28.7-10.8.2019: Linnets and Sparrowhawks

Everything has quietened down on the patch these last few weeks as the summer lull sets in. This is almost the only sign of summer, however, with dull and rainy days the norm since July.

Nonetheless, a few surprises since the last post. The open ground where I saw the woodlarks last month has offered up more excitement, with a pair of linnets apparently resident there together with a few white wagtails.

These are fairly common birds around the city and I have long expected a couple to turn up at some point, but it is still great to finally see them. This open ground is seething with butterflies, moths and grasshoppers and has become one of my favourite parts of the patch, especially when the sun finally comes out and sets all the crickets to singing. It also seems to be the only spot on the patch where stonechats have bred this year, with at least one juvenile spotted this morning.

Sparrowhawks have also come back to the patch, with three turning up last week to bully the buzzard and some kestrels.

The most visible of the three is a largish female who is hunting and hanging around all over Rači Potok, followed almost constantly by mobbing jays.

On Thursday she seemed to follow me around the patch, striking four times nearby me, almost as if she was using me to flush out prey.

She’s a big beast, resembling a goshawk a little in that flight shot, and it makes me wonder if she is possibly the same female who I used to see almost everyday a couple of winters back. She hunts in the same style as that beauty, but I don’t think she is quite as big as the old bird which was approaching buzzard-size.

Also reappearing on the patch are a small group of serin, birds which I see every day in the city but less often on the patch.

Lots of red-backed shrike juveniles popping up, presumably fledged on the patch but heavens knows where. The only confirmed breeding I’ve seen was again in my new hot spot by the mine where five juveniles were sticking close to their parents.

Juvenile yellowhammers also showing up in the past week or so.

Only the youngest of the moorhen juveniles is still visible, with the older siblings presumably (hopefully) becoming more reclusive as they mature. This youngster was even climbing a tree this week; frankly, she is much more elegant in the water.

Sadly I haven’t found my target bird of the summer, a juvenile cuckoo. Perhaps it is just not such a good habitat for young cuckoos and they fly off as soon as they fledge? Or perhaps they are still waiting to fledge in a marsh warbler nest? Sadly I will be away for the next couple of weeks so no chance to test that second hypothesis.

Still checking every great spotted woodpecker to see if it isn’t a Syrian woodpecker, but no luck yet. I know that there are Syrians in the parks near my flat, but I haven’t been lucky enough to see them during my dog walking activities.

Lots of whitethroats of both types floating around, and blackcaps more vocal than they have been so far this year. Lots of nightingales still on the patch too. Not so easy to spot these little birds visually, so I was lucky to get this shot of a lesser whitethroat this week.

Also a lot of very nice butterflies in the surviving meadow patches, including this pretty beaten-up lesser purple emperor. I think the second one might be a Pallas’s fritillary, with Slovakia being the Western edge of its range, but I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert here.

And a lot of young mammals running around; hares, foxes and wild boar.

Definitely a quieter period on the patch, so I might not miss too much during my two weeks away; already can’t wait to find out what’s waiting for me when I get back.