Eco Hvar

Birds and Insects Autumn-Winter 2015

Reports from Dol, many thanks Steve!

Kestrel, Jelsa Kestrel, Jelsa Photo: Michael Southall

My bird watching sadly has been rather limited this year, the intention is to make more detailed notes in 2016 - or just wishful thinking.

I had a friend came over in September for a week and I think he listed 29 species in that time excluding Bee-eaters which had gone by then. Saw my last Swift on 27th October, two months later than we would have in the UK. My friend specialises in Moths and set up a couple of traps in my garden for a week. He was delighted with the quantity and species. Probably about 200 different species which I have pictures of - unfortunately I am not knowledgeable enough to identify any.

Humming-bird hawk moth.

The humming-bird hawk moth is spectacular in flight, and safely inconspicuous when at rest.

 
Humming-bird hawkmoth. Photo Michael Southall

I erected a bird table about three months ago and was rather disappointed by the lack of interest in it. However in the last three weeks it has been a source of food for about 10 Blue Tits / some Great Tits and a Robin.  There clearly is enough natural food for several other species.

Blue-tit at the bird table. Photo Steve Jones

Blackcaps are feeding on pomegranate tree nearby, the occasional Wren pops into the garden and numerous Chaffinch feed off the ground in a neighbours field. Sova Usara calls regularly but seeing it is a little more difficult although some super views in August on an old ruin next door. Saw a male and female Cirl Bunting on some Blackberry bushes nearby on Monday/Tuesday this week.

Last week was seeing Black Redstart/Redstart ( I thought Redstart but two friends think Black Redstart so we will go with them - it is a female and they are both pretty similar). It sort of makes sense as I was positive I saw a male on roof briefly the other week.

redstart
Redstart. Photo Steve Jones

I had two or three trips to the airfield in the summer/late summer and found a few species there. Managed to get a reasonable picture of a young Golden Plover which was a surprise to me. Having seen them in flocks on Dartmoor in the Winter, I have never seen one solitary bird. I also saw Yellow Wagtails. There was a solitary Heron at the small pond near the airport, but I was expecting more, as it is the only source of water I know of. Blue Rock Thrush nested nearby which solved a problem I had had for a while, I was familiar with the call over several years, but hadn't managed to tie it up to the bird until now. Also Nightjars were heard most evenings.

Olive picking yielded an unexpected treasure

A great find whilst picking Olives: this caterpillar, which I estimate to be about 10cm long X 1cm wide, later becomes the deathshead hawkmoth ( I didn't know that, but am reliably informed - a fantastic sight and so well camouflaged).

Deathshead Hawkmoth caterpillar. Photo Steve Jones

I will endeavour to detail more next year - you mentioned hearing a Cuckoo on April 24th, which is interesting, as that is around the same time that they reach Dartmoor. There has been an interesting project in the UK for the past 3 years now, involving radio tagging cuckoos to track their progress and whereabouts. Really fascinating. I am wondering whether or not they actually breed here, or just pass through. And what is their host bird if they breed here?

Steve, Dol, December 19th 2015

I have been a bit disappointed by the lack of birds in the winter, I was expecting far more, but pleased my bird table is attracting some of the more common speicies. Did see four Buzzards conveniently perched on four pylons on my way into Stari Grad this morning.

Steve, Dol, December 23rd 2015

I went off bird watching early Xmas morning  - over to the airfield and the pond nearby.

Pied wagtail, December 25th 2015. Photo Steve Jones

Saw the usual Heron and 2 Pied Wagtail.

Heron, 28th December 2015. Photo Steve Jones

Saw several flocks of Chaffinch in trees (overnight roosts perhaps) between there and Stari Grad. Up to 60 or so on one tree and a couple of instances of similar driving back to Dol.

Flock of goldfinch in flight. Photo Steve Jones

Another pair of Cirl Buntings down near the electricity sub-station at Stari Grad. Several Buzzards but all too distant to get decent pictures. I have noticed Great Tits in the last two days are actually calling now.

Steve, Dol, December 27th 2015

For more of Steve's beautiful nature pictures, see his personal pages: Bird Pictures on Hvar 2017, and Butterflies of Hvar

Related items

back to top
You are here: Home Nature Watch Birds and Insects Autumn-Winter 2015

Eco Environment News feeds

  • The lithium boom: could a disused quarry bring riches to Cornwall?

    Known as ‘white gold’, lithium is among the most important mined elements on the planet – ideal for the rechargeable batteries used in tech products. Can Europe’s largest deposit bring prosperity to the local community?

    It looks more like the past than the future. A vast chasm scooped out of a scarred landscape, this is a Cornwall the summer holidaymakers don’t see: a former china clay pit near St Austell called Trelavour. I’m standing at the edge of the pit looking down with the man who says his plans for it will help the UK’s transition to renewable energy and bring back year-round jobs and prosperity to a part of the country that badly needs both. “And if I manage to make some money in the process, fantastic,” he says. “Though that is not what it’s about.”

    We’ll return to him shortly. But first to the past, when this story begins, about 275-280m years ago. “There was a continental collision at the time,” Frances Wall, professor of applied mineralogy at the Camborne School of Mines at the University of Exeter, explained to me before my visit. This collision caused the bottom of the Earth’s crust to melt, with the molten material rising higher in the crust and forming granite. “There are lots of different types of granite that intrude at different times, more than 10m years or so,” she says. “The rock is made of minerals and, if you’ve got the right composition in the original material and the right conditions, then within those minerals there are some called mica. Some of those micas contain lithium.”

    Continue reading...

  • Wildlife photographer of the year – people’s choice 2026

    A shortlist of 24 images has been selected for the wildlife photographer of the year people’s choice award. You can vote for your favourite image online. The winner will be announced on 25 March and shown from that date as part of the overall wildlife photographer of the year exhibition, which runs until 12 July at the Natural History Museum in London

    Continue reading...

  • Up to half of coarse sediments on UK urban beaches may be human-made, study suggests

    Researchers say waste dumping and climate breakdown have contributed to rise in brick, concrete and glass on beaches

    As much as half of some British beaches’ coarse sediments may consist of human-made materials such as brick, concrete, glass and industrial waste, a study has suggested.

    Climate breakdown, which has caused more frequent and destructive coastal storms, has led to an increase in these substances on beaches. Six sites on the Firth of Forth, an estuary on Scotland’s east coast joining the River Forth to the North Sea, were surveyed to better understand the makeup of “urban beaches”.

    Continue reading...

  • Feeling chirpy: how listening to birdsong can boost your wellbeing

    Paying attention to the calls of our avian neighbours can reduce stress, find scientists in Germany

    Feeling stressed? Try a dose of birdsong to lift the spirits. A new study shows that paying attention to the treetop melodies of our feathered friends can boost wellbeing and bring down stress levels.

    Previous research has shown that people feel better in bird-rich environments, but Christoph Randler, from the University of Tübingen, and colleagues wanted to see if that warm fuzzy feeling translated into measurable physiological changes. They rigged up a park with loudspeakers playing the songs of rare birds and measured the blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol levels (a marker of stress) of volunteers before and after taking a 30-minute walk through the park. Some volunteers experienced the birdsong-enriched environment, some heard just natural birdsong, and some wore noise-cancelling headphones and heard no birdsong. Half of the recruits were asked to pay attention to the birdsong.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: Hay stocks are running low – this is the long tail of last year’s drought | Nicola Chester

    Inkpen, Berkshire: We’re paying the price now for a poor grass harvest, and the concern is that it isn’t a one-off bad year

    At this point in the year, when the growing season seems so far away, last summer’s hay harvest is most remembered, sometimes rued. The hottest summer followed the driest spring in over 100 years in southern England. And although making hay while the sun shines is genuinely crucial, rain is critical to growth. Last year produced a very poor harvest, and hay is now running out.

    Traditionally, two cuts are made, in late spring and summer, doubling the yield. It’s an ancient, ingenious and hopeful system, and in the case of meadow hay (rather than single-species ryegrass) it benefits nature, removing nutrient‑laden grass and encouraging biodiversity. But long-term studies show that as our weather patterns change, grass-growing potential has declined greatly over the last 80 years.

    Continue reading...

  • Environmentalists decry ‘crushingly disappointing’ Pfas action plan for UK

    Ministers’ proposals to tackle ‘forever chemicals’ fail to match tougher stance taken in Europe, say experts

    Environmental campaigners have criticised a “crushingly disappointing” UK government plan to tackle “forever chemicals”, which they warn risks locking in decades of avoidable harm to people and the environment.

    The government said its Pfas action plan set out a “clear framework” of “coordinated action … to understand where these chemicals are coming from, how they spread and how to reduce public and environmental exposure”.

    Continue reading...

  • Plan to allow fishing around Chagos Islands alarms conservationists

    Chagossian people would be allowed to fish in area that has teemed with life since ban was introduced in 2010

    One of the most precious marine reserves in the world, home to sharks, turtles and rare tropical fish, will be opened to some fishing for the first time in 16 years under the UK government’s dealto hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.

    Allowing non-commercial fishing in the marine protected area (MPA) is seen as an essential part of the Chagossian people’s return to the islands, as the community previously relied on fishing as their main livelihood. But some conservationists have raised the alarm, as nature has thrived in the waters of the Indian Ocean since it was protected from fishing.

    Continue reading...

  • Landslides on one side, floods on the other: the Costa Rican village desperate to escape the climate crisis

    With government action stalled and living in ‘inhumane’ conditions, families in San José are making plans to relocate

    In Emilio Peña Delgado’s home, several photos hang on the wall. One shows him standing in front of a statue with his wife and oldest son in the centre of San José and smiling. In another, his two sons sit in front of caricatures from the film Cars. For him, the photos capture moments of joy that feel distant when he returns home to La Carpio, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Costa Rica’s capital.

    Delgado migrated with his family from Nicaragua to Costa Rica when he was 10, as his parents sought greater stability. When he started a family of his own, his greatest hope was to give his children the security he had lacked. But now, that hope is often interrupted by the threat of extreme weather events.

    Continue reading...

  • From Dorset to the world: wave of donations helps to secure Cerne giant’s home

    Support from more than 20 countries propels National Trust to its target to protect chalk figure and local wildlife

    It feels like a very British monument: a huge chalk figure carved into a steep Dorset hillside that for centuries has intrigued lovers of English folklore and legend. But an appeal to raise money to help protect the Cerne giant – and the wildlife that shares the landscape it towers over – has shown that its allure stretches far beyond the UK.

    Donations have flooded in from more than 20 countries including Australia, Japan and Iceland, and on Tuesday, the National Trust confirmed it had reached its fundraising target to buy land around the giant.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Nothing is sacred to them’: the race to save rare plants as Russian troops advance

    With some of Ukraine’s most valuable biodiversity sites and science facilities under occupation, experts at Sofiyivka Park in Uman are struggling to preserve the country’s natural history

    In the basement laboratory of the National Dendrological Park Sofiyivka, Larisa Kolder tends to dozens of specimens of Moehringia hypanicabetween power outages. Just months earlier, she and her team at this microclonal plant propagation laboratory in Uman, Ukraine, received 23 seeds of the rare flower.

    Listed as threatened in Ukraine’s Red Book of endangered species, Moehringiagrows nowhere else in the wild but the Mykolaiv region of Ukraine. Of those 23 seeds, only two grew into plants that Kolder and her colleagues could clone in their laboratory, but now her lab is home to a small grove of Moehringiaseedlings, including 80 that have put down roots in a small but vital win for biodiversity conservation amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.