Birdwatching report Hvar Island: May - October 2024.

Reading Steve Jones' report earlier this year, keen birdwatcher Tomislav Sjekloća was inspired to check out the Dračevica pond and other parts of Hvar, and we are delighted he has shared his sightings with us.

Blue Rock Thrush near Fortica in Hvar Town Blue Rock Thrush near Fortica in Hvar Town Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

"This was my second Summer working in the city of Hvar and this year I spent much more time exploring Hvar island birds, so I thought I'd share my experiences with you as they might be useful for the readers who are interested in birds. A few days ago I saw a post from the birdwatching couple who visited the island in September, and also another one from Mr. Steve Jones about his report from April/May. Unfortunately, I didn't see his post earlier, but it seems we both visited Dračevica on the same day (May 6th) and even saw some of the same birds (Temminck's Stint, Glossy Ibis etc.). However, Mr. Jones' posts from previous years helped a lot as that was how I discovered Dračevica.

Temminck's Stint among Wood Sandpipers. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

This post is based on about 15 visits to Dračevica and Starogradsko polje (including airport field) but I also visited some other places on the island in different times of the year (Dol, Stari Grad, Jelsa, Fortica, Sveta Nedjelja, Sveti Nikola, Malo Grablje, Motokit, Floriana park etc.). I will include the most interesting details and photos along with the complete list of the birds I managed to see (and confirm) on the island. The total was 65 species but there were some I could hear but didn't see so I didn't include those (such as Scops Owl and Cuckoo).

Squacco Heron and Glossy Ibis. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

Dračevica was definitely more interesting to visit in the Spring when the water level was high. During my first visit to the pond (May 4th) I saw a Glossy Ibis and a Squacco Heron and managed to take a photo with both present. There were also 4 Wood Sandpipers and 3 Turtle Doves.

Turtle Dove. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

Two days later there was a group of 15 Wood Sandpipers wth one Temminck's Stint among them. On the same day I saw a lot of Bee-eaters resting on power lines near the pond.

Bee-Eaters. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

A week later I saw 2 Ruffs at the pond and one European Roller nearby which was my first time seeing this beautiful bird.

Ruffs at Dračevica. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
European Roller. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

On the May 19th there were a Grey Heron and a Little Egret, along with some Alpine Swifts. At the beginning of June I discovered 2 Green Sandpipers at the pond.

Grey Heron at Dračevica. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Little Egret. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Alpine Swifts. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Green Sandpiper. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

Some of the other interesting sightings: Spanish Sparrows in Vorba Park in Stari Grad, Blue Rock Thrush below Fortica in Hvar, Short-toed Snake Eagle in Starogradsko polje during Summer, a flock of Eurasian Spoonbills flying over Jelsa on September 30th, Common Kingfisher at one of the coves in the Floriana Park area...

Spanish Sparrow at Vorba. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Short-Toed Snake Eagle. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Eurasian Spoonbills over Jelsa. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Kingfisher. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Red-Backed Shrike. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Subalpine Warbler. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća
Woodchat Shrike. Photo: Tomislav Sjekloća

The complete list of birds seen on the island between May and October 2024:

  1. Sterna hirundo – Common Tern – Crvenokljuna čigra

  2. Larus michahellis – Yellow-legged Gull – Galeb klaukavac

  3. Corvus cornix – Hodded Crow – Siva vrana

  4. Columba livia – Rock Pigeon – Divlji golub

  5. Streptopelia decaocto – Collared Dove – Gugutka

  6. Turdus merula – Blackbird – Kos

  7. Passer domesticus – House Sparrow – Vrabac

  8. Passer hispaniolensis – Spanish Sparrow – Španjolski vrabac

  9. Oriolus oriolus – Golden Oriole - Vuga

  10. Fringilla coelebs – Common Chaffinch – Zeba

  11. Hirundo rustica – Barn Swallow – Lastavica

  12. Delichon urbicum – House Martin – Piljak

  13. Luscinia megarhynchos – Common Nightingale – Slavuj

  14. Serinus serinus – Serin – Žutarica

  15. Sylvia cantillans – Subalpine Warbler – Bjelobrka grmuša

  16. Ardeola ralloides – Squacco Heron – Žuta čaplja

  17. Plegadis falcinellus – Glossy Ibis – Blistavi ibis

  18. Tringa glareola – Wood Sandpiper – Prutka migavica

  19. Streptopelia turtur – Turtle Dove – Grlica

  20. Emberiza cirlus – Cirl Bunting – Crnogrla strnadica

  21. Phasianus colchicus – Ring-necked Pheasant – fazan

  22. Parus major – Great Tit – Velika sjenica

  23. Lanius senator – Woodchat Shrike – Riđoglavi svračak

  24. Lanius collurio – Red-backed Shrike – Rusi svračak

  25. Calidris temmincki – Temminck's Stint – Sijedi žalar

  26. Apus melba – Alpine Swift – Bijela čiopa

  27. Apus apus – Swift – Crna čiopa

  28. Apus pallidus – Pallid swift – Smeđa čiopa

  29. Merops apiaster – European Bee-eater – Pčelarica

  30. Saxicola rubetra – Whinchat – Smeđoglavi batić

  31. Saxicola rubicola – Stonechat – Crnoglavi batić

  32. Motacilla flava – Yellow Wagtail – Žuta pastirica

  33. Motacilla alba – White Wagtail – Bijela pastirica

  34. Linaria cannabina – Common Linnet – Juričica

  35. Monticola solitarius – Blue Rock Thrush – Modrokos

  36. Chloris chloris – Greenfinch – Zelendur

  37. Calidris pugnax – Ruff – Pršljivac

  38. Coracias garrulus – European Roller – Zlatovrana

  39. Upupa epops – Eurasian Hoopoe – Pupavac

  40. Muscicapa striata – Spotted Flycatcher – Siva muharica

  41. Buteo buteo – Common Buzzard – Škanjac

  42. Accipiter nisus – Eurasian Sparrowhawk – Kobac

  43. Falco tinnunculus – Common Kestrel – Vjetruša

  44. Sylvia atricapilla – Blackcap – Crnokapa grmuša

  45. Sylvia melanoephala – Sardinian Warbler – Crnoglava grmuša

  46. Erithacus rubecula – European Robin – Crvendać

  47. Ardea cinerea – Grey Heron – Siva čaplja

  48. Egretta Garzetta – Little Egret – Mala bijela čaplja

  49. Tringa ochropus – Green Sandpiper – Crnokrila prutka

  50. Gulosis aristotelis – European Shag – Morski vranac

  51. Corvus corax – Raven – Gavran

  52. Circaetus gallicus – Short-toed Snake Eagle – Zmijar

  53. Platalea leucorodia – Eurasian Spoonbill – Žličarka

  54. Phylloscopus trochilus – Willow Warbler – Brezov zviždak

  55. Phylloscopus collybita – Common Chiffchaff – Zviždak

  56. Sylvia communis – Common Whitethroat – Grmuša pjenica

  57. Sturnus vulgaris – Common Starling – Čvorak

  58. Oenanthe oenanthe – Northern Wheatear – Sivkasta bjeloguza

  59. Regulus ignicapilla – Common Firecrest – Vatroglavi kraljić

  60. Alcedo atthis – Common Kingfisher – Vodomar

  61. Phoenicurus ochruros – Black Redstart – Mrka crvenrepka

  62. Lullula arborea – Woodlark – Ševa krunica

  63. Anthus pratensis – Meadow Pipit – Livadna trepteljka

  64. Prunella modularis – Dunnock – Sivi popić

  65. Troglodytes troglodytes – Eurasian Wren – Palčić

© Tomislav Sjekloća, May – October 2024.

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    MARA NORTH CONSERVANCY, Kenya — Under a fading sun, Kenya’s Maasai Mara came alive.

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    © Jon McCormack

    Lions tussle in the tall grass of Mara North Conservancy.

    But elsewhere in Africa, the conservancy model has remained far out of reach.

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    Conservation International wanted to find a way for local communities to start conservancies and strengthen existing ones. Over the next three years, the organization aims to invest millions of dollars in new and emerging conservancies across Southern and East Africa. The funds will be provided as loans, which the conservancies will repay through tourism leases. This financing will jumpstart new conservancies and reinforce those already in place. The approach builds on an initial model that has proven highly effective and popular with local communities.

    “We’re always looking for creative new ways to pay for conservation efforts that last,” Stauch said. “This is really a durable financing mechanism that puts money directly in the pockets of those who live closest to nature — giving them a leg up. And it’s been proven to work in the direst circumstances imaginable.”

    © Will McCarry

    Elijah Toirai explains current conservancy boundaries and potential areas for expansion.

    Creativity from crisis

    In 2020, the entire conservancy model almost collapsed overnight.

    “No one thought that the world could stop in 24 hours,” said Kelvin Alie, senior vice president and acting Africa lead for Conservation International. “But then came the pandemic, and suddenly Kenya is shutting its doors on March 23, 2020. And in the Mara, this steady and very well-rounded model based on safari tourism came to a screeching halt.”

    Tourism operators, who generate the income to pay landowners' leases, found themselves without revenue. Communities faced a difficult choice: replace the lost income by fencing off their lands for grazing, converting it to agriculture, or selling to developers — each of which would have had drastic consequences for the Maasai Mara’s people and wildlife.

    © Will Turner

    A black-backed jackal hunts for prey.

    “But then the nature finance team at Conservation International — these crazy guys — came up with a wild idea,” Alie said. “In just six months they put this entirely new funding model together: loaning money at an affordable rate to the conservancies so that they can continue to pay staff and wildlife rangers.”

    Conservation International and the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association launched the African Conservancies Fund — a rescue package to offset lost revenues for approximately 3,000 people in the area who rely on tourism income. Between December 2020 and December 2022, the fund provided more than US$ 2 million in affordable loans to four conservancies managing 70,000 hectares (170,000 acres).

    The loans enabled families in the Maasai Mara to continue receiving income from their lands to pay for health care, home repairs, school fees and more. And because tourism revenues — not government funding — support wildlife protection in conservancies, this replacement funding ensured wildlife patrols continued normally, with rangers working full time.

    Born out of this emergency, we discovered a new way to do conservation.

    Elijah Toirai

    “The catastrophe of COVID-19 was total for us,” said Benard Leperes, a landowner with Mara North Conservancy and a conservation expert at Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association. “Without Conservation International and the fund, this landscape would have not been secured; the conservancies would have disintegrated as people were forced to sell their land to convert it to agriculture.”

    But it was communities themselves that proved the model might be replicable after the pandemic ended.

    “The conservancies had until 2023 before the first payment was due,” Toirai said. “But as soon as tourism resumed in mid-2021, the communities started paying back the loans. Today, the loans are being repaid way ahead of schedule.”

    “Born out of this emergency, we discovered a new way to do conservation.”

    A new era for conservation

    The high plateaus overlooking the Maasai Mara are home to the very last giant pangolins in Kenya.

    These mammals, armored with distinctive interlocking scales, are highly endangered because of illegal wildlife trade. In Kenya, threats from poaching, deforestation and electric fences meant to deter elephants from crops have caused the species to nearly disappear. Today, scientists believe there could be as few as 30 giant pangolins left in Kenya.

    Conservancies could be crucial to bringing them back. Conservation International has identified opportunities to provide transformative funding for conservancies in this area — a sprawling grassland northwest of Maasai Mara that is the very last pangolin stronghold in the country. The fund will help communities better protect an existing 10,000-hectare (25,000-acre) conservancy and bring an additional 5,000 hectares under protection. It provides a safety net, ensuring a steady income for the communities as the work of expanding the conservancy begins. With a stable income, communities can start work to restore the savanna and remove electric fences that have killed pangolins. And as wildlife move back into the ecosystem, the grasslands will begin to recover.

    In addition to expanding conservancies around Maasai Mara, Conservation International has identified other critical ecosystems where community conservancies can help lift people out poverty, while providing new habitats for wildlife. Conservation International has ambitious plans to restore a critical and highly degraded savanna between Amboseli and Tsavo National Parks in southern Kenya, as well as a swath of savanna outside Kruger National Park in South Africa.

    © Emily Nyrop

    A lone acacia tree in a sea of grass.

    Elephants, fire, Maasai and cattle

    Many of the new and emerging community conservancies have been carefully chosen as key wildlife corridors that would be threatened by overgrazing livestock.

    When the first Maasai Mara conservancies were established in 2009, cattle grazing was prohibited within their boundaries. When poorly managed, cattle can wear grasses down to their roots, triggering topsoil erosion and the loss of nutrients, microbes and biodiversity vital for soil health. It was also believed that tourists would be put off by the sight of livestock mingling with wildlife.

    © Emily Nyrop

    Cattle are closely monitored in the Maasai Mara to prevent overgrazing.

    However, over the years, landowners objected, lamenting the loss of cultural ties to cattle and herding. “That was when we changed tactics,” said Raphael Kereto, the grazing manager for Mara North Conservancy.

    Beginning in 2018, Mara North and other conservancies in the region started adopting livestock grazing practices to restore the savanna. Landowners agreed to periodically move livestock between different pastures, allowing grazed lands to recover and regrow,  mimicking the traditional methods pastoralists have used on these lands for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

    “Initially, there was a worry that maybe herbivores and other wildlife will run away from cattle,” said Kereto. “But we have seen the exact opposite — the wildlife all follow where cattle are grazing. This is because we have a lot of grass, and all the animals follow where there is a lot of grass. We even saw a cheetah with a cub that spent all her time rotating with wildlife.”

    “It's amazing — when we move cattle, the cheetah comes with it.”

    The loans issued by the fund — now called the African Conservancies Facility — will enhance rotational grazing systems, which are practiced differently in each conservancy, by incorporating best practices and lessons from the organization’s Herding for Health program in southern Africa.

    © Will Turner

    An elephant herd stares down a pack of hyenas.

    For landowners like Dickson Kaelo, who was among the pioneers to propose the conservancy model in Kenya, the return of cattle to the ecosystem has restored a natural order.

    “I always wanted to understand how it was that there was so much more wildlife in the conservancies than in Maasai Mara National Reserve,” said Kaelo, who heads the Kenya Wildlife Conservancy Association, based in Nairobi.

    “I went to the communities and asked them this question. They told me savannas were created by elephants, fire and Maasai and cattle, and excluding any one of those is not good for the health of the system. So, I believe in the conservancies — I know that every single month, people go to the bank and they have some money, they haven't lost their culture because they still are cattle keepers, and the land is much healthier, with more grass, more wildlife, and the trees have not been cut.

    “For me, it’s something really beautiful.”


    Further reading:

    Will McCarry is the content director at Conservation International. Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for email updates. Also, please consider supporting our critical work.

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