Iz ornitolo{ke bele`nice / From the ornithological notebook 114 Planinski vrabec Montifringilla nivalis Snowfinch – an adult male observed on 1 Jun 2003 just below Veliki vrh in Ko{uta Mountain Ridge on Slovene-Austrian border (UTM VM44, Karavanke, N Slovenia); the easternmost observation of the species in Slovenia during the breeding season V okviru rednih izletov [tajerske sekcije DOPPS smo se med 31.5. in 1.6.2003 odpravili na dvodnevno ornitolo{ko ekskurzijo v Karavanke. Nastanili smo se v ko~i Gorske re{evalne slu`be na planini [ija, ki je bila izhodi{~e za na{e izlete v pogorje Ko{ute. Dne 1.6.2003 smo se zgodaj zjutraj napotili proti Velikemu vrhu (2088 m n.v.). Na grebenu med Kofce goro (1967 m n.v.) in Velikim vrhom smo na strmih alpinskih travi{~ih izmed zanimivej{ih vrst opazovali dva para belk Lagopus mutus in nekaj pojo~ih samcev kup~arja Oenanthe oenanthe. Glavno presene~enje dneva pa nas je ~akalo malo pred na{im ciljem, ko smo na travnatem pobo~ju tik pod grebenom na nadmorski vi{ini 2000 m opazovali samca planinskega vrabca. Vrabec je po nekaj minutah opazovanja odletel na severno, prepadno stran grebena Ko{ute, kjer pa ga kljub intenzivnemu iskanju nismo ve~ videli. Ornitolo{ki atlas Slovenije [Geister, I. (1995): Ornitolo{ki atlas Slovenije. – DZS, Ljubljana] omenja planinskega vrabca le za Julijske Alpe. Kasneje je bil planinski vrabec ugotovljen {e na Stolu v Karavankah [Kozinc, B. (2003): Planinski vrabci gnezdili na pobo~ju Stola. – Gea 13 (5): 69; T. Miheli~ ustno]. Kozinc (2003) omenja celo gnezdenje ve~ parov. Opisano opazovanje na Ko{uti pomeni za zdaj najvzhodnej{o lokacijo opazovanja te vrste v gnezditvenem obdobju. Vzhodneje je bil opazovan na Pohorju, vendar se podatek nana{a na zimsko negnezditveno obdobje [Basle, T. (2002): Planinski vrabec Montifringilla nivalis. – Acrocephalus 23 (110–111): 55]. V lu~i na{e najdbe bi odkrivanju planinskega vrabca kazalo nameniti ve~ pozornosti tudi v bli`njih Kamni{kih Alpah. Matja` Premzl, Zrkovci 65, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenija Luka Bo`i~, Pintarjeva 16, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenija, e-mail: luka.bozic@dopps-drustvo.si Hrva{ka / Croatia Common Scoter Melanitta nigra ^rna raca – drugoletni samec in samica opazovana 23.4.2003 na obalnem delu delte Neretve (UTM YH06, J Dalmacija); redek podatek za Dalmacijo In the early morning of 23 Apr 2003, we surveyed the coastal area of the Neretva delta. At 7:30 hrs, two quite large dark ducks flying just above the surface and landing about 1 – 2 km off the coast attracted our attention. With the aid of telescopes we were able to determine the birds as male and female Common Scoters. Judging from the colours on his bill, face and neck, the male was in its 2nd year. Its characteristic diving technique (diving jump with closed wings) was also performed. According to O. Reiser [Reiser, O. (1939): Materialien zu einer Ornis Balcanica, Bd I. – Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Wien] and D. Rucner [Rucner, D. (1993): O `ivotu ptica u dolini Neretve. – Ogranak Matice Hrvatske u Metkovi}u, Metkovi}], the Common Scoter is a very rare winter guest on Dalmatian coast. Peter Sackl, Steiermärkisches Landesmuseum Joanneum, Raubergasse 10, A-8010 Graz, Austria, e-mail: peter.sackl@stmk.gv.at Jakob Smole, Cafova 4, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenia, e-mail: jakob.smole@kiss.si @erjav Grus grus Common Crane – 1 individual observed on Pag Island near Velo Blato (UTM WK01, N Dalmatia) on 3 and 4 May 2003 @erjav vsekakor sodi med tiste vrste, ki se jih na dvodnevnem izletu po otoku Pagu in okolici nisem nadejal. Prvi~ sem ga opazil zve~er 3.5.2003, ko me je v nizkem letu preletel na vzhodnem obre`ju Velega Blata. Br`kone isti osebek je 4.5.2003 po~ival na pa{niku ob Blatu in si urejal perje. Po navedbah J. Kraljeve [Kralj, J. (1997): Ornitofauna Hrvatske tijekom posljednjih dvjesto godina. – Larus 46: 1–112] se `erjav pojavlja tudi na jadranskih otokih. ^e `e drugega ne, je zanimiv vsaj dokaj pozni datum opazovanja, saj poteka spomladanska selitev te vrste ve~inoma v marcu ali za~etku aprila [npr. Rubini~, B. (2002): @erjav Grus grus. – Acrocephalus 23 (112): 106–107, lastna opazovanja]. Luka Bo`i~, Pintarjeva 16, SI-2000 Maribor, Slovenija, e-mail: luka.bozic@dopps-drustvo.si Pe{~enec Calidris alba Sanderling – a group of three individuals spotted on 15 Sep 2003 on mudflats near the village of Karin on the coast of Karinsko morje (UTM WJ58, N Dalmatia) during regular visits between 13 and 20 Sep 2003. While the tide was at its lowest, the Acrocephalus 24 (118): 109 – 119, 2003 115 mudflats became relatively large and were soon occupied by several Black-headed Gulls Larus ridibundus, Yellow-legged Gulls L. cachinnans, Grey Herons Ardea cinerea, Common Sandpipers Actitis hypoleucos, Eurasian Curlews Numenius arquata and Dunlins Calidris alpina. A Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola, a Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis and a Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea were also observed there. Blizu naselja Karin ob Karinskem morju v severni Dalmaciji sem se mudil med 13. in 20.9.2003. Na severozahodu se v ta zaliv izliva poto~ek in z nasutjem materiala ustvarja plitvine. Ob oseki se tam razkrijejo obse`ni blatni poloji. To pa izkori{~ajo ptice. Plitvino sem opazil zaradi re~nih Larus ridibundus in rumenonogih galebov Larus cachinnans, ki so se tam zbirali, poleg njih pa sem tu opazoval {e: ~rno prosenko Pluvialis squatarola, sive ~aplje Ardea cinerea, male martince Actitis hypoleucos, spremenljive prodnike Calidris alpina, velike {kurhe Numenius arquata, sivo pastirico Motacilla cinerea in vodomca Alcedo atthis. Dne 15.9.2003 pa so me presenetili trije pe{~enci. Ta pobre`nik sicer velja za redko ptico Hrva{kega primorja [Rucner, D. (1998): Ptice hrvatske obale Jadrana. – Hrvatski prirodoslovni muzej, Ministartvo razvitka i obnove, Zagreb]. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Milklav`, Slovenija, e-mail: dejanonih@email.si Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica ^rnonoga ~igra – 6 prehranjujo~ih se osebkov dne 27.5.2002 na plitvinah ob izlivu reke Neretve (UTM YH06, J Dalmacija) During our field trip on 27 May 2002, we decided to take some time to survey the mouth of the Neretva river (UTM YH06, S Dalmatia). On the sandbars there, we had a chance to observe some bird species considered rare in Croatia. Amongst 20 Little Egrets Egretta garzetta, 12 Grey Herons Ardea cinerea and 3 Yellow-legged Gulls Larus cachinnans (all of them common species in Croatia) we saw 6 Oystercatchers Haematopus ostralegus, 6 Ringed Plovers Charadrius hiaticula, 1 Little Stint Calidris minuta, 3 Curlew Sandpipers Calidris ferruginea, 1 Turnstone Arenaria interpres, 1 Caspian Tern Sterna caspia, and 6 Gull-billed Terns foraging in the shallow sea. In the 19th century, this tern used to be noted more often in Dalmatia during the spring than autumn migration [Kralj, J. (1997): Ornitofauna Hrvatske tijekom posljednjih dvjesto godina. – Larus 46: 1–112]. In the 20th century, only individual sightings were made (again during migration). One was killed on 28 Apr 1920 near Nin (UTM WJ19), four were recorded in the mouth of the Neretva river in May 1951 (Kralj 1997), and some were observed on Lake Vransko on 10 Jul 1972 (UTM WJ46; Kralj 1997). More recently, 10 individuals were observed at the end of April and at the beginning of May 2001 in the mouth of the Neretva river [Dumbovi} Ru`i}, V. & [tumberger, B. (2002): Gull-billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica. – Acrocephalus 22 (109): 240–241]. Considering our observation made in May 2002, we may conclude that Gull-billed Terns occur quite regularly in late spring in the Neretva estuary. Jozsef Mikuska, Pedago{ki fakultet, Jägera 9, HR-31000 Osijek, Croatia Vlatko Ro`ac, Pedago{ki fakultet, Jägera 9, HR-31000 Osijek, Croatia Alma Mikuska, Pedago{ki fakultet, Jägera 9, HR-31000 Osijek, Croatia, e-mail: amikuska@pedos.hr ^uk Athene noctua Little Owl – while censusing Scops Owls Otus scops on 20 Apr 2003 at Milna on the island of Bra~ (UTM XH19, Central Dalmatia), a male Little Owl was provoked. Quite surprisingly, it responded to the recording of Scops Owl very early in the evening (20.50 hrs). Med popisom velikih skovikov Otus scops v sklopu dalmatinskega biolo{kega tabora Bra~ 2003 smo v no~i 20.4.2003 popisovali tudi v naselju Milna na zahodnem delu otoka. Takrat smo poleg iskanih skovikov zasli{ali {e ~uka. Ta se je odzval na izzivanje s posnetkom velikega skovika in tudi v skupini drugih skovikov je nekajkrat “zamijavkal” svojo pesem. Zanimivo je tudi to, da se je dal izzvati dokaj zgodaj, saj je bila ura {ele 20.50. Sicer pa je ~uk v Hrva{kem primorju pogosta vrsta, tudi na otoku Bra~u [Rucner, D. (1998): Ptice hrvatske obale Jadrana. – Hrvatski prirodoslovni muzej, Ministarstvo razvitka i obnove, Zagreb]. Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Milklav`, Slovenija, e-mail: dejanonih@email.si Travni{ki vrabec Passer hispaniolensis Spanish Sparrow – overview of localities of its breeding colonies on Pelje{ac peninsula (S Dalmatia), with two new localities added in 2003. Only one large colony is known from Pelje{ac so far, i.e. at Mali Ston (UTM YH14), while others are very small, but all confined to the vicinity of settlements: @uljana (UTM YH05), Viganj (UTM XH75), Ku~i{te (UTM XH75), Ston (UTM YH14), and two new ones at Sreser (UTM YH05) and Potomje (UTM XH95). Travni{ki vrabec je v ju`ni Dalmaciji pogosta vrsta, ki naseljuje zlasti ve~ja ni`avja, kjer se lahko pojavlja celo v zelo velikem {tevilu (lastna opazovanja). Vendar pa na primer reliefno precej razgibani polotok Pelje{ac naseljuje zelo raztreseno, predvsem v okolici naselij, kot so @uljana, Viganj, Ku~i{te, Mali Ston in Ston [Rucner, D. (1998): Ptice hrvatske obale Jadrana. – Hrvatski prirodoslovni