July 17th (departure)
A long way from Úvaly (my hometown) through Austria to the Alps in northern Italy. At first, the plan was to stay in Austria, but due to very bad weather forecast we decided to go south as far as possible and come back to austrian Alps in the end of the trip.
Durign the way, I did just one short checklist near Diemersdorf with just a few common species (eg. Goldcrest, Common Buzzard).
In the evening we arrived to the caravan site next to the Laghi di Fusine lakes. I listened to the sounds on the shore of the upper lake and heard two Pygmy Owls and one Boreal Owl, also some common species could be heard like Mallard or Blackbird.
 |
| Silver-washed fritillary |
July 18th (Lago di Fusine)
Woke up to start birding at 0700. I did a trip around the western bank of the upper lake and then heading south uphill to the elevation approximately 1100 meters. It was a very nice weather and 24 species of birds showed up. Little Grebes with their chicks on the lake, some common forest species like Firecrest, Crested Tit etc., I also saw a Sparrowhawk gliding in the sky. I saw a few Crossbills, too, as these are typical birds for mountain forests. To me the most interesting bird was a singing Western Bonelli's Warbler on the border of the forest and huge pasture Alpe del Lago.
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist and this eBird checklist
Afterwards we did a walk to the Conca delle Ponze, but apart from one Golden Eagle and a few Ravens we didn't see anything special to mention.
In the evening we observed an Alpine Swift comming down from the mountains to drink from the lake Lago di Fusine.
 |
| Laghi di Fusine |
July 19th (Lago di Fusine, Vallevecchia)
In the morning I did a walk around the upper lake and checked the lower lake from the southern bank, but didn't record anything interesting apart from one Common Sandpiper at the upper lake.
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist
Then we decided to go south to the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea to the Vallevecchia. On the way I saw first two Crag Martins near a huge bridge.
In Valle Vecchia it was very hot so we waited for better conditions in the late afternoon. We started walking from the camp at 1730 but still it was very hot and the bird activity was low. We walked west to the Zona umida Falconara which was our target. On the way there we didn't see anything interesting, just heard one singing Cetti. At the lake we were surprised by the high abundance of Purple Herons. We aslo saw a few Pygmy Cormorants, Teals, Garaganeys, Common Shelduck and some other common waterfowl. There was also one Black-winged Stilt and three Common Greenshanks. On the way back we stoped at the unnamed little lakes to the right from the way which is called "Sbregavalle" in my map. This was a good stop, we saw some more Black-winged Stilts but most importantly, two Glossy Ibises. On the fields on the way back we saw also a Zitting Cisticola and a Cattle Egret. At the bigger lake on the crossroad of Sbergavalle and the road heading to the camping site we saw some more interesting species - a Turtle Dove flying over and a male Ferrugineus Duck and one Gull-billed Tern on the lake. Also there was a fascinating density of Little Grebes, I think I never saw so many in my life so far. When we were almost back in the camp we saw an adult Night Heron flying over. The walk was quite demanding due to the hot weather, but we came back lucky with 54 species observed.
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist
When it got dark outside, the Scops Owl started its night show with uniform repeated calls. I walked a little to the shore through the forest and heard at least two individuals. In the shrub vegetation on the shore I heard also two calling Nightjars.
 |
| Gull-billed Tern, Vallevecchia |
July 20th (Vallevecchia, Venice)
Next morning I wanted to do a walk to the opposite side from the camping in Vallevecchia, so I headed east following the shore and the mediterranean vegetation on the bank of the sea. During the walk I saw an interesting species of grasshopper - Long Nosed Grasshopper and many Italian Wall Lizards. Before I reached the Laguna Baseleghe I saw one friendly Kentish Plover, that offered me some great views and I took loads of photos of it. I also saw approximately 30 European Shags (lifer for me!). On the sea there were just dozens of Yellow-legged Gulls and a few Common Terns, but on the shore there was one immature Mediterranean Gull. The lagoon itself is a great place to birdwatch! Unfortunately the migration was just at its beginning, so I can imagine much more birds here in the late August or in September, but it was very good anyway. I saw a few Grey Plovers, many Whimbrels and Curlews (including a mixed flock of both species - very good for recognising the differences). There were three Oystercatchers and some other common wading species, too. Also four Pygmy Cormorants worth mentioning.
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist
In the early afternoon we visited a famous city of Venice. Not a good place for birding, but we saw a few European Shags on the sea from the parking lot and in the city I saw three or four Pallid Swifts. I got some decent views of them and took quite detailed photos, so the identification was clear. When leaving Venice, we saw briefly from a car a very strange-looking bird, which turned out to be a Sacred Ibis, one of the birds from recently introduced population (but should be tickable).
For the complete list of the species from Venice walk check this link: eBird checklist
In the evening we headed east to Slovenia and camped near Postojna city.
 |
| Kentish Plover, Vallevecchia |
July 21th (Postojna area)
As usual, I started birding shortly after the sunrise in the neighborhood of the camp. We spent a night in camp called Plana, which is a very nice place to stay and also the landscape around is beautiful. I took the path heading east through the pastures towards river Pivka. During the way the landscape changed gradually from opened pastures with groups of bushes to deciduous forest. The environment held quite a lot of birds, although most of them were common species. In the opened landscape I saw a lot of Red-backed Shrikes a lot of Blackcaps etc. In the more forested parts of the walk I heard a few Golden Orioles and also one Lesser and one Middle Spotted Woodpecker. Overall quite a nice walk with more than 33 species and with a bonus observation of a group of young Wild Boars.
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist and this eBird checklist
Afterwards we visited a cave system in Postojna. It is an amazing experience and I recommend visiting it despite higher price for the entrace. We also visited a vivaria, which is a pretty exposition of cave living organisms, including very famous Olms (Proteus anguineus), the only cave specialised vertabrate organism in Europe.
Then we headed north to the Triglavski national park. On the way we saw some White Storks, one European Honey Buzzard and Crag Martins. We spent a night in camp in Trenta.
 |
| Western slovenian landscape |
July 22th (Trenta, Vrsic)
In the morning we woke up with the song of Western Bonelli's Wabler. Again, I did a little birdwatching around the camp, but the slopes are very steep, so I was done with my time just when I got to the altitude of some 1200 meters. The only interesting species on the way were a family of above mentioned WBW, which allowed me to get some photos and a huge female Goshawk in the forest. Suprisingly I heard only one Nutcracker, but that is probably because of ongoing breeding season (otherwise it should be very abundant in the area).
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist
When I got back we drove to the Vrsic pass. First we got to the Vratka prelaz and tried to go towards Mala Mistrovka, but we weren't equipped well to climb so we had to go back to the parking. We saw just common mountain species like Crossbills or Bullfinches. A Hobby and Honey Buzzard were seen on the passage through the Vrsic pass. I was suprised by observation of a Lesser Whitethroat, quite a high elevation for this species. Before we left, we walked up to the mountain Vrsic, too. Finally we saw a first pure mountain species - an Alpine Swift. Also another Hobby passed through. Not an interesting species but I was surprised by a Blackbird feeding young right on the top of the Vrsic mountain (1737 meters).
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist and this eBird checklist
From Triglav we continued our way north to Austria. We camped in Caravan und Reisemobilstellplatz Gailberghöhe, where I heard a Tawny Owl calling in the night.
 |
| Western Bonelli's Warbler, Trenta |
July 23 (Grossglockner)
In the morning we set of heading to the famous mountain Grossglockner. We did a few stationary stops and a few short walks. We did see the common mountain species like Alpine Chougs, a few Golden Eagles and quite a lot of Water Pipits, also two Northern Wheatears. I had two interesting observations, first was a probable Rock Thrush, but unfortunately couldn't be certainly identified. The best observation to me was a flock of at least eleven White-headed Vultures that we have seen from a resting place with the information tables about the birds of prey. Vultures were gliding in a distance of approximately 2,5 kilometers, so I recommend a scope to look for them. Before we left I heard one Alpine Accentor. In the area we also saw loads of flowering plants, many Marmots and one Alpine Ibex (but a very distant one).
From Grossglockner we moved to Kaprun, where I did a little circle walk through the city and surroundings. Saw just common species.
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist
 |
| Alpine Chough, Grossglockner |
July 24 (Kitzsteinhorn)
Next day we tried one more mountain birding because we suprisingly didn't see almost any Alpine Accentors, Alpine Swifts, any White-winged Snow Finch or Ring Ouzel. That was probably because of ongoing breeding and moulting season so the birds were quite secretive at the time. So we took a cabin to the second station on the way to Kitzsteinhorn, which is quite high in the mountains. But again, we weren't successful again and saw just one weird-loking female Ring Ouzel sitting on a cabin pillar, six Alpine Choughs and some Water Pipits. So no luck with mountain species on this trip...
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist
July 25th (Erlfeld)
Return day. I did just a little morning birding in area called Erlfeld. Although I saw just common species it was suprisingly species-rich walk and I visited pretty little pond called Egelsee, which has to be a very good spot especialy during spring and fall migration. Probably the best species seen was another migrating Hobby.
For the complete list of the species check this link: eBird checklist
 |
| Erlfeld |
Žádné komentáře:
Okomentovat