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Don` t wake me up

02.05.2009

I helped rare species in Nature Park Goričko

Spring is the season for bird migration, so during my training in April many of the tasks dealed with birds. Therefore I will concentrate on flying creatures in this article. Previously I was talking about the storks, so it is natural to continue with them.

One day when we were driving with a colleague Gregor back to the office, he stopped the car and pointed up to somewhere, where it seemed like a stork nest. But there was something weird. We stepped out of the car and were looking through the binoculars. “What is it up there; it is not a dead stork?” “No! Certainly not. It looks messy, like a plastic or I don't know … a turtle?!” Because this was hardly the correct answer, Gregor decided to inquire more information from the house across the street. After a long and colourful explanation I got the translation: a White stork couple was already nesting in this nest, when another couple came and they started to fight for the nest. The birds were unable to find a solution that would have satisfied both sides. As a result they decided to destroy the whole nest – if I can't have it, you can't have it either. This seemed already close to human behaviour, because there was another stand waiting for a new nest very close to the first one. In this case the colour of the bird wasn't for peace.

In Nature Park Goričko bird monitoring includes the survey of the birds. I was lucky to take part on the survey of the Little Owl (Athene noctua), one of the most endangered species in Goričko. This was my first time on this kind of survey so I was very excited to see how it would work in practice. The first night began with a meeting, where the troop was divided to three divisions each with own area. When the night went on and the darkness landed, it was time to get into action. With an air photo of the area the potential places for the Little Owl were found and reached with a vehicle. We stopped, listened, played the cd with a Little Owl’s call, and listened for a response. This was approximately every 1 km. In the night one’s senses get more alerted than in daylight. In the silence you hear a deer in the bushes very near, other night bird singing, the echo of the owl circling around the hills ... And of course the dogs. They knew something was going on, and when one dog started to bark, the neighbours answered and the chain went forward. But still the voices that were disturbing the survey were human made: cars going past, train, aeroplane, even one greenhouse made it almost impossible to hear the owls. Although I must admit that we were quite a sight as well: we could only guess what the driver who slowed down was thinking when he drove past a dark car on the field with open doors, two still persons outside and an owl calling loudly in the silence. It was easy also for my own imagination to get carried away. On one point the scene was perfect for a horror film. Moon shining through an old tree, air still, unidentified roar from the forest nearby (monster dear?). And it didn’t make it any better when Gregor said “guess what the number of this survey point is? 13.” Unfortunately the result of the surveys were alerting for the Little Owl: only a few answers. But it is still not known if the Little Own recognises the sound coming from a cd and just not being bothered to answer.

As we are in the mood let’s stay in the stirring atmosphere. In the cellars of the Grad, under Nature Park Goričko’s offices, there is a home of some other night creatures, bats. I visited the cellars once before escorted, and managed to squeeze myself for another visit with Kristjan and Tonček, who were installing a cable for an infrared camera. This camera would show the lives of the bats 24 hours live. As we entered, Kristjan went ahead. “This is interesting, they’re moving”, we heard from him. Right, the last time they were sleeping and I was prepared to see them again hanging from the ceiling, peacefully. “Come quickly, there flying around!” Ok. I must admit that I was just a little startled in the beginning. In the pitch-black cellar with a flashlight hearing the bats flapping their wings and flying just 20 cm from my head. But then I was advised not to make sudden moves in case the bat had decided to move to the same direction. In the end it was very agreeable to see the bats again literally face to face. Has somebody made a research if the bat can pretend being asleep although awake? I wouldn’t open my eyes if someone would stare at me upside down.

Now back to the sunlight, it is more agreeable way to finish the story. One of the Nature Park Goričko`s project is to have the European roller (Coracias garrulous), also a rare species in Central Europe, returning to Slovenia. This is made by making the living conditions more agreeable by putting up the hunting stands and nest boxes for the birds. Turnkey houses attracts also some other more common birds, which are meant to lay they eggs elsewhere. For this reason the boxes were closed during the winter and early spring. And in April there is just a right time to open the holes in nest boxes again. I had the possibility to participate to this task. It was pleasing to see that recycling was also considered in finishing the boxes: I noticed an old cd cover and a jar lid used as a ‘door’. The boxes were near fields and brooks and telephone lines, places liked by rollers, and during these days we also observed and indentified other signs of spring in the nature, butterflies, plants and flowers, made stops to photograph birds etc. It was superb to notice that one doesn’t need extreme experiences to reach an almost perfect moment of happiness: it is enough to walk on a field with people who are on a same mission. Although I can speak only for myself (Goran was the one carrying the ladders, I had only light tools) for me it felt that we all shared similar values. Doing something to help the smaller beings in the nature.

Anna-Maria Holmstedt from Finnland

Installing the cable	Who sleeps there?	High up on the black alder
High up on the spruce	Me, opening the nest box for the roller	Tall trunk orchards in spring