After a busy few weeks, we are back with another blog! June in Croatia, while not as thrilling as April and May, still has some interesting birds and great birding opportunities! First two weeks of the month are still great for birding, as the temperatures are still fairly reasonable, but as the temperatures start to raise, bird activity slowly stops. Here is what we did this month!
Vransko lake Nature Park
With June and migration being mostly done, we don’t have a huge influx of birds anymore, but what you can see are the breeding birds in the reeds, fields and shrublands! We love writing about Vransko lake, as it is one of the best birding hotspots in Croatia. European Bee-eaters, Western House-Martins and both Pallid and Common Swifts were found flying over the fields, foraging, with several amazing views of a male Montagu’s Harrier. In the fields, Common Quail was still very vocal, as well a few Grey Partridges! We were also happy to find the gorgeous European Rollers, but we will leave that for some other post!
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- European Bee-eater resting.
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- Lesser Gray Shrike visiting the potential nest!
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- Eurasian Golden Oriole with a juicy meal.
At this time of the year, nightlife is great too! After the sunset, when it got dark and quiet, it always pays off checking the dirt roads around the Park. At the few places, we spotted a resting European Nightjar in the middle of the road, and if you were not driving, you could hear a distinctive, continuous churring and sometimes their wing clap! Other than Nightjars, owls were active as well! In the wooded areas, with loads of trees, we heard several Long-eared and Eurasian Scops Owls, and from the hills we heard a deep, booming “ooo-hu” – world’s heaviest owl, Eurasian Eagle Owl.
Plitvice lakes National Park
Since we were talking about owls on Vransko lake, let’s continue with owls at Plitvice lakes National Park! In June, we visited Plitvice lakes several times, and during one of the forest surveys we did, we spotted a (possible) pair of Ural Owls! Out of all forest owls of Croatia, Ural Owl is the easiest to find at the appropriate habitat (the easiest to find, but finding it is not exactly easy!). During the surveys, we found Black, Middle Spotted and White-backed Woodpecker, and while their peak breeding season ends in May, we did really well! Collared Flycatcher was not as active anymore, but there were still a few singing in the old beech groves.
Ural Owl hiding in the canopy!
In the meadows, Tree Pipits and Corn Buntings were still as loud as ever! With the bird activity going down, it was amazing to go and listen to songbird do their thing! There were a few Barred Warblers, one of the harder species to find in the Park. Always a good find!
Tree Pipit sizing us out.
“Hunting” for the Rock Partridge
Rock Partridge, one of our favorite species that call Croatia their home (and the bird in our logo), is definitely one of the most highly sought for birds for foreign birders. And this year seems to be great for them! During the surveys we did this past month, we observed a Rock Partridge with chicks more than a dozen times, and once with a nice group of 16 fledglings! April and May are the best times to go and look for this charismatic game bird, but if you only have June, it is still possible if visiting the proper habitats!
Pag Island is always a great place to find them, and it is definitely the best place to go if you want to see them. We saw them a few times in June around Velo Blato, once even “hanging out” with a Eurasian Thick-knee family (two adults and a chick!). Going to Velo Blato is great, because you can also spot the Little Owl while birdwatching, usually quite close to the road.
However, Pag island is not the only place where you can find them! Almost any location in the karst, rocky habitat would do the trick. Here we found the Rock Partridge on Svilaja mountain, at about 1100 meters (~3600 ft) above sea level! Here a two photos from our hunt for the Partidge!
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- Mt. Svilaja at about ~1100 m elevation.
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- Pag Island, at about ~100 m elevation.
While June is not “the best”, it still has some great birding opportunities! But, if it were easy, everyone would do it. And that’s what birding is all about in my opinion. Sometimes its just okay, and that is still pretty good.
Next week, we will be back with a blog about birding in Croatia in late June, and tell you all about the difficulties about it! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for our updates on stories about birds, birding and conservation in Croatia!
