166
Iz ornitolo{ke bele`nice / From the ornithological notebook
(2003): Crvena knjiga ugro`enih ptica Hrvatske. 
– MZOPU, Zagreb].
Martin Schneider-Jacoby, Euronatur, Konstanzer Str. 22, D-78315 Radolfzell, 
Germany, e-mail: martin.schneider-jacoby@euronatur.org
Baillon’s Crake Porzana pusilla
Pritlikava tukalica – tri vrste tukalic, verjetno na 
selitvi, opazovane v mrtvici Ti{ina v Buda{evem pri 
Sisku (UTM XL13, Lonjsko polje, V Hrva{ka): (1) 1 
osebek grahaste tukalice Porzana porzana 16.8.2002, 
(2) 1 osebek male tukalice Porzana parva 15.8., 16.8., 
1.9. in 8.9.2002 in (3) 1 osebek pritlikave tukalice 11., 
15. in 16.8.2002. Gre za prva opazovanja pritlikave 
tukalice na Lonjskem polju. 
In August and September 2002, I frequently visited 
the Ti{ina oxbow at Buda{evo near Sisak. I was paying 
special attention to crakes, which during my visits 
fed on water lilies and dried-up mud along the reed 
belt. I was able to observe them particularly well from 
the angling platforms, in some places even less than 
2 metres away from the observed birds. I managed 
to identify all three Porzana species. I saw one (1) 
specimen of Spotted Crake Porzana porzana on 16 
Aug 2002. Little Crake Porzana parva was recorded 
on 15 Aug 2002 (1), 16 Aug 2002 (2), 1 Sep 2002 (1), 
and 8 Sep 2002 (1). Baillon’s Crake, on the other hand, 
was seen on 11 Aug 2002 (3), 15 Aug 2002 (1), and 
16 Aug 2002 (1). Let me underline that I was dealing 
strictly with individuals, mainly males. Apart from the 
above stated birds, I saw a few more individuals which, 
however, could not be identify with utmost certainty. 
I presume that the recorded birds were on migration 
and that these unusually frequent observations were 
due to the extremely dry summer and, consequently, 
the very low water level in the oxbow. Namely, the birds 
searching for food moved to more open spaces, out of 
the reed and willow shelter, and were therefore much 
easier to observe. The observation of Baillon’s Crake 
was no doubt of the greatest interest. The occurrence 
of crakes in the area of Lonjsko polje has been so far 
reported only by M. Schneider-Jacoby [Schneider-
Jacoby, M. (1988): Endangered and rare birds in the 
alluvial wetlands of the Sava river on the Posavina/
Croatia. – Larus 40: 167–178], who registered, on 23 
Apr1986 at Krapji \ol, a male Little Crake during its 
display calling, and at least 10 pairs of Spotted Crake at 
four different localities. In the same work, he reported 
on his observations of four small crakes at Poganovo 
polje on 15 Aug 1986, which he was apparently unable 
to identify with certainty (Little or Baillon’s Crake). 
However, according to his dissertation [Schneider-
Jacoby, M. (1993): Vögel als Indikatoren für das 
ökologische Potential der Saveaue und Möglichkeiten 
für deren Erhaltung. – Dissertation zur Erlangung des 
Doktorgrades der Biologische Fakultät der Universität 
Konstanz, Konstanz], he observed only Little and 
Spotted Crakes. Upon my enquiry he confirmed that 
that the disputable observation probably concerned 
Little Crake (M. Schneider-Jacoby pers. comm.). 
Consequently, this is the first confirmed record of the 
Baillon’s Crake for the area of Lonjsko polje. Baillon’s 
Crake is a rare breeder in Croatia, both in the interior 
and in the coastal parts of the country. It has been 
known to breed at Jelas polje and Slavonska Podravina 
[Kralj, J. (1997): Ornitofauna Hrvatske tijekom 
posljednjih dvjesto godina. – Larus 46: 1−112] and in 
the Neretva valley [Sackl, P., Bo`i~, L. & [tumberger, 
B. (2003): Baillon’s Crake Porzana pusilla on the lower 
Neretva river: notes on a possible breeding location 
in southern Dalmatia. – Acrocephalus 24 (116): 
21–27], whereas in the area of Baranja it has been 
registered only as a rare passage migrant [Mikuska, 
J., Mikuska, T. & Romuli}, M. (2002): Vodi~ kroz 
biolo{ku raznolikost Kopa~kog rita, Knjiga I: Ptice. – 
Matica hrvatska Osijek i Javna ustanova Park prirode 
“Kopa~ki Rit”, Osijek].
@eljko Vasilik, S.Bereka 11, HR-44202 Topolovac, Croatia, e-mail: 
zeljko.vasilik@ina.hr
^oketa Gallinago media
Great Snipe – 1 individual observed on 30 Apr 2004 
in a wet meadow at Donje Blato near the town of 
Kor~ula (UTM XH75, Kor~ula Island, S Dalmatia) 
Na biolo{kem taboru na Kor~uli v ju`ni Dalmaciji 
sem 30.4.2004 obiskal Donje Blato pri mestu 
Kor~ula. Takoj ob prihodu na delno poplavljeni del 
kompleksa travnikov sem spla{il srednje veliko ptico. 
Bila je ~oketa. Ptica me je ve~krat obkro`ila in se kakih 
sto metrov stran spustila v travo. ^oketa je dopolnila 
bogato avifavno, na katero smo do tistega trenutka 
naleteli na Donjem Blatu. Gre za opazovanje redke 
ptice v Dalmaciji [Rucner, D.(1998): Ptice hrvatske 
obale Jadrana. – Hrvatski prirodoslovni muzej, 
Ministarstvo razvitka i obnove, Zagreb]. 
Dejan Bordjan, Ulica 8. februarja 50, SI-2204 Milklav`, Slovenija, e-mail: 
dejanonih@email.si