Medvedce reservoir in February

I visited the Medvedce reservoir near Pragersko (NE Slovenia) yesterday. My plan was to count waterfowl and birds of prey. This site is certainly one of the best for birdwatching in Slovenia, especially between February to December (it is dry in winter). The place has a status of IBA (An Important Bird Area) and it is very suitable for breeding Ferruginous Ducks,  Spotted Crakes, »larger« birds of prey and others. It also has a status of »bottleneck« (just 2 confirmed in Slovenia). Due to its importance there is a monitoring survey carried out in each 10-day period of a year. My last visit is a part of this survey.

                                          Medvedce reservoir

                                          Medvedce reservoir and Boč (978m a.s.l.)

I arrived before sunrise. There was a silence when a female Long-eared Owl started calling few meters above me. Lucky start! Light conditions were improving so I began checking smaller water bodies at first (flooded clay pits). One of those is a roosting place for 40 Great Egrets. While I was walking to the main reservoir I could see many Goosanders flying from their roos site. Nearby fields were flooded (snow melting and raining) and numerous birds were searching food including 1 Greylag Goose, several Mute Swans, Teals, Lapwings. It was rather unusual to see Goldeneye, Tufted Ducks, Cormorant and even a Kingfisher diving in the middle of a flooded corn field!

                                          Flooded fields and Lapwing

The reservoir held good numbers of ducks for this time of year (also first migrants). Around 2000 Mallards, very numerous Teals (all together 400+ which is a record number!), 15 Pintails, 10 Wigeons, 3 Gadwalls, Tufted Ducks, Pochards… There was also a small raft of 11 Coots (migrating birds), 13 Greylag Geese and 2 White-fronted Geese. Many Caspian Gulls, several Yellow-legged and 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull. An adult White-tailed Eagle also did some panic in ducks and herons - as usual.

                                          Teals

                                          White-tailed Eagle

Some other species: Great Grey Shrike, Fieldfares, Green Woodpecker, nesting Raven, Siskins are almost in every Black Alder, Water Pipits, Skylarks, Reed Buntings …

                                          Siskin feeding with Black Alder

This was an excellent day with nice weather and good visibility, so I enjoyed a lot!

                                          Medvedce reservoir and Pohorje (1543m a.s.l.) covered with snow