Eco Hvar

April Bird Watch, 2016

Steve Jones from Dol continues his study of the island's birds. Anyone who is seeing or hearing anything of interest in the bird world is invited to contact him at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wheatear Wheatear Photo: Steve Jones

April 8th 2016: As no doubt most have heard, the Nightingale is singing most of the time now.

I saw another new bird for me - Corn Bunting, once again picked up by its call, as one I wasn't familiar with. It has been in for a couple of weeks but I hadn't been close enough to see it.

Corn Bunting. Photo Steve Jones

Went up to Sv Nikola earlier in the week to see what was about, and very disappointing on the bird front. A solitary Kestrel, a Wheatear and a couple of Chaffinches singing but not seen.

Sveti Nikola, the island's highest point. Photo: Vivian Grisogono
10th April 2016: Just got back from a 90 minute wander ............... heard two Cuckoos - so another arrival - and one Hoopoe calling, although saw neither.
Cuckoo, April 28th 2016. Photo: Steve Jones

Also to be added is Linnet - I thought I had been seeing/hearing them for a while, but needed more confirmation, and I managed to get my telescope on one this morning.

14th April 2016: I have been going to appointments in Jelsa all week. I was a little bit early today and went for a stroll - thought I heard Bee-Eaters, wasn't 100% but am pretty confident so you want to keep your eyes peeled. Heard a Cuckoo in Dol yesterday .... still not seen a Swift which is a surprise to me, I suspect they might be making appearances in the UK anytime now.

15th April 2016:  Just came back from Jelsa and had a definite sighting of Bee-Eaters so my hearing was good yesterday.

Bee-eaters. Photo: Steve Jones

Eco Hvar comment: I also saw the bee-eaters in a little flock above one of Jelsa's back roads a couple of days ago. They seem to have arrived right on cue, to judge by past years. Many are having to find new homes, as a large nesting place just opposite the Bagi petrol station on the main road was dug up a couple of years ago, exposing their warren of nesting holes as pitiful relics of the past.

Bee-eaters nesting holes exposed to predators and the elements, April 2015. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

Bee-eaters' nesting holes ruthlessly exposed to predators and the elements, April 2015. Photo: Vivian Grisogono 

21st April 2016: As I barely visit a town for any period of time I am still not hearing/seeing any Swifts. Are they in in Jelsa now? I was in Split yesterday and they are everywhere, I thought I heard one in Stari Grad this morning, maybe they are just arriving. Interesting, as they would only be arriving just about now in UK, For some reason I assumed things would be earlier here.

Eco Hvar comment: Yes, the swifts have arrived in Jelsa, and just today they were extremely busy renovating their nesting places under the eaves of the buildings on the main square. A diligent and co-operative crowd!

Swifts preparing their nests on Jelsa's square, 21st April 2016. Photo Vivian Grisogono

22nd April 2016. Picked up the Nightjar "churring" last night so another recent arrival.

23rd April 2016. Another long awaited  .................. Vuga/Golden Oriole I hear calling this morning and it certainly wasn't yesterday.

Sunday 24th April.2016: Went out for 90 mins or so early this morning, wondering if the low cloud, mist and rain would have any influence on things. It was very quiet, even the singing had gone quiet apart from the dawn chorus - who can blame them?

Keep hearing Cuckoo, but long distances away and not lucky enough to have seen one here. I still wonder what their host bird would be if they breed.

Anyway, as I was driving along the airport road I chanced upon a Woodchat Shrike, all over in a few seconds. I had seen one here on Hvar a couple of years ago on holiday albeit elsewhere on the island.

Woodchat shrike (c.2013). Photo: Steve Jones

Also saw a good number of Swifts in Stari Grad - so interestingly it wouldn’t be much different to UK arrivals.

Eco Hvar: Saturday and Sunday, 23rd and 24th April 2016 have been very rainy, with some thunder and a lot of low-lying clouds. The birds seem to lie low during the heaviest rains, and then emerge in full song as soon as calm is restored. It's quite a contrast to the previous period of hot sunny weather, but welcome refreshment for gardens and fields - also for dust-covered cars.

Rain clouds hanging heavy over Pitve Church. Photo: Vivian Grisogono

© Steve Jones 2016

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 environment articles Nature Watch April Bird Watch, 2016

Eco Environment News feeds

  • ‘Britain’s Yellowstone’: restoration project aims to take the greed out of land acquisition

    Investors in Emblehope Moor will get their financial returns – and then it will be given to community or charity owners

    It is difficult to find the most remote place in England. There is no public transport, no roads and no sign of any human habitation. Online route finders mistakenly direct cars up a grassy track. But miles along gravel forest roads in the far north of Northumberland is the largest contiguous rewilding site under single ownership in the country.

    The vast glacial bowl of 7,500-acre Emblehope Moor has been bought for £8.5m by Restore, a nature restoration company that works with landowners across Britain.

    Continue reading...

  • Air conditioners are our best bet in the fight against extreme heat – whether we like it or not

    Global AC demand will inevitably accelerate as the world continues to warm amid the climate crisis

    The greenest campaigners against climate change have long suffered from a crippling shortcoming: they too often frame the challenge as a problem of excess consumption. This motivates calls to “degrow” the economy and to curb the population. The claim is that humans consume too many resources, which in the context of climate change means too much energy.

    Nowhere has the tension between this proposition and reality become more palpable during this sweltering summer than in the conversation over air conditioning.

    Continue reading...

  • Beekeepers warn of Asian hornet threat and call for UK awareness campaign

    Experts say invasive species are creating ‘pollinator deserts’ and could have serious impact on food security

    British beekeepers have called for a national awareness campaign about the impact of Asian hornets as they warned the invasive species was creating “pollinator deserts” and threatening food security.

    Native to south-east Asia, the yellow-legged hornet is thought to have arrived in Europe in 2004 and has continued to spread ever since, its numbers probably boosted by increasingly warm springs and summers.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: The wild, riotous sounds of otters in battle | Cal Flyn

    Isle of Lismore, Argyll: They skim over the surface like stones, making such a hullabaloo you could hear them a mile away

    I hear them before I see them: a wailing, or something more like ululation. High-pitched, repeated vocalisations that are neither man nor cat, but somewhere in between. I throw open the cabin door, unsure what to look for, and for a moment see nothing new: only the rocky strand and the sweep of dark wrack high above the shoreline.

    The strange, warbling sound comes again. Ai-ai-ai-ai.Not quite screaming, not quite howling, not quite trilling, but all of those things at once.

    Continue reading...

  • Jackdaw gasfield set to be approved by ministers this month, sources say

    Energy secretary could recommend new North Sea drilling next week, as ministers also consider approval for Rosebank oilfield

    Ministers are poised to approve a controversial new gasfield in the North Sea this month, according to government sources, and are considering approving a major oilfield later this year.

    Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, will give her recommendation to approve the Jackdaw field off the coast of Aberdeen as soon as next week, according to people close to the decision, and the formal approval could follow a week after.

    Continue reading...

  • Revealed: how companies ‘secretly’ use billions of litres of public water in drought-hit England

    Exclusive: As millions of people face hosepipe bans, many companies are not required to report, let alone cut, use of public supply

    Less than 1% of businesses in England use more water than the daily needs of 10 million people, as millions of households face hosepipe bans and three-quarters of the country is in drought.

    Businesses across England use 2.6bn litres a day from the public water supply, which includes potable and non-potable water provided by water companies.In total, businesses account for about 30% of public supply use, with two-thirds of their consumption in water-stressed areas, according to Mosl, the organisation that operates England’s business water market.

    Continue reading...

  • What we know about the link between Nepal’s flash floods and our climate crisis

    In this week’s newsletter: The full scale of the disaster is still emerging, but as rescue efforts continue, scientists warn that a warming Himalayas could mean more deadly hazards

    •Don’t get Down to Earth delivered to your inbox? Sign up here

    At 8.37am local time last Wednesday, a huge mass of rock and ice sheared free from a mountain, sliding 1,200 metres to the valley floor in Nepal’s Langtang national park, about 60km north of the country’s capital, Kathmandu.

    Horrifying images and videos soon emerged of a torrent of mud, water and debris that swept down the Lhende Khola valley at speeds approaching 150km/h. Flowing down the Lhende Khola, Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers that run between Tibet and Nepal, the flood water swept away homes, roads, bridges and power plants. Along the Trishuli, water levels rose by as much as nine metres in half an hour. As of the time of writing, the death toll of the disaster approached 1,000 people, with more than 4,400 on both sides of the border missing.

    Continue reading...

  • Possums in the roof, koalas in bed: study shows how animals resort to Australian homes after habitat loss

    Microbats and wombats among the most common species found in buildings, with some discovered in letterboxes or air conditioning systems

    Possums in the roof, bats in the curtains and ducks on the balcony: new research has revealed how native animals are making themselves at home in our houses.

    Researchers have analysed a decade of wildlife rescue reports and found brushtail and ringtail possums make up half of all cases of animals in buildings, followed by microbats and bare-nosed wombats.

    Continue reading...

  • Reform continues to cast doubt on climate science. Do its supporters agree?

    Climate scepticism is common at the Reform party conference, but many also criticise Labour for failing to protect Britons from hot weather

    On the second day of the Reform UK conference, in the wake of an undercover investigation alleging party officials plotted to evade the law on foreign donations, the deputy leader, Richard Tice, addressed the audience. Within minutes, a banner appeared behind him reading: “Collect £5m, burn the planet.”

    It was taken down promptly and Tice, who has repeatedly called on people to enjoy the summer’s five successive heatwaves and record drought, rolled on. As Reform members at the Birmingham venue applauded Tice, there was plenty of agreement with his views. “I enjoyed the heat this summer,” said Jeanette Bowden, of Bexley. “I don’t think people need telling to take care of themselves.” Her partner, James, added, without scientific backing: “Carbon dioxide was much higher in the past, it was 10 times higher than this during the ice ages. It’s not a human problem.”

    Continue reading...

  • Don’t drain the budget: how to save on water heating costs

    It’s one of the easiest ways for households to save money and cut emissions. Australian experts share tips that will have you singing efficiently in the shower

    • Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint

    • Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected]

    Australians love getting into hot water. About 15% have four or more showers a day, while nearly a third say they shower at least twice daily, a national survey by the Water Conservancy finds.

    Most people’s showers last five minutes or more, and one in five will spend between 10 and 15 minutes under the mist, sending up to 135 litres of water down the drain in the process.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

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