The European bird-watch event was held on Sunday, 6th of October 2013 in Special Natrure Reserve "Pastures of Great Bustard".

European bird-watch weekend, or Euro Bird-watch is organized by an international European organization "Bird Life International" in collaboration with partners from Europe and central Africa. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness about migratory birds and promoting efforts to preserve endangered species and their habitats. 

In the past 20 years, every year the first weekend in October is reserved for observing millions of birds that leave their habitat and fly to warmer regions where they spend the winter. In various parts of Europe, it is possible to see a large number of species, some of which are gathered in a spectacular number of traditional resting places. 

Event in the SNR "Pastures of great bustard" was organized by the Society for the Study and Protection of birds of Serbia in cooperation with the Association for the Protection of the Great Bustard Mokrin. The meeting was attended by students from elementary school "Basa Stajić" Mokrin.

Initially, the participants of the event had the opportunity to walk on "educational path" and hear the basic information about the reserve and the natural resources in their possession.

After that the participants went to visit the Visitors Center from which they have a view of the "Jaroš", which is registered as an internationally important bird habitat (Important Bird Area, IBA - 011SER), an area of ​​8,000 hectares. 

An integral part of the reserve are ranches and their owners provide the authenticity to this area. On this occasion participants were hosted by rancher Joca Jančić, who shared his experiences of life in the reservation. He, in his oasis, keeps a herd of about 60 cows, and he has a daily opportunity to observe a variety of flora and fauna of the reserve.

Excursion has continued to the nearby abandoned farms, each ornithological findings were recorded.  So far the SNR "Pastures of great bustard" has recorded 135 bird species, 111 of which are strictly protected.

This event is magnified by the presence of most specie of reserve, great bustard. Unfortunately, it was not easy to go through dirt roads of "Vajlerke" and get to the place where the bustard rested, so that the children had the opportunity to observe the bustard this time. However, the strong desire they showed gives the motivation to the organizers to organize this kind of events more often.

Fortunately, although the migratory birds, bustard rarely engages to leave their habitat in the reserve. This is good because bustard has difficulties to survive the big trips to southern regions, mainly due to the devastating impact of man. Therefore, in the winter it is necessary to intensify activities on providing conditions for survival of this rare species. 

Finally, it should be noted that the members of the HA "Perjanica" from Mokrin were also involved in organization of the event, they prepared an appropriate lunch. And local community of Mokrin, which provided the necessary equipment for bird watching. 

Thank you!