Bratislava, Slovakia Species List
Sad Janka Krala & environs, Slovakia 20 - 24 July 2006
Great Cormorant
These birds were quite commonly seen flying along the Danube.
Grey Heron
Only sighted twice in 4 days. Initially a bird was seen flapping distantly from my Sad Janka Krala patch and another flew over whilst we were cruising down the Danube on the way back from Vienna.
Mallard
A fairly commonly seen dabbler that was usually only seen in and around the Danube. All males were in eclipse.
Northern Shoveler
A party of 7 flew overhead whilst I was at my patch.
Common Buzzard
A bird was watched soaring over a patch of Austrian forest from the boat on the way to Vienna.
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Odd birds were seen over Bratislava and Vienna.
Common Kestrel
This falcon was occasionally seen in Bratislava itself and a family party were seen daily on my patch.
Eurasian Hobby
A singleton was watched drifting overhead being mobbed by hirundines at Bratislava airport. Another drifted fairly low overhead at my patch being attacked by a squadron of House Martins. This bird may have been a juvenile because although the moustachial stripe was clearly visible, the underparts were brownish with no clear red 'trousers'.
Ring-necked Pheasant
A male frequented my patch and was heard daily and seen once.
Common Sandpiper
Several were seen along the Danube whilst on the boat to and from Vienna.
Black-headed Gull
This Larid was commonly seen in the vicinity of the Danube.
Yellow-legged Gull
This species was commonly seen patrolling the Danube.
Common Woodpigeon
This was a scarce and shy bird with never more than 3 being seen at any one time. They were normally glimpsed flying through my wooded patch.
Collared Dove
A few were seen in Bratislava. They seemed quite scarce.
Turtle Dove
A few were come across within the woods at my patch. It was nice to hear their purring song again.
Eurasian Swift
This bird was abundant, especially over Bratislava.
Hoopoe
One was briefly seen flying over some trees in my patch heading towards the Danube.
Green Woodpecker
Regularly heard and occasionally glimpsed in the woods of my patch and elsewhere.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Commonly seen in family parties all over the woods.
Barn Swallow
A locally common bird with the c30 I saw on a daily basis being far outnumbered by the House Martins.
House Martin
Numerous and seen throughout the region with large breeding colonies under the bridges spanning the Danube.
Grey Wagtail
A female was flushed from the rocky shores of the Danube.
Black Redstart
A common passerine seen within the city itself as well as in the quieter areas along the Danube and in my patch from where several juveniles were identified.
Song Thrush
These birds were much shyer than their UK cousins. They were usually noted skulking in the undergrowth of the woods in my patch.
Common Blackbird
Fairly commonly seen though shyer than the British birds.
Blackcap
By far and away the most commonly heard warbler in the area with the sound of their song constantly filling the woods. A few were seen.
Icterine Warbler
The only other warbler I saw on this trip - or heard for that matter. Classic cross between an 'Acro' and a 'Phyllosc' it had the 'Hippo' jizz with large pale bill, pale-ish wing panel, yellow below, brownish green above with slate grey legs and feet. Around 3 birds were briefly picked up in the bushes in roughly the same area over a couple days whilst watching other birds.
Spotted Flycatcher
This species turned out to be a frequently seen bird that was often found in family parties.
Pied Flycatcher
A 'female' type was discovered briefly on one day.
Collared Flycatcher
A family party was watched intensely in order to rule out the possibility of Pied Flycatcher. Their general jizz and behaviour resembled the afore-mentioned species, but to my eye the head and mantle were colder brown - more like the ground colour of a Spotted Fly.
The blackish rump, tail and rump were relieved by a greyish wash over the rump, white outer tail feathers and quite a lot of white in the wing. I also noticed the white patch at the top of the folded primaries which is not afeature shared by Pieds.
This party despite flycatching a little, were difficult to focus on as they keep on moving and were often obscured by foliage.
Great Tit
This species was a very common woodland encounter.
Blue Tit
As with the Great Tit, this species was commonly seen.
Willow Tit
A singleton was seen on 2 separate days from the same vicinity.
Long-tailed Tit
Only one pair noted briefly in a shrubby area in my patch.
Eurasian Nuthatch
At least one bird was heard calling loudly in the middle of the woods.
Red-backed Shrike
A pair was watched feeding what seemed to be just one fledgling in a small clearing on the edge of the woods. The stunning male was seen hunting large burrowing wasps on the cycle track that bypassed the clearing.
Interestingly, another full adult male was discovered just yards from the family group. It was not seen to participate in hunting for the family unit and was completely unchallenged by the breeding male. Cooperative breeding occurs in a couple of the genera within the Shrike tribe and a few Lanius including Red-backs (Tony Harris & Kim Franklin 'Shrikes & Bush-Shrikes').
Eurasian Jay
A pair was noted briefly in trees very close to the Danube.
Carrion Crow
A flock of 14 flew overhead after lingering around a tall building on the fringe of my patch. Strangely, this could have been the most interesting sighting as I have rarely (if ever) seen both full Hooded and Carrion Crows in the same vicinity.
Hooded Crow
This crow was a seemingly common if wary resident of Bratislava, especially around the Danube and on my patch. They seemed more rakish in comparison to Carrions and had a different tone to their vocalisations.
Golden Oriole
After initially hearing a snippet of a song for a few seconds on the first day of investigating my patch, I found up to 15 birds for the remaining days flying around the canopies, singing and travelling from one clump of wood to another.
House Sparrow
A locally abundant bird with family groups noted especially along the woodland edges of my patch.
Tree Sparrow
A few were noticed amongst the sparrow flocks.
Chaffinch
A fairly common bird along the woodland edges, though only males were noted.
European Goldfinch
A few were seen flying around.
European Greenfinch
A couple were noted.
European Serin
A couple were glimpsed invariably flying away.
Hawfinch
This beauty was the most commonly seen finch with upwards of 30 birds including juveniles seen daily.
Yellowhammer
A gorgeous male was discovered feeding in short grass near the woodland edge.