The Balkans - September 2024 - Day 1 - Croatia to Montenegro via Bosnia

The aim of this trip was really to visit two new countries. Mick and I had realised that if we flew to Dubrovnik it was but a short hop over the border into Bosnia and Herzogovina, and from there only a short distance to Montenegro. Three countries could easily be taken in over a long weekend, Friday to Monday. Our plans changed a bit shortly before we left when our return flight to London on Monday evening were cancelled, but we made the best of it and enjoyed an afternoon in Helsinki on the way home.

Friday evening requires little coverage. We landed at around 8.30pm, collected our car and then had a roadside meal on the way to our hotel in Cavtat.

Day 1 - Saturday

One of the most reliable sites in the Western Palearctic for Rock Partridge is the Velji Do overlook right next to Dubrovnik airport. This is where we started at first light. It is a good road, albeit narrow, and about two thirds of the way along, slight west of the end of the runway, is a stone-built platform offering a panoramic view south. Rock Partridge is not guaranteed, and indeed we had read multiple reports of failure, but our luck was in on this particular morning. Mick spotted a familiar profile on a ridge down the slope, and after setting the scope up we confirmed a new bird for our lists. I don't think any of the other species are present here, so if you see a Partridge this is what it is. Careful scoping revealed a further four birds, and as we returned to the car we flushed another eight from just west of the lookout point. It is always a relief to get the target bird out of the way so early, and this meant we could get on with the rest of the trip, as well as freeing up our Monday morning reserve session. We also saw a couple of migrating Tree Pipit here, and heard a distant Quail.

From the lookout point we had identified an agricultural area that looked promising near the village of Zvekovica. Most of the valley was shrouded in heavy mist but this spot was clear. In little over half an hour we recorded 20 species, with lots of migrants heading south including more Tree Pipit, a Red-throated Pipit, 100+ Alpine Swift, hundreds of Barn Swallow and House Martin, and three Honey Buzzard. We had breakfast at the same place we had eaten the previous evening, Pizzeria Zupcica at Soline. This had a Blue Rock Thrush on a nearby building, and another Honey Buzzard flew south. Our destination was the border crossing at Ivanica, along the 223, and at the start of this road we stopped at a quarry which had a number of Alpine Chough flying around. At the border crossing itself was a really smart Eastern Black-eared Wheatear.

Alpine Chough

The authorities here do check both passports and the car documentation, although I can't remember which side this happens at. You first go through the Croatia exit post, drive a little way through no man's land, and then have to stop again at the Bosnian entrance post. Out time in Bosnia was limited to about an hour, that was how long it would take to drive between Ivanica and the Montenegro border at Ilino Brdo. We stopped at near the village of Volujac where the landscape became more agricultural and we figured there would be more birds - the aim being to get as many species as possible on our Bosnian list before crossing the border. I don't think many birders with scopes are seen here, and we were bothered by someone pretending to be an official of some desciption who was basically being nosey. Policeman my arse. However this half hour stop was pretty decent, with loads of Alpine Swift passing overhead with House Martin and Swallows. We were able to pick out at least two Red-rumped Swallow with them. Of note were tons of Spotted Flycatchers, at least 16 around a small orchard. Another Tree Pipit zeeped over and with all of the passerine activity it was no real surprise to find a Merlin barrelling around.

At Trebinje we had a quick look at the river which produced Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe, Mallard and Cormorant for our fledging Bosnia list, and a little further along the river where a rickety bridge crosses a wider stretch we added Pygmy Cormorant, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Red-backed Shrike, Spanish Sparrow and various other common birds. It is actually quite fun being in a new place and trying to scoop up as much as possible as you pay attention to birds you might otherwise ignore. In a forested area just before the border crossing we found a couple of Crested Tit at a random roadside pull-in. 

So that was it for Bosnia and Herzegovina. We had been in the country for a mere two hours as we crossed the very bottom corner on our way to Montenegro, 32 species the final tally. Once again the car paperwork was checked, but it all stacked up and we were in our second new country of the day. We turned left and headed north to an area detailed by Gosney near the village of Petrovici. It is remarkable how little things can change, but the thing to bear in mind is when Gosney travels vs when you do as that is probably responsible for the biggest differences. So we found the various unpaved roads he mentioned pretty easily, but it was much harder to find the birds he mentioned! We  felt we did OK here via a number of short stops along perhaps a six mile section of the track. Highlights were Goshawk, Short-toed Eagle, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, several Red-backed Shrikes, Woodlark, Redstart, Whinchats and Wheatears, a pair of Rock Nuthatch, Cirl Buntings and a Rock Bunting. I imagine this area would be terrific in spring.

By now it was mid-afternoon and we were running out of time. Plus ca change. We had a brief stop and a late lunch at Grahovo, a flat valley reached after a steep descent from the hill country. More Red-backed Shrikes here, a flock of Linnet, Hooded Crows, and three Short-toed Eagle over the hillside. We continued south along the P11, our destination the picturesque town of Kotor at the bottom of a huge hammer-shaped inlet above the bay of Kotor, itself separated from the Adriatic a narrow channel. As we descended towards Lipci a quick stop added Blue Rock Thrush, several more Rock Nuthatch and some Rock Bunting. Once back at sea level we scoped up a number of Yellow-legged Gulls, as well as the highly photogenic church island of Skrpjela. We were able to see this from high up on the hillside, and once closer we could see that it was a wedding photography factory! 

At Kotor we parked outside the walled town - with some considerable difficulty it must be said, but just about managed it. The town itself is hugely beautiful, but also massively touristy which is why it has loads of accomodation. Of note was that every establishment claimed that their card machine wasn't working on the evening of our visit, and did we have cash? This included our hotel who cancelled our booking when we were in the room, and then hounded me for money for the rest of the next day when we were long gone! Clearly this is just their default position, but it's not a good look for the tourism industry. Something to bear in mind if you ever find yourself there as I expect that all the machines will still be mysteriously inoperable. 

The Balkans - September 2024 - Logistics and Itinerary

Logistics

• A long weeked in late September with Mick with the aim of visiting two new countries, Bosnia and Montenegro. We figured that we could easily fly into the very south of Croatia, spend a morning crossing over a small corner of Bosnia to Montenegro, and then scoot down to the coast and work our way back up to Croatia. Naturally we would eBird the whole way, with the "map" functionality rapidly taking over from any of the "Countries I've visited" style apps. And the birds would be decent too, with a chance of Rock Partridge right next to Dubrovnik airport.
• Flights: British Airways from Gatwick on late Friday afternoon, landing at Dubrovnik at 8.30pm. Booked with a car making it into a BA holiday. No time for birding that evening so we checked into a nearby hotel and effectively started the trip on Saturday morning. The original plan had been to fly back late on Monday evening, so a full three days in the Balkans, but shortly before we left our return flight was cancelled. Options were very limited and we had to return via Helsinki on Finnair on Monday morning. Not exactly direct but thankfully I enjoy flying and this did at least allow for a bit of birding in Finland.
• Transport:  Cheap as chips hire car from Avis. We had to pay a hefty €80 "fee" to take the car over the borders to Bosnia and Montenegro. Frankly this is a tourist tax and had we booked flights only and then hired a car from a local company there would have been no charge. The car paperwork was checked at each international border. Driving was very straightfoward.
• Accomodation: Generally bargain hotels close to where we wanted to be birding the next morning. The first night we just wanted to be close to the Rock Partridge location so stayed very near Dubrovnik airport at Cavtat. Second night in Kotor in Montenegro, and the third night back close to Dubrovnik airport for the morning flight to Helsinki.
• Literature/Resources: We read a few trip reports which seemed to confirm that the premier location for Rock Partridge were the steep slopes directly inland of the runway at Dubrovnik. We then used eBird to discover the best birding sites along our itinerary with a view to seeing as many species as we could in both Bosnia and Montenegro before returning to Croatia. Finally we also had a copy of "Finding Birds in Montenegro and Herzegovina" by Dave Gosney. I am not sure how old this one was, but even the ones published many years ago are good for general areas in which to search for birds, even if you don't follow the maps to the letter.
• Other: Croatia and Montenegro both use Euros. In Bosnia it's Marka, but I am not sure we stayed long enough to use any. In Kotor, where we stayed overnight in Montenegro, the entire town is running a scam whereby their credit card machines are all mysteriously 'broken' and could we please pay cash? This happened at the hotel, the restaurant, the café....

Itinerary

• Day 0 - Evening arrival into Dubrovnik. Overnight on the coast at Cavtat, north-west of the airport.
• Day 1 - Early start on the hillside above DBV runway (Velji Do overlook) for Rock Partridge. A bit of birding back at sea level before crossing into Bosnia mid-morning at Donji Brgat-Ivanica. Birding in Bosnia was very limited. We drove through Trebinje to the Montenegro border at Dolovi, and then birded around Brocana and Klenak. Then down to Kotor via Grahovac and Perast. Overnight at Kotor.
• Day 2 - Started the day at Solila NR near Tivat. Then down to the coast and south to Virpazar, a good wetland area on Lake Skadar. From here we ascended north-west into Lovcen NP, exiting through the far side and descending back to Solila for the evening. We then drove back to Croatia and stayed overnight near Komaji.
• Day 3 - A quick session at Cadmos Marsh before flying to Helsinki as part of a very roundabout journey home. We had worked in a five hour layover so as at least to be able to do something in Finland, a new country for Mick. In the event we took a local train a few stops to Vantaa  and went birding for an hour and a half before catching the onward flight to London.

Another four years

The nightmare has begun, another four years. How depressing. I felt fairly certain that it would happen, the only glimmer of hope when Kamala's candidacy rocketed out of the gates in August. Had the election been held there and then I had felt there was a chance. The Republicans had no answers, their entire campaign had been based on Joe Biden's age, they were high and dry. But they rallied, and somehow this crook of a man has just entered the White House again. Just think about Donald Trump's first term, and think about the things he and his clan have said and done since then. Any sane voter would have sent him and his odious family packing. But this is America.

I have a little skin in the game of course and it pains me that it should have come to this. The brilliance of turning the GOP of tea parties and country clubs into a baying mob of halfwits should not be underestimated. It's actually quite sensational. Whether he is all hot air or whether he does systematically dismember and neuter American democracy remains to be seen. He has already told his first lie, which is when he pledged to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution whilst taking his inaugural oath. Who sees that happening? Look forward to a flurry of Executive Orders later this evening, they're well publicised even if some of them are hugely impractical. But he has four years in which to dismantle centuries of good work and he's starting tomorrow.

On the eve of the inauguration I note that Melania has launched her own cryptocurrency. How very presidential. These days I suppose we should expect nothing less, and I have no doubt that all over the Midwest supporters will be parting with their hard-earned wages in order to further enrich what is essentially a dynasty of con artists. And all in the name of patriotism. Meanwhile Biden has felt moved to issue pre-emptive pardons for people who stood up for the rule of law on January 6th 2021, as well as for members of his family (beyond Hunter) for fear that the incoming administration will pursue them out of spite. I can see it happening, it is all part of the normalisation strategy. 

So another four years of hatred and lies beckons. The morals of tech CEOs need to be mentioned at this point. Through sheer greed, all of them already being richer than God, they have pivoted to Trump and will allow their platforms to spread his message of disinformation and division for the next four years. Fact-checking is so 2024. They're a big part of why we're where we are now, and it boils my blood to see them all lined up at the Capitol today in front row seats. So all those people who barely leave their houses and whose grasp of current affairs and geopolitics is essentially nil will now dominate the conversation unimpeded by anything as inconvenient as the truth. Conspiracy theories and bullshit are the new currencies. Well, and the $MELANIA of course. 

And as for Musk, a special place is reserved for him. What a dick, what a monumental bloated piece of shit. People should remember he's unelected, and the only thing that distinguishes him from one of the bedroom vigilantes is money. Lots of it, and money talks. He must be delighted at how easy it has been, a wad of cash and a few sycophantic words keenly lapped up by the world's second-largest egomaniac and he's been given the keys to the nation. To see him on a polictal stage and being given a role is an outrage. It's hard to say who will do more damage, but I think I dislike him even more than I dislike Trump. My hope is that he'll get bored and go back to rockets or whatever the next dalliance is.

But back to Trump. American illiteracy is going to shape the world, make no mistake. Putting this man in the White House has global implications that will touch us all. He is a man with no morals, with fewer guard rails than before, and with a much bigger chip on his shoulder than last time. His ego and temper is going to get us all in trouble. And he's surrounded himself with people who won't stand up to him, have you seen the list of nominees for all of the critical posts? Wow. And I suspect that this time it won't be the revolving doors shit show that it was last time, they've wised up now.

My biggest worry in all of this is that there are younger Trumps out there (and I don't mean the shifty sons, I mean please no) who will take up the baton in 2028. This is how politics in the USA works now. Trump may only have eight years as President across two terms, but everything has changed now and forever. I just don't know how we get back to decency and common sense. What does that path look like, and who will lay it? The Democrats? Ha, don't make me laugh. They are also part of the problem, whether they can see it and do something about it is what we all have to cross our fingers for. Realistically they've got two years. Hopefully they've already started.

On the up

I have finally finished my July 2024 Brazil write up, I feel a great weight has been lifted and I don't care if nobody reads it as I so enjoyed writing it. In doing so I got to relive a great trip, and it is gratifying that my memory continues to work so well. I suppose it is only six months ago but for things I am genuinely interested in I appear to still have good recall. For things I am not interested in.....sorry, what?

I am determined to catch up, and, if I can help it, remain chronological, at least for the duration of a single trip. Hence why Brazil was a consecutive dump with nothing in between even though at times I did get tired of doing it and wanted to write about something else. Largely I wrote them in two large blocks, after which I lined them up to publish day by day. The eagle-eyed may have spotted that there was a small break in the middle - this is because I only managed to write up until Day 5 before going to Morocco - these then continued to drop for most of the time I was away, thus giving would-be burglars who also read birding blogs pause for thought. I resumed writing Day 6 as soon as I got back last weekend, even though the only thing I in fact wanted to write about was Morocco and the stunning Wheatears that live there. And my new camera of course. I still want to do this, but yeah, chronology.

Red-rumped Wheatear

That's the official taster, there will be no more until I can get up to date. Probably. Immediately after Brazil I spent a hedonistic day in Rotterdam described here. So much for chronology. I had a nice summer mostly spent at home or in Scotland and the next trip after that wasn't until September, a long weekend in Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. This had two aims - two new countries, and the possibility of a Western Palearctic tick in the form of Rock Partridge. This is up next. It will not take me very long as I either did not take a camera, or did take a camera but failed to use it in any meaningful way. This was still the Canon era, so perhaps it is the latter. All I can find are a few phone pictures of landscapes with small panthers in the foreground. Whatever. After that there was a trip to Mexico, and then weekends in Greece and Spain. Mexico could be a bit involved but the European trips will be a doddle. And then Morocco! I just need to be careful not to go anywhere else in the interim. What could possibly go wrong?

Obviously it is mid January and I can only imagine that readers are desperate to hear about my Wanstead birding exploits, of which I have so far not written a single word. There is a reason for that over and above wanting to get Brazil out of the way, and it is that I have seen virtually nothing. Being in Morocco has not helped, but even when here I have felt no desire to trudge around seeing the same old birds. Furthermore it has been cold, dank and generally miserable outdoors, and so I have stayed inside drinking wine rather than ruin my health looking for a Redwing. I think I've had a couple of short forays and my patch list is something like 40. I could increase it to 60 in about an hour most likely, but then again 2015 Beaune is drinking so well don't you think?

Brazil - July 2024 - Trip List

We saw exactly 300 species over the nearly nine days that we had birding. As always we let a few go, and there were plenty of annoying heard-onlys that also don't make the grade here. For instance try as we might we could not see the Pheasant Cuckoo we could clearly hear in the Vale de Bencao on our first morning, although this was made up for by the amazingly unexpected views of the Pavonine Cuckoo in the same location a couple of days later.

As you can see from the below list, days 1-2 were cerrado habitat, on day 3 there is a transition to the northern Pantanal, and from thereon in that is what it is all about. As I said before we likely tried to do too much in too short a time frame, most trips seem to be about two weeks for this tried and tested itinerary with another day or so in each habitat. That said, we did pretty well. 

I can highly recommend Agami Nature Tours as a birding tour company, even if they can't produce Agami Herons on demand! Everything that could be controlled went perfectly, things that could not were just dealt with with minimal fuss. Along with the aforementioned minor crisis management skills, our guide Bradley Davis knew the birds inside out and was great company to boot. He's fun to travel with and comes highly rated by our small group, so much so that we are already planning further trips with both him and Agami.

Of the 300 birds 138 were lifers for me which is pretty good going. Most of my cross-over seemed to come from Northern Argentina. Somehow I photographed over 100 species which I had not realised at the time but is one of the reasons it has taken me quite so long to get this trip report done. And let's not forget the mammals - this is the Jaguar trip, and whilst we only saw two they were magnificent. A Puma was a huge surprise, and the Ocelot simply magical. Capybaras have bags of personality, and the Giant Otters were amazing. We were sad to miss Tapir, Giant Anteater and Yellow Anaconda but you can't have it all! In summary one of the best wildlife trips I've been on and my South American birding addiction has been dealt a real blow. Bring on the next one!

Brazil - July 2024 - Day 9 - Rio Claro and home

We started off at 6am by driving the track out of Rio Claro to an open area, and then returned to view the feeders before breakfast. The open area was decent, with tons of flyover Parrots and other birds on their morning commute. A distant flight of Nanday Parakeets was unsatisfying, especially for Richard who I think was distracted answering the call of nature, but as Brad had promised we got excellent views once back at the Pousada. There were many more Curassow and Guan around as well, and the morning light made for some decent photographic opportunities.

Chestnut-bellied Guan

Nanday Parakeet

After breakfast we boarded the boat, the SS Last Chance Saloon, for the final opportunity for these Agami Nature Tours participants to find their namesake bird. We followed largely the same route as the previous day, heading north until our progress was stopped by water hyacinth that was too deep for the boatman to get through. In short it was not to be, but the trip added Osprey and Aplomado Falcon. Agami is a tricky bird at the best of times, but the thought was we were perhaps too early for it as there had only been one sighting in the prior weeks.

Osprey

Aplomado Falcon

We set off from Rio Claro at around 10am headed for Ayamra Lodge, perhaps an hour away, where we had a spot of lunch, birded the entrance track and walked their grounds for a while. Hyacinth Macaw breeds close to the restaurant, and the usual array of Pantanal woodland birds were present and correct, with species like Common Tody-Flycatcher, Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant, Mato Grosso Antbird, Planalto Slaty-Antshrike, Silver-beaked Tanager, Sayaca Tanager and Red-crested Finch. A Blue-and-Yellow Macaw was clearly not altogether wild!

Blue-and-Yellow Macaw

Hyacinth Macaw

We had one final stop of just ten minutes at Rio Bento Gomes but were then forced to make tracks and get up to Cuiaba for our flight to Sao Paulo where we connected for London. It had been a sensational trip with a total of 300 species seen (list to follow) as well as Jaguar, Puma, Ocelot, Giant Otter, Capybara and other mammals. We had probably squeezed two weeks of birding into under nine days, and despite this compressed schedule done rather well. I cannot recommend it highly enough, nor thank Brad enough for going above and beyond every single day. Writing this up has been wonderful, it has allowed me to relive it day-by-day, have it all come flooding back. Which is of course one of the main reasons I sit here bashing it out for hours, but I hope you enjoyed it as well.

Brazil - July 2024 - Day 8 - Back up the Transpantaneira

It was time to turn around, we had reached the furthest point on our journey and were now headed back up the Transpantaneira to Cuiba. We had one final stop at Rio Claro where we had one final boat trip scheduled, but the bulk of the trip was now behind us. It had been fabulous.

We went for a short walk before breakfast around the Hotel Pantanal Norte, including a boardwalk on the rear of the grounds. This was completely dry, there had not been much rain this season, and if you pay attention to this type of thing you will also perhaps have heard that this has been the case for a number of years and as a result what should be a much wetter landscape is being scarred by fires. 

After a quick breakfast we were on the road but stopped fairly quickly to check out a scubby forest area just off the main road. We had OIivaceous Woodcreeper here, as well as a smart male Helmeted Manakin and a Chestnut-vented Conebill. Our real destination was Campos Jofre - we had passed by this area on the way south and it had easily been the most birdy spot on the entire Transpantaneira, but with dusk (and dinner!) on the near horizon we had not lingered. This time we did it properly, staying for an hour and a half and recording 65 species from the road. Of note were spectacular numbers of Limpkin (these are Rails rather than Egrets), gazillions of Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Cocoi Heron, a single Maguari Stork, and various Ibis. We counted 50 Snail Kites and 75 Crested Caracara, 200+ Unicoloured Blackbird, Orange-headed Tanager, White-bellied and Rusty-collared Seedeaters, a pair of White-headed Marsh Tyrant, and several Black-backed Water Tyrant. It is no exaggeration to say that there were birds as far as the eye could see, just brilliant. The full list is here.

Maguari Stork

Snail Kite

Peach-fronted Parakeet

We stopped for refreshments at the Hotel Mato Grosso where we had stayed on the way down, and a short period at their feeders added all three Cowbirds, Purplish Jay, Greyish Baywing, and lots of Saffron Finch. A few Scaled Dove and White-tipped Dove pecked around underneath and I was entertained by a friendly Ringed Kingfisher and Great Kiskadee by the boat jetty.

Blue-crowned Parakeet

Purplish Jay

Ringed Kingfisher

Scaled Dove

Great Kiskadee

Giant Cowbird

Greyish Baywing

Saffron Finch

Saffron Finch

At 1.30pm we rolled into the Pousada Rio Claro, our stop for the night. This is at about the 45km mark, so we had made very good progress back up the Transpantaneira. After some food we birded around the grounds for a while whilst we waited our boat trip to start. The one remaining big target was Agami Heron but with the low water levels it wasn't looking especially positive. Rio Claro is a good spot for Chestnut-bellied Guan and Bare-faced Curassow, with lots of birds hanging around the feeders and animal pens. We also hoped to see genuine Nanday Parakeets at the feeders here, but they were more likely in the morning per Brad.

Chestnut-bellied Guan

Coatimundi

Crested Caracara

At about 3pm we goto on the boat and headed out. This craft was smaller and narrower than at Porto Jofre, matching the river, and once again expertly piloted. We found another Boat-billed Heron, and we were delighted with the close views of Green-and-Rufous Kingfisher - a bird which completed the 'set' so to speak. We had several in-flight views but it's modus operandi is to sit hidden under overhanging branches and it proved quite challenging to get a view as it frequently moved before we could find it. Eventually we nailed it, and I got a pretty pleasing photograph all things considered. Even though this was a boat trip we saw a couple of Woodpeckers, Crimson-crested and Cream-coloured, as well as Crested Oropendola and Solitary Black Cacique. Try as we might though we could not find Agami Heron. One last chance remained tomorrow!

Black-collared Hawk

Green-and-Rufous Kingfisher

The Rio Claro at sunset