Birding in Croatia in May is always interesting, and you never know what you will find! With migration still going on and many birds coming in, as well as some birds already having fledglings around, it’s a great time to do some birding. This month we were visiting some old places, but also some new ones for the year, and we found a few more locations for some interesting species we will share in the following post!
Neretva River Delta
As one of the best hotspots in Croatia, Neretva River Delta is a one of a few stops you have to make for birding. The only disadvantage of it is the distance from other major cities, which makes it one of the places that is not visited that often. We went to Neretva Delta at the beginning of the month, and one of our first stop was the Western House-Martin colony, with a mixed colony of Spanish and House Sparrow sitting next to it in the trees. House-Martins were rebuilding their colony from the mud they were finding around and from the shore, while Spanish and House Sparrows were trying to be sneaky (and lazy), so they were stealing straws and dry material from House-Martins! It was a fun thing to watch.
Just a few meters away, the sandy beaches proved to be interesting as well. Just after leaving the car we had a European Honey-buzzard flyover, heading north. Our first one for the season and a sign that the migration is already on its way! On the opposite side of the beach, towards the river mouth, two beautiful Eurasian Spoonbills, that were, just a moment after we spotted them, scared away by people walking in the shallows. This time when we were there, the tide was in, so not many waders were around. However, in the trees on the side there were many finches that were asking for our attention by being loud and stunning in the perfect position for a few nice photos! European Serin, European Goldfinch and European Greenfinch were using the cypress trees as their stage and we could not get enough of them.
At the river mouth, you can always see some good birds, like the occasional Yelkouan Shearwater (not present this time). This time, migration was good and we spotted some Black Terns and Common Scoter in full breeding plumage! Glossy Ibises were seen flying over the reeds, from where you could hear Great Reed and Cetti’s Warblers. After about 3 hours of birding, we had 38 species, but a great time!
Lonjsko polje
As the largest marsh area in Croatia, Lonjsko polje is also the largest protected area in Croatia! Situated just over an hour away from Zagreb, it offers diversity and amazing species, from woodpeckers, ducks, warblers, flycatchers and more! One of the first stops was the Čigoč village, Croatian stork village, with about 40 active stork nests! Apart from the White Storks breeding on almost every other house and electric pole, you can see many Eurasian Tree Sparrows, and hear many Eurasian Golden Orioles. Black Redstart can be found singing from the rooftops, alongside White Wagtails.
Following the Sava river down stream, you end up in the village Mužilovčica, with the famous Mužilovčica floodplain just north of it. The road to the floodplain is surrounded by forest, fields and pastures, perfect situation for good birding! As we arrived to the village, we parked next to yet another Western House-Martin colony. There is something about House-Martins, but they are always nice to watch when they are building their nests and feeding chicks. Starting our walk, we found a nice Chicken of the woods mushroom (Laetiporus sulphureus), an edible mushroom often found on willow trees (just like the one we found). But after that, birds just kept coming. From the tiny but loud Eurasian Wren, secretive Common Nightingale, all the way to territorial Collared Flycatcher and Black Woodpecker, a short 1.5 km (~1 mile) walk was just worth it. We even enjoyed a busy Red Wood Ant colony, which we presume is one of the dining places of Black and Grey-headed Woodpecker we saw in the area.
To end the day, we stopped at Krapje-Đol, an oxbow lake where many herons can be seen breeding from the birdwatching towers. From Spoonbills to Grey and Purple Herons, Black-crowned Night-herons, there are also Eurasian Coots and Common Reed Warbler that can be found here easily. In the end, we found 60 species in total, in about 8 hours of birding. Definitely a day well done!
Next time, we will tell you more about birding on Vransko lake, as well as Plitvice lakes National Park, and how the birding in the area looks like in May. Hopefully the blog will come out on time, as we are guiding a tour in Georgia! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for our (we are trying) daily updates on the trip and the species!
