Despite the past winter scenes, the birds are busy looking for and making nests, because it is after all April. I really enjoy the singing and chirping of all the different birds that live here and I am sorry that I have so little knowledge of them. Over the years, I have learned a bit more by looking up birds on the internet that I spotted in the garden or in the woods, but I would really like to learn more about them. Maybe I’ll start doing so one of these days :).

We have a feeding tray hanging from the roof of our terrace, which is eagerly used in winter. It mainly attracts all kinds of tits and finches, but also the occasional greenfinch or nuthatch. Very nice to sit and watch them for a while. We also have two birdhouses in the garden that are “occupied” every year :).

My parents, who live a little higher up in the village, also have a feeding house on their balcony that always attracts a lot of birds. In the past period, they have even seen a falcon on the fence twice! You also see buzzards here a lot, but of course, they do not come to a feeder house :).

Birds that I find very beautiful are the Jays (Šoja). There are a lot of them here. They just don’t seem to be very nice birds because they destroy the nests of other birds. That is why they are sometimes shot here by hunters :(.

A few years ago I heard a very special bird sound in the garden that I had not heard before. In the cherry tree was a little greenish bird, light in color (as far as I could see it) that I did not know. I made a video of it and put it on Facebook at the time to ask if someone could tell me what kind of bird it was. Nobody could give me an answer. That’s why I’ll try again here :). You cannot see the bird in the footage but you can hear the sound. Who knows what kind of bird this is? Please let me know if you know!

A bird that you don’t see too often but that Bine and I have already spotted twice in the forest is the black woodpecker (Črna žolna). It is the largest woodpecker species in Europe and it is, as the name implies, completely black, except for its bright red “hat” on top of its head. Unfortunately, that is not visible in my photo, but as an example, there is a photo from the internet alongside. You can hear his call on the video. Just turn up the sound ;).

The most special bird we have spotted here is the Hoopoe. He was walking around our garden for two years in a row and we had no idea what kind of bird it was at first. Fortunately, Mr. Google told us ;). The Hoopoe, »Smrdokavra« in Slovenian, is a migratory bird that spends the winter in Africa and it has a beautiful large crest that it can raise up. Really nice to see. It is a fairly rare bird that you will not see often so we think it is great that we have already spotted it twice in the garden. Last year we saw a couple just outside the village. This was always in April so at the moment I’m keeping my eyes open again when I am outside or walking around, but so far I have not been able to discover any.

Other great news, the storks are back on their nests as well (see blog 36)! In both nests on the way to Novo mesto we have already seen one a few times. They may still be waiting for their partner. It often arrives a little later :). By the way, it seems that storks are not loyal to each other, but they are loyal to their nest. Hence, couples are often together for a longer period of time. Last year both couples had youngsters so hope that they will again this year. I’m going to keep a close eye on them again ;).