Alpine Accentor

Believe it or not, the above bird is an Alpine Accentor (phone-scoped)

This afternoon while hoping to find a Wallcreeper on the cliffs above the Glinščica valley (Trieste) I saw a smart ALPINE ACCENTOR which was my first of the season. It's always a pleasure to see this little alpine bird, feeding on the rocky slopes of the Karst. I checked if there were any more, but I could only see one single bird.
On the cliffs no Wallcreeper was found, but instead I witnessed some amazing behaviour performed by 3 Short-toed Treecreepers. They were doing exactly what a Wallcreeper does - climbing on a cliff face. Pity they were the wrong creepers.
Other birds I managed to see this afternoon included 2 Black Woodpeckers (1 female showing well), Crested Tit, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Raven, Siskin, Rock Bunting and an unusual flock of 20 Greylag Geese migrating SE high above the valley.

Autumn wildflowers

Colchicum autumnale - Karst

Aethionema saxatile - Karst

Allium montanum - Mt. Nanos

Satureja montana - Karst

Carlina acaulis - Mt. Vremščica

Gentiana asclepiadea - Trnovski gozd

Gentiana pneumonanthe - Cerkniško jezero

Echinops ritro subsp. ruthenicus - Mt. Kavčič

Linum tenuifolium - Karst

Campanula pyramidalis - local patch

Vincetoxicum hirundinaria - local patch

It's all quite dull at the moment, especially bird and weather-wise, so here's a botanical post to liven up the situation. A selection of wildflowers took at the end of September, mostly in Slovenia, on the Karst.

Dinaric forest full immersion

I'm back from three days of university field lessons on the Snežnik plateau and surrounding Dinaric forests (Slovenia). The weather has been absolutely brilliant with sunny conditions and some nice chilly mornings and evening (touched 0 degrees C). We mainly visited forest areas around Mašun and Sviščaki, climbed on the top of mt. Snežnik (1796 m.a.s.) and visited the Krokar primary forest (virgin forest) near Kočevje. The trip was conduced for the subject of ecology, so wasn't strictly birding-related. However I managed to see a couple of interesting species here and there. Highlight were my first REDWINGS for the season - flock of 6 seen on two consecutive days at Mašun. A few times I also heard autumn's first Bramblings and Siskins passing overhead, among the very abundant Chaffinches. Common, but interesting upland forest species included: Crossbill (very common), Bullfinch (feasting on rowan berries), Goldcrest, Coal and Willow Tit, Raven, Mistle Thrush, Hawfinch, Black Woodpecker (2 heard), Crested Tit, Treecreeper (2). Also a single Nutcracker was heard calling. Interesting raptors included a Peregrine and a Goshawk soaring above the steep cliffs of Krokar plateau. On the way back home I also spotted a Great Grey Shrike at Bloško polje (from the bus). All in all a good couple of days. Here's a few landscape pics:

Mt. Snežnik (the right top) as seen from Sviščaki

Top of mt. Snežnik with its extensive mountain pine Pinus mugo stand

Mountain pine Pinus mugo

Temperature inversion in one of Snežnik's valleys

Clear-cut border between upland beech forest and mountain pine stand

Looking north-east

Carlina acaulis

Erica carnea

Krokar primary forest - mainly composed of beech Fagus sylvatica and silver fir Abies alba

Krokar's south-facing edge with cliffs - Peregrine's habitat

Native black pine Pinus nigra stands on thermophilic south-facing slope

Lanius excubitor!

Today I caught up with the first GREAT GREY SHRIKES of the season. Precisely three birds seen in the course of the morning, on the Slovenian Karst between Sežana and Senožeče. I was quite glad to find one in each of the habitats I checked. The above pics are just for documentation as usual with these little beasts and show two different individuals. They tend to be quite wary and "distant".
Low clouds, rain and misty conditions are keeping late-autumn migrants still grounded these days and the Karst was quite alive with passerines. Song Thrushes were everywhere this morning, along with hundreds of Chaffinches, Jays, Robins and Dunnocks. Other birds seen included Yellowhammer (2), Hawfinch, Grey Heron (1 in karstic scenery), Meadow Pipit (small flock), Skylark (10), Woodlark (singing a bit everywhere now), Blackcap (good numbers), Chiffchaff, Raven, Black Redstart, Kestrel and Buzzard.
Yesterday during a short session of unplanned urban birding in Trieste I found a female Common Redstart in a small garden. In the evening I watched about 25 Jackdaws going to roost and reasonably big flocks of Starlings gathering on kaki trees.

Local patch: this morning a flock of 10 Swallows was still present in the area. Also some House Martins still occasionally found here and there. In the last three days good numbers of Water Pipits were migrating along the coast with quite big flocks of Chaffinches and even a flock of +60 Woodpigeons flew over the suburb. Dunnock invasion has begun and now they are fairly common in the gardens.

Berries galore

Blackthorn Prunus spinosa

If you don't like berries then look away now. Jokes apart, here's a post about berry-bearing bushes I photographed this autumn on the Karst and around Slovenia. Most are widespread species which are easily found in this season. Now I know why berries seem so irresistible to birds... such a nice variety and probably also many different tastes.
Enjoy.

Cornelian Cherry Cornus mas

Common Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna

Alder Buckthorn Frangula alnus (or Rhamnus frangula)

St Lucie Cherry Prunus mahaleb

Blackthorn Prunus spinosa

Purging Buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica

Dog Rose Rosa canina

Common Whitebeam Sorbus aria

Rowan Sorbus aucuparia

Rowan Sorbus aucuparia

Guelder-rose Viburnum opulus

Laurestine Viburnum tinus

Common Juniper Juniperus communis

Ural Owls and Golden Eagles

Yesterday me and a friend payed a visit to the Nanos plateau and the Trnovo forest (Trnovski gozd) in Slovenia. The weather was not the best, but we managed to avoid rain showers despite the heavy overcast skies.
First target bird of the day was the GOLDEN EAGLE which we found after about an hour's wait on the grassy slopes of Mt. Nanos (at 900 m). First two juvenile birds soared lazily above the grassy hillsides, later followed by an adult. All three birds then performed for some 15 min or more while flying one close to the other, calling at each other and sometimes landing on the top of the surrounding hills. They must've been part of a brood raised in the area. Very pleasing to see the juveniles flying around and quite an encounter I must admit.
Minutes later a Nutcracker flew along the Nanos rocky edge and landed on the top of a spruce for some seconds. My first this year. Later in the day we also heard several others around the Trnovo forest and saw about 3 different birds (all perched on spruces or in flight).
We visited the Trnovo forest mainly for the evening owl session which was very productive in the end. At dusk we managed to see two stunning URAL OWLS, still in good light, as they perched on the side branches of a spruce at the edge of a forest glade. Later we recorded at least 9 other singing (and calling) Ural Owls which raised our tally to 11 birds. All types of songs (male, female, duet) and calls were heard and up to 4 birds were singing simultaneously. All were more or less concentrated to the same area of conifer forest. Other owl species heard included both TENGMALM'S OWL (1-2) and  an unexpected Tawny Owl.
Before the owl session we had time for some birding around the forest and we thus managed to see the common species like Coal, Crested and Willow Tit, Goldcrest, Crossbill, Bullfinch, Raven, Dunnock & Wren, Song and Mistle Thrush and others. We were also quite lucky to see another GOLDEN EAGLE soaring above Lokavec, in front of the cliffs of the Trnovo's edge - an area where a pair breeds. So this was our 4th Golden Eagle of the day!
Mammals at night included Roe and Red Deer (rutting), Fox, Brown Hare and Edible Dormouse.
As I took no bird pics at all I uploaded some old Ural Owl shots from 2009 (above) - photographed in complete daylight in Trnovski gozd.

Škocjanski zatok NR: just a quick update from Wednesday when I saw 7 GLOSSY IBISES in the freshwater marsh, along with the White Stork which is still present and a female Marsh Harrier.

Biocamp in Slovenia

Mt.Slavnik - 1028 m (photo by Neža Gregorič)

Here I am, back home and blogging, after the last couple of days spent in Slovenia on a biology camp of university students. I was leading the birdwatching group which was rather successful in finding almost all the main targets and a few goodies as well.
I'll start with the "big day" spent at Cerkniško jezero (Cerknica lake) where we saw an adult WHITE-TAILED EAGLE, along with several other raptors like Peregrine (2), Hobby, a female Hen Harrier (first of the season), Marsh Harrier, and commoner ones. The water bodies held a mixed flock of 6 Wigeons, 11 Pintails, Teals and Mallards. In the evening we listened to 3 singing URAL OWLS in the forests above the lake and glimpsed one in flight too. Somewhere down by the lake a Tawny Owl was also singing and several rutting Red Deers were also heard. An overflying Night Heron (calling) above the forest was a bit unusual to hear.
A must-stop along the river Unica on Planinsko polje produced the hoped-for DIPPER - actually 3 handsome birds performing well on the fast flowing stream. Here's a short video of a bird feeding underwater. In the same area also 2 Kingfishers and several Grey Wagtails were also seen.

Dippers on the river Unica

Another day was spent on the Karst on the outskirts of Trieste, where we visited some woodland habitats and heathland-grassland. Woodland produced a few woodpecker species including a nice Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, while a raptor-watch session on "Campo Carri" delivered a Short-toed Eagle, 7 GRIFFON VULTURES (migrating SE), a Peregrine, a juvenile female Goshwak, several Sparrowhawks and Common Buzzards. In the afternoon we had a walk in the Glinščica valley where we saw Blue Rock Thrush. Interesting was the presence of +30 Jackdaws in the industrial area of Bagnoli/Boljunec - a scarce bird in Trieste.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker male (by Neža Gregorič)

A day was spent walking the grassy hillsides above Rakitovec and enjoying the sun, as well as some raptors. The main target here was Rock Partridge, which we missed, but we managed to see a GOLDEN EAGLE and the season's first Meadow Pipits flying overhead.
And of course no trip is complete without a visit to wetlands. On one day we worked the Slovene coast from Škocjanski zatok NR to the Sečovlje saltpans. Škocjanski zatok produced Hobby, a migrant White Stork, Marsh Harrier, 2 Common Terns and an eclipse plumaged Red-breasted Merganser in the lagoon, plus other commoner waterbirds. On the Sečovlje saltpans we were successful in finding at least 5 Kentish Plovers, a real speciality of this area.

White Stork following a tractor in the freshwater marsh

Hobby over Škocjanski zatok (by Neža Gregorič)

Throughout all the trips we also saw common migrants and other local birds on a daily basis - things like Whinchat, Stonechat, Wheatear, Tree Pipit, Swallow + House Martin (sometimes in huge flocks), Grey Wagtail, Alpine Swift (+100 on the coast), Marsh Harrier, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher, Black and Common Redstart, Red-backed Shrike, Skylark and Woodlark, Yellow Wagtail, Hawfinch, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Rock Bunting, Raven, Jay and others were all fairly common.

Whinchat in Škocjanski zatok (by Neža Gregorič)

Wheatear on Cerkniško jezero (by Neža Gregorič)