Eco Hvar - Nature Watch

Nature Watch

Birdwatch, January 2019

Published in Nature Watch

Steve Jones reports a slow start to the birdwatching year in Dol, following on from the disappointing numbers at the end of 2018.

Black-necked Grebe – Stari Grad – 13.01.19

Bush cricket - seeking identity

Published in Nature Watch

Identity found! Our bush-cricket has turned out to be Ephippiger discoidalis, the Dalmatian Saddle Bush-cricket.

Birding at the end of 2018

Published in Nature Watch

Steve jones' last report for 2018, rounding up a year whose final months ended with noticeably few new sightings.

Chaffinch: reduced numbers present in 2018.

Birdwatch October 2018

Published in Nature Watch

Yet again our birdwatcher Steve Jones reports lower numbers of species sighted than might be expected.

Birdwatch: rounding up the summer of 2018

Published in Nature Watch

Steve Jones reports from Dol on the new bird sightings and interesting insects which have showed up during the long hot summer of 2018.

Bee-Eaters, one of Hvar's prime attractions

Published in Nature Watch

Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster) are brightly coloured, exquisite birds. On Hvar they appear every summer, and are highly prized by bird-loving visitors to the island.

Nature Watch, May 2018

Published in Nature Watch

Steve Jones, ever on the watch for birds, has some exciting sightings in May.

Birdwatch March-April 2018

Published in Nature Watch

Steve reports from Dol on the unsettled spring weather, and the welcome bird arrivals on Hvar: March and April have continued to bring the species in and as at April 24th I have seen 77 species with possibly two or three unidentified.

Spring-time and the Golden Oriole is back.

Birdwatch, January - February 2018

Published in Nature Watch

Well as I type this on March 1st looking out at my bird feeders amidst heavy snowfall, the birding calendar tells me Spring is on its way.

Birdwatch & Insects, Autumn-Winter 2017

Published in Nature Watch

Steve Jones rounds off the year, puzzled by the absence of some birds he expected to see.

The Bee Hotel: Encouraging Wildlife in our Garden

Published in Nature Watch

Having offered hospitality to a young swallow family earlier in the year, Marion and Zzdravko decided to extend their facilities to welcome bees. It turned out to be a very rewarding learning experience!

Birdwatch, August - September 2017

Published in Nature Watch

Well summer is over, birding-wise, and during the last three months, hopefully, birds have bred successfully on the island. I have certainly seen evidence of this, particularly recently, with good numbers of House Sparrows all around. Also frequently during the summer months I have seen birds carrying food to nests.

Two Storks holidaying in Jelsa, September 2017.

Birdwatch, June - July 2017

Published in Nature Watch

The summer months were intensely hot. By June 12th there was very little about. On a trip to the pond that morning I found that the biggest area was about to evaporate later that day– there was a tiny little pool with the remaining fish all gasping. Equally I saw a Cormorant, probably stocking up with an easy source of food.

Storks visit Jelsa!

Published in Nature Watch

On September 17th 2017, two storks touched down in Jelsa.

Nesting swallows: good luck promised!

Published in Nature Watch

Marion Podolski has the good fortune to have swallows nesting in her doorway in Vrboska on Hvar. Exciting and fascinating!

More...

Birdwatch, May 2017

Birdwatch, April 2017

Birdwatch, March 2017

Birdwatch, February 2017

Birdwatch, January 2017

SOS: Bats Gone Missing!

Orchids on Pelješac

Hvar's Wildflowers and Plants in Winter

Another Kingfisher sighting, in December!

Pesticides: UNESCO-approved?

Herbicide in the Stari Grad Plain, March 2016

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For the Good of All!

Nature Watch

Highlights

About Animals

Forum items

Mosquitoes, holiday planning

Category: Forum items

A worried parent asks Eco Hvar about mosquitoes on Hvar. Is there cause for concern?

Mosquitoes and more

Category: Forum items

An Irish family complain to Eco Hvar about the prevalence of mosquitoes during their holiday in Vitarnja.

A learning curve

Category: Forum items

A post on the Eco Hvar Facebook page led to an unexpected response. Eco Hvar learned a lot!

Dragonflies, info request

Category: Forum items

Can anyone help with information about dragonflies on Hvar?

Kingfishers

Category: Forum items

A question about kingfisher behaviours following a sighting in Zavala (Stari Grad) in September 2015.

Hvar's birds declining?

Category: Forum items

Are Hvar's bird numbers dwindling?

Leishmaniasis precautions

Category: Forum items

An inquiry from the UK about leishmaniasis protection measures.

Glyphosate comment

Category: Forum items

An encouraging observation from the United Kingdom:

Help for a 'stray' cat

Category: Forum items

My friend and I visited Hvar over the weekend. During our stay we met a street cat that we grew very attached of each other.

Mosquitoes, worst ever

Category: Forum items

Despite the local authorities' attempts to control mosquitoes with pesticides, many have complained that the mosquitoes on the island are more virulent than ever.

Olive oil producers

Category: Forum items

Query: It was a pleasant surprise to come across your article regarding olive oil making in Dalmatia. Me and my husband have taken it up as a serious hobby to be involved in the olive oil process in m...

Feeding cats in Brela

Category: Forum items

I am staying at the Hotel Berulia in Brela and have been feeding a mother,father and five kittens about (10 weeks old). Do they get rid of the kittens in the winter when there are no guests?

Stray cat in Hvar Town

Category: Forum items

We are currently visiting your lovely island and are staying in the Amfora Hotel. Since our arrival we have fallen in love with a beautiful stray young cat.

Stray dog in Hvar Town

Category: Forum items

Hello I was staying in Hvar Town for 5 days last week in June 14 and we tried our best to care for the kittens, cats we have seen as they were so very skinny. What is keeping me awake at night back in...

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Notices

Poisons: Be aware!

Donations

Donations can be made in kunas or foreign currencies such as euros, pounds, dollars and Swiss francs. Please let us know when you have made a donation, especially if you require an official receipt, as the bank does not always identify donors. All donations, however small, are very welcome.

ECO HVAR BANK DETAILS

Privredna Banka Zagreb d.d.

Poslovnica 220 Pjaca, Pjaca 1

21465 Jelsa, Croatia

IBAN: HR37 2340 0091 1106 0678 6 (Account number)

SWIFT CODE: PBZGHR2X

Account name: ECO HVAR

Account address: Pitve 93, 21465 Jelsa, Croatia

If the payment slip has a box for 'further details' or 'further information' you should enter the Charity's OIB: 14009858487, and state 'donation' or 'donacija'.

Eco Environment News feeds

UK government backs campaign for recycling bases in Pakistan

Scheme will match donations to NGO up to £2m to help reduce ocean plastic pollution
A UK government-backed campaign to build recycling bases in Pakistan could raise millions of pounds to help reduce ocean and river plastic pollution.
Related:'I've never been to school': child waste pickers living on Pakistan's streets | Haroon Janjua
Continue reading...
Food waste bins should be collected weekly, says Michael Gove

Drive to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and cut waste’ could include plastic tax and deposit scheme
Millions of homes could have their food waste bins collected weekly, if new proposals from the environment secretary are implemented in the wake of a government consultation on the UK’s waste system.
Michael Gove’s proposed measures to ensure consistent recycling collections come after a number of councils cut the frequency of collections, leaving residents with overflowing bins.
Continue reading...
Drones and big data: the next frontier in the fight against wildlife extinction

Emerging technologies are a boon for the work of conservation researchers, but not all universities are equipped for them
Technology is playing an increasingly vital role in conservation and ecology research. Drones in particular hold huge potential in the fight to save the world’s remaining wildlife from extinction. With their help, researchers can now track wild animals through dense forests and monitor whales in vast oceans. The World Wildlife Fund for Nature estimates that up to five living species on earth become extinct every day, making it vital that universities develop new technologies to capture the data that can persuade those in power to act.
The British International Education Association and the Born Free Foundation hosted a conference in January to highlight the importance of technological solutions in protecting vulnerable species and ecosystems. Speakers underlined how technology can help conservation efforts: fixed-wing drones can land on water and circle high above the Indian Ocean to spot whales, rays and illegal fishing, while artificial intelligence-enabled infrared cameras are able to identify members of an individual species or human poachers, even through thick environmental cover.
Continue reading...
By poplar demand: the 2019 European Tree of the Year contest – in pictures

Voting is open throughout February for the ninth European Tree of the Year contest, organised by the Environmental Partnership Association and featuring entrants from 15 countries
Continue reading...
Gove urged not to limit bottle deposit scheme to small containers

Environment secretary may target drinks of under 750ml in deposit return scheme
Michael Gove has been urged not to water down plans to give people money back for recycling plastic bottles and cans, after consulting on whether to target small drink containers only.
The environment secretary will confirm on Monday that he is pressing ahead with the new “deposit return” scheme for cans and bottles made of plastic and glass, as well as a tax on some plastic packaging.
Continue reading...
Cooking Sunday roast causes indoor pollution ‘worse than Delhi’

Scientists say roast meal can make household air dirtier than in sixth most polluted city
Cooking a Sunday roast can drive indoor air pollution far above the levels found in the most polluted cities on Earth, scientists have said.
Researchers found that roasting meat and vegetables, and using a gas hob, released a surge of fine particles that could make household air dirtier than that in Delhi.
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Virtual fences, robot workers, stacked crops: farming in 2040

Population growth and climate change mean we need hi-tech to boost crops, says a new report
It is 2040 and Britain’s green and pleasant countryside is populated by robots. We have vertical farms of leafy salads, fruit and vegetables, and livestock is protected by virtual fencing. Changing diets have seen a decline in meat consumption while new biotech production techniques not only help preserve crops but also make them more nutritious.
This is the picture painted in a report from the National Farmers Union which attempts to sketch out what British food and farming will look like in 20 years’ time.
Continue reading...
Florida is drowning. Condos are still being built. Can't humans see the writing on the wall?

People tend to respond to immediate threats and financial consequences – and Florida’s coastal real estate may be on the cusp of delivering that harsh wake-up call
I stood behind a worn shopping center outside of Crystal Springs, Florida, looking for the refuge where a hundred manatees were gathered for winter. I found them clustered in the emerald-colored spring, trying to enjoy a wedge of sunlight and avoid the hordes of people like me, boxing them in on kayaks and tour boats, leering over wooden decks. The nearby canals were lined with expensive homes and docks with jetskis. One manatee breached the water for a breath, and I could see the propeller scar on its back.
2018 was the second deadliest yearon record for manatees. Like many of our coastal species, they’re vulnerable to habitat loss and warming seas, which are more hospitable to algal blooms and red tide. Science has given us the foresight we need to make decisions that will reduce the future suffering of other species and ourselves, but we don’t heed it. Why?
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Could flexitarianism save the planet?

Scientists say a drastic cut in meat consumption is needed, but this requires political will
It has been known for a while that the amount of animal products being eaten is bad for both the welfare of animals and the environment. People cannot consume 12.9bn eggs in the UK each year without breaking a few.
But the extent of the damage, and the amount by which people need to cut back, is now becoming clearer. On Wednesday, the Lancet medical journal published a study that calls for dramatic changes to food production and the human diet, in order to avoid “catastrophic damage to the planet”.
Continue reading...
How Native American tribes are bringing back the bison from brink of extinction

The continent’s largest land mammal plays crucial role in spiritual lives of the tribes
On 5,000 hectares of unploughed prairie in north-eastern Montana, hundreds of wild bison roam once again. But this herd is not in a national park or a protected sanctuary – they are on tribal lands. Belonging to the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of Fort Peck Reservation, the 340 bison is the largest conservation herd in the ongoing bison restoration efforts by North America’s Indigenous people.
The bison – or as Native Americans call them, buffalo – are not just “sustenance,” according to Leroy Little Bear, a professor at the University of Lethbridge and a leader in the bison restoration efforts with the Blood Tribe. The continent’s largest land mammal plays a major role in the spiritual and cultural lives of numerous Native American tribes, an “integrated relationship,” he said.
Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Sepsis: New rapid test 'could save thousands of lives'

Researchers have developed a test that can detect the condition in minutes - instead of up to 72 hours.
Parents of sick babies need more leave, charity says

Parents of sick babies need more paternity and maternity leave, a neonatal charity says.
Short bursts of intense exercise 'better for weight loss'

Researchers suggest bursts of high intensity workouts, like sprinting, are more effective for weight loss.
Most hip and knee replacements 'last longer than thought'

This helps doctors who often struggle to answer questions from patients on how they will last.
Brain function of night owls and larks differ, study suggests

Late risers have poorer attention, slower reactions and increased sleepiness, a study suggests.
A&E waits at worst level for 15 years in England

Nearly 330,000 A&E patients waited for more than four hours last month in England.
'Know your cholesterol like you know your Pin code'

Going for a free health check could flag up early signs of cardiovascular disease, health bodies say.
Chemicals 'repair damaged neurons in mice'

Some early studies in mice suggest drugs can be developed to halt mental decline, say scientists.
Cannabis use in teens linked to depression

Experts link use of the drug in teenage years to cases of depression later in life.
Call the Midwife: BBC in abortion advice row

As Call the Midwife tackles the issue, BBC Action Line users say there is no advice on abortion.

Eco Nature News feeds

Scientists think they know purpose of the cassowary's casque

After 200 years of uncertainty, Australian researchers think they've solved the mystery of the cassowary's casque.
Space travel changes our genes, and NASA's Twin Study proves it

In Twins Study, NASA studies the genetic differences between twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly after Scott's year in space, and get unexpected results.
Snuggling with baby penguins and other perks of being a wildlife photographer

Sue Flood's new book on emperor penguins, 'Emperor: The Perfect Penguin,' is the culmination of 9 years of work.
Golf courses across U.S. step up to save monarch butterflies

Monarchs in the Rough hopes to establish 500 butterfly habitats at various golf courses.
Caretakers work around the clock to save abandoned flamingo chicks

Around 2,000 lesser flamingo chicks were rescued from a dried-out dam in northern South Africa, and are receiving a lot of human care.
Denmark's ski slope (on top of a power plant) welcomes first guests

Copenhagen gains an unusual new landmark in the form of a multitasking waste-to-energy plant designed by Bjarke Ingels Group that functions as a ski slope.
The brightest star in the night sky will go dark

Sirius, the 'dog star,' will go dark for a brief second as an asteroid hurtles in front of it.
10 surprising facts about chimpanzees

Chimpanzees are full of surprises, and those surprises can give us insights into our own behavior and history.
Artist inspired late in life creates swirling, meditative sand labyrinths

Denny Dyke turns his walking meditations into intricate sand labyrinths on the beach in Oregon.
Black panther spotted in Kenya is first sighting in almost a century

A real black panther is spotted in Kenya by a wildlife photographer and researchers. It was the first confirmed sighting of such a big cat in almost 100 years.