Assoc. Ph.D.Sc. Alma Mikuška

Institution of residence: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Scotland (RSPB Scotland)

Period: May – June 2022

The goal of my mobility under the ERASMUS mobility programme was to receive professional training in the field of conservation biology, i.e., familiarization with the problems of reintroducing birds, especially large predators such as the White-tailed-sea eagle. Since I have been doing research on the White-tailed-sea eagle population in the Kopački rit area for years, I was also interested in comparing the ecological and biological characteristics of the eagles of the Northern European population and the eagles of the Danube population. In May 2022, I was a guest of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland (RSPB Scotland) and conducted activities at the RSPB Scotland Mull Office on the Isle of Mull as part of the ERASMUS + mobility programme. The reintroduction of White-tailed-sea eagles to the Isle of Mull began in the 1980s, and today the population numbers 22 pairs. Through fieldwork that included census and nesting success for the year 2022, as well as analysis of data collected by colleagues at the RSPB Scotland Mull Office during the reintroduction project, I became familiar with the problems of reintroducing White-tailed-sea eagles to the Isle of Mull and other parts of Scotland and England. I will use the knowledge gained for scientific research purposes as well as for teaching activities in the ornithology and conservation biology courses I teach in the Department of Biology.

Erasmus experiences