Monticolasaxatilisgasm

Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush Monticola saxatilis in its full glory!

The idea of a Rock Thrush in the scope proved irresistible. So this morning I took a walk up to Mt.Nanos (where I saw it about a month ago) with the intention to enjoy the birds closer and take some pics. With the scope on the back it was a pretty hard walk up the steepest and rockiest (but also quickest) path to the top. Nevertheless it was well worth it. All the effort and sweat had been rewarded with excellent views of a singing male ROCK THRUSH. A few hundred metres away, on the other slope was another male delivering its song too. On one occasion the two birds performed an aerial pursuit as one of them tried to fly into the other's territory. The first male performed quite frequently the display flight, showing its orange underpart to its best. Interesting to note that the bird was ringed (metal ring on left leg). This time I didn't see any females, which is quite normal as they should be in the nests.
Apart from a low-flying Honey Buzzard, singing Rock Buntings and Tree Pipits, there wasn't much bird activity. So wildlfowers (as usual) provided additional interest. I was most happy with Lilium carniolicum - a flower that I have only seen in the Alps and which is quite rare on the Karst's grasslands. On Nanos is probably more widespread but today I only found four plants.

Lilium carniolicum

Iris graminea

Anthyllis montana var. jacquinii

Hortulanology

Colour-ringed male Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana

Male Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana on Quercus pubescens - a favourite song post

Female Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana

Early morning spent on the karstic grasslands surveying ORTOLAN BUNTINGS. Quite successful session with no less than 7 singing males and 1 female. At least 2 pairs are now breeding in the area. Also managed to see a returning male with colour rings (ringed last year on the site). The only ringed bird seen so far (1 out of 7).
The local pair of GOLDEN EAGLES is doing well, with one fluffy chick visible in the nest. When I arrived on site at dawn, the adult male was perched on a pine some 50-100 metres in front of me!
The situation is otherwise pretty lively "at the buntings" with loads of birds. Most obvious are Hoopoes (up to 5 singing), also frequently flushed from the local roads. Among the various singing Cuckoos today I also saw a rufous female, which I've never seen before.
More entertainment was provided by two singing Subalpine Warblers (perhaps the first I get in Slovenia?), 2-3 Turtle Doves, 1 Quail, 1 Black & 1 Grey-headed Woodpecker, Melodious Warbler, fly-by Alpine Swifts and a happy family of Rock Buntings.
On the way back home I was greeted by a Short-toed Eagle flying over the motorway.

Always a pleasure to see - Hoope Upupa epops

Centaurea rupestris

Limodorum abortivum

A week in MAGIC Slovenia

I spent most of the current week in Slovenia for university field work. Despite the bad weather (except yesterday) it was a good couple of days, stuffed with excellent wildlife sightings and a very long list of plants.
Three days were spent on the Cerknica lake, where botany was once again the main focus. The absolute highlight here was seeing a flock of 14 BLACK STORKS soaring above the lake together with an adult WHITE-TAILED EAGLE. I've never seen such a numerous flock of Black Storks and I presume it's a quite rare sight in Slovenia.

Black Storks Ciconia nigra & White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla (bottom right) - a documentative, phone-binning shot.

A night trip around the lake to listen to CORNCRAKES (4-5 singing males) also produced a booming BITTERN, which was very cool to hear. Other commoner birds seen during our stay included: Hobby, Tree Pipit, Black Woodpecker, Yellowhammer, Cuckoo, Golden Oriole, Wryneck, Quail, Yellow and Grey Wagtail, Sedge and Marsh Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Fieldfare, White Stork.
A speleological visit to the interior of Planinska jama (Planina's cave) gave us the opportunity to see in the wild the most charismatic of all Dinaric endemisms and the largest cave-dwelling vertebrate: the OLM (Proteus anguinus). Out of the cave, a nice Dipper was seen on the river Unica.

Iris pseudacorus

Wet meadow with Lychnis flos-cuculi

Orchis palustris

Morimus funereus - a large beetle from the Cerabycidae family

Yesterday we visited the Triglav National Park, more precisely the Trenta valley. A female WALLCREEPER was the most unexpected and thrilling sight of the day. It remained on view for several minutes, performing on the cliffs overlooking a large waterfall.

Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria - pic by Martin Senič

At least 3 Dippers were seen along the emerald-coloured river Soča, where also the rare and localised Marble Trout (Salmo marmoratus) was seen. 

River Soča's source - this year with an exceptional amount of water

Western Bonelli's Warblers were commonly heard and seen in the wooded areas, while Crag Martins were flying overhead and several Common Redstarts were singing in the small villages. Here I also saw my first Spotted Flycatchers of the year. The upland slopes of the Vršič pass held also a Ring Ouzel, several Dunnocks, Bullfinches and a Lesser Whitethroat. Three Alpine Ibexes (Capra ibex) added a bit of characteristic alpine atmosphere to the day, as did the hundreds of interesting wildflowers around the valley and on the Vršič pass. Quite interesting was the visit to the Juliana Alpine Botanical Garden where some rare and exciting plants are cultivated (for example the Cypripedium calceolus below).

Soldanella alpina

Soldanella minima

Pinguicula alpina

Rhodothamnus chamaecistus

Primula auricula

Phyteuma orbiculare

Paederota lutea

Viola biflora

Cypripedium calceolus in the Juliana Alpine Botanical Garden

View on the mountains from the Trenta valley

View from the Vršič pass

Vršič pass (1611 m)

As usual for a good day, a singing Tawny Owl at night was the perfect way to round up the trip.

Two days in Istria

Black-headed Bunting Emberiza melanocephala

Cistus creticus

Cistus monspeliensis

Cistus salvifolius

Serapias istriaca - endemic orchid of southern Istria and Lošinj island

Serapias lingua

Spartium junceum

Back from two days of university field trip on the Istrian peninsula (Croatia). Spent most of the time botanising in wooded areas of maquis shrubland and mediterranean evergreen woodland. Still had time to squeeze in a bit of birding. Top highlights included a male BLACK-HEADED BUNTING (showing nicely on a bush - the above pics are from 2009), Bee-eater (year's first), Pallid Swift (colony), both Melodious and Icterine Warbler, Turtle Dove, Subalpine Warbler (common), Sardinian Warbler (very common), Spoonbill, Tawny Pipit, Red-backed Shrike, Stonechat, Corn, Cirl & Rock Bunting, Golden Oriole and Nightingale in every bush.

Ortolan day, shrike trio and much more

Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana (male)

In the last two days I had some really top quality birding on the Slovenian Karst. Yesterday was Ortolan Bunting day on Kraški rob, where the only remaining vital population for Slovenia remains. I was there with a small group of ornithologists and ringers to start a study on the species. At least 5 ORTOLAN BUNTINGS were holding territories. We enjoyed the buntings for most of the morning, while trying to catch them for colour-ringing. But unfortunately none of them was successfully lured into the mist nets. Instead we managed to catch a female WOODCHAT SHRIKE which was present on the karstic grassland for most of the day.

Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator - still unringed...

...and later in the hand!

Along with the very abundant Red-backed Shrikes we completed a shrike-trio with a superb male LESSER GREY SHRIKE.

Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor

During the day we had a good entertainment with the shrikes plus with a local pair of Golden Eagles, nesting in a cliff. Male and female were frequently seen on the nest, as well as in the air performing displays above the cliffs.

Male Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos sitting on a pine, overwatching the nest

The most abundant birds on the grasslands were Red-backed Shrikes, Woodlarks, Skylarks and Corn Buntings. Several Northern Bobwhites were also present, advertising their territories all day long. The species has been introduced here as a game species for hunters.
Other birds recorded during the day included: Hoopoe (+5), Cuckoo (+6), Cirl Bunting, Linnet, Hobby (1 mobbing the Golden Eagle), Marsh Harrier (1 f), Hawfinch, Golden Oriole, Alpine Swift, Raven, Tawny Pipit (2), Northern Wheatear (1).
In the evening we rounded up with a chorus of singing Nightjars (+3) and a Scops Owl.

On Monday instead I was out and about in search of BARRED WARBLERS. Without too much effort I found 2 singing males - one of which showed really well on some hawthorn bushes by a local road (viewed from the car!). The same day I also heard my first singing Quail of the year, Wryneck, Hoopoe, Black Woodpecker, Yellowhammer and the first Melodious Warbler.

Barred Warbler Sylvia nisoria (male)