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| Pygmy Owl Glaucidium passerinum, Pokljuka, 15th November 2016. |
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| Snow-covered raised bog, Pokljuka, 15th November 2016. |
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| Mountain pine Pinus mugo, Pokljuka, 15th November 2016. |
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| Spruce forest - habitat of the Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, Pokljuka, 15th November 2016 (lower pic by Sara Cernich). |
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| Fomes fomentarius, Pokljuka, 15th November 2016. |
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| Beard-lichen Usnea sp., Pokljuka, 15th November 2016. |
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| Slovenia's highest peak - Triglav (2864 m), Pokljuka, 15th November 2016. |
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| Mt. Debela peč (2014 m), Pokljuka, 15th November 2016. |
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| Flock of Cranes Grus grus, Sežana, 3rd November 2016. |
Our local, very strong and cold northerly wind (called "burja" or "bora") is making birding, walking and staying outdoors quite unpleasant these days. Yesterday we decided to take a break from it and enjoy some windless alpine air, so we found ourselves on the Pokljuka plateau (Triglav National Park). The temperature remained just around 0 degrees C for most of the day, but it was a "pleasant" cold. We walked around the snow-covered forest for most of the day and at the end of it made our best observation: a cute PYGMY OWL Glaucidium passerinum singing from the top of a spruce, as typical for the species (see also this similar post from 2015). The forest was otherwise quite silent, apart from large numbers of montane tits like Coal Periparus ater, Crested Lophophanes cristatus and Willow Poecile montanus, but also Treecreeper Certhia familiaris and Goldcrest Regulus regulus that quickly "turned on", attracted to our pishing. A Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes and 2 Black Woodpeckers Dryocopus martius were also of note.
On the 3rd of November we also enjoyed a nice movement of Cranes Grus grus, when a flock of 169 birds passed over the windy skies between Slovenia and Italy, near Sežana. They were heading westwards as most of the Cranes at this time of year do (arriving from Slovenia and flying into Italy from the northeast). Fieldfares Turdus pilaris and other thrushes are now increasingly commoner on the Karst, as the cold is pushing them southwards. Recently we've also observed repeatedly one of the karstic Middle Spotted Woodpeckers Dendrocopos medius, but more on that species in one of the next posts...
