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| Pokljuka plateau in the Triglav National Park. |
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| Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus (female) |
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| Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius (female) |
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| Fresh Black Woodpecker's feeding holes. |
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| Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes |
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| Crested Tit Lophophanes cristatus |
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| Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris (dark morph) |
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| Cep (Penny Bun) Boletus edulis |
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| Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria - development stages. |
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| Shingled Hedgehog Sarcodon imbricatus |
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| Scrambled Egg Slime (aka Dog Vomit Slime Mold!) Fuligo septica |
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| Interrupted Club-moss Lycopodium annotinum |
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| Lingonberry (Cowberry) Vaccinium vitis-idaea |
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| Rowan Sorbus aucuparia |
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| Willow Gentian Gentiana asclepiadea |
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| Fringed Gentian Gentianella ciliata |
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| Grass of Parnassus Parnassia palustris |
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| Wood Ant Formica rufa (anthill) |
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| Mountain conifer forest on Pokljuka. |
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| One of the several raised bogs on the Pokljuka plateau. |
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| Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia & Sphagnum mosses. |
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| Tracks of Alpine Chamois Rupicapra rupicapra |
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| Optimal Hazel Grouse Bonasa bonasia habitat at around 1600 metres a.s.l. |
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| Conifer forest around Medvedova konta, a large karstic dolina. |
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| Forest cabin with roof made of spruce bark. |
This week we made an unplanned visit to the Pokljuka plateau (within Triglav National Park) in the Julian Alps - the kingdom of alpine grouse such as Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus and Hazel Grouse Bonasa bonasia. We spent part of the day in the extensive mountain conifer forests, where we gathered a nice selection of typical birds & other wildlife of the season (fungi!). The most interesting find was a female Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus materialising on a tree in front of us, as if by magic, after we've been hoping to see one for the whole day. Also saw a Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius and heard lots of Nutcrackers Nucifraga caryocatactes (but only managed to see one). Otherwise many common mountain forest birds, as usual for early autumn. Apart from the above super-cute Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris we also saw an odd Edible Dormouse Glis glis climbing a spruce.
P.S. As you may have noticed Blogger has changed its mind (again) on the photo sizes, so now we're back to the old pic's formats (=smaller photos).
