Tag Archives: 2012

Species conservation, FFH, Reptilien

Coronella austriaca – smooth snake

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After photographs of the Common Adder (vipera berus) we have now documented another snake in the Urseetal: The Smooth snake. This snake preferes sunlit habitats we actually find on the northern part of the Urseetal after the devasting “Lothar” storm in 1999. The snake’s presence might force the Fürstenberg’s Forest administration to reconsider the replanting of common spruce in that part of the Urseetal since the Smooth snake is considered endangered and has found entry into the FFH list of the European Union as especially protected.

At 860 m above sea level the finding would normally be fairly high, but in the Black Forest these snakes live up to 1100 m above sea level.

Schlingnatter_IMGP8283_
Smooth Snake – Coronelle austriaca – 2012-07-24 Urseetal

Update

At the 9.August 2012 additional pictures were taken (the aminaml shown here is about 35 t0 40 cm long:

Coronella austriaca - 20120809
Coronella austriaca – 20120809
Smooth snake - Coronella austriaca - 20120809 - Ch. Kleine (enlarge by clicking on the image)
Smooth snake – Coronella austriaca – 20120809 – Ch. Kleine (enlarge by clicking on the image)
Fauna, Red list, Vögel

A rare visitor

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Great Grey Shrike 24-Jan-2012 in the Urseetal
Great Grey Shrike 24-Jan-2012 in the Urseetal

This blackbird-sized bird could be taken as picture from about 50 m distance. Remarcable the long black tail: A shrike, but not the red-backed shrike which we have observed already in Urseetal, but the extreme rare Great Grey Shrike with not mor than 30 breeding pairs in Baden-Württemberg in 2004. All other shrikes are migratory which facilitates identification. Dieser Amsel-große Vogel ließ sich heute aus 50 m Entfernung fotographieren. For further information we add the Red List entry (Kursiv und grau : Angaben aus der Legende der Roten Liste; Quelle: http://www.fachdokumente.lubw.baden-wuerttemberg.de/servlet/is/50139/rote_liste_brutvogelarten.pdf)

(Extract from the Red List of Breeders in Baden-Württemberg 2004)

Lanius excubitor Linnaeus, 1758 – Raubwürger (Grauwürger)

Status: I (Regelmäßig brütende heimische Vogelarten)

Gefährdungsstatus: 1 (vom Aussterben bedroht)

Brutbestand in Deutschland:1.800-2.500

Brutbestand in Baden-Württemberg: 20-30

Internationale Schutzrelevanz: SPEC 3 (Arten mit negativer Bestandsentwicklung bzw. ungünstigem Erhaltungszustand in Europa,

die aber nicht auf Europa konzentriert sind.)

Verantwortung Baden-Württembergs (Anteil am Brutbestand von Deutschland): etwa 1 %

Bestandsentwicklung: Trend –2 (Bestandsabnahme > 50 %)

Einstufung: a1 (sehr starke Bestandsabnahme (> 50 %) oder sehr starker Arealverlust

(1) sehr selten (< 100 BP d.h. Brutpaare) oder an wenigen Stellen (1-3 bei Koloniebrütern,

< 10 bei Einzelbrütern)

Gefährdungsursachen: Lebensraumverlust: Ausräumung und Zerstörung kleinflächig bewirtschafteter

Kulturlandschaft einschließlich der Streuobstgürtel; Zerstückelung des Lebensraumes

durch Feldwege- und Straßenbau; Zunahme von Störungen; Anwendung von Bioziden.

Notwendige Schutzmaßnahmen: Erhaltung großflächiger, extensiv genutzter Landschaften,

insbesondere mit Streuobstgebieten, Steinriegelhecken, Heiden und Flachmooren, Erhaltung

von Ödland- und Bracheflächen, keine Aufforstung von Wiesen-, Ödland-, Brache- und Niedermoorgebieten;

Reduzierung der Anwendung von Bioziden in der freien Landschaft; keine

weitere Erschließung der freien Landschaft mit befestigten Feldwegen.

We are very much pleased beeing able to document this rare bird and hope very much to find it back later.

ps: We have reported the finding to the Haus der Natur (Feldberg) and to the ornithological Society of Baden-Württemberg.

In general, Species conservation, Fauna, Lepidoptera - Schmetterlinge, Red list

At the end of the year

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Dear Friends of the Urseetal!

At the end of this year it is worth to remind us what has happened in the last year: Due to the Kulturlandschaftsprojekt the public attention got directed to the Urseetal and its richness. The spruces of highmoor got mostly removed and the landscape opened, which now enables a better view from older vierpoints and very new ones. It has been a especially rich butterfly year till the 15th of july, when the maedows got cut and the richness was much reduced, the cold time after 20th of july added to the lack of further butterfly observations.

Our findings from earlier years have been attached to the public butterfly internet page at schmetterlinge-bw.de and complete observation by others. In August and then till November we started to observe locust, got a bit familiar with their songs and varieties. These observations will be extended in the years to come.

Any fifth butterfly we took a picture from is on the Red List of endangered species, i.e. some 10 endagered species. In addition several species had been added to the 111-species-basket of the LUBW (Institute for Environment, Measurements and Nature Protection of the State of Baden-Württemberg) and are thus in the focus of general and bureaucratic attention and financial sponsorship. Somewhereelse, a single species in this 111-species-basket lead to activities, here in Lenzkirch, these butterflies as well as several birds and snakes didnot open any special action. Well, not everywhere a natural reserve and a Kulturlandschaftsprojekt are present.

In the year to come we would like to promote butterfly protection outside the natural reserve. For this reasong the responsible man in the county has already been addressed. We would like to bring together farmers and nature and natural protection activists to develop some areas as retreat when the meadows are cut, we would further propose to cut the meadows not at once but due to some intelligent plan which would leave some larvae and imago habitats at each time. We would also propose to leave room at field, street and lane borders, which would only be cut late in the year or even only biannually.

With these plans in mind we wish everybody a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Cheers!

The Urseetäler