Slovenia and Croatia

We start under the impressive limestone massif of Triglav that rises above magical Lake Bohinj and the imposing Bled Castle. Alpine Marmots thrive amongst the superlative subalpine meadows of the Mangart Pass, at 2070m the highest road in Slovenia, only opening a week or so before our tour each year. Here are Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor and Rock Ptarmigan, Chamois and with luck even Alpine Ibex. Magnificent red-spotted Apollos are abundant and special butterflies include the endemic Lorkovich’s Brassy Ringlet. Alpine Blue, Mountain Fritillary and the extremely local Warren’s Skipper. Green Club-tailed Dragonflies and Two-toothed Golden-ringed Dragonflies fly along the streams and we’ll seek one of the rarest lizards of Europe, the Horvath’s Wall Lizard. On the forested karstic Pokljuka plateau we’ll look for Pygmy Owls, Crested Tit, and Nutcracker. Here are strikingly attired Fire Salamanders and the critically endangered Alpine or Black Salamander as well as handsome Alpine A tour highlight is sure to be the visit to the spectacular Postojna Cave, a UNESCO World Heritage sites where we’ll admire the astonishing diversity of Karst features as well as a small pool filled with pink Olms (fully aquatic, blind cave salamanders). This is a unique species, living only in few mostly inaccessible caves along the Dalmatian coast. Western Green Lizard, Dalmatian Wall Lizard and the almost totally black and very fast Western Whip Snake inhabit strange Mount Nanos which stands above the plain like a secret garden full of amazing flowers and wildlife. A local guide will try and show us the rare Nose-horned Vipers and the ‘rock’ is full of wonderful butterflies such as Poplar Admiral, Assmann’s Fritillary (endemic subspecies mitchiellii), Scarce Large Blue, and the Great Sooty Satyr.

The exquisite Plitvička Lakes National Park would probably be right at the top of any list of the most beautiful in Europe. Limestone mountains are dissected by deep canyons filled with turquoise lakes and pools, all cloaked in forests. Waterfalls cascade down cliffs draped in greenery. Fortunately National Park staff in Croatia have overseen a very careful development of Plitvička over the past decades. Slatted paths have been built that allow us to walk through the most beautiful canyons, alongside waterfalls, around and even across lakes. And everywhere shining green forest frames the turquoise and blue. Here we’ll search for Grey-headed and Black Woodpeckers, Collared Flycatcher, Italian Crested Newt, Yellow-bellied Toad and European Tree Frog.

We’ll visit the distinctive canyons carved vertically into the south slopes of Velebit Mountains where Sombre Tit, Eastern Orphean, Subalpine and Sardinian Warblers, Wryneck, Golden Oriole and Rock Partridge are all found. No less than 31 amphibian and reptile species have been recorded here, the most common being Balkan Whip Snake, Leopard Snake, Aesculapian Snake and Dahl’s Whip Snake, and we’ll also look for Cat Snake, European Legless Lizard, and the beautifully coloured Dalmatian Algyroides. Pygmy Cormorant, Purple Heron, Zitting Cisticola, Bearded and Penduline Tits frequent the shore of Lake Vrana, the biggest freshwater lake in Croatia, then we’ll finish a tour full of biodiversity amongst the Mediterranean landscapes of Pag, Croatia’s fifth largest island. Old saltpans, lakes, wet meadows and marshy shorelines are hotspots for fauna such as the hercegovinensis form of Hermann’s Tortoise,
Stone Curlew, Montague’s Harrier and colourful birds such as European Bee-eater, Woodchat Shrike and Black-headed Bunting.