Results of an expedition to Tuzlovsky Limans in June 2009

From 24-27 June 2009 the expedition surveyed Tuzlovsky Limans (the south of Odessa region). The aim was to reveal breeding sites of Charadriifromes and count their numbers. At the same time there were counted other bird species including raptors. The expedition was participated by Konstantin Redinov (the city of Ochakov), Pavel Panchenko (the city of Odessa), and Oleg Formanyuk (the city of Yuzhny).

The territory was ridden by a car ‘Moskvich’. The primary plan was to follow the shoreline of waterbodies following from the north to south, namely from the village of Lebedivka to lower reaches of Sasyk Lake. However, due to lack of fuel we had to change the foreseen route, and from the village of Zhovtyi Yar we went to a refueling station in the city of Tatarbunary (there wasn’t any refueling station in the villages near limans). Thus, we found ourselves in lower reaches of the Kogylnyk river valley and stayed there for the night. After that we continued our trip. From the place of our night shelter we reached the southern part of Shagany Lake and then following the shoreline of this liman and Karachaus Liman we came to the village of Zhovtyi Yar.

It was investigated 90% of coastal area of Tuzlovsky Limans. The areas along the shore of lakes with lack of roads were non-covered. We did not visit Lebedivska Spit that separates limans from the sea. According to I.P.Gerzhik (2000) about 12 pairs of Common Kestrel breed on this spit annually.

Among birds of prey the following species were recorded.

Montagu’s Harrier. Two-year-old male was recorded 26.06 near the village of Balabanka.
Marsh Harrier. The species is scanty on Tuzlovsky Limans because of lack of breeding habitats, only 4 pairs were counted.
Short-toed Eagle. 2 individuals were recorded on 25.06 and 26.06 in a valley of the Kogylnik River, between the villages of Novooleksiivka and Bilolissia.
Saker Falcon. One falcon was observed 25.06 to the east of the village of Zhovtyi Yar above the shore of Khadzhider Liman, another (26.06) – on a pole of the power line to the north-east of the same village. Places of these birds registration were about 3 km apart.
Hobby Falcon. In a coastal zone of Tuzla Liman on 115 km of the route it was counted 4 pairs, 2 nests were found, in both birds incubated clutches (in the inspected nests there were three eggs). Hobby Falcons occupied nests of Hooded Crows in forest plantations on the liman shores. V.I.Pilyuga (2000) in 1998 counted 7 pairs of Hobby Falcons in this area.
Red-footed Falcon. In a coastal zone of Tuzla Liman on 115 km of the route it was counted only 2 pairs. Other 4-5 pairs were recorded along the road Zhovtyi Yar-Tatrbunary. It should be noted that for Tuzlovsky Limans V.I.Pilyuga (2000) gives the amount of 60 pairs according to the counts of 1998.
A large colony of Red-footed Falcons situated in the lower reaches of the Kogylnik river, near the village of Bilolissia, we were informed by an ornithologist of the Danube Biosphere Reserve Maxim Yakovlev. In the colony we counted 80 pairs of Red-footed Falcon, nested in an abandoned colony of Rook. A part of birds had downy chicks, but most of nests contained clutches of 3-4 eggs. It was an interesting find of the Red-footed Falcon’s nests (25.06), which fell down the tree from the height of about 3.5 m 1-2 days before our arrival. In the nest there were 4 alive and fell-fed downy chicks of 6-8 days age. We fixed the nest at the height about 1.5 on the same tree, the following day adults continued to feed chicks. As for other areas we did not met any Red-footed Falcons there.
Common Kestrel. In a coastal zone of Tuzla Liman on 115 km of the route it was counted 41 pairs (1 pair per 2.8 km). Areas of high numbers: western coast of Karachaus Lake (11 pairs on 11 km) and the western shore of Alibei Lake (6 pair on 8.5 km). Birds bred in cliffs and forest plantations (mostly in nests of Hooded Crow). Most pairs already had fledglings. V.I. Pilyuga (2000) counted 39 pairs of Common Kestrel in 1998 in this area.
Scops Owl. Single displaying birds were heard in a forest plantation in the vicinity of the village of Bilossia (25.06) and in Lebedivsky Forest (26.06) near the village of Lebedivka (26.06).
Long-eared Owl. The bird sitting in a crow’s nest was observed in Lebedivsky Forest on 26.06.
Little Owl. There is an interesting fact of breeding birds in a natural habitat far away of any artificial constructions. A brood of Little Owls was observed 26.06 on bushes above precipitous western coast of Karachaus Liman.

Konstantin Redinov (Ochakov City), Pavel Panchenko (Odessa City), Oleg Formanyuk (Yushny City)

Reference

Gerzhik, I.P. 2000 Breeding birds of Tuzlovskaya Spit. Branta (the Transactions of the Azov-Black Sea Ornithological Station): 3:7-12 [in Russian]

Pilyuga, V.I. 2000. Lake system Shagany-Alibei-Burnas. In: Siokin et al. Numbers and distribution of waterbirds in wetlands of the Azov-Black Sea region. Kyiv, pp. 52-65. [in Russian]


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