Hypsugo 4(2), 2019

ISSN 2637-2142

Glasnik za istraživanje šišmiša Balkana/Journal of bat research in the Balkans Godina IV, Br. 2, 2019

HYPSUGO Glasnik za istraživanje šišmiša Balkana Journal of Bat Research in the Balkans

Izdavači/publishers Centar za krš i speleologiju, Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina Centar za životnu sredinu, Banja Luka, Bosna i Hercegovina Društvo za očuvanje divljih životinja Mustela, Beograd, Srbija Crnogorsko društvo ekologa, Podgorica, Crna Gora

Redakcija/Editorial Board Marina Radonjić (Podgorica), Branko Karapandža (Beograd), Jasminko Mulaomerović (Sarajevo), Jasmin Pašić (Banja Luka), Primož Presetnik (Ljubljana), Dina Rnjak (Zagreb), Philippe Théou (Tirana)

Urednik/Editor Jasminko Mulaomerović

Uputstva za autore/Instruction for authors http://centarzakrs.ba/sismisi/hypsugo/

Fotografija na korici/Cover photo Rhinolophus euryale foto/photo: Goran Rnjak

Grafičko oblikovanje Tin Rožman

Dizajn korice/Cover design Aleksandar Škorić

DTP & print TDP d.o.o. Sarajevo

ISSN 2637-2142 (online) ISSN 2490-3094 (print) ISSN 2637-2142

Glasnik za istraživanje šišmiša Balkana | Journal of Bat Research in the Balkans Godina IV, Br. 2, 2019

SADRŽAJ CONTENT

IZVORNI ČLANCI | ORIGINAL ARTICLES

New data on bats in the Vlora county, Albania Novi podaci o slijepim miševima u okrugu Vlora, Albanija ��4 PHILIPPE THÉOU, ERVIS LOÇE

Railway tunnels in Albania: from train to bats Željeznički tuneli u Albaniji: od voza do slijepih miševa ��14 PHILIPPE THÉOU, ERVIS LOÇE

Results of bat survey during biology students research camp “Ecosystems of Balkan - Bela Crkva 2019” (Serbia) Rezultati istraživanja faune slepih miševa tokom istraživačkog kampa studenata biologije “Ekosistemi Balkana - Bela Crkva 2019” (Srbija) ��21 EVA PAVLOVIČ, BRANKA PEJIĆ, JELENA BOGOSAVLJEVIĆ

KRATKA SAOPŠTENJA | SHORT COMMUNICATIONS

First records of bats in the area of natural value “Vir – potok” at the village Vir pri Stični (Slovenia) Prvi nalazi šišimiša na području prirodnog dobra “Vir – potok” kod sela Vir pri Stični (Slovenija) ��37 PRIMOŽ PRESETNIK, EVA PAVLOVIČ

2 Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019

BILJEŠKE S TERENA | FIELD NOTES

Chiroptera, 1. – 2. 5. 2019, Zaprikraj mountain pasture and the surrounding area (Kobarid), Slovenia Chiroptera, 1. – 2. 5. 2019, okolica Planine Zaprikraj (Kobarid), Slovenija ��43 PRIMOŽ PRESETNIK

Eptesicus nilssonii, 28. 12. 2019, underground fortification Mirin (Zabiče), Slovenia Eptesicus nilssonii, 28. 12. 2019, podzemna utrdba Mirin (Zabiče), Slovenija ��45 PRIMOŽ PRESETNIK, EVA PAVLOVIČ

Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019 3 IZVORNI ČLANAK | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

New data on bats in the Vlora county, Albania

Novi podaci o slijepim miševima u okrugu Vlora, Albanija

Philippe Théou1, Ervis Loçe2

1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Tirana 1001 (Albania), e-mail: [email protected] 2 Natural Sciences Museum “Sabiha Kasimati”, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, Tirana 1001 (Albania) E-mail: [email protected] (P.T.)

Abstract

In 2018 and 2019, the Narta Lagoon Protected Area, the Llogara National Park and the Gjipe area (Vlora county, South-West Albania) were surveyed to collect additional information regarding present bat fauna. A total of 12 bat species were recorded: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros, R. blasii, R. euryale, Myotis oxygnathus/ myotis, M. emarginatus, Pipistrellus kuhlii/nathusii, P. pipistrellus, Eptesicus serotinus, Hypsugo savii, Miniopterus schreibersii, Tadarida teniotis. E. serotinus was recorded for the first time in the entire Vlora region, while five new species were recorded within the boundaries of the Narta protected area, as well as the biggest colony of R. ferrumequinum registered so far in Albania. In the Gjipe area, the biggest colony of R. blasii of the entire South-West Balkans was confirmed, whileR. ferrumequinum was recorded for the first time in the Llogara National Park.

Key words: Chiroptera, Vlora, Narta Protected Area, Llogara National Park

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Sažetak

2018. i 2019. godine zašticeno područje Narta, Nacionalni park Llogara i područje Gjipe (okrug Vlora, jugozapad Albanije) istraženi su radi prikupljanja dodatnih in- formacija o fauni slijepih miševa. Ukupno je zabilježeno 12 vrsta slijepih miševa: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros, R. blasii, R. euryale, Myotis oxygnathus/ myotis, M. emarginatus, Pipistrellus kuhlii/nathusii, P. pipistrellus, Eptesicus serotinus, Hypsugo savii, Miniopterus schreibersii, Tadarida teniotis. Vrsta E. serotinus je po prvi put zabilježena za čitavo područje Vlore. U granicama zašticenog područja Natra za- bilježeno je pet novih vrsta, kao i najveca kolonija vrste R. ferrumequinum do sada registrovana u Albaniji. Na području Gjipe, potvrđena je najveca kolonija vrste R. blasii na jugozapadnom Balkanu, dok je vrsta R. ferrumequinum prvi put zabilježena na po- dručju Nacionalnog parka Llogara.

Ključne riječi: Chiroptera, Vlora, zaštićeno područje Narta, nacionalni park Llogara

Introduction

Located on the Adriatic and Ionian seas shores, in the western part of the country, the Vlora county hosts a mosaic of different habitats such as wetlands, high moun- tains (up to 2044 m a.s.l.), olive tree plantations, fir forests and coastal areas. This area was for the first time surveyed for bats between 2012 and 2016 (Théou & Loçe 2017) with at least 16 species recorded in former military tunnels and bunkers, caves or buildings as roosts. The present article provides additional information regarding the distribution of bat species in the area and new data on known roosts.

Materials and methods

In the period from June 2018 to August 2019, three field work sessions were conducted in the area (Narta Protected Landscape Area, the Llogara National Park and the Gjipe area), with a total of 32 sites surveyed: 15 bunkers, 7 tunnels, 2 caves, 1 bridge, 1 building and 6 potential foraging areas. In addition, one more bunker was visited by protected area rangers during the summer 2018 at the end of the Karaburun peninsula, Karaburun Natural Park (Lakoj, pers. data). When large bat clusters were encountered during roost surveys, a photo was taken based on which the number of individuals was counted. This method induced minimal disturbance of the colonies. In addition, a hand held bat detector (Pettersson D1000x) was used to record bat

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echolocation calls. Species identification was conducted using BatSound 4.11 following Russo & Jones (2002), Papadatou et al. (2008) and Barataud (2014).

Results and discussion

Once again, our results confirmed the importance of the Vlora region for the conservation of the bat populations in Albania and in the region itself, in term of both number of species and number of specimens. Out of the 33 sites visited, 18 were occupied by bats (Table 1, Figure 1) and at least 12 bat species were recorded (Table 2): Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros, R. blasii, R. euryale, Myotis oxygnathus/ myotis, M. emarginatus, Pipistrellus kuhlii/nathusii, P. pipistrellus, Eptesicus serotinus, Hypsugo savii, Miniopterus schreibersii, Tadarida teniotis.

Narta Lagoon Protected Area

Our study has especially shed new light on the Narta Lagoon Protected Area. Con- sidering the previous bat records available for this area (Théou & Loçe 2017) and

Table 1. List of potential roosting and foraging sites surveyed in the Vlora region in 2018 and 2019. Tabela 1. Lista potencijalnih skloništa i lovišta sljepih miševa istraženih u području Vlora 2018. i 2019. godine.

Position Site type No. Site name Lokacija Protected area (WGS84) Tip Br. Ime lokacije Zaštićeno područje lokacije Lat (°N) Long (°E)

Sites where bat presence was confirmed Lokacije s prisutnim slijepim miševima

1 Tunnel Shtyllas 40.707 19.468 tunnel /

2 Bunkers Jaru 40.695 19.474 bunker /

3 Isolated bunker 40.598 19.492 bunker

4 Former cowshed 40.596 19.430 building

5 Tunnel Mifol 40.595 19.485 tunnel open Narta Lagoon 6 Akerni 40.592 19.431 space Protected Area

7 Bunkers Trevëllazër 1 40.580 19.490 bunker

8 Bunkers Trevëllazër 2 40.579 19.503 bunker

9 Tunnel Skrofotinë 1 40.571 19.478 tunnel

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Position Site type No. Site name Lokacija Protected area (WGS84) Tip Br. Ime lokacije Zaštićeno područje lokacije Lat (°N) Long (°E)

10 Tunnel Skrofotinë 2 40.567 19.478 tunnel

11 Bunker water pump 40.566 19.386 bunker Narta Lagoon open 12 Open area near the water pump 40.566 19.389 Protected Area space

13 Coastal tunnels 40.510 19.398 tunnel Karaburun Natural 14 End of Karaburun bunker 40.431 19.309 bunker Park open 15 Hotel Alpin 40.214 19.579 space Llogara National 16 Italian bunkers 40.196 19.600 bunker Park

17 Italian tunnel 40.195 19.601 tunnel

18 Shpella e Parashqevise 40.139 19.651 cave /

Sites where bat presence was not recorded Lokacije gdje nije zbilježena prisutnost slijepih miševa

19 / 40.565 19.386 bunker

20 / 40.566 19.386 bunker

21 / 40.566 19.386 bunker

22 / 40.577 19.502 bunker

23 / 40.580 19.490 tunnel

open 24 / 40.584 19.435 space open 25 / 40.589 19.441 space Narta Lagoon Protected Area open 26 / 40.594 19.434 space

27 / 40.596 19.492 bunker

28 / 40.599 19.490 bunker

29 / 40.603 19.486 cave

30 / 40.607 19.482 bridge

31 / 40.621 19.357 bunker

32 / 40.622 19.356 bunker

33 / 40.711 19.474 bunker /

Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019 7 IZVORNI ČLANAK | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Figure 1. Sites of surveyed potential bat roosts / foraging areas in Vlora region in 2018 and 2019. Slika 1. Istraženi lokaliteti potencijalnih skloništa / lovnih staništa slijepih miševa na području Vlora, 2018. i 2019. godine.

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Table 2. Results of bat surveys in the Vlora region in 2018 and 2019. (Site no.: numbers correspond to Table 1 and Figure 2, Method of observation: A – acoustic, C – capture, V – visual) Tabela 2. Rezultati istraživanja slijepih miševa u opštinskom području Vlora 2018. i 2019. godine. (Br. lokacije: brojevi odgovaraju Tabeli 1 i Slici 1, Metoda opservacije: A – zvučna, C – hvatanje, V – opservacija)

Species Site no. Date No. of ind. Method Vrsta Br. lok. Datum Br. jedinki Metoda

2 5.8.2019 8 V 3 29.7.2019 1000 A, V 7 5.8.2019 1 V 8 29.7.2019 1 V R. ferrumequinum 9 29.7.2019 1 V 10 29.7.2019 1 V 13 29.7.2019 2 V 16 29.6.2018 1 V 17 29.6.2018 1 V 1 5.8.2019 1 V

2 5.8.2019 2 V

R. hipposideros 3 29.7.2019 10 V 5 5.8.2019 2 V

13 29.7.2019 14 V

18 29.6.2018 750 A, V R. blasii 18 25.3.2019 57 A, V, C

3 29.7.2019 100 A, V R. euryale 18 29.6.2018 1 A, V

2 5.8.2019 5 V

M. myotis / M. oxygnathus 10 29.7.2019 1 V 11 26.7.2019 20 V

3 29.7.2019 200 V M. emarginatus 18 29.6.2018 97 V

P. pipistrellus 4 29.7.2019 X A 4 29.7.2019 X A

6 29.7.2019 X A P. kuhlii / P. nathusii 6 5.8.2019 X A

12 5.8.2019 X A

H. savii 6 29.7.2019 X A

E. serotinus 4 29.7.2019 X A

Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019 9 IZVORNI ČLANAK | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Species Site no. Date No. of ind. Method Vrsta Br. lok. Datum Br. jedinki Metoda

3 29.7.2019 50 V

Mi. schreibersii 18 29.6.2018 1 V 18 25.3.2019 5 V

12 5.8.2019 X A T. teniotis 15 27.6.2018 X A

4 26.7.2019 15 V Unidentified summer / Neidentifikovane vrste 14 X V ljeto 2018

the 6 species newly recorded during this study (R. euryale, M. myotis/oxygnathus, M. emarginatus, P. kuhlii/nathusii, E. serotinus, Mi. schreibersii), at least 11 bat species live in this protected area and its mosaic of habitats plays a key role in the conservation of bat species at the national level.

Our study in the western part of the Narta area confirmed the presence of a R. hipposideros maternity colony in a network of tunnels located on the coastal line (site 13), with 2 juveniles recorded, the same as in July 2015 (Théou & Loçe 2017). Our results underline also the importance of the pine forest as a foraging area located in the western part of the protected area and migration corridor for bats species (site 11; site 12), where an important amount of calls, feeding buzzes and bats passes were recorded. It is also worth mentioning the use of salt marshes in the center of the protected area as foraging areas for Pipistrelle species, H. savii and E. serotinus (site 6) (new species for the entire Vlora region).

The eastern part of the Narta protected area was surveyed for bats for the first time. These hills (sites 3, 5, 7-10) approximately 170 m a.s.l. are mainly covered by olive trees and traditional agricultural plots, and were of military importance during the communist era, which explains the considerable number of bunkers and tunnels located in the area. In one of these bunkers (site 3), we recorded the biggest colony of R. ferrumequinum recorded so far in the country, as well as a high number of R. euryale, M. emarginatus, Mi. schreibersii and some R. hipposideros (Figure 2). Additional surveys are needed to determine a dynamic at which bats use this roost. High amount of dry guano observed in the bunker confirms the use of this roost in the past, and might suggest its use by a maternity colony. This discovery highlights the importance of traditional landscape preservation in this area, should this still be deemed necessary, in order to conserve biodiversity and bat species in particular, as such landscape offers rich foraging areas as well as a well-connected mosaic of habitats. In addition, a strict

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Figure 2. Important mixed bat colony in a bunker (site 3). Slika 2. Značajna mješovita kolonija slijepih miševa u bunkeru (lokacija 3). (photo/foto: P. Théou)

protection zoning should be implemented around the roost site 3 and its vicinity, to prevent disturbance which could lead the bats to abandon the site, as already happened in Albania. In April 1995, around 5000 R. ferrumequinum, partly in lethargy, were recorded in the Black cave (Shpella e Zeze) near the village of Pellumbas (Tirana) (Uhrin et al. 1996). After that, a trail was built to reach the cave, which became an important touristic attraction despite the legal protection given by its natural monument status. Since then a maximum of 100 Rhinolophus sp. has been recorded during surveys in winter, spring and summer (Scheffler et al. 2013; Théou, 2015).

Llogara National Park and Gjipe area

In the southern part of the Vlora region, we recorded R. ferrumequinum for the first time in the area of the Llogara National Park. Two individuals were observed at an altitude of more than 1000 m, roosting in Italian built bunkers and tunnels from the first half of the twentieth century (sites 16, 17). The presence of this species was expected considering its distribution in Albania as well as the habitats observed in the Llogara NP.

Finally, the Shpella e parashqevise (site 18) was visited twice in the course of the

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current study, as previous data proved its importance for bats (Théou et al. 2015, Théou & Loçe 2017). 2018 and 2019 survey results reconfirmed the international importance of this bat roost, with four present species listed in the Annex II of the Habitats directive. This cave is a shelter of the biggest colony of R. blasii known so far in the southwest Balkans (Paunović & Stamenković 1998, Hanák et al. 2001, Presetnik et al. 2014, Théou pers. obs. for Kosovo). With 750 bats recorded in June 2018 in a mixed colony with M. emarginatus, our study established even greater conservation importance of this cave at the international level. It is interesting to note that this large colony was observed in the main room of the cave, while on other occasions R. blasii had always been found in a second room, deeper inside the cave. No clear in- dications regarding the presence of juveniles during this survey were detected, mainly due to the distant location of the colony in the highest part of the cave. The cave was also visited another time, at the end of March 2019, with a smaller group recorded in the second room of the cave, including one female manipulated for identification purposes. So far, this roost has been surveyed five times in total, from March to September. Future surveys during autumn and winter are needed in order to better understand the use of this roost by R. blasii and other species.

Conclusion

Our study is a new step forward in a bat distribution research and it increases the network of known important bat roosts which are essential for bat conservation. Our results support the need for proper protection of these roosts and the imple- mentation of bat monitoring at the regional level. Thanks to this study, the Shpella e parashqevise was officially proposed to be added to the list of protected natural monuments in Albania. The protection of the entire Gjipe area was also proposed in order to preserve traditional agricultural landscape and connectivity between habitats which are essential for the long-term conservation of bat species. However, considering a high pressure from seasonal tourism in the region, we recommend a very careful management of this site by relevant authorities in order to preserve the natural and geological heritage of this cave, as well as to avoid any recurrent misun- derstanding between the natural monument (strictly protected area) and what may be seen as a mass tourist attraction.

Acknowledgements

Part of the data was collected during the EU funded project IPA-13 “NaturAl”. The authors would like to thank the two reviewers for their constructive comments, Caterina

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Carugati and all the staff of the protected areas in the Vlora county including Lorela Lazaj and Nexhip Hysolakoj. A special thanks to Bronwen Hughes for proofreading this article and Marina Radonjić for the translation.

References

• Barataud M. 2014. Écologie acoustique des chiroptères d’Europe: identification des espèces, étude de leurs habitats et comportements de chasse. 2e éd. Biotope, Mèze; MNHN, Paris, 344 pp.

• Dietz C., O. von Helversen, 2004. Illustrated identification key to the bats of Europe. 73 pp.

• Hanák V., P. Benda, M. Ruedi, I. Horáček, T.S. Sofianidou, 2001. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean. Part 2. New records and review of distribution of bats in Greece. Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem 65: 279–346.

• Papadatou E., R. K. Butlin, J. D. Altringham, 2008. Identification of bat species in Greece from their echolocation calls. Acta Chiropterologica 10(1): 127–143.

• Paunović M., S. Stamenković 1998. A revision of the distribution and status of Rhinolophus euryale Blasius, 1853 and Rhinolophus blasii Peters, 1866 (Rhinolophidae) in Yugoslavia, based on the discrimination properties of distinctive morphological characters. Myotis 36: 7–23.

• Presetnik P., M. Paunović, B. Karapandža, M. Đurović, Č. Ivanović, M. Ždralević, P. Benda, I. Budinski, 2014. Distribution of bats (Chiroptera) in Montenegro. Vespertilio 17: 129–156.

• Russo D., G. Jones, 2002. Identification of twenty-two bat species (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Italy by analysis of time-expanded recordings of echolocation calls. Journal of Zoology 258(1): 91–103.

• Scheffler I., F. Bego, P. Théou, M. Podany, R. Pospischil, S. Hübner, L. Wittenberg, 2013. Ektoparasiten der Fledermäuse in Albanien–Artenspektrum und Ëirtsbindung. Nyctalus (NF) 18(1): 84–109.

• Théou P. 2015. Bat Populations in Albania: Structure and Dynamic of Populations. PhD Thesis. University of Tirana. 79 pp.

• Théou P., E. Loçe, 2017. First data on bats (Chiroptera) for Vlora bay and Sazan Island, Albania. Barbastella 10(1): 1–7.

• Théou P., E. Loçe, M. Đurović, 2015. Results of the pioneer survey of potential bat hibernacula in Albania (2012–2015). Natura Sloveniae 17(1): 25–39.

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Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019 13 IZVORNI ČLANAK | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Railway tunnels in Albania: from train to bats

Željeznički tuneli u Albaniji: od voza do slijepih miševa

Philippe Théou1, Ervis Loçe2

Abstract

Between June 2014 and September 2016, 12 abandoned railway tunnels were sys- tematically surveyed for bats for the first time in the counties of Elbasan- andLi brazhd, Albania. Bats or signs of their presence were found in 83% of the inspected tunnels. Bats were using crevices as well as metallic pipes and some rooms within the longest tunnels. At least five species were recorded: Rhinolophus hipposideros, R. ferrumequinum, R. euryale/blasii, Myotis myotis/blythii oxygnathus and Pipistrellus sp.. Based on the results presented here, the conservation of bats species will have to be taken into account in the event of possible near future re-opening of tunnels for transportation purpose.

Key words: Chiroptera, tunnel, railway, Albania

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Sažetak

U periodu od juna 2014. do septembra 2016. godine, 12 napuštenih željezničkih tunela u albanskim oblastima Elbasan i Libazhd po prvi put je sistematski pregledano u ci- lju utvrđivanja prisustva slijepih miševa. Slijepi miševi ili tragovi njihovog prisustva su registrovani u 83% istraženih tunela. Slijepi miševi su koristili pukotine, metalne cijevi i neke prostorije u najdužim tunelima. Registrovano je najmanje 5 vrsta: Rhinolophus hipposideros, R. ferrumequinum, R. euryale/blasii, Myotis myotis/blythii oxygnathus i Pipistrellus sp. Na temelju predstavljenih rezultata, očuvanje slijepih miševa moraće da bude uzeto u obzir u slučaju moguće rekonstrukcije tunela za potrebe prijevoza.

Ključne riječi: Chiroptera, tunel, pruga, Albanija

Introduction

With thirty-two bat species recorded so far (Théou & Bego 2018), Albania represents an important country for bat conservation at the European level. Despite the fact that information available on bats is still very scarce at the national level, several pro- jects and research programs implemented during the last years have considerably increased our knowledge regarding specific roosts, such as former military tunnels and bunkers, as well as caves (Théou & Bego 2014, Théou et al. 2015, Théou 2015). Based on these results, a network of available roosts all over the country has been recorded and occasionally monitored, including additional types of roosts such as buildings and abandoned railway tunnels.

Build between 1974 and 1979, the railway section Librazhd-Prrenjas-Pogradec in the central-eastern part of Albania, was officially suspended in 2012 due to infrastructure deterioration. Its 12 tunnels and numerous bridges were abandoned by train traffic, and are now used by local inhabitants as pedestrian routes to connect the different villages in the region, with one notable exception. Between Prrenjas and Lin, the longest tunnel of the section (more than 3 km), is closed to the public to protect the drinkable water captation located in the middle of the tunnel.

In this article, we present the results of the first systematic surveys regarding railway tunnels as potential bat roosts in Albania, though some bat counts were already pub- lished from Albania (Hunia et al. 2017).

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Materials and methods

In June 2014 (11 locations), November 2014 (1) and September 2016 (7), tunnels were surveyed by visual inspection during day-light with hand lamps. We investigated a total of 12 abandoned railway tunnels between the villages of Mirakë and Lin. Most of the specimens recorded were photographed in order to allow for the best identification and counting possible. All the accessible parts of the tunnels were inspected, however the structure did not always allow for a complete inspection. No specimens were captured or manipulated during these surveys.

Results and discussion

We investigated a total of 12 abandoned railway tunnels between the villages of Mirakë and Lin. In 10 out of 12 surveyed tunnels bats or signs of their presence (guano) were recorded (Table 1, Figure 1), which represents 83% of the total number of inspected potential roosts. Bats were hanging directly from the roof of the tunnels, or were using crevices, tubes or some rooms within the longest tunnels.

We recorded at least five bat species: Rhinolophus hipposideros, R. ferrumequinum, R. euryale/blasii, Myotis myotis/blythii oxygnathus and Pipistrellus sp.. Due to the ab- sence of an ultrasound detector during the surveys and the methodological limits underlined previously, some specimens or guano could not be matched to the species level with certainty.

M. myotis/b. oxygnathus was found in 8 tunnels (Table 1). Most of the observations in- luded small groups of bats using crevices or pipes (Figure 2). During a summer camp organised in August 2015 in the nearby Shebenik-Jabblanice National Park, Hunia A. et al. (2017) mentioned the presence of such small groups in two locations within the town of Librazhd (sites 2 & 3). In total, 28 (2014) and 55 (2016) bats were recorded using the tunnel network, with one location (site 12) hosting more than half of the recorded population in 2016.

R. hipposideros has been found in 4, R. ferrumequinum in 3 and R. euryale/blasii in 3 locations. Regarding the Rhinolophidae species, isolated bats were recorded most of the time, with the exception of R. hipposideros, for which two groups of 10 bats scat- tered along the tunnels were observed (sites 4 & 10). Finally, one isolated individual of Pipistrellus sp. was recorded at the entrance of one tunnel (site 5).

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Figure 1. Surveyed railway tunnels as potential bat roosts (2014 – 2016). (numbers refer to the site numbers listed in Table 1) Slika 1. Provjereni željeznički tuneli kao potencijalna skloništa za slijepe miševe (2014 – 2016). (brojevi odgovaraju broju lokaliteta u Tabeli 1)

Figure 2. Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus in a railway tunnel on 6th September 2016. Slika 2. Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus u željezničkom tunelu 6. 9. 2016. (photo/foto: Philippe Théou)

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Table 1. Survey results of the railway tunnels (2014 – 2016). Tabela 1. Rezultati pregleda željezničkih tunela (2014 – 2016).

Site. Nearest Length no. settlement Date Chiroptera (no of bats) Lat. Long. Dužina Br. Najbliže Datum Slijepi miševi (br. sl. miševa) (°N) (°E) (m) lok. naselje

1 Mirakë 3.7.2014 / 41.166290 20.243882 90 3.7.2014 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (3) 2 Librazhd 41.180128 20.318286 320 12.11.2014 / 3.7.2014 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (3) 3 Librazhd 41.179165 20.319044 250 6.9.2016 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (7) 3.7.2014 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (4) 4 Librazhd Rhinolophus hipposideros (10) 41.175440 20.324530 260 6.9.2016 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (11) 3.7.2014 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (16) 5 Librazhd Pipistrellus sp. (1) 41.166692 20.340077 240 Rhinolophus euryale/blasii (1) 3.7.2014 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (1) Rhinolophus euryale/blasii (1) 6 Vulçan Rhinolophus hipposideros (1) 41.134711 20.396755 210 6.9.2016 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (2) Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (1) Quks 3.7.2014 Rhinolophus euryale/blasii (1) 7 41.111893 20.423929 120 Shkumbin 3.7.2014 Myotis myotis/b. oxygnathus (1) Qukës 8 Rhinolophus euryale/blasii (1) 41.106771 20.434417 360 Shkumbin Rhinolophus hipposideros (1) 3.7.2014 / 9 Pishkash 41.073670 20.509130 50 6.9.2016 / 3.7.2014 Rhinolophus hipposideros (10) 10 Pishkash 41.072774 20.510577 130 6.9.2016 Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (1) 3.7.2014 / 11 Pishkash 6.9.2016 Myotis myotis /b. oxygnathus (1) 41.066130 20.517640 130 Rhinolophus hipposideros (2) 6.9.2016 Myotis myotis /b. oxygnathus (34) 12 Rrajcë / Lin 41.073690 20.588380 3000 Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (3)

The number of bats recorded in the network can be considered low in comparison to others roosts previously registered across the country, where several thousand specimens have been recorded. However, the high percentage of railway tunnels occupied by bats suggests that these man-made structures are certainly part of a network of roosts not yet known on a regional scale. At the moment, there is no evidence that these roosts are used as maternity roosts, as observed in other areas of the Balkans (Mazija & Rnjak 2016, Presetnik & Pavlovič 2017). However, additional

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early spring and autumn surveys might provide new information regarding the presence of maternity colonies and the potential use of these tunnels for swarming, as recorded in other railway tunnels (Le Houedec et al. 2008). The bat use of some tunnels (especially site 12) during hibernation should also be studied, as it could give additional information on this topic.

With the support of international donors such as the EU, EBRD and WBIF, it is fore- seen that the railway will be re-opened in a mid-term period, in order to connect the Albanian railway network to the European transport corridors, via Northern Mac- edonia. Considering the results presented in this article, the conservation of high- ly protected bat species will have to be taken into consideration in this up-coming transformation, in line with EU directives and EBRD environmental policies but also national legislation.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the two reviewers for their constructive comments as well as Marina Radonjić for the translation. Data has partly been collected in the framework of the EU-Funded project “NaturAl Project”. Special thanks to the protected area staff for their support on the field, and our cordial thanks to field helpers: Bajram Kuloli, Armela Roçi, Kujtim Mysyri, Julian Balla, Altin Cekresi, Klaudia Cera and Enis Shehu.

References

• Hunia A., B-J. Bulsink, C. van de Tempel, F. van der Knaap, J. Boshamer, J. Wondergem H. Bekker, K. Mostert, M. Snijder, S. Boon, 2017. Mammal survey Shebenik-Jabblanice National Park Albania 2015. Dutch Mammal Society. 66 pp.

• Le Houedec A., E. Petit, R. Jamault, 2008. Etude complémentaire sur un site urbain de “swarming“ Fougères (Ille et Vilaine, France). Bretagne Vivante-SEPNB. 44 pp.

• Mazija M., D. Rnjak, 2016. Survey results of selected bat roost sites in Popovo polje within the Ravno municipality (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Hypsugo 1(1): 20–29.

• Presetnik P., E. Pavlovič, 2017. Chiroptera, 1. 5. 2017, Trebinje-Čvaljina-Zavala, Bosnia and Herzegovina [Chiroptera, 1. 5. 2017, Trebinje-Čvaljina-Zavala, Bosna i Hercegovina]. Hypsugo 2(2): 56–60.

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• Théou P., 2015. Bat populations in Albania: Structure and dynamic of populations. PhD thesis. University of Tirana. 79 pp.

• Théou P., E. Loçe, M. Đurović, 2015. Results of pioneer survey of potential bat hibernacula in Albania (2012-2015), Natura Sloveniae 17(1): 25–40.

• Théou P., F. Bego, 2014. First bat monitoring in Albania: bunkers of Tirana, picture of bat conservation in Albania. BSHN(UT)18/2014: 76–82.

• Théou P., F. Bego, 2018. Atlas of bats in Albania. NaturAl project. 124 pp.

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Results of bat survey during biology students research camp “Ecosystems of Balkan - Bela Crkva 2019” (Serbia)

Rezultati istraživanja faune slepih miševa tokom istraživačkog kampa studenata biologije “Ekosistemi Balkana - Bela Crkva 2019” (Srbija)

Eva Pavlovič1, Branka Pejić2, Jelena Bogosavljević3

1 Ulica bratov Učakar 22, 1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia) 2 Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, Department of Genetic Research, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade (Serbia) 3 Natural History Museum, Njegoševa 51, 11111 Belgrade (Serbia) E-mail: [email protected] (E.P.); [email protected] (B.P.); [email protected] (J.B.)

Abstract

Biology Students’ Society (Ljubljana, Slovenia) organized a biology students research camp “Ecosystems of Balkan – Bela Crkva 2019” from 27th April to 5th May 2019 in the SE part of Vojvodina (Serbia). One of the groups, active during the camp, was a bat research group. We surveyed 68 different sites, including 38 possible bat roosts (35 bridges, 3 buildings) and two previously known roosts. We found bats or bat guano in 7 bridges, 2 buildings and in both known roosts. During the night we detected bats on 30 sites using ultrasound detectors and recorders and successfully mist netted once. We identified 10 bat species: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Myotis emarginatus, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. nathusii, P. kuhlii, Hypsugo savii, Nyctalus noctula, N. leisleri and Miniopterus schreibersii.

Key words: Chiroptera, spring survey, bridges, Vojvodina, Serbia

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Sažetak

Društvo studenata biologije (Ljubljana, Slovenija) organizovalo je studentski istraži- vački kamp “Ekosistemi Balkana - Bela Crkva 2019”, koji je održan od 27. aprila do 5. maja 2019. godine, u JI Vojvodini (Srbija). Jedna od sekcija koje su bile aktivne na kam- pu istraživala je slepe miševe. Pretražili smo 68 različitih lokacija. Pregledali smo 38 potencijalnih skloništa (35 mostova i 3 zgrade) i dva skloništa u kojima je prethodno već zabeleženo prisustvo slepih miševa. Slepi miševi ili njihov izmet su zabeleženi u 7 mostova i 2 građevine, i oba od ranije poznata skloništa. Tokom noći je beleženo prisustvo slepih miševa pomoću ultrazvučnih detektora i snimača na 30 lokacija i jedanput je korištena mreža za hvatanje slepih miševa. Identifikovano je 10 vrsta: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Myotis emarginatus, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. nathusii, P. kuhlii, Hypsugo savii, Nyctalus noctula, N. leisleri i Miniopterus schreibersii.

Ključne riječi: Chiroptera, prolećni monitoring, mostovi, Vojvodina, Srbija

Introduction

The camp “Ecosystems of Balkan – Bela Crkva 2019” (Ekosistemi Balkana – Bela Crkva 2019, Srbija) was organized by the Biology Students’ Society from Ljubljana, Slovenia. It took place from 27th April to 5th May 2019 in the south-east part of Vojvodina in Serbia. Such camp is organized every year in a different Balkan country and this was the second time that it was organized in Serbia (Marić 2012). Its purpose was to get the participants acquainted with the basic biological methods of the fieldwork and the species living in that area. Besides the ten groups for plants, spiders, beetles, but- terflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, amphibians, reptiles, birds and large mammals, a bat research group also participated and within this article we are presenting its results.

Materials and methods

During our survey we stayed in the Camp Oaza, close to the town Bela Crkva and few kilometres away from the border with Romania. Most of our fieldwork was done in the area between the towns of Bela Crkva and Vršac or in the surrounding area, but on some days we ventured further away (Figure 1). The northernmost point of our

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survey was a bridge near the town Sečanj and southernmost was a bridge near the town Smederevo. This part of Vojvodina is a part of the Banat geographical region and it is mostly plain. Less than 15 km west of the camp was Deliblato Sands Special Nature Reserve, which we visited only briefly to make some recordings with ultrasound detectors. There are few large rivers in the area (Danube, Canal Danube-Ti- sa-Danube (DTD)) and also some smaller ones (Nera, Karaš). There are six lakes on the outskirts of Bela Crkva, as well as some still fresh-water areas and creeks. As there are almost no caves in Vojvodina our main focus during the day was checking bridges for possible bat roosts. We were checking possible new bat roosts (38 sites) but we also checked two previously known ones (Table 1, Figure 1). All the accessible parts were checked using head and hand lamp. However, parts of some bridges were inaccessible due to river flow and bridge structures so they remained unchecked. While we were inspecting bridges, we also paid attention to other present animals, especially to the presence of otter (Lutra lutra) scats. All of the checked sites were in Vojvodina, except for one bridge which was a few hundred meters south of Danube.

We tried mist netting three times. We used monofilament nets (Ecotone Mist Net) which we put up a little before sunset and took down two to three hours later. Cap- tured bats were identified following Dietz et al. (2009), we determined their sex, age and reproductive status, and released them afterwards. We also used ultrasound detectors (Pettersson D200, D240x) and recorders (TASCAM DR-100MKIII, ESI Record M) to record present bats species at selected sites and during car transects survey. While driving slowly with open windows, we recorded bats in the area and marked the locations of a bat recording on GPS (Garmin GPS eTrex Vista HCx). The results of the recordings from a car taken closer than 500 m apart were combined into one GPS point. Additionally an automatic acoustic recorder (AAR), Song Meter SM4BAT FS, was positioned by the lake Vračevgajsko jezero in Camp Oaza for an entire night and at the edge of Deliblato Sands Special Nature Reserve near Grebenac for one hour. All the recordings were later analysed using the program BatSound 4.4 (Pettersson Ele- ktronik) with the help of different literature (e.g. Barataud 2015, Russo & Jones 2002).

Results and discussion

During the research camp, we checked 40 possible bat roosts by day and recorded bat presence on 30 different sites by night. In total, we inspected 35 bridges, 2 abandoned buildings, 1 inhabited house and 2 previously known bat roosts (1 cave, 1 underground water tank). Together we surveyed 68 different sites, as some day and night surveys refer to the same sites (Table 1, Figure 1). We recorded 10 bat species: Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), Geoffroy’s Bat (Myotis emarginatus), Common Pipistrelle Bat (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), Soprano Pipistrelle Bat

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(P. pygmaeus), Nathusius’s Pipistrelle Bat (P. nathusii), Kuhl’s Pipistrelle Bat (P. kuhlii), Savi’s Pipistrelle Bat (Hypsugo savii), Noctule Bat (Nyctalus noctula), Leisler’s Bat (N. leisleri) and Schreibers’s Bent-winged Bat (Miniopterus schreibersii).

Figure 1. Surveyed sites in Serbia during the camp Ecosystems of Balkan – Bela Crkva in the period from 27th April to 5th May 2019. (* - known bat roost (Paunović 2016)) Slika 1. Istraživani lokaliteti u Srbiji tokom kampa Ekosistemi Balkana – Bela Crkva u periodu od 27. aprila do 5. maja 2019. godine. (* - poznata skloništa slepih miševa (Paunović 2016))

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Table 1. Sites, bats species, their numbers and used methods during the camp Ecosystems of Balkan – Bela Crkva, Serbia in the period from 27th April to 5th May 2019. (* - known bat roost (Paunović 2016); ad – adult, un – unknown age and sex, “/” – no bats found; method: M – bats measurements / mist netting, O – visual observation, F – counting by using photography, D – ultrasound detector, acoustic recordings) Tabela 1. Lokaliteti, vrste, broj jedinki slepih miševa i metode korišćene tokom kampa Ekosistemi Balkana – Bela Crkva, Srbija u periodu od 27. aprila do 5. maja 2019. godine. (* - poznata skloništa slepih miševa (Paunović 2016); ad – adult, un – pol i starost nisu poznati, “/” – slepi miševi nisu bili uočeni; metoda: M – hvatanje mrežom, O – vizuelna opservacija, F – brojanje na osnovu fotografija, D – ultrazvučni detektor, zvučni snimak)

Site, nearest Site settlement Other no. (latitude, longitude) Date Bat species (no. of bats) Method observation Br. Lokacija, najbliže Datum Vrsta (br. jedinki) Metoda Druge lok. naselje (geografska opservacije širina, dužina)

P. pipistrellus D P. kuhlii/nathusii D 27.4.19 N. noctula D Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D Lake shore at Vračevgajsko Jezero, Myotis sp. D 1 Camp Oaza, Bela Crkva P. pipistrellus D (44.88913°N, P. pygmaeus D P. nathusii D 21.38641°E) 28.4.19 P. kuhlii D H. savii D N. noctula D Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D Bridge over Karaš, Jasenovo 2 28.4.19 / O (44.93985°N, 21.29157°E) Bridge, Straža 3 (44.96205°N, 28.4.19 / O 21.31618°E) Bridge over Karaš, Hyla arborea, Straža Rana 4 28.4.19 / O (44.96292°N, dalmatina, 21.31573°E) Pelophylax sp. Bridge over Karaš, Dobričevo 5 28.4.19 / O (44.99428°N, 21.35076°E) Bridge over Karaš, Kuštilj 6 28.4.19 / O (45.03419°N, 21.38176°E) Bridge over Mesić, Mesić Lutra lutra- 7 28.4.19 medium/large-sized guano O (45.09359°N, scat (4) 21.36845°E)

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Bridge over dry creek, Mesić 8 28.4.19 / O Lacerta viridis (45.09214°N, 21.34825°E) Bridge over dry creek, Vršac 9 28.4.19 medium/large-sized guano O (45.09638°N, 21.33574°E) Bridge over Canal DTD, Potporanj 10 28.4.19 / O (45.02164°N, 21.25040°E) Bridge over Canal DTD, Straža 11 28.4.19 / O (44.97280°N, 21.28875°E) Myotis sp. D The bank of the river P. pygmaeus D Nera, Vračev Gaj 12 28.4.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D (44.86786°N, N. noctula D 21.36951°E) Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D Jasenovo 13 (44.93407°N, 28.4.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.30321°E) Myotis sp. D The bank of the river P. pipistrellus D Karaš, Jasenovo P. pygmaeus D 14 28.4.19 (44.94002°N, P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.29119°E) N. noctula D Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D Road Jasenovo – Crvena Crkva 15 28.4.19 Mi. schreibersii D (44.91359°N, 21.33204°E) Bela Crkva 16 (44.90307°N, 28.4.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.40993°E) Rana Bridge over dry creek, dalmatina, Bela Crkva 17 29.4.19 / O Lacerta viridis, (44.87721°N, Zamenis 21.42187°E) longissimus

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Two bridges next to each other, Bela Crkva 18 29.4.19 / O (44.87798°N, 21.42202°E) Cellar of an abandoned building, Bela Crkva 19 29.4.19 R. ferrumequinum (2 un) O Owl pellet (44.87771°N, 21.42164°E) Cellar and attic of a house Miletičeva 46, 20 Bela Crkva 29.4.19 medium/large-sized guano O (44.90623°N, 21.42133°E) Bridge over Canal DTD 29.4.19 R. ferrumequinum (1 ad M) M near Danube, Vračev 21 Gaj (44.85647°N, 4.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.30192°E) Bridge over still water, Vračev Gaj 22 29.4.19 / O (44.85727°N, 21.30474°E) Cave under the quarry R. ferrumequinum (1 ad M, M, O “Mali kamenolom”, 50 un) 23* Vršac 30.4.19 Mi. schreibersii (10 ad F, M, F (45.12823°N, 3 ad M, 590 un) 21.32175°E) Underground water R. ferrumequinum (1 un) O tank, Vršac 24* 30.4.19 M. emarginatus (1 ad F, 200 M, F (45.15485°N, un) 21.36364°E) Stone bridge, Straža 25 (44.96744°N, 30.4.19 / O 21.31380°E) Bridge, Straža 26 (44.96734°N, 30.4.19 / O 21.31355°E) R. ferrumequinum D Myotis sp. D 30.4.19 The NW bank of the P. pygmaeus D lake Vračevgajsko P. kuhlii/nathusii D 27 jezero, Bela Crkva (44.89076°N, Myotis sp. D P. pygmaeus D 21.38588°E) 4.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D

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30.4.19 N. noctula D Edge of Deliblato Sands Special Nature P. pygmaeus D 28 Reserve, Grebenac P. kuhlii/nathusii, D (44.89969°N, 3.5.19 N. noctula D 21.22262°E) Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D Mi. schreibersii D Abandoned building, Bela Crkva 29 1.5.19 / O (44.89876°N, 21.41048°E) Bridge, Banatska Palanka 30 1.5.19 / O (44.85513°N, 21.34399°E) Bridge, Banatska Palanka 31 1.5.19 / O (44.85785°N, 21.34840°E) Bridge over Ponjavice, Kovin 32 1.5.19 / O (44.74632°N, 20.98442°E) Bridge over Ponjavice, Kovin 33 1.5.19 / O (44.74082°N, 20.98642°E) Bridge over Ponjavice, Kovin 34 1.5.19 / O (44.73806°N, 20.98297°E) Bridge over a canal, Kovin Lutra lutra- 35 1.5.19 / O (44.72949°N, scat (8) 20.97328°E) Bridge over a canal, Kovin Lutra lutra- 36 1.5.19 / O (44.71271°N, scat (11) 20.95727°E) Bridge over a canal, Smederevo Lutra lutra- 37 1.5.19 / O (44.70425°N, scat (5) 20.94459°E)

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Bridge over Danube, P. nathusii (2 ad M, 1 ad F, M, O 1.5.19 Smederevo 10 un) 38 (44.70045°N, 20.94864°E) 2.5.19 P. nathusii (1 ad M) M R. ferrumequinum D Myotis sp. D Macadam road near P. pygmaeus (1 ad M, 1 ad F) M river Karaš, Jesenovo 39 1.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D (44.94122°N, N. noctula (1 ad M) M 21.29121°E) Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D Mi. schreibersii D Road to Vršac tower 40 (45.12082°N, 1.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.32986°E) Bridge under the main road Kovin –Smederevo, Pipistrellus sp. (10 un) O 41 2.5.19 Smederevo P. kuhlii (1 ad M) M (44.68894°N, 20.96093°E) Bridge over Canal DTD, Grebenac 42 2.5.19 / O (44.90279°N, 21.24622°E) P. kuhlii/nathusii D Grebenac N. leisleri, D 43 (44.89653°N, 3.5.19 Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D 21.22879°E) Mi. schreibersii D Road Grebenac - Kajtasovo P. kuhlii/nathusii D 44 3.5.19 (44.88620°N, N. noctula D 21.24038°E) Kajtasovo P. pipistrellus D 45 (44.87951°N, 3.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.25043°E) Road Kajtasovo - Canal DTD P. pygmaeus D 46 3.5.19 (44.85544°N, P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.29316°E) Road Canal DTD - Vračev Gaj P. kuhlii/nathusii D 47 3.5.19 (44.85784°N, Mi. schreibersii D 21.30585°E)

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Road Canal DTD - Vračev Gaj 48 3.5.19 Mi. schreibersii D (44.87370°N, 21.32517°E) Vračev Gaj 3.5.19 N. noctula D 49 (44.88150°N, 21.37400°E) 4.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D Entrance to Camp Oaza, Bela Crkva 50 3.5.19 P. kuhlii D (44.88836°N, 21.38605°E) Bridge over Canal DTD, nesting Vlajkovac 51 4.5.19 / O Columba livia (45.06954°N, domestica 21.19353°E) Bridge over Mesić, Vršac 52 4.5.19 / O (45.12896°N, 21.27233°E) Railway bridge over Mesić, Vršac 53 4.5.19 / O (45.12936°N, 21.27382°E) Bridge over Canal DTD, Jermenovci 54 4.5.19 / O (45.18040°N, 21.02949°E) Bridge over Brzava, Konak 55 4.5.19 / O (45.30734°N, 20.91365°E) Bridge over Canal DTD, Strix aluco in Jarkovac a very small amount of 56 4.5.19 O the chamber (45.27301°N, guano of the bridge 20.76450°E) Bridge over Tamiš, Sečanj P. nathusii (1 ad M) M 57 4.5.19 (45.35800°N, N. noctula (1 un) O 20.77075°E)

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Illuminated road, beside the lake Vračevgajsko jezero, P. kuhlii/nathusii D 58 4.5.19 Bela Crkva Mi. schreibersii D (44.89404°N, 21.39610°E) N bank of the lake Malo jezero, Bela Crkva P. pygmaeus D 59 4.5.19 (44.89268°N, P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.39723°E) Road Canal DTD - Dubovac 60 4.5.19 N. noctula D (44.85223°N, 21.28676°E) Road Canal DTD P. pygmaeus D - Dubovac 61 4.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D (44.83327°N, Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D 21.25576°E) Road Canal DTD - Dubovac Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D 62 4.5.19 (44.82707°N, Mi. schreibersii D 21.24465°E) Road Canal DTD - Dubovac N. noctula D 63 4.5.19 (44.81965°N, Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D 21.23188°E) Road Canal DTD - Dubovac P. pygmaeus D 64 4.5.19 (44.80976°N, Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D 21.22815°E) Road Canal DTD - Dubovac P. pygmaeus D 65 4.5.19 (44.80252°N, Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D 21.22870°E) Road Canal DTD P. pygmaeus D - Dubovac 66 4.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D (44.79788°N, Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio D 21.22129°E) Dubovac 67 (44.79460°N, 4.5.19 P. kuhlii/nathusii D 21.20169°E) Road Dubovac - Šumarak P. kuhlii/nathusii D 68 4.5.19 (44.81680°N, N. noctula D 21.14820°E)

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Out of 31 bat species living in Serbia (Paunović 2016, Pejić et al. 2017), 23 have been found in Vojvodina (Paunović 2016). During the camp, we confirmed the presence of 10 bat species which were all previously recorded in the south-east part of Vojvodi- na, but for most of them we found new sites and for some new roosts in bridges or buildings.

Our main focus during the day was surveying bridges as potential bat roosts. We inspected 35 bridges and found bats or signs of their presence in 7 of them, which represents 20.0% of inspected bridges. In three bridges we only found bat guano, but in four of them we found bats as well. We observed four bat species: R. ferrumequinum, P. nathusii, P. kuhlii and N. noctula as well as some specimens from the genus Pipistrellus which we were unable to catch and identify to the species level. Bats were using a dark chamber under the bridge (R. ferrumequinum), crevices between concrete blocks of the bridges (P. nathusii, P. kuhlii, Pipistrellus sp., N. noctula) and a cracked wall of the bridge (P. nathusii). The bridge with the largest number of bats was the bridge over Danube near Smederevo (site no. 38, Figures 4 – 6) where 13 P. nathusii were dwelling in the cracked wall on the left river bank. When we checked the bridge again the next day, only one P. nathusii was still present. This roost site is an important finding because P. nathusii in Serbia is rarely found, and most of the previously known sites were either single-animal findings or audio determined ones (Paunović 2016). In the nearby bridge south of Danube under the main road Kovin – Smederevo (site no. 41, Figures 7 – 9), we found a roost of at least 11 Pipistrellus sp. We managed to catch one P. kuhlii, but because the rest of the bats were in different parts of the crevice or in different crevices, we can’t be certain that they’re all of the same species. R. ferrumequinum was found in the dark chamber under the bridge over Canal DTD near Danube (site no. 21, Figures 2, 3). The dark chamber was present on both sides of the bridge, and both chambers had small piles of guano in them. In the crevices of the bridge over river Tamiš near Sečanj (site no. 57, Figures 10, 11), we found P. nathusii and N. noctula. The latter eluded capture but quickly found safety in the same long crevice in the middle of the bridge above the water. Because the water was too deep, we could only check the first few meters of the long crevices under the bridge. This could mean that more bats could have been present in the parts of the crevices that were inaccessible to us. During the survey of bridges, we have also recorded the presence of otter on four sites (Table 1), three times in the canals near Danube and once under the bridge over the creek Mesić.

We found two R. ferrumequinum in the cellar of an abandoned building south of Bela Crkva (site no. 19). In Bela Crkva (Miletićeva 46, site no. 20) owner of the house showed us his cellar, attic and some other places where he sometimes saw up to five bats hanging from the ceiling. Based on the size and placement of found guano, as well as his description, this site is probably an occasional roost of R. ferrumequinum.

32 Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019 IZVORNI ČLANAK | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Figures 2, 3. Bridge over Canal DTD near Danube (site no. 21) has a narrow entrance into the chamber, where Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and a pile of guano were found. Slike 2, 3. Most, na kanalu DTD, blizu Dunava (lokalitet br. 21) ima uzak ulaz u deo mosta gde su nađeni Rhinolophus ferrumequinum i guano. (photo/foto: Eva Pavlovič)

Figures 4, 5, 6. Bridge over Danube near Smederevo (site no. 38) where 13 Pipistrellus nathusii were found in marked cracks. Slike 4, 5, 6. Most, na Dunavu kod Smedereva (lokalitet br. 38) gde je označenima pukotinama pronađeno 13 jedinki vrste Pipistrellus nathusii. (photo/foto: left/levo – Eva Pavlovič, upper right/gore desno – Aleksandar Bajić, lower right/dole desno – Janja Adamič)

Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019 33 IZVORNI ČLANAK | ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Figures 7, 8, 9. Bridge under the main road Kovin-Smederevo (site no. 41) where Pipistrellus kuhlii and Pipistrellus sp. were found in marked crevice. Slike 7, 8, 9. Most, kod glavnog puta Kovin-Smederevo (lokalitet br. 41) gde su zabeležene jedinke Pipistrellus kuhlii i Pipistrellus sp.. (photo/foto: upper left/gore levo – Eva Pavlovič, other/ostale – Janja Adamič)

However, because the bats weren’t present during our visit, this assumption still needs confirmation.

In the two previously known roosts, we found the expected species. In the cave under the quarry Mali Kamenolom (site no. 23) there were around 50 active R. ferrumequinum and at least 600 Mi. schreibersii. Using the hand net, we caught, measured and ringed one male R. ferrumequinum, seven females and three males of Mi. schreibersii. We also caught three females of Mi. schreibersii that were already marked. All of them were ringed at the same locality in October 2017 and June 2015 (I. Budinski pers. comm.) which is another proof of roost fidelity in this species (Budinski et al. 2018). Cave under the quarry Mali Kamenolom is a known roost dominantly for Mi. schreibersii, throughout the year except for hibernation, and occasionally for R. ferrumequinum (Paunović 2016).

In the underground water tank near the city of Vršac (site no. 24), we found a maternity colony of M. emarginatus, which was found there for the first time in 2014 (Paunović 2016). At the same site we found only one specimen of R. ferrumequinum, unlike in June 2014 when there were 120 R. ferrumequinum found. We caught one adult female of M. emarginatus to measure and check its condition, and since she was pregnant, we left without further disturbing the colony.

During the night we mostly did acoustic surveys and tried mist netting at several occasions, but due to rain and high winds we managed to successfully mist net only once. Mist netting on the macadam road near river Karaš and the settlement Jesenovo (site

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Figures 10, 11. Bridge over Tamiš near Sečanj (site no. 57) where Pipistrellus nathusii was found (on the right) and Nyctalus noctula. The arrows show the long crevice between concrete blocks where the bats were hiding. Slike 10, 11. Most, na reci Tamiš kod Sečnja (lokalitet br. 57) gde su pronađene jedinke vrsta Pipistrellus nathusii (na desnoj slici) i Nyctalus noctula. Strelicama su označene pukotine gde su se nalazile zabeležene jedinke. (photo/foto: Eva Pavlovič).

no. 39) was successful, as we captured two P. pygmaeus and one N. noctula. We also recorded the presence of some other bat species (Table 1).

Since we have done most of our detector surveys from the car, we usually only detected one or two species per site as we were driving at the same time most of the time and only passing through. We stopped at some points, so we could get more recordings. The site with the most recorded species is on the shore of the lake Vračevgajsko jezero at Camp Oaza (site no. 1) where we left AAR for an entire night. It recorded at least 8 species or taxa (Myotis sp., P. pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. nathusii, P. kuhlii, H. savii, N. noctula, Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio). Overall in all sites, the most fre- quently recorded species were P. pygmaeus, N. noctula and the taxa P. kuhlii/nathusii and Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio, but we recorded other species as well. Three species were only recorded with the ultrasound detector and weren’t found during the day in a roost or mist netted during the night (P. pipistrellus, H. savii, N. leisleri). All three species were previously found in the south-eastern part of Vojvodina, but only on a few occasions (Paunović 2016). Despite the bad weather conditions we have managed to collect a lot of new data about roosts and bat sites for this part of Vo- jvodina. We have checked most of the accessible bridges and confirmed that suitable bridges are important structures for bat roosts. In the future surveys, it would be interesting to examine if the roosts in bridges we found are used in the summer, winter and fall as well or if they are just transitional spring roosts.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Biology Students’ Society (Društvo študentov biologije) from Ljubljana for organizing this camp and The Slovenian Association for Bat Research and Conservation for lending the necessary equipment for bat survey. We would also like to thank Primož Presetnik for his help with analysing some of the more diffi- cult recordings and Jan Gojznikar who was in another research group, but did some work with ultrasound detector during the night field trips and gave us his results. And finally, we would like to thank Aleksandar Bajić and Lazar Mrčarica for joining us and also the participant of the bat research group: Janja Adamič, Luc Koprivc and Bor Logar Dražumerič. The research was partly conducted with the financial support of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia, project title “Monitoring of bat populations and roosts in Serbia”, project number 401-00-200/2016-17.

References

• Barataud M., 2015. Acoustic ecology of European bats. Species Identification, study of their habitats and foraging behaviour. Inventaires & biodiversite series. Biotope, Mèze. Muséum national d’Historie naturelle, Paris, 352 pp.

• Budinski I., B. Pejić, M. Paunović, B. Karapandža, J. Josipović, 2018. Evropski dugokrilaš Miniopterus schreibersii (Kuhl, 1817). In: Stanković D., M. Paunović, M. Raković (Eds.): Atlas migratornih ptica i slepih miševa Srbije. Ministarsto zaštite životne sredine Republike Srbije, Ministarstvo kulture i informisanja Republike Srbije, Prirodnjački muzej u Beogradu, posebna izdanja 46, Beograd, pp. 513–522.

• Dietz C., O. von Helversen, D. Nill, 2009. Bats of Britain, Europe and Northwest Africa. A & C Black Publishers Ltd., London, 400 pp.

• Marić R. (Ed.), 2012. Ekosistemi Balkana, Srbija 2012. Društvo študentov biologije, Ljubljana, 80 pp.

• Paunović M., 2016. Rasprostanjenje, ekologija i centri diverziteta slepih miševa (Mammalia, Chiroptera) u Srbiji. Biološki fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu. PhD thesis. pp. 1–475.

• Pejić B., I. Budinski, B. Karapandža, M. Paunović, 2017. The first record of European free-tailed bat Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814) in Serbia. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum (10): 105–111.

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First records of bats in the area of natural value “Vir – potok” at the village Vir pri Stični (Slovenia)

Prvi nalazi šišimiša na području prirodnog dobra “Vir – potok” kod sela Vir pri Stični (Slovenija)

Primož Presetnik1, Eva Pavlovič2

1 Center za kartografijo favne in flore, Tacenska cesta 20, Ljubljana-Šentvid (Slovenia) 2 Ulica bratov Učakar 22, 1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia) E-mail: [email protected] (P.P); [email protected] (E.P.)

Abstract

We are presenting the first list of bats recorded in the area of natural value “Vir – potok” at the Vir pri Stični village (Slovenia). Two nights of survey with automatic acoustic recorder and mist netting at the spring of the stream Vir in the second half of July 2019 confirmed the presence of 11 bat species: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Myotis myotis, M. bechsteinii, M. nattereri, M. emarginatus, M. mystacinus, Nyctalus leisleri, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. kuhlii and Barbastella barbastellus. Therefore we argue that this particular area is also important for bat conservation and thus bats should be included in legal argumentation why this area is designated as area of natural value.

Key words: bat fauna, Vir pri Stični, Slovenia

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Sažetak

Predstavljamo prvu listu šišmiša područja prirodne vrijednosti “Vir – potok” kod sela Vir pri Stični (Slovenija). Kod izvora potoka Vir smo u drugoj polovici jula 2019. godine u istraživanju tokom dvije noći s automatskim ultrazvučnim detektorom i mrežama za hvatanje šišmiša potvrdili prisutnost 11 vrsta šišmiša: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Myotis myotis, M. bechsteinii, M. nattereri, M. emarginatus, M. mystacinus, Nyctalus leisleri, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. kuhlii i Barbastella barbastellus. Iz navedenog ra- zloga smatramo da je ovo područje prirodne vrijednosti važno i za očuvanje šišmiša i da bi ga kao takvo trebalo zaštititi.

Ključne riječi: fauna šišmiša, Vir pri Stični, Slovenija

Vir pri Stični spring and its surrounding area (45.8152°N, 14.8152°E, 330 m a.s.l.) is designated as the area of natural value “Vir – potok” (no. 8021, Rules 2004) for its hydrological and ecosystem importance. It presents typical small karstic spring with a short flow of stream Vir (Figure 1). This site is of high importance for biodiversity conservation, as locus typicus for olm (Proteus anguinus), and was therefore included in the Natura 2000 network as Special Area of Conservation “Vir pri Stični” (SI3000202, Decree 2004).

The Vir stream starts as a few meters wide spring, with a slow water flow at the foot of a low hill, and continues in a similarly wide flow under the forest canopy for approximately 30 m. When the stream emerges into the meadow it becomes much narrower (1 m) and continues approximately 100 m to a sinkhole (actually estavela) in the SW part of the meadow.

Despite the fact that this area could represent a valuable habitat for bats, no data on present bat fauna was available before the Biology students summer camp “RTŠB Ivančna Gorica 2019”. This camp gave us a perfect opportunity to get the first information on bats in this area of natural value, where we managed to make two night survey.

In the evening of 21st July 2019, we placed an automatic acoustic recorder (AAR), Song Meter SM4BAT FS with SMM-U1 ultrasonic microphone protected by a windscreen (Wildlife Acoustics Inc., Maynard, USA), at the ground level, approx. 5 m from the spring. We collected the data and the equipment the next morning (night lasting 8:48 h, one decade lasting 0:52 h). The AAR was using default audio settings, with exception of minimum trigger frequency, which we set to 11 kHz. Recordings were later

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Figure 1. Stream Vir as seen from its spring. Slika 1. Potok Vir – pogled od izvora duž toka. (photo/foto: Ester Premate)

analysed with the BatSound 4.4 program (Pettersson Elektronik) using echolocations calls characteristics according to available literature (e.g. Barataud 2015).

Analysis of recorded bat calls with the AAR revealed presence of at least 8 – 10 bat species (Table 1). Most frequent records (53.5% of all calls) referred to genus Myotis within which Myotis nattereri was identified with certainty and at least three species were recorded from phonic groups: M. myotis/oxygnathus, M. mystacinus/ brandtii/daubentonii, M. emarginatus/bechsteinii/alcathoe. Bats from the phonic group Pipistrellus kuhlii/nathusii presented 23.0% of recorded calls and were followed by Barbastella barbastellus with 7.3% frequency. Bat passes from other bat species and phonic groups comprised less than 5% (Table 1). Most of the activity was recorded in the first three decades (parts) of the night (64%), however a smaller peak of activity was also detected during the ninth decade – presumably when bats were returning to their roosts.

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Table 1. Number of bat passes of bat species and phonic groups recorded with automatic acoustic recorder at the spring of the Vir stream by the Vir pri Stični village during the night from 21st to 22nd July 2019. Tabela 1. Broj preleta vrsta i fonetskih skupina šišmiša zabilježenih s automatskim ultrazvučnim detektorom kod izvora potoka Vir kod sela Vir pri Stični u noći s 21. na 22. juli 2019. (N./E./V. – acoustic group/fonetska skupina Nyctalus/Eptesicus/Vespertilio)

Decade of night No. of Species Desetina noći passes Vrsta Br. preleta 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

R. ferrumequinum 6 (1.9%) 3 ------2 1 Myotis spp. 163 (51.3%) 70 20 19 12 8 7 4 7 15 1 M. nattereri 7 (2.2%) ------7 - P. pipistrellus 5 (1.6%) - - 1 - 1 - - - - 3 P. pygmaeus 6 (1.9%) 6 ------P. kuhlii/nathusii 73 (23%) 20 26 10 - 3 - 1 1 7 5 B. barbastellus 24 (7.5%) 10 6 4 1 2 - 1 - - - N./E./V. 11 (3.5%) - 1 1 - 1 4 3 - 1 - undetermined 23 (7.2%) 2 2 2 4 - 2 3 4 4 -

Sum (percentage) 111 55 37 17 15 13 12 12 36 10 318 Ukupno (35%) (17%) (12%) (5%) (5%) (4%) (4%) (5%) (11%) (3%) (postotni udio)

On 26th July we conducted mist netting from 20:44 (sunset) until 00:10. Altogether we placed 57 m of mist nets at the banks of the spring and across the stream under the tree canopy. Captured bats were determined according to Dietz & Kiefer (2016). We mist netted 25 bats and total of 10 species (Table 2). Most of the bats were adult animals (22), while few subadults (3) and no juveniles were caught, which indicates that most juvenile bats may have still been too young to fly independently. This could po- tentially be due to cold and rainy weather in the second part of April and whole May 2019, which contributed to approximately 10 day delay of births in comparison to usual conditions (unpublished personal data of first author). This late development is also supported by the fact that half of the caught females were clearly still lactating (1 Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, 2 P. kuhlii, 1 B. barbastellus).

Altogether we have determined the presence of 11 bat species: R. ferrumequinum, M. myotis, M. bechsteinii, M. nattereri, M. emarginatus, M. mystacinus, Nyctalus leisleri, P. pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus, P. kuhlii and B. barbastellus.

The most interesting finds were the three females of R. ferrumequinum (Table 2),

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Table 2. Bats mist netted at the spring of the Vir stream by the Vir pri Stični village on 26th July 2019. Tabela 2. Šišmiši uzorkovani mrežama oko izvora Vir kod sela Vir pri Stični 26. jula 2019.

Male Female Mužjak Ženka Species Vrsta adult subadult adult subadult (parous) (nulliparous)

R. ferrumequinum - - 3 - M. myotis 4 - - - M. bechsteinii 1 - - - M. nattereri - - 1 - M. emarginatus - - - 1 M. mystacinus 4 - 1 - N. leisleri 3 - - - P. pygmaeus 1 - - - P. kuhlii - - 2 - B. barbastellus - 1 2 1

which indicate that an unknown maternity colony could be located nearby, as the closest maternity roost known so far is 26 km away in the Luknja cave and the ruins of castle Luknja (Hudoklin & Presetnik 2012). The presence of a roost nearby is also supported by the fact that R. ferrumequinum bat passes were recorded during the first and the last decade of the night (Table 1), probably during their flight from and to their roost. Regarding the subadult M. emarginatus, it was probably one of the bats from the well-known roost in the church in Gradišče (Mekinje) 1.5 km NE of the spring (Presetnik et al. 2017). Finally, the presence of so-called woodland species such as M. bechsteinii, N. leisleri and B. barbastellus is of high interest, as they are indicators of rich woods in the vicinity of the spring.

We are certain that further research will reveal the presence of additional bat species (e.g. M. alcathoe). But even after only two night survey it is clear that the spring and its surrounding area represents an important bat habitat and that it is possibly of high conservation value. Therefore we suggest including bats in a legal argumentation why this area is designated as area of natural value. Natura 2000 standard data form should be updated in order to include the list of bats species present.

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References

• Decree, 2004. Decree on special protection areas (Natura 2000 areas). Official gazette of Republic Slovenia 49/04 and later corrections.

• Dietz C., A. Kiefer, 2016. Bats of Britain and Europe. Bloomsbury Natural History, UK, 398 pp.

• Hudoklin A., P. Presetnik, 2012. Varstvo ogroženih jamskih zatočišč netopirjev na Dolenjskem. Dolenjski kras, Novo mesto 6: 147–156.

• Presetnik P., A. Zamolo, A. Šalamun, V. Grobelnik, A. Lešnik, 2017. Monitoring populacij izbranih ciljnih vrst netopirjev v letih 2016 in 2017. Končno poročilo. Center za kartografijo favne in flore, Miklavž na Dravskem polju. 189 str., digitalne priloge. [Naročnik: Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor, Ljubljana].

• Rules, 2004, Rules on the designation and protection of natural values. Official gazette of Republic Slovenia 111/04 and later corrections.

42 Hypsugo, IV, 2, 2019 BILJEŠKE S TERENA | FIELD NOTES

Chiroptera, 1.–2. 5. 2019, Zaprikraj mountain pasture and the surrounding area (Kobarid), Slovenia

Chiroptera, 1.–2. 5. 2019, okolica Planine Zaprikraj (Kobarid), Slovenija

Primož Presetnik1

1 Center za kartografijo favne in flore, Tacenska cesta 20, Ljubljana-Šentvid (Slovenia) E-mail: [email protected]

The shepherd’s cottage on the Zaprikraj Koča na planini Zaprikraj 4,5 km SV od Koba- mountain pasture, 4.5 km NE of the town rida (Z Slovenija) je bila sedež prvomajskega Kobarid (W Slovenia) was a venue of the tabora Društva za raziskovanje jam Ljubljana. First of May research camp of Society for Ob tej priliki sem našel tri vrste prezimujočih Cave Exploration, Ljubljana. During this netopirjev, o katerih poročam, ker so opaža- camp I recorded three hibernating bat spe- nja netopirjev na takšnih nadmorskih višinah cies, which I am reporting because obser- na splošno redka, kaj šele spomladi. vations of bats at such altitudes are gen- erally rare, particularly in the spring time. - V jami z delovnim imenom »Skozenjc« [WGS 84; 46,2950 °N, 13,5963 °E, 1400 m n. m.] - On 1st May 2019, in the cave provisional- sem 1. 5. 2019 približno 20 m v notranjosti ly named »Skozenjc« [WGS 84; 46.2950 °N, našel samca navadnega netopirja (Myotis 13.5963 °E, 1400 m a.s.l.], approximately myotis), ki se je verjetno skotil v predhodnem 20 m from the entrance, I found a Myotis letu. Dve okostji te vrste je ob podobni priliki myotis male probably born in the previ- (30. 4. 2007) našla tudi ga. Bojana Fajdiga v ous year. Two skeletons of this species 2 km oddaljeni Krasji jami (katastrska števil- were found at the similar occasion on 30th ka 9085) [WGS 84; 46,2831 °N, 13,6092 °E, April 2007 by Bojana Fajdiga in Krasja jama 1320 m n. m.]. cave, 2 km away (Slovene cave cadastre no. 9085) [WGS 84; 46.2831 °N, 13.6092 °E, - V kaverni pri Njivicah ob poti 730 m SZ 1320 m a.s.l.]. od Planine Zaprikraj [WGS 84; 46,2911 °N, 13,6148 °E, 1235 m n. m.], sem tudi - In the cavern Njivice, approximately 730 1. 5. 2019, 10 m v notranjosti našel samca m NW from Zaprikraj [WGS 84; 46.2911 °N, odraslega brkatega netopirja (M. mystacinus). 13.6148 °E, 1235 m a.s.l.], approximately 10 m inside, also on 1st May 2019, I found - V veliki kaverni 300 m J od Planine Zapri- an adult male of M. mystacinus. kraj [WGS 84; 46,2855 °N, 13,6238 °E, 1190 m n. m.] pa sem 2. 5. 2019, 10 m v notra- - In the large cavern 300 m S of Zaprikraj njosti, opazil enega malega podkovnjaka

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[WGS 84; 46.2855 °N, 13.6238 °E, 1190 (Rhinolophus hipposideros). Najbližje kotišče m a.s.l.], I observed one Rhinolophus te vrste je oddaljeno le 2 km, saj velika kolo- hipposideros on 2nd May 2019. The clos- nija koti na podstrešju zasebne hiše v Drež- est maternity roost of this species is only niških Ravnah [WGS 84; 46,2674 °N, 13,6106 2 km away, where large maternity group °E, 570 m n. m.], kjer je npr. 14. 6. 2016 ga inhabits the attic of a private house in the Liljana Merljak Skočir naštela 50 odraslih village Drežniške Ravne [WGS 84; 46.2674 netopirjev. ° N, 13.6106 °E, 570 m a.s.l.], where Liljana Merljak Skočir has counted 50 adult bats, e.g. on 14th June 2016.

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Eptesicus nilssonii, 28. 12. 2019, underground fortification Mirin (Zabiče), Slovenia

Eptesicus nilssonii, 28. 12. 2019, podzemna utrdba Mirin (Zabiče), Slovenija

Primož Presetnik1, Eva Pavlovič2

1 Center za kartografijo favne in flore, Tacenska cesta 20, Ljubljana-Šentvid (Slovenia) 2 Ulica bratov Učakar 22, 1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia) E-mail: [email protected] (P.P.); [email protected] (E.P.)

Underground fortification in the hamlet Podzemna utrdba v zaselku Mirin [WGS 84; Mirin [WGS 84; 45.5420 °N, 14.4636 °E, 45,5420 °N, 14,4636 °E, 1200 m n. m.] leži na 1200 m a.s.l.] is located in the southern južni strani gore Snežnik, sredi obsežnih, ve- part of Snežnik mountain, in the middle of činoma bukovih gozdov, manj kot 1,5 km od vast, mostly beech forests, less than 1.5 km hrvaške meje. Najbližje večje stalno naselje- from the border with Croatia. The closest no naselje je vas Zabiče, 10 km proti zahodu. bigger settlement is the village Zabiče, 10 Utrdbo so pred 2. svetovno vojno zgradili Ita- km to the west. Mentioned underground lijani blizu tedanje meje med fašistično Italijo fortification is a pre-2nd World War Italian in Kraljevino Jugoslavijo. Ima zgornji in spod- defence structure, which was at that time nji vhod in več bojnih blokov, od katerih je positioned close to the border between sedaj večina zasutih. Tuneli v približni dolžini the fascist Italy and Kingdom of Yugoslavia. 200 m so približno 2,5 m visoki in 1,5 m širo- It has an upper and a lower entrance and ki, z večjimi ali manjšimi stranskimi prostori, several casemates, most of which are now en tunel je tudi delno poplavljen. blocked. Passages approximately 200 m in length are approximately 2.5 m high, 1.5 m Zaradi odročnosti, visoke nadmorske višine wide and have several larger and smaller in s tem povezanim ostrimi zimskimi razme- side rooms. One passage is half flooded. rami, sta spodletela dva predhodna poizkusa zimskega popisa netopirjev. Na srečo, pa je Due to its remoteness, high altitude and suh začetek zime, omogočil, da sva utrdbo therefore harsh winters, two attempts of pregledala 28. decembra 2019. V njej sva bat survey during a winter period failed in našla 2 severna netopirja (Eptesicus nilssonii), the past. Luckily, dry weather conditions ki sta se stiskala skupaj v mali stropni niši (Sli- in the beginning of winter 2019 made it ka 1). Niša je bila 12 m oddaljena od zgornje- possible to inspect this fortification on ga vhoda, skozi katerega je 8 m v notranjost 28th December 2019. In it we have found sijalo sonce. Na žalost nisva imela termo- two Eptesicus nilssonii, huddled together in metra, temperatura ob netopirjih pa je bila the ceiling niche (Figure 1). The niche was gotovo nad lediščem. Oba netopirja sta bila

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Figure 1. Two Eptesicus nilssonii found in the ceiling niche in entrance parts of underground fortification in Mirin (Slovenia). Slika 1. Dva severna netopirja (Eptesicus nilssonii) najdena v stropni niši v vhodnem delu podzemne utrdbe v Mirinu (Slovenija). (photo/foto: Primož Presetnik, Eva Pavlovič)

positioned 12 m from the upper entrance odrasli samici, ki sta že dojili. and the sun was shining 8 m inside the pas- sageway. Unfortunately thermometer was Severni netopir ni pogosto zaznana vrsta v not available, but the air temperature close Sloveniji, čeprav zgleda da živi v hladnejših to the bats was above freezing point. Both delih države (Žibrat 2009, Presetnik et al. animals were adult parous females. 2017). Do sedaj je bil zabeležen le v mesecih od maja do septembra, zato je najino zimsko Eptesicus nilssonii is not a commonly found opažanje dokaj neobičajno. bat in Slovenia, though it seems to inhab- it colder parts of the country (Žibrat 2009, Presetnik et al. 2017). So far it was recorded in months from May to September, so our winter observation is quite unique.

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References Reference

• Presetnik P., A. Zamolo, A. Šalamun, V. Grobelnik & A. Lešnik, 2017. Monitoring populacij izbranih ciljnih vrst netopirjev v letih 2016 in 2017. Končno poročilo. Center za kartografijo favne in flore, Miklavž na Dravskem polju. 189 str., digitalne priloge. [Naročnik: Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor, Ljubljana].

• Žibrat U., 2009. Pozni netopir – Eptesicus nilssonii (Keyserling & Blasius, 1839). In: Presetnik P., K. Koselj, M. Zagmajster (Eds.), Atlas netopirjev (Chiroptera) Slovenije [Atlas of bats (Chiroptera) of Slovenia], pp. 92–93, Center za kartografijo favne in flore, Miklavž na Dravskem polju.

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