5 May 14 - Birds Of The Croatian Hills

It was another early start to get up to the Velji Do road in the hills above Cavtat, Croatia to get the most out of our long weekend there. We dropped Ken & Gav at the viewpoint to walk along the road as the rest of us headed to the small village of Velji Do. This gave me some time for general photography around the village, while the Andy & Edge heading off in various directions for some general birding.

There are a few great trees by Velji Do village

Wood Warbler 

Subalpine Warbler: Male of the Eastern albistriata subspecies. Ironically, one reappeared at Portland Bill on the day we left for Croatia

Subalpine Warbler: Female

Subalpine Warbler: Female

Spotted Flycatcher: They were fairly commonly encountered

Black-eared Wheatear: Male. This is the Eastern melanoleuca subspecies

Black-eared Wheatear: Female. There was a pair around the village, but it took some time to get close to them

Cirl Bunting: Male. This is the nominate cirlus subspecies which occurs from the UK to the Mediterranean & North Africa, but is replaced by nigrostriata on Corsica & Sardinia

Wall

Dalmatian Wall Lizard: Mating pair. They looked superficially similar to Sand Lizards (which also occurs in the same habitat on the Adriatic coast). Males have a green mottled back and this intense orange throat

When we all met up, we decided that as it was much colder & windier than the previous morning, we would drop down to explore the valley bottom next to the airport. This proved to be a good decision as it was a lot more sheltered & pleasant there. We found a small minor road crossing the valley bottom & made a number of stops along that road.

The minor road across the valley bottom

The hills above Cavtat: The Velji Do area is further to the left & off the photo

Yellow-legged Gull: Adult. The nominate michahellis subspecies breeds on the islands in the bay

Spotted Flycatcher

Golden Oriole: Male. Despite being commonly heard, this was the only one that showed itself long enough for a photo

Spanish Sparrow: Male

Heading back into Cavtat for a late breakfast, I spotted a party of Alpine Swifts hawking over the hillside next to a block of flats, on the edge of town. Having dropped the others at the accommodation, I headed back for an impromptu photo session.

Alpine Swift: This is the nominate melba subspecies

Alpine Swift

After a late breakfast, we quickly packed & moved all the bags into one room, which we were allowed to keep until the evening. Again another sign of how helpful Antun & Natasha were. We then headed into Dubrovnik for early afternoon to do the tourist thing.

4 May 14 - Being Legless In Croatia Isn't A Problem

Mid afternoon saw us heading back up to the Velji Do road in the hills above Cavtat. There was a good selection of typical Mediterranean species seen: included the Eastern subspecies of Black-eared Wheatears & Subalpine Warblers, Eastern Orphean Warbler, Woodchat Shrike & Spanish Sparrow. Frustratingly, most species seem to quickly disappear into the bushes at the appearance of the camera.

Subalpine Warbler: Male. Eastern albistriata subspecies

The small village of Velji Do

The Ron Brown Pathway: This walking trail was set up in memory of Ron Brown, US Secretary of Commerce, who was killed in a plane crash in April 1996 (just after the end of the Croatian War of Independence which ended in 1995). The trail passes through Velji Do. Ian Merrill heard several pairs of Rock Partridges along the trail

Bosnian hills: Ken explored a trail from the village & found a Croatian sign he didn't understand that seemed to indicate he shouldn't carry on. On getting home, he got it translated & found it was a border sign & the track continued into Bosnia. Had we realised at the time, I guess I would have had to walk along it for the Country tick

Andy, Ken & Edge: The main track out of the village was explored, but wasn't that great for birds (it also stayed in Croatia)

There were plenty of opportunities to enjoy the wider local wildlife. We were really surprised the local hillsides weren't being grazed by Goats. As a result of this lack of grazing, there was a good selection of Orchids amongst the rocks (more of those in a future post). But surprisingly the Butterfly species present were pretty poor.

The rocky slopes were really good for flowers

Clouded Yellow

The best wildlife I found that afternoon was a European Glass Lizard. Apparently, this large, legless Lizard is harmless & feeds on the local large Snails we were commonly seeing.

European Glass Lizard: This harmless Lizard was over 0.5 metres long. Clearly, being legless doesn't seen to be a problem for this Lizard

Early evening saw us walking down to Cavtat, to have a look around & figure out which of the many places to eat in Cavtat, we were going to try. Might be a problem finding food later in the year, but it wasn't too busy at the start of May. Presumably, the German package tourists were eating in one of the large tourist hotels on the edge of Cavtat or were based closer to Dubrovnik. Cavtat is a nice coastal town & would be a good location for a family holiday, with some birding in mind.

Cavtat: Plenty of waterfront restaurants to choose from, but we ended up in another restaurant on another bay

Cavtat: I even remembered to appear in a photo (for once)

Cavtat: Another view of the old town

For any birder looking for an inexpensive holiday with Birds including the high quality Rock Partridge, Orchids & general wildlife, then this area looks a good option. It would work well for anybody with a family where non birding was also to be fitted into the trip. Prices for accommodation & eating out were cheaper than in the UK with a good selection of restaurants & accommodation. The return flight worked out about £150 from Gatwick with Monarch. Talking to a couple on the plane on the way back, their friends had flown out with Easyjet & returned with Monarch & thus had a few more hours in Croatia, for a similar price. The car hire for 2 days including full collision damage waver was about £130. We spent about £10 on fuel for the 2 days, with most of that on the trip to Dubrovnik. We found the locals were well used to tourists & English was widely spoken.

4 May 14 - A Bank Holiday Weekend On The Coast

For over a century, it has been a great British tradition to head to the coast for bank holidays. This year the early May bank holiday was no exception. The difference was I got away to a different coastline, from the one I live on. I had the chance to get away from the UK with old mates from Southampton, Mark Edgeller, Gavin Maclean & Ken Arber, & a Bristol mate, Andy Mears, for a short break to look for Rock Partridge to Cavtat, Croatia (pronounced as Savtat). The trip was based around the excellent report by Ian Merrill of a trip he made in early May 13. We arrived at Gatwick in time for a quick snack to avoid getting a less impressive meal on the plane. This turned into a chance for a more leisurely meal when he heard the Monarch flight was running 2 hours late & we had no hope of getting any food on arrival at Cavtat.

Apart from the Monarch flight being late leaving, everything went smoothly & we arrived about midnight local time at Cavtat: which is the airport for Dubrovnik. We had let our car hire company know we would be arriving late & the guy was still there to sort all the paperwork. Fortunately, it was only a 15 minute drive for us to get from the airport to the accommodation in Cavtat, where another email exchange had meant they were also aware of our late arrival. They kindly bought some basic bread, jam & milk at the local shop, so we would have something for breakfast. The accommodation was the reasonably priced Bacan Serviced Apartments (apartmentsbacan@net.hr) run by Antun & Natasha Bacan. They speak good English, are very helpful & have some good & well equipped self-catering accommodation. My flat had 2 beds, a living room, small kitchen & bathroom for about £38/day. We booked the rooms on line, but Antun said that if any birders wanted to stay, he would be able to offer a discount by booking directly with them. It's about a 10 minute walk down the hill into the town where there was plenty of restaurants serving food. It was too late for anything other than a quick cuppa tea, before a few hours sleep. The alarm went far too early at 05:00 in time for a quick breakfast. It was only a 15 minute drive to the viewpoint on the small road to Velji Do in the hills above Cavtat.

Early morning view of the small town of Cavtat: It is only about 10 or 15 minutes drive from the airport

A close up of Cavtat harbour

The airport was nearly

Looking up the coast towards Dubrovnik

A distant shot of the old walled city of Dubrovnik 

As already mentioned in the Rock Partridge post, within a few minutes of arriving we had seen the Rock Partridge that was calling to greet us. If only all birds were this easy to see. After getting some great views & some grainy photos, we carried on walking along the road to the small village of Velji Do. After an hour or so, I decided to turn back as I was keen to get some better photos of the Rock Partridge. Eventually, the male moved to start calling below the viewpoint, where he sat for about 30 minutes until I eventually left before him. By this time the others had reappeared, so we went back for a final look for the Rock Partridge, but he had finally disappeared.

Rock Partridge: Male. Great views in the end with more photos on the Rock Partridge post

From the prominent viewpoint, whilst waiting for the Rock Partridge to reappear, it was possible to watch a cruise ship head North to explore the coastline, as well as several German charter planes arriving & departing.

The Costa Fascinosa arrives into the channel leading to the coast: I for one wouldn't want to take a Costa cruise after what happened to her sister ship, the Costa Concordia

2 German charter planes arrived in quick succession: If the Germans can fly in at sensible times of day, why can't UK charter companies

Although I was focusing on seeing & photographing the Rock Partridge in the morning, I did get the chance to photograph a few other species.

Subalpine Warbler: Male nest building. Subalpine Warbler has been proposed to be split into 3 species. This is the albistriata subspecies or Eastern Subalpine Warbler

 Rock Nuthatch: The Balkan subspecies is neumayer

Linnet: Female

By late morning, we were all keen to head back to Cavtat for an early lunch. There was a small cafe close to the Bacan apartments which had the advantage of seeing a Red-rumped Swallow whilst eating. Despite being early May, it was probably warmer in the UK than it was in Croatia & soon after a rain shower stopped birding for several hours. Still we needed to catch up on the sleep lost so not bad timing.

The team: Andy Mears, Gav Maclean, Mark Edgeller & Ken Arber (from left to right)

4 May 14 - Rock Partridge

Last Autumn I heard some old mates from Southampton, Mark Edgeller, Gavin Maclean & Ken Arber, & a Bristol mate, Andy Mears, were planning on a short break to look for Rock Partridge in Croatia. This immediately sparked my interest & I managed to book a flight & accommodation and get the last place in their car. So we were all set for a early May bank holiday trip to Cavtat, Croatia for Rock Partridge. The trip was based around the excellent report by Ian Merrill of a trip he made in early May 13. In this post, I'm going to focus on Rock Partridge, which is a difficult bird to see in the Western Palearctic & I will cover the rest of the trip in other posts.

Seeing a Rock Partridge has been something I have wanted to do for about 20 years. The problem has always been they occur over a wide part of Southern Europe from the Southern Eastern corner of France to Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, the Balkans & Greece. But not that many birders seemed to have looked for them & those that have seen them, looked many years ago. So getting up to date sites on them has always looked difficult. Friends who have looked, have complained of spending 2 or 3 days of walking up rocky hillsides & then getting poor (or worst still no) views of them. Therefore, I was very interested in reading Ian Merrill's report of him seeing & hearing several in a morning in the hills above Cavtat. It seemed all you had to do was fly there on a charter, stay on the coast, have a short drive into the hills & there they were. Therefore, if we went at the same time the following year & had several pairs of eyes, how difficult could it be? Well not surprisingly, the level of difficulty turned out to be different to what I had ancipated.

Thanks to the Monarch flight leaving Gatwick 2 hours late, we didn't get to the accommodation until 00:30 in the morning & the alarm was set for an 05:00 wake up & 05:30 start. It was a 15 minute drive to the hills about Cavtat until we pulled into viewpoint on the minor road to the small hamlet of Velji Do. We got out the car & within about 2 minutes as we were pulling on coats, grabbing cameras & scopes, Andy said he could hear one. Another minute & we were watching it: about 80 metres away from us & right next to the road. Quick views & I was down on the ground trying to get a stable enough camera to get some photos as the early morning light wasn't bright. So I had photos of this difficult to see Western Palearctic Partridge all before 06:00 on the first morning. As I said, how difficult could it be!

Rock Partridge: Male. Western P tick 680 firmly on the list & all before 06:00 on the first morning (result). My last Western P Partridge (based up Birds of the Western P boundaries)

Rock Partridge: Male. Like a seasoned pro, he moved across to a nearby rock to get a better calling position or maybe he thought the photos would be better?

Rock Partridge: A rarely seen underwing shot

Photographing the Rock Partridge: The light wasn't great & I had already bumped up the ISO settings, but I still needed to get the camera still. Not elegant, but it worked 

After a 20 minute wait, it was relocated an another prominent perch, but this time not as close.

Rock Partridge: Like the other Red-legged Partridge types, they like to call from prominent positions

At this point, we decided to explore further along the minor road from the viewpoint. After all, Ian had seen or heard several in the area, so we figured we might bump into others. After an hour of birding, we hadn't seen any more along the road, so I returned to the original bird. He had moved, but was still calling on & off from the hillside close to the viewpoint.

 Rock Partridge: Still quite distant on the hillside. It clearly wouldn't be straight-forward visiting when they aren't calling. There is a lot of habitat for them to disappear into

Fortunately, at this point, it flew & landed close to & below the viewpoint. I walked back to there & had much better views from just below the viewpoint. Also, the light had improved noticeably compared to the early morning light. I then had it to myself for about 30 minutes, before leaving it in peace to go find the others. We returned to see if they could get some better views, but it had moved on.

Rock Partridge: Note, the white supercilium & black extending along the depth of the upper mandible 

Rock Partridge: It was quite happy posing for the camera 

The only downside is there are rumours that the Sicilian subspecies could get promoted to a monotypic species. If that happens & Clements then adopts that split, then I might still have another Western P Partridge to look for.

Rock Partridge: Note, the lack of any spotting below the black sharply demarked necklace. Apparently, the Sicilian subspecies has a broken breast band & easily separated from this subspecies, by a big patch of sea :-)

Getting such excellent views & photos, was a great start to the trip. We left late morning for a welcome late breakfast/early lunch. Note, the following morning, the wind strength had got up & it wasn't pleasant up by the viewpoint. We only spent a few minutes (without any joy) looking for the Rock Partridges, before, heading to a lower, more sheltered area. Therefore, there are risks to seeing Rock Partridges in a very short trip to the area.