Mega flock of 5 million Brambling in Slovenia

Estimating the size of bird flocks is hard enough, as British and Irish birders know when watching a large Starling murmuration such as those at Ham Wall (Somerset), Gretna (Dumfries and Galloway) or Nobber (Co. Meath), all of which have featured prominently on social media in recent weeks.

So spare a thought for Tomaž Mihelič and the other poor Slovene ornithologists of the country’s BirdLife partner, DOPPS attempting to count a roost of Bramblings as it develops in Beech woods along the River Sava, a feeder river of the Danube in Central Europe. A minimum of 2 million birds, but probably as many as 5 million, have descended on an area of about 100 square kilometres, but every night they pack into a patch of trees covering just 5 hectares, a circle about 250 metres in diameter. The exact site of the roost is not being revealed to prevent disturbance but is drawing crowds of locals to watch each evening.

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Huge shipment of illegally killed birds seized in Slovenia

 14/11/2018

Slovenian customs officers have discovered an astonishing 1,349 dead songbirds on a bus heading for Italy, where they were to be eaten in restaurants.

The illegally killed birds included 13 protected species, with 1,028 Red-throated Pipits, 209 White Wagtails, 73 Meadow Pipits, 16 Tree Pipits and 10 Eurasian Skylarks discovered in the 15 boxes seized last month. The vehicle was coming from Romania, and officials have ascertained that they were destined for the Italian black market that distributes such birds to restaurants for use as a 'luxury' dish.

Such dishes are available for a limited time each year – mainly during the autumn migration period – and other species discovered in this latest batch included European Goldfinch, Swallow, European Greenfinch, Common Quail, Willow Warbler, Western Yellow Wagtail, Corn Bunting and Reed Bunting.

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