Brief Nature Watch, Spring 2022

Nature watcher Steve Jones paid a short visit to Hvar in April.

Hvar mongoose Hvar mongoose Photo: Steve Jones

Steve has now moved back to the UK for family reasons, but is still drawn to Hvar and its beautiful natural resources. He plans to visit as often as he can. This is his report from the few days he was on the island in April.

"Nice to be back! A very brief visit to “my old patch” on the island brought in the usual expected sightings. It gave me great pleasure to walk along the airfield and down to the pond, catching what is about, no day ever the same.

Cirl bunting. Photo: Steve Jones

Some birds were singing and setting up territory, so you know if a Cirl Bunting is singing at the bottom of the airfield it will be singing daily from that area, and a further two of them were heard on the way to the pond. Early April is a great time to visit as birds are arriving and setting up territories, while others are passing through to breed elsewhere – 4th April for example I saw a Redstart, only seen twice before on the Island (unlike the Black Redstarts that come in in October for the Winter), this will be clearly moving on.

Before I reached the island I saw several Swallows flying over between Zagreb and Split, and there were good numbers on Hvar over the airfield and around the pond. Some clearly just arriving.

Swallow. Photo: Steve Jones

During the first couple of days the weather turned colder, but there were still quite a few birds to see, including the Wheatear.

Wheatear. Photo: Steve Jones

On Sunday 3rd April 60-70 Yellow Legged Gulls were on the airfield where there was a covering of a heavy of hail appearing like snow. [Weather expert Norman Woolons identified this type of soft hail as 'Graupel'.]

Graupel hail in a Hvar field. Photo: Steve Jones
Yellow-legged gulls. Photo: Steve Jones

At the lower end of the airfield I picked up by call some yellow wagtails, I am thinking about 20 . You get several sub species of yellow wagtail so I group them all in the main species.

Black-headed yellow wagtail. Photo: Steve Jones

Of those I saw, one had a blue head, the other a black head. I saw another species at the pond but could not get a clear enough picture to publish.

Blue-headed yellow wagtail. Photo: Steve Jones

Whilst walking down to the pond saw a Kestrel perched on a tree looking out for prey and also a solitary Corn Bunting.

Kestrel on watch. Photo: Steve Jones

Sardinian warblers, which are resident, were also singing and calling.

Sardinian warbler. Photo: Steve Jones

On 4th April saw my first Whitethroat of the year, two others elsewhere on following days. Sadly I was not quick enough for a picture. Sub Alpine warblers, also recent arrivals, were beginning to sing, I saw them at three locations.

Sub-alpine warbler. Photo: Steve Jones

I had read and been told that Nightingales had already been in for a couple of weeks, so I was really disappointed in not hearing one, particularly when normally there would be three in 'my patch'. Nightingales are rarely seen, but I was lucky enough some time ago to have a regular Nightingale singing on display every morning in the early summer at about 06:30-06:45. Sadly all the pictures I took were looking into bright sunshine, so I have never managed to catch a decent picture of one. However a friendly, rather quizzical blackbird made up for that disappointment!

Blackbird. Photo: Steve Jones

There was a Wood Sandpiper or two at the pond and around but they are very sensitive to sound / movement. A couple of times I saw them fly well before I was at the pond or nearby. However the one day I first of all manged to see one through the short grass and managed a picture. It didn’t fly so I persevered for 30-40 minutes. Another flew in as well. I managed eventually a couple of quite decent pictures and getting to within five or so metres of the bird, obviously delighted.

Wood Sandpiper. Photo: Steve Jones

Last Wednesday I heard my first Cuckoo once again from an area heard in previous years. Sadly can’t get close enough to get a picture or even a sighting and it was only calling sporadically. Finally after visiting my old neighbours in Dol on Thursday, as I was leaving a Hoopoe flew right in front of the car, so I was delighted with that.

Hoopoe. Photo: Frank Verhart
A little mongoose family. Photo: Steve Jones

I saw a Mongoose on three separate occasions, possibly the same one three different times, once standing on its hind legs.

Also whilst out I saw several butterflies on the wing, Orange Tip, Bath White, Wall Brown and both Swallowtail and scare Swallowtail.

While I saw nothing that surprised me but more than happy with all the species picked up. Here's the list, in no special order:

Cirl Bunting
Swallow
Sardinian warbler
Chaffinch
Great tit
Cuckoo
Hoopoe
Blackcap
Hooded crow
Yellow legged gull
Wheatear
Kestrel
Blue tit
Wood sandpiper
Yellow wagtails
Serin
Corn bunting
Sub alpine warbler
Whitethroat
House Martin
Redstart
Greenfinch
Blackbird
Pheasant
Buzzard
Sparrowhawk

Until the next time ……………………."

© Steve Jones, 2022.

Footnote: Steve is sorely missed on Hvar, but we know he will be back as often as he can. In the UK, his birdwatching is very fruitful, and he has many like-minded friends to share his interest with. Shortly after his return, he sent us this picture of a Yellowhammer, a bird he has never seen on Hvar.

Yellowhammer. Photo: Steve Jones
Nalazite se ovdje: Home Novosti iz prirode Brief Nature Watch, Spring 2022

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Exclusive: 110 of 117 bodies of water tested by Environment Agency would fail standards, with levels in fish 322 times the planned limit

    Nearly all rivers, lakes and ponds in England tested for a range of Pfas, known as “forever chemicals”, exceed proposed new safety limits and 85% contain levels at least five times higher, analysis of official data reveals.

    Out of 117 water bodies tested by the Environment Agency for multiple types of Pfas, 110 would fail the safety standard, according to analysis by Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Rivers Trust.

    Continue reading...

  • Scientists say Perito Moreno, which for decades defied trend of glacial retreat, now rapidly losing mass

    One of the few stable glaciers in a warming world, Perito Moreno, in Santa Cruz province, Argentina, is now undergoing a possibly irreversible retreat, scientists say.

    Over the past seven years, it has lost 1.92 sq km (0.74 sq miles) of ice cover and its thickness is decreasing by up to 8 metres (26 ft) a year.

    Continue reading...

  • Worst-case scenario of 4.3C of warming could result in fiftyfold rise in heat-related deaths, researchers say

    More than 30,000 people a year in England and Wales could die from heat-related causes by the 2070s, scientists have warned.

    A new study calculates that heat mortality could rise more than fiftyfold in 50 years because of climate heating. Researchers at UCL and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine compared different potential scenarios, looking at levels of warming, measures to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, regional climatic differences and potential power outages. They also modelled the ageing population.

    Continue reading...

  • Woodland Trust’s 10 nominees from across the country highlight how trees inspire creative minds

    A cedar tree climbed by the Beatles, an oak that may have inspired Virginia Woolf and a lime representing peace in Northern Ireland are among those shortlisted for tree of the year 2025.

    Voting opens on Friday for the Woodland Trust’s annual competition, which aims to celebrate and raise awareness of rare, ancient or at-risk trees across the UK.

    Continue reading...

  • Campaigners say just 5.8% of irreplaceable habitat at publicly owned sites has been fully restored in 10 years

    Forestry England needs to urgently step up its ancient woodland restoration before the irreplaceable habitat is lost for ever, campaigners have said.

    Findings by the campaign group Wild Card suggest that in the 10 most recently assessed years Forestry England, which is in charge of the country’s woodlands, has fully restored just 5.8% (2,484 hectares/6,138 acres) of publicly owned plantations on ancient woodland sites (PAWS).

    Continue reading...

  • Diesel generators allowed to emit 48 times more nitrogen oxides than gas boilers producing same amount of energy

    Air pollution controls in some sectors are much weaker than others, researchers have found.

    A recent study looked at legal requirements for nitrogen oxides. These come from engine exhausts, flues and chimneys and include health-harming nitrogen dioxide. This is a pollutant that many UK cities struggle to control.

    Continue reading...

  • Colossal Bioscience is adding the extinct animal to its revival wishlist, joining the woolly mammoth, dodo and thylacine. But scepticism is growing

    Standing more than three metres (10ft) high, the giant moa is the tallest bird known to have walked on Earth. For thousands of years, the wingless herbivore patrolled New Zealand, feasting on trees and shrubs, until the arrival of humans. Today, records of the enormous animal survive only in Māori oral histories, as well as thousands of discoveries of bone, mummified flesh and the odd feather.

    But this week, the US start-up Colossal Biosciences has announced that the giant moa has joined the woolly mammoth, dodo and thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, on its list of animals that it is trying to bring back from the dead. The announcement has provoked public excitement – and deep scepticism from many experts about whether it is possible to resurrect the bird, which disappeared a century after the arrival of early Polynesian settlers in New Zealand about 600 years ago.

    Continue reading...

  • As the Texas flash flooding risk moved west, the National Weather Service pointed to the effect of burn scars from 2024

    After the extreme rainfall in Texas on 4 July, the flash flooding risk moved to New Mexico, with 89mm (3.5in) of rain falling in the Rio Ruidoso catchment area on Tuesday.

    In the town of Ruidoso, 35 homes were swept away and three people died. The National Weather Service attributed the extreme event to the wildfires that devastated the same area in 2024.

    Continue reading...

  • Abandoned fishing equipment haunts our oceans, killing coral, turtles, sharks and whales. But in Colombia’s Gulf of Tribugá, ‘guardians’ are on call to free entangled marine animals

    After a day of scuba diving, Luis Antonio “Toño” Lloreda was exhausted. Then a friend brought urgent news. “Toño, man, there’s a whale caught in a net out there.” Lloreda, 43, had freed other, smaller wildlife from fishing nets but this would be his first marine animal of such size.

    The four to five metres-long juvenile humpback, accompanied by its mother, had a net studded with hooks wrapped around its fin and mouth. One wrong move could have been fatal for Lloreda or the whale.

    Luis Antonio ‘Toño’ Lloreda holds a photo of the whale he freed from a fishing net

    Continue reading...

  • A €5.5bn project has transformed the Emscher from ‘the sewer of the Ruhr’ to a place where nature is starting to flourish

    Strolling beside the Emscher, the Tyczkowskis say it is the stench that they remember most about the river’s darker days.

    “The whole thing was filthy and it stank terribly,” says the couple, a retired watchmaker and tax adviser in their 80s. Were they ever tempted to take a dip? “No,” they laugh in disgust. “There were other things swimming inside.”

    Continue reading...

Novosti: Cybermed.hr

Novosti: Biologija.com

Izvor nije pronađen