljskih vran Corvus frugilegus v Peti{ovcih. - Acrocephalus 14 (58/59): 129 Madge, S. & Burn, H. (1993): Crows and jays: a guide to the crows, jays and magpies of the world. - Helm, Robertsbridge. Geister , I. (1995): Ornitolo{ki atlas Slovenije. - DZS, Ljubljana. Snow, D.W. & Perrins, C.M. (1998): The birds of the Western Palearctic, concise editions, 1 & 2. - Oxford University Press, Oxford. Uradni list RS (2002): Pravilnik o uvrstitvi ogroženih rastlinskih in živalskih vrst v rde~i seznam (no. 82/02). Arrived / Prispelo: 6.2.2007 Accepted / Sprejeto: 21.5.2007 Acrocephalus 28 (132): 37-38, 2007 Large scale migration of Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus over Kaliakra (NE Bulgaria) Intenzivna selitev rde~enogih postovk Falco vespertinus preko Kaliakre (SV Bolgarija) Petar Iankov1, Dimiter Georgiev2 & Bojidar Ivanov3 1 Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds/ BirdLife Bulgaria, P.O. Box 50, BG-1111 Sofa, Bulgaria, e-mail: petar.iankov@gmail.com 2 Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds/ BirdLife Bulgaria, P.O. Box 492, BG-9000 Varna, Bulgaria, e-mail: dimiter.georgiev@neophron.com 3 Institute of Zoology, 1 bul. Tzar Osvoboditel, BG-1000 Sofia, Bulgaria, e-mail: bai_bobo@yahoo.com On 28 Sep 2006 at 15.02 h (local time) from the south-eastern edge of the village Sveti Nikola (UTM PJ20), north-eastern Bulgaria, we saw what appeared to be an endless fow of Red-footed Falcons Falco vespertinus, coming from the north-northeast over the village (UTM PJ21) and heading towards Cape Kaliakra (IBA BG051; UTM PJ10). The number of falcons that had already passed the point before our arrival is unknown, but there were birds in the whole visible part of the horizon in the south-southwestern direction, which we did not count. Starting with the falcons fying overhead between 15.02 h and 15.40 h (when no more birds were arriving) we counted a total of 809 individuals. The birds were fying at about 100 m over the steppe in a relatively narrow front of about 200-300 m, solitarily or in groups of 2-3. There were juvenile, female and male individuals, mainly fying directly with active fight, but some groups soaring. No other species of birds of prey were observed with the Red-footed Falcons. During the time of the observation, the line of the fow moved slightly westward (there was a moderate eastern wind), but the direction of fight remained the same. During the 38 minutes of observation, the falcons were passing mostly between 50 and 100 m, with some groups lower or up to 150 m height. The birds passed over the area, which is identifed as an Important Bird Area (IBA), being a bottleneck site for migrating birds and is currently proposed as a Special Protection Area (SPA) / Natura 2000 site under the Bulgarian Biodiversity Act. However the area is threatened by investment proposals for windfarms, the major ones being from Yomy Engenering/Geopower Ltd, Universum Energy Ltd and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. More than 100 wind turbines of over 120 m height are planned and approved by the authorities, ignoring the ornithological data. Smaller groups of Red-footed Falcons (most probably from the same focks) were observed from 15.49 h to 15.55 h between the villages of Sveti Nikola and Balgarevo. They were hunting or perched on wires along the road. Falcons were fying northwest over the village of Balgarevo and to the northwest of it (up to 35 individuals), indicating possible return towards the north-west along the coastline after reaching Cape Kaliakra, south of which the open sea starts. This assumption was confrmed by the fact that at 17.10 h about 370 Red-footed Falcons were fying together over the coastal hills south of Kavarna, called Chirakmana - IBA BG097 White Rocks (UTM PJ00), which is further to the west-northwest along the Black Sea coast. Some birds were fying over the sea, circling over an area about 500-700 m in diameter. Most of the birds moved to the east of the site at about 17.20 h, but about 40 fying falcons were visible till 17.40 h, before dusk. The largest numbers of Red-footed Falcons previously observed in Bulgaria were recorded at Atanasovsko Lake Migration Watch Point – 890 in one day (22 Sep 1989), with 3,003 individuals in one month (Sep 1989) and the largest numbers for one season (Aug-Oct 1989) of 3,110 individuals (Ruskov 1998). Povzetek Avtorji podajajo nove podatke o intenzivni jesenski selitvi rdečenogih postovk Falco vespertinus preko rta Kaliakre (UTM PJ10, SV Bolgarija). Dne 28.9.2007 so našteli 809 osebkov na selitvi, verjetno pa je bilo število še večje, ker je selitev potekala tudi še pred začetkom opazovanja. Ptice so letele na relativno ozkem koridorju 200–300 m, posamič ali pa v skupinah 2-3 osebkov. Čas opazovanja je bil 38 minut, rdečenoge postovke pa so letele v smeri jug-jugozahod. P. Iankov & D. Georgiev: Large scale migration of Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus over Kaliakra (NE Bulgaria) References Ruskov, K. (1998): Autumn Migration of the diurnal birds of prey in the region of Atanasovsko Lake Reserve near Burgas, 1989-1993, - Diploma work, Sofa University, Department of Biology, Sofa. Arrived / Prispelo: 6.11.2006 Accepted / Sprejeto: 21.5.2007 Acrocephalus 28 (132): 39-45, 2OO7 Iz ornitoloŠke beleZnice From the ornithological notebook Slovenija / Slovenia Rdečegrli slapnik Gavia stellata Red-throated Diver – one late second year individual seen on 20 May 2005 at Pretr`je near Dolenje jezero (UTM VL47, Cerkni{ko jezero, C Slovenia) Dne 20.5.2005 sem v Pretr`ju na Dolenjem jezeru opazoval drugoletni osebek rde~egrlega slapnika. Gre za redko vrsto na Cerkni{kem jezeru [Kmecl, P. & Rižner, K. (1993): Pregled vodnih ptic in ujed Cerkni{kega jezera; spremljanje {tevil~nosti s poudarkom na preletu in prezimovanju. -Acrocephalus 14 (56/57): 4-31], a tudi za precej pozen datum, kar zadeva to vrsto. Leon Kebe, Notranjski regijski park, Tabor 42, SI-1380 Cerknica, Slovenija, e-mail: leon.kebe@notranjski-park.si Kvakač Nycticorax nycticorax Night Heron - two adults observed along the Ljubljanica river during the breeding season, one on 17 Apr 2007 at [tepanjsko naselje in Ljubljana (UTM VM60), one on 18 Apr 2007 near the village of ^rna vas at Ljubljansko barje (UTM VL59, C Slovenia) Kvaka~ je na Ljubljanskem barju redka vrsta z negotovim gnezditvenim statusom [Tome, D., Sovinc, A. & Trontelj, P. (2005): Ptice Ljubljanskega barja. Monografja DOPPS {t. 3. - DOPPS, Ljubljana]. Dne 17.4.2007 smo ob Ljubljanici v [tepanjskem naselju v Ljubljani opazili odrasel osebek, ki je v zgodnjem dopoldnevu sedel na veji vrbe Salix sp. Naslednji dan, 18.4.2007, smo odraslega kvaka~a opazovali tudi pri ^rni vasi na Ljubljanskem barju ob reki Ljubljanici. Osebek je kro`il nad reko in nato obsedel na vrbi. Opazovanja kvaka~ev v gnezditvenem ~asu so vzbudila `e kar nekaj sumov za gnezdenje [npr. Hudoklin, A. (2001): Kvaka~ Nycticorax nycticorax. - Acrocephalus 22 (108): 175]. Iskanja gnezd se bo treba lotiti bolj intenzivno, da bi lahko potrdili gnezditev te pri nas malo poznane vrste. Petra Vrh Vrezec, DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia, p.p. 2990, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenija, e-mail: petra.vrh@dopps-drustvo.si Eva Vukeli~, DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia, p.p. 2990, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenija, e-mail: eva.vukelic@dopps-drustvo.si Andrej Figelj, DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia, p.p. 2990, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenija, e-mail: andrej.fgelj@dopps-drustvo.si Križanec sivke in kostanjevke Aythya ferina x nyroca A hybrid between Ferruginous Duck and Pochard - observed on 16 Apr 2006 at Ra~ki ribniki S of Ra~e (UTM WM54, NE Slovenia) among two Ferruginous Ducks Aythya nyroca and several Pochards Aythya ferina; probably the same hybrid seen again on 17 May 2006 on Lake Po`eg Dne 16.4.2006 sem med obiskom Ra~kih ribnikov v Krajinskem parku Ra~e (SV Slovenija) opazoval race. Prevladovale so mlakarice Anas platyrhynchos in reglje Anas querquedula. Med nekaj sivkami Aythya ferina sta se skrivali tudi dve kostanjevki Aythya nyroca. Pogled se mi je zaustavil na nenavadni raci, ki je na prvi pogled spominjala na sivko. Razlikovala se je po tem, da je bila nekoliko ve~ja, hrbet je imela temnej{e sive barve, glava je bila nekoliko temnej{a, na kljunu pa je bil nekoliko druga~en vzorec. Po pregledu priro~nika za opazovanje ptic [Mullarney, K., Svensson, L., Zetterström, D. & Grant, P. (1999): Bird guide. -HarperCollins, London] sem ugotovil, da je opazovana ptica br`kone kri`anec med sivko in verjetno kostanjevko. Verjetno isti osebek sem opazoval dober mesec kasneje, 17.5.2006, na vodnem zadr`evalniku Po`eg, kjer je prav tako plavala skupaj s sivkami. Ti podatki se mi zdijo {e posebej zanimivi, saj sem leto predtem na zadr`evalniku Medvedce opazoval dvorjenje samca kostanjevke samici sivke. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Miklav`, Slovenija, e-mail: dejanonih@email.si Beloglavi jastreb Gyps fulvus Griffon Vulture - observed on 9 Jul 2004 in the village of Gajevci (UTM WM73, SV Slovenia); a rare sighting for NE Slovenia V 25 letih je bilo zbranih skupaj 242 opazovanj 672 osebkov beloglavih jastrebov v Sloveniji. Ve~ina opazovanj je bilo zabele`enih na ju`nih obronkih Trnovskega gozda, Nanosa, Sne`nika, v ^i~ariji in Kra{kem robu [Mihelič, T. & Genero, F. (2005): Occurrence of Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus in Slovenia in the period from 1980 to 2005. - Acrocephalus 26 (125): 73-79]. Glede na to, da sta iz SV Slovenije znana samo 2 podatka, lahko sklepam, da je pojavljanje te vrste v tem delu Slovenije redkost. Dne 9.7.2004 sem ob 13.30 h Iz ornitolo{ke bele`nice / From the ornithological notebook v naselju Gajevci opazoval enega beloglavega jastreba. Ptica je izkoristila termiko in se dvigovala z vsakim krogom više, nato pa v smeri juga izginila nad haloškimi hribi. Dominik Bombek, Gajevci 1, SI-2272 Gorišnica, Slovenija, e-mail: dominik bombek@guest.ames.si Rjavi škarnik Milvus milvus & sršenar Pernis apivorus Red Kite & Honey Buzzard - on 26 Aug 2006, seven Honey Buzzards were seen fying in a straight line over Zavrh on Menišija plateau (UTM VL48, C Slovenia); on the next day, additional 15 Honey Buzzards were seen circling over Kunji vrh near Pokojišče on Menišija plateau, heading due southeast; soon, they were followed by three individuals and one single bird; on 10 Sep 2006, almost at the same spot, two young Red Kites were observed gliding above the treetops Dne 26.8.2006 sem na Menišiji (osrednja Slovenija) opazoval sedem sršenarjev, ki so krožili nad Zavrhom, potem pa v ravni črti odjadrali proti Javornikom. Naslednji dan sem s prijatelji nabiral gobe nedaleč stran od Pokojišča. V zraku smo nad Kunjim vrhom opazili 15 sršenarjev, ki so se v obliki spirale zbirali nad sosednjim vrhom. Kmalu zatem smo opazili še tri zamudnike, ki so hiteli v smeri prej opažene jate, tem pa je sledil še en osebek. Dne 10.9.2006 sem se z dvema prijateljema spet potepal po okolici Pokojišča. Tokrat smo opazovali nizek let dveh mladih rjavih škarnikov, ki sta skupaj z nekaj kanjami Buteo buteo krožila nad vrhovi dreves. Očitno je v času selitve severni del Menišije primeren za selitve ptic, ki potrebujejo termiko na svoji poti, saj to ni bilo prvič, da so bile opažene seleče se ptice na tem območju [Krofel, M. (2004): Žerjav Grus grus. - Acrocephalus 25 (122): 161-177]. Rjavi škarnik v zadnjih letih ni bil opažen na Menišiji [M. Krofel, osebno]. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Miklavž, Slovenija, e-mail: dejanonih@email.si Rdečenoga postovka Falco vespertinus Red-footed Falcon - a fock of more than 150 individuals seen on 12 May 2006 at Viševke SW of Cerknica (UTM VL57, C Slovenia); they were feeding on insects in the neighbouring meadows and sitting on power lines; this is one of the highest numbers reported so far for Slovenia; on 25 Sep 2006, a female was observed sitting on wooden poles surrounding a pasture, this being a rare autumn sighting for Slovenia Dne 12.5-2006 sem imel na Viševkah jugozahodno od Cerknice priložnost opazovati večjo jato rdečenogih postovk. Ocenjujem, da je bilo v tej jati kakih 150 osebkov. Prevladovale so samice. Postovke so mirno posedale po žicah daljnovoda in lovile žuželke po okoliških travnikih. Eno samico rdečenoge postovke sem opazoval na istih travnikih tudi na jesenski selitvi 25.9.2006. Ta je posedala po količkih, ki označujejo meje pašnika. Že zadnjih nekaj let se ta vrsta ustavlja na travnikih jugozahodno od Cerknice v spomladanskem času. Gre za tretjo največjo jato na Cerkniškem jezeru [Kmecl, P. & Rižner, K. (1993): Pregled vodnih ptic in ujed Cerkniškega jezera; spremljanje številčnosti s poudarkom na preletu in prezimovanju. - Acrocephalus 14 (56/57): 4-31]. Zanimivo, da Kmecl in Rižner omenjata rdečenogo postovko kot redkega spomladanskega preletnika in ne navajata jesenskih podatkov. Za Slovenijo so povečini objavljeni le podatki o posameznih pticah [npr. Fekonja, D. (2000): Rdečenoga postovka Falco vespertinus. - Acrocephalus 21 (100): 165, Klemenčič, A. (2001): Rdečenoga postovka Falco vespertinus. - Acrocephalus 22 (106/107): 122] ali pa manjših skupinah [npr. Podhraški, Z. (1999): Rdečenoga postovka Falco vespertinus. - Acrocephalus 20 (97): 198]. Večje število tako opaženih skupin kot osebkov v teh skupinah rdečenogih postovk je omejeno na Ljubljansko barje [Tome, D., Sovinc, A. & Trontelj, P. (2005): Ptice Ljubljanskega barja. Monografja DOPPS Št. 3. - DOPPS, Ljubljana], Cerkniško jezero in Dravsko polje [Bombek, osebno]. Leon Kebe, Notranjski regijski park, Tabor 42, SI—1380 Cerknica, Slovenija, e-mail: leon.kebe@notranjski-park.si .C Acrocephalus 28 (132): 39-45, 2OO7 Žerjav Grus grus Crane — a fock of 107 individuals observed on 30 Oct 2006 and another fock (number of individuals unknown) on 28 Dec 2006, both at Gajevci (UTM WM73, SV Slovenia) Dne 30.10.2006 ob petih popoldne sem nad Gajevci zaslišal oglašanje žerjavov. Jata v obliki klina je štela 107 osebkov. Leteli so nad reko Dravo po toku navzgor. Dne 28.12.2006 sem malo pred pol osmo zvečer v naselju Gajevci zaslišal trobentanje žerjavov. Glede na to, da je bila tema, ptic nisem videl, vendar pa je bilo njihovo oglašanje slišati kar nekaj časa. Možni sta dve razlagi: da me je preletela velika jata žerjavov, ali pa se je jata zgolj nekaj časa zadrževala na istem mestu. Dominik Bombek, Gajevci 1, SI—2272 Gorišnica, Slovenija, e—mail: dominik.bombek@guest.arnes.si Veliki prodnik Calidris canutus Knot — one individual startled from the bank in the northeastern part of Medvedce reservoir (UTM WM53, SE of Pragersko, NE Slovenia) on 13 Sep 2006, which is the frst record of this species for Medvedce; a Little Stint Calidris minuta was also seen feeding on a mudfat on the opposite side of Medvedce; on the water, 12 Black-necked Grebes Podiceps nigricollis and 14 Ferruginous Ducks Aythya nyroca were observed 13.9.2006 je bil povsem običajen dan za zadrževalnik Medvedce (JV od Pragerskega, SV Slovenija) v tem delu leta. Čeprav se je na njem zadrževalo nekoliko manj lisk Fulica atra kot običajno, je skupno število vodnih ptic krepko preseglo številko pet tisoč. Sliko vodnih ptic je dopolnilo 12 črnovratih ponirkov Podiceps nigricollis in 14 kostanjevk Aythya nyroca. Zrak pa sta zapolnila mlad belorepec Haliaeetus albicilla in nekoliko zapozneli seleči se sršenar Pernis apivorus. Na majhnem blatnem poloju sem opazoval malega prodnika Calidris minuta, in sicer prvi osebek v letu 2006, drugače pa je v posameznih letih na zadrževalniku dokaj pogosta selivka. Na drugi strani zadrževalnika pri betonskem iztoku pa sem opazoval njegovega večjega bratranca, velikega prodnika. Splašil sem ga med prehranjevanjem po kamnih tik nad vodo. Ko je vzletel, sem opazil pepelasto siv hrbet in kontrastno temnejše peruti, ki jih je dopolnjevala vzdolžna bela črta. Za nameček se je splašeni osebek še nekajkrat nežno oglasil in se skril nekje na nasipu. Gre za prvi podatek o velikem prodniku na zadrževalniku Medvedce [KerČek, M. (2005): Ptice akumulacije Medvedce. - Diplomsko delo, Univerza v Mariboru; lastni podatki]. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI—2204 Miklavž, Slovenija, e—mail: dejanonih@email.si Zelenonogi martinec Tringa nebularia Greenshank — 9 adults observed in a fooded feld at Zgornja Pristava (UTM WM63) and 3 individuals on a dunghill at Gorišnica (UTM WM74, NE Slovenia) on 30 Apr 2006 Pri Zgornji Pristavi v Dravinjski dolini sva 30.4.2006 na poplavljeni njivi opazila 9 osebkov zelenonogih martincev Istega dne so se trije osebki zadrževali tudi na gnojišču v Gorišnici na Ptujskem polju. V obdobju spomladanske in jesenske selitve se v tem koncu Slovenije, denimo na akumulaciji Medvedce, zelenonogi martinci dokaj redno pojavljajo z vrhom ravno v aprilu [Kerček, M. (2005): Ptice akumulacije Medvedce. - Diplomsko delo, Univerza v Mariboru]. Očitno kot postaje na selitvi zanje niso zanimiva zgolj večja in stalna vodna telesa, pač pa tudi manjše in občasne luže, kjer se seleči se martinci raztreseno v manjših skupinah ustavljajo po spomladanskih nevihtah. Petra Vrh Vrezec, Pražakova 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija, e-mail: petravrh@yahoo.com AIVrezec, Pražakova 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija, e-mail: al.vrezec@nib.si Kaspijska čigra Sterna caspia Caspian Tern — one individual observed while feeding in a canal leading to Medvedce reservoir (UTM WM53, SE of Pragersko, NE Slovenia) on 29 Mar 2006; this is the frst record for Medvedce Med obiskom zadrževalnika Medvedce (JV od Pragerskega, SV Slovenija) dne 29.3.2006 sem nad vhodnim kanalom za zadrževalnik na severni strani opazil večjo čigro. V njej sem prepoznal kaspijsko čigro, ki dotlej na zadrževalniku še ni bila opazovana [Kerček, M. (2005): Ptice akumulacije Medvedce. - Diplomsko delo, Univerza v Mariboru; lastni podatki]. En osebek je lovil v nizkem letu nad dotočnim kanalom, ločeno od drugih čiger in galebov. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Miklavž, Slovenija, e—mail: dejanonih@email.si Iz ornitolo{ke bele`nice / From the ornithological notebook Smrdokavra Upupa epops Hoopoe — one male heard on 10 May 2007 near Pokojišče on Menišija plateau (UTM VL48, C Slovenia) at 720 m a.s.L; two more individuals observed on the western edge of Snežnik plateau (UTM VL45, SW Slovenia) on 7 Jun 2007 at 760 m a.s.l. and 22 Jun 2007 at 830 m a.s.l. Dne 10.5-2007 sem popisoval kaluže na Pokojiški planoti. Nedaleč od Pokojišča približno 500 m severno od vrha Vršiča na nadmorski višini 720 m sem popoldne zaslišal teritorialno oglašanje samca smrdokavre. Ko sem se mu približal, se je nehal oglašati in tudi videl ga nisem v tej mozaični krajini pašnikov, grmičevja in gozda. Kasneje sem lokacijo še nekajkrat obiskal, vendar smrdokavre nisem več slišal. Na območju Pokojiške planote skozi vse leto na prostem pasejo več deset glav goveda, kar verjetno prek žuželk, ki se prehranjujejo z iztrebki, prispeva k zboljšanju prehranske osnove za to vrsto. Kljub temu do letos tukaj smrdokavre še nisem zasledil. Zanimivo je, da je bilo letošnjo nadpovprečno toplo pomlad opaziti povečano število smrdokaver tudi na Ljubljanskem barju [Z. Šalamun, osebno]. Po meni dostopnih podatkih je opisano opažanje prvi podatek za Menišijo, najbližja opažanja pa so znana iz okolice Rakeka [L. Kebe, osebno], Ivanjega Sela [lasten podatek] ter iz Krimskega hribovja in Ljubljanskega barja [Geister, I. (1995): Ornitološki atlas Slovenije. - DZS, Ljubljana]. Poleg tega sem se istega leta srečal s smrdokavro na višjih nadmorskih višinah še dvakrat, in sicer na kraških travnikih na zahodnem robu Snežniške planote. En osebek sem opazoval 7.6.2007 nad Koritnicami na nadmorski višini 760 m, drugega pa 22.6.2007 pri Jurščah na 830 m n.m.v Miha Krofel, Zavrh pri Borovnici 2, SI—1353 Borovnica, Slovenija, e-mail: mk_lynx@yahoo.co.uk Bela pastirica Motacilla alba yarrelli Pied Wagtail - on 15 Mar 2006, a single Pied Wagtail observed at Medvedce reservoir (UTM WM53, SE of Pragersko, NE Slovenia), feeding on the reservoirs muddy bank among White Wagtails ssp. alba Dne 15.3.2006 sem se mudil na zadrževalniku Medvedce (JV od Pragerskega, SV Slovenija). Le-ta še ni bil čisto poln in na robovih so se kazale še blatne površine, ki so jih s pridom izkoriščale predvsem seleče se bele pastirice. Medtem ko sem stal na severnem delu nasipa in gledal skozi teleskop, sem si mimogrede ogledal še meni najbližjo belo pastirico. Takoj je pritegnila vso mojo pozornost, saj ni bila takšna, kot sem pričakoval. Na prvi pogled je bila precej temnejša. Imela je črn hrbet, posut z manjšimi temno sivimi lisami, kar verjetno nakazuje na mladega samca. Peruti je imela podobne barve, kar je dajalo velik kontrast z belimi lisami. Tudi boki so dajali temnejši vtis. Hitro sem preveril še druge pastirice, ki pa so bile povsem običajne. Dan na zadrževalniku so zapolnili rečni galebi Larus ridibundus, 1,055 osebkov, kar je doslej največje število za zadrževalnik [KerČek, M. (2005): Ptice akumulacije Medvedce. - Diplomsko delo, Univerza v Mariboru; lastni podatki]. Zanimivi so bili tudi grivarji Columba palumbus, ki so se selili čez zadrževalnik. Opazil sem tri jate s 180, 80 in 50 osebki. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Miklavž, Slovenija, e-mail: dejanonih@ email.si Rumeni vrtnik Hippolais icterina Icterine Warbler - late singing of territorial male near Petanjci along the Mura river (UTM WM86, NE Slovenia); the bird was observed singing on 21 Jun 2006, and again on 3 Jul 2006 from nearly the same place in a wet tree stand of Alder Alnus glutinosa and Aspen Populus tremula Rob areala rumenega vrtnika Slovenijo zgolj oplazi na njeni severni meji [Faivre, B & Ferry, C. (1997): Icterine Warbler Hippolais icterina, pp. 580-581 In: Hagemeijer, E.J.M. & Blair, M.J. (eds.): The EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds. - T & AD Poyser, London], zato ni čudno, da velja pri nas za zelo redko in nezanesljivo gnezdilko [Geister, I. (1995): Ornitološki atlas Slovenije. - DZS, Ljubljana]. Težavo pri določanju vrtnikovega gnezditvenega statusa v Sloveniji še dodatno povzročajo pojoče ptice na selitvi, ki se pri nas pojavljajo še razmeroma pozno. Le malo je namreč takšnih podatkov, kjer bi se pojoči teritorialni samec na enem mestu zadrževal dalj časa in tako kazal na zaseden teritorij oziroma možnost gnezditve. Loka ob Muri je znan kraj pojavljanja rumenih vrtnikov, in tako sem dne 21.6.2006 v močvirnem sestoju črne jelše Alnus glutinosa in trepetlike Populus tremula pri Petanjcih (UTM WM86) poslušal petje rumenega vrtnika. Ptica je pela visoko v krošnji trepetlike in za trenutek sem tudi ujel pogled na pojočega samca. Kljub poznemu datumu sem kraj še enkrat obiskal dne 3.7.2006. Vrtnik je še vedno pel skoraj z istega mesta, zato sklepam, da je šlo za teritorialnega samca, ki je na območju tudi gnezdil, seveda če je priklical samico. Al Vrezec, Pražakova 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija, e-mail: al.vrezec@nib.si Acrocephalus 28 (132): 39-45, 2OO7 Belovrati muhar Ficedula albicollis & pogorel~ek Phoenicurus phoenicurus Collared Flycatcher & Redstart - on 7 Jun 2006, during the bird census, one male Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus was startled from the tree at Konji{ka gora (UTM WM33, NE Slovenia); in an old beech forest on the top of the hill, two singing Collared Flycatcher males and two singing Redstart males were observed; from the observation tower, 184 Swifts Apus apus were counted; on the top of the hill (1,012 m a.s.l.), a Marsh Tit Parus palustris and a Willow Tit Parus montanus few metres below it were also observed, singing simultaneously Dne 7.6.2006 sem na ju`ni strani Konji{ke gore (SV Slovenija) drugi~ popisoval tetrado s koncem na vrhu Stolpnika. Ker sem prvo tetrado popisoval v sne`nem viharju v skoraj popolni pti~ji ti{ini, to pot nisem pri~akoval ni~ posebnega. Kljub vsemu pa sem do~akal prvo presene~enje `e nekje na pol poti, ko je z veje nad mano poletel spla{eni samec divjega petelina. Malo pod vrhom Stolpnika me je ~akalo drugo presene~enje, saj je visoko v bukovi kro{nji pel pogorel~ek, meni druga~e bolj znan kot gnezdilec visokodebelnih sadovnjakov. [e preden sem se usedel na klopco na vrhu Stolpnika (1012 m n.m.v.), da bi zaklju~il tetrado, sem zasli{al neutrudno petje belovratega muharja. Kmalu sem zaznal tudi petje drugega samca, ki je pel nekoliko pod samim vrhom. S stolpa, ki je postavljen na vrhu, sem opazoval {e jato 184 hudournikov Apus apus, ki so se prehranjevali nad kro{njami dreves. Na poti nazaj sem na{el {e enega pojo~ega samca pogorel~ka. Zanimivost te tetrade sta bili tudi gorska sinica Parus montanus in mo~virska sinica Parus palustris, ki sta skupaj peli na vrhu Stolpnika. Gorska sinica je pela celo na ni`ji nadmorski vi{ini kot mo~virska. Sicer pa je bilo petje gorske sinice eno redkih petij `e med prvim popisom te tetrade. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Miklav`, Slovenija, e-mail: dejanonih@email.si [korec Sturnus vulgaris & priba Vanellus vanellus Starling & Lapwing - on 26 Feb 2007 at 13.00 hrs in the villages of Borovci and Sobetinci (UTM WM73, NE Slovenia), large focks of Starlings were observed: 3,300 ind. at Borovci and 520 ind. together with a small fock of Lapwings (90 ind.) at Sobetinci Med vo`njo iz smeri Ptuja proti Ormo`u sem v kraju Borovci dne 26.2.2007 ob 13 h opazil veliko jato {korcev (3,300 os.). [korci so tvorili zna~ilno formacijo, ki jo po zgledu lahko primerjamo z rojem ~ebel. Take oblike jate sem ve~krat opazoval, ko je jato ogro`al skobec. Skupina je ve~krat naglo spreminjala smer. Zanimivo je bilo, da je jati sledila jata prib in se tudi ve~krat pome{ala znotraj jate {korcev. Drugo, vendar manj{o jato sem opazil v kraju Sobetinci. V jati je bilo 520 {korcev in 90 prib. Dominik Bombek, Gajevci 1, SI-2272 Gori{nica, Slovenija, e-mail: dominik.bombek@guest.arnes.si Ščinkavec Fringilla coelebs Chaffnch - on 17 Mar 2006, spring migration of Chaffnches over a house at Dravski dvor on Dravsko polje (UTM WM54, NE Slovenia) was observed; 1,533 individuals in 57 focks ranging from one to 100 individuals were counted; 119 Starlings Sturnus vulgaris, 31 Wood Pigeons Columba palumbus and 154 Lapwings Vanellus vanellus were also counted during that particular day Vsako spomlad se veselim prvih preletnikov, ki naznanjajo prihajajo~o pomlad. Tako sem 17.3.2006 doma opazoval selitev manj pri~akovane vrste. Pri~a sem namre~ bil selitvi {~inkavcev. Do 13. ure sem na{tel 1,533 osebkov v 57 jatah, ki so {tele od enega do 100 osebkov. Verjetno je tega dne preletelo na{o hi{o {e precej ve~ {~inkavcev, saj sem najve~je jate opazoval zjutraj, ko sem bil na sprehodu v gozdu, a takrat nisem bil pozoren na jate teh ptic. Selitev so v tem ~asu dopolnili {e {korci Sturnus vulgaris s 119 osebki v {estih jatah, grivarji Columba palumbus z 31 osebki v petih jatah in pribe Vanellus vanellus s 154 osebki v treh jatah. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Miklav`, Slovenija, e-mail: dejanonih@email.si Hrvaška / Croatia Hobby Falco subbuteo Skrjančar - 1 osebek opazovan na otoku Olibu (UTM VK81, S Dalmacija) dne 5.6.2007 A single individual of the Hobby was observed on 5 Jun 2007, about 300 m northeast from the church located on the seashore in the bay of Sveti Nikola harbour on the island of Olib (UTM VK81). According to Rucner, Hobby is often seen in June along the Croatian coastline [Rucner, D. (1998): Ptice hrvatske obale Jadrana. - Hrvatski prirodoslovni muzej, Ministarstvo razvitka i obnove, Zagreb], however, there are no current data about this bird breeding in the area [Kralj, J. (1997): Ornitofauna Hrvatske tijekom posljednjih dvjesto godina. - Larus 46: 1-112]. In addition to Hobby, birds of prey observed during the days spent on Olib (29-31 May 2007, 4-5 Jun 2007) included 2-3 Buzzards Buteo buteo Iz ornitolo{ke bele`nice / From the ornithological notebook and a pair of Kestrels Falco tinnunculus, appearing almost every day, which suggests that the latter two species probably breed on the island. Jenö J. Purger, University of Pécs, Institute of Biology, Ifjúság útja 6, H-7624 Pécs, Hungary, e-mail: purger@ttk.pte.hu Jasmina Mu`ini}, Institute for Ornithology CASA, Gunduli}eva 24, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia, e-mail: jasmina@hazu.hr Little Tern Sterna albifrons Mala čigra - dne 3.6.2007 je bilo najdeno novo verjetno gnezdi{~e na Hrva{kem, na otoku Silba (UTM VK71, S Dalmacija) v zalivu Sv. Ante; opa`en je bil par pri hranjenju treh mladi~ev The total breeding population of Little Terns in Croatia is estimated at about 60-75 pairs [Radović, D., Kralj, J., Tutiš, V. & Ciković, D. (2003): Crvena knjiga ugro`enih ptica Hrvatske. - Ministarstvo za{tite okoli{a i prostornog ure|enja, Zagreb], therefore any new data indicating the breeding of this species can be signifcant for the survival and conservation of the population. On 3 Jun 2007, a pair of Little Terns was observed feeding their three fedged chicks in the western corner of the bay of Sveti Ante harbour, on the island of Silba (UTM VK71). It was possible to approach the chicks to a distance of about 10 metres before they took wing. As soon as we were a few metres away, the birds landed again on the rocks emerging above the sea, and the parents continued to feed them. In addition to the Little Terns, there were also one Common Tern Sterna hirundo and fve Yellow-legged Gulls Larus cachinnans in the bay. Outside the bay, about 100-200 metres from the Little Terns, about 50 Shags Phalacrocorax aristotelis were swimming in the sea, close to each other. It is most likely that the Little Terns hatched their clutch on the pebbly beach. Jasmina Mu`ini}, Institute for Ornithology CASA, Gunduli}eva 24, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia, e-mail: jasmina@hazu.hr Jenö J. Purger, University of Pécs, Institute of Biology, Ifjúság útja 6, H-7624 Pécs, Hungary, e-mail: purger@ttk.pte.hu Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis Travniški vrabec - skupaj je bilo pre{tetih 117 parov travni{kih vrabcev na otoku Pagu med 27 in 29.5.2007: Dinji{ka (UTM WK11) - 21 parov, Vla{i}i (UTM WK10) - 50 parov, Stara Vas (UTM WK11) - 5 parov, Caska (UTM VK93) - 2 para, Vidali}i (UTM VK93) - 2 para, Kusti}i (UTM VK93) - 15 parov, Zubovi}i (UTM VK92) – 15 parov, Metajna (UTM WK02) - 2 para, Stara Novalja (UTM VK83) - 5 parov The Spanish Sparrow was frst recorded on the island of Pag (Kolansko blato) in 1959 [Igalffy, K. (1980): Prilog poznavanju ptica otoka Paga. - Larus 31/32: 55-89]. Since the 1990s, it has been breeding regularly on the island (Gajac, Kolana, Novalja, Pag), the number of nesting pairs reaching a few hundred [Denac, K. & Denac, D. (2002): Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis. - Acrocephalus 23: 105, LukaČ, G. (2004): About the widening of the range and the status of the Spanish Sparrow (Passer hispaniolensis) in Croatia at the beginning of the 21st century. - Pakleni~ki zbornik 2: 113-122]. During our feld surveys carried out on the island of Pag between 27-29 May 2007, a total of about 117 pairs of Spanish Sparrows were counted: Dinji{ka (UTM WK11) - 21 pairs, Vla{i}i (UTM WK10) - 50 pairs on the building “Zavi~aj - kulturno prosvjetni centar i odmarali{te Hrvata u Ma|arskoj”, Stara Vas (UTM WK11) - 5 pairs, Caska (UTM VK93) - 2 pairs, Vidali}i (UTM VK93) - 2 pairs, Kusti}i (UTM VK93) - 15 pairs, Zubovi}i (UTM VK92) - 15 pairs, Metajna (UTM WK02) - 2 pairs, Stara Novalja (UTM VK83) - 5 pairs. Miheli~ reported on Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae pursuing Spanish Sparrows at Kolansko blato [Mihelič, T. (2004): Eleonora’s Falcon Falco eleonorae. - Acrocephalus 25: 98], whereas we have observed a Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus catching a Spanish Sparrow on 27 May 2007 at Vla{i}i. Jasmina Mu`ini}, Institute for Ornithology CASA, Gunduli}eva 24, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia, e-mail: jasmina@hazu.hr Jenö J. Purger, University of Pécs, Institute of Biology, Ifjúság útja 6, H-7624 Pécs, Hungary, e-mail: purger@ttk.pte.hu Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis Travniški vrabec - v za~etku junija 2007 (4.-5.6.) sta na otoku Olibu (UTM VK81, S Dalmacija) verjetno gnezdila 1-2 para travni{kih vrabcev in 25-30 parov doma~ih vrabcev Having arrived on the island of Olib (UTM VK81) on 29 May 2007, we saw the frst Spanish Sparrow no later than on 31 May. At around 7.00 h, a male was spotted on a rooftop, about 100 m from the harbour, and a little while later another specimen was seen, 300 m from the location of the frst occurrence. Between 1-3 Jun, we stayed on the Acrocephalus 28 (132): 39-45, 2OO7 nearby island of Silba. There, only House Sparrows Passer domesticus were seen breeding (10-15 pairs), and no Spanish Sparrows were observed, despite repeated search. On 4 Jun, we returned to the island of Olib, where we succeeded again in observing male Spanish Sparrows at two different localities: on houses near the harbour and on the building of the school. On 4 and 5 Jun we attempted to make a census on the Olib sparrows, and found that the number of nesting pairs was possibly 1-2 pairs of Spanish Sparrows and about 25-30 pairs of House Sparrows. Jenő J. Purger, University of Pécs, Institute of Biology, Ifjúság útja 6, H-7624 Pécs, Hungary, e-mail: purger@ttk.pte.hu Jasmina Mu`ini}, Institute for Ornithology CASA, Gunduli}eva 24, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia, e-mail: jasmina@hazu.hr Acrocephalus 28 (132): 47, 2007 Najave in obvestila Announcements Nagrada Zlati legat 2005 The Golden Bee-eater Award 2005 Zlati legat je nagrada, ki jo DOPPS podeljuje za najbolj{e slovensko delo s podro~ja ornitologije. Letos smo podelili nagrado za leto 2005, denarna sredstva zanjo je ponovno prispevalo podjetje Bioteh d.o.o. iz Ljubljane. Upravni odbor DOPPS je imenoval komisijo v sestavi: Petra Vrh Vrezec (~lanica), doc. dr. Nejc Jogan (~lan), Toma` Miheli~ (~lan) in dr. Primo` Kmecl (predsednik), ki se je sestala 12.4.2007 in izbrala dela v o`ji izbor, nominirana dela in nagrajeno delo. Za opravljeni izbor bi se `elel na tem mestu ~lanom komisije iskreno zahvaliti. Dela o`jega izbora so vsa tista, ki jih predlaga vsak ~lan komisije. Seznam o`jega izbora del je bil: Bo`i~, L.: Populacija kosca Crex crex na Ljubljanskem barju upada zaradi zgodnje ko{nje in uni~evanja ekstenzivnih travnikov. - Acrocephalus 26 (124): 3-21. Bo`i~, L.: Rezultati januarskega {tetja vodnih ptic leta 2004 in 2005 v Sloveniji. - Acrocephalus 26 (126): 123-137. Denac, D. (2003): Upad populacije in sprememba rabe tal v lovnem habitatu rjavega srakoperja Lanius collurio v [turmovcih. - Acrocephalus 24 (118): 97-102. Govedi~, M., Jan`ekovi~, F. & Kos, I. (2002): Prehrana kormorana Phalacrocorax carbo na obmo~ju reke Save od Ljubljane do Zagorja. - Acrocephalus 23 (110/111): 5-20. Gregori, J. & [ere, D. (2005): Pti~i [ale{kih jezer in okolice. - Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Ljubljana. Miheli~, T. & Genero, F.: Occurrence of Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus in Slovenia in the period from 1980 to 2005. - Acrocephalus 26 (125): 73-79. Polajnar, J. & Bordjan, D.: Sezonska dinamika {tevila sivih ~apelj Ardea cinerea ob reki Savinji med Celjem in Zidanim Mostom (SV Slovenija). - Acrocephalus 26 (127): 181-186. Polak, S., Kebe, L. & Koren, B. (2004): Trinajst let popisov kosca Crex crex na Cerkni{kem jezeru. - Acrocephalus 25 (121): 59-70. Tome, D., Sovinc, A. & Trontelj, P. (2005): Ptice Ljubljanskega barja. Monografja DOPPS {t. 3 - DOPPS, Ljubljana. Vrezec, A. & Tome, D. (2004): Altitudinal segregation between Ural Owl Strix uralensis and Tawny Owl S. aluco: evidence for competitive exclusion in raptorial birds. - Bird Study 51(3): 264-269. Sledil je izbor nominirancev. Izbrana so bila naslednja tri dela: Denac, D. (2003): Upad populacije in sprememba rabe tal v lovnem habitatu rjavega srakoperja Lanius collurio v [turmovcih. - Acrocephalus 24(118): 97-102. Govedi~, M., Jan`ekovi~, F. & Kos, I. (2002): Prehrana kormorana Phalacrocorax carbo na obmo~ju reke Save od Ljubljane do Zagorja. - Acrocephalus 23(110/111): 5-20. Gregori, J. & [ere, D. (2005): Pti~i [ale{kih jezer in okolice. - Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Ljubljana. Izmed nominiranih del je najve~je {tevilo to~k prejelo delo Janeza Gregorija in Dareta [ereta, zato je bila nagrada Zlati legat 2005 podeljena njima. Nagrajeno delo je `lahtna me{anica strokovnega in poljudnega dela ter je primerno tako kot vir strokovnih podatkov kot tudi vir motivacije ljubiteljev ptic in narave. Delo je izjemno lepo in natan~no napisano ter obdelano, odli~na preglednost in berljivost pa ga postavljata v sam vrh sorodnih publikacij. Pester nabor metodologij pri raziskavi manj{ega obmo~ja pa je inovacija v slovenskem prostoru. Zaradi teh lastnosti se je `irija kljub hudi konkurenci odlo~ila podeliti nagrado Zlati legat za leto 2005 prav delu Pti~i [ale{kih jezer in okolice Janeza Gregorija in Dareta [ereta. Vsem, ki ste sodelovali s svojimi prispevki, predvsem pa nominirancem in seveda nagrajencema iskreno ~estitam. Primo` Kmecl, predsednik `irije Zlati legat 2005 Čestitam Janezu Gregoriju in Daretu [eretu ob podelitvi nagrade Zlati legat 2005 za delo »Pti~i [ale{kih jezer in okolice« Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Ljubljana Primo` Kmecl, glavni urednik Priklopite se kjerkoli. sss» Od{tekano! Odslej se lahko na {irokopasovni internet priklju~ite kjerkoli in kadarkoli. Plo~evinka instant interneta vsebuje prenosni USB modem, ki omogo~a hitrosti prenosa podatkov do 3,6 Mb/s (modem je pripravljen na prenos podatkov do 7,2 Mb/s). Namestitev modema je zelo enostavna, priklju~ite pa ga lahko na prenosni ali namizni ra~unalnik. Za optimalno uporabni{ko izku{njo izberite Podatkovni bonus - dodatno SIM kartico brez mese~ne naro~nine, na katero vklopite `eleni paket za prenos podatkov. Izbirate lahko med paketi: Maksi, Mega in Giga, ki `e vklju~ujejo ustrezno koli~ino brezpla~nega prenosa podatkov. Polni in prodaja Mobitel. USB Modem Option iCon 7.2 Za priklop na {irokopasovni internet je potreben ustrezen signal Mobitela ali tujih pogodbenih operaterjev. S signalom Mobitel GSM je pokritega 99,3%, z Mobitel UMTS 72,3% prebivalstva Slovenije. WWW.MOBITEL.SI Mobitel UMTS Nova generacija mobilnih telekomunikacij @