Harrier Fest

Lucky days with the harriers continued today, with a visit to Roydon Common. It was virtually birdless, just a few meadow pipits, a hovering kestrel and the usual corvids until a fine ringtail harrier appeared briefly over the main bog. We carried on walking up to the military tower and then retraced our steps. The ringtail reappeared and then a superb pale grey male bird, standing out nicely against the trees behind, quartered to and fro, flushing a 2nd ringtail in the process. Then, just as it was too dark to see properly - that'll be about 4.15pm then! - a pale raptor with long blunt wings appeared briefly in the distance, probably a short-eared owl. Great afternoon walk!

Down the Okavango

Had a quick walk around Foulden Common last week, much transformed by what one hopes is officially sanctioned management work in what was once the impenetrable swampy centre – now mown and with rides cut across it, which will hopefully restore botanical diversity and perhaps help former breeding birds like snipe to return. Saw a buzzard and a sparrowhawk, flushed a single woodcock and at least two snipe. Several hares enjoying the new rides, too.

 New-style Foulden Okavango - now possible to walk across the middle of the bog...

The clearance has opened up watercourses that were probably choked before by overgrown vegetation. Snipe were busy feeding alongside this stretch.

Gone with The Wind

No sign of the Pallid Harrier on two subsequent visits to Ferry Road (although the Short-eared Owl was out hunting and gave great views), so perhaps it was just passing through... Very strong winds yesterday and today will have undoubtedly helped it on its way. Meanwhile, had a brief glimpse of a Water Rail swimming across the Gadder at the bridge yesterday morning. Only the second time I've seen one in Oxborough, but they're so elusive that it's hard to believe there aren't more lurking out there.

Raptor Fest at Oxborough Hythe

A bright late afternoon and so off down Ferry Road in search of a short-eared owl with SP... Haven't been down there for months, possibly a year or more, but nothing much has changed. On the way down I thought I saw a short-eared owl quartering the meadow around where I saw the crane two years ago, but it disappeared out of sight and then a surprisingly dark barn owl popped out much closer, and flew across. The track along the river was passable but no birds on the river itself, only a kestrel flushed out of the trees there. Set off then across the meadow towards the pumping station (still standing!), putting up a couple of snipe and then a beautiful shortie appeared, busy hunting up and down, perching on a post and heading straight towards us on a couple of occasions. On one swoop it seemed to catch a mole. Great to see, and let's hope it stays for the winter! As we walked back, a possibly second barn owl appeared - this one seemed paler than the bird we'd seen earlier - and then a ringtail harrier, its white rump gleaming in the gloom. As it came closer, its very ginger-coloured underparts became clear, and the noticeably sooty underside of its secondaries.... Pallid??? Need to go back tomorrow and try and see the diagnostic collar that the books tell me is required for a conclusive ID.

The Beauties of the Branch Line

Autumn wind and fitful sunshine, so off to Narborough with SP in search of gentians. Clustered bellflower or autumn gentian, it's the issue dividing the country right now. For several years I thought these were one and the same when they are CLEARLY not! The ones at Foulden Common are bellflowers, but those at Narborough railway reserve are autumn gentians, the real thing, Gentianella amarella - a chalk grassland specialist. At Narborough they grow in the short sward either side of the main path, and plenty of them. Some were already over, others yet to come but it seems that each spike never has more than two or three individual blooms in flower at any one time.

 Gentian spike

Close up of individual flower

And here's a Clustered Bellflower, so make no mistake!

Plenty of other flowers still in bloom, scabious, both greater and lesser knapweed, lady's bedstraw, restharrow, wild marjoram, plus carline thistles and impressive displays of guelder rose berries. 

Despite the conditions, quite a few butterflies were out and about. Three or four red admirals, a lone small tortoiseshell, several speckled woods, one or two green-veined whites, a single small copper, two common blues (1m, 1f) and a rather battered small skipper.

A rather tatty looking Small Copper...

...and an equally ragged Small Skipper

Harebells galore along the embankment

The Magic of Hickling

With summer fast running out, it seemed the right time to go to Hickling once more and pay homage to Emma Turner on the centenary of her rediscovery of the bittern there. Hickling = Maurice Millard and his boat, and so we set off in the late afternoon with Maurice at the helm. It felt very August - muggy and dark green - and there was a regatta on at the sailing club, but once out on the broad we were virtually alone. We glided across, the wind dropping all the while, and had a look at Rowland Green's last studio (where we stayed) and then at his original place, the one in the mill. As we did so, a bittern suddenly flew above us, only a few metres away, before landing in the reedbed on the far side of the broad. Fantastic views! And perhaps the Spirit of Emma T? Then we paused next to her island, looked at some pictures of her which Maurice had found at Whiteslea Lodge and read a little from Broadland Birds. Maurice had actually been onto the island a day or two before and found an old gatepost in the undergrowth - unsure what this might be, as no remains left of her hut. He recalled how (not sure when) he had met a chap who had "celebrated" his 21st birthday in the remains of the hut, probably in the 1970s - holes in the walls and plants poking through then, apparently. Clearly the structure had deteriorated since the pic Maurice found on googlearth of two holidaymakers sitting outside it in the 1960s.... Anyway, it was good to commune with ET again. Saw some good birds later: marsh harriers, a hobby, wood sandpipers, blacktailed godwits and hundreds of teal. Plus an outrageous sunset to end on. There is something very special about Hickling and its broad; I can see why it captured ET.

A Grisly Ending?

After the euphoria (well, sort of...) of yesterday when the two young doves left their natal rosebush and moved to the mirabel tree down the drive came some bad news this morning. An array of collared dove feathers in the middle of the drive - a visit by Mr or Mrs Sparrowhawk. Sad, but hopefully the young dove is now sitting inside some baby sparrowhawks and so playing its role in the glory that is the ecosystem!

Carnage on the drive! One young dove down, but hopefully number 2 is still out there...

The World's Most Useless Nest Appears to Triumph

The nest is located just to the top right of the door

After weeks of scorn and ridicule, the flimsy platform of twigs in the rose bush outside the front door is about to make us eat our words. It's probably five weeks or so since a female collared dove appeared there, clamped on her apology of a nest and refusing to be bothered by any of the comings and goings at number 24. Her mate made only the rarest of appearances and, apart from one glimpse of an egg, which was about to fall out of the nest and had to be prodded back in by me, there was no evidence of anything going on underneath her. Until last week, when suddenly she had two large chicks, complete with feathers and looking exceedingly well cared-for. Precisely how this had happened without us noticing remains unclear, but today the youngsters are sitting outside the nest and looking as though their departure date cannot be far off...

 Sitting tight, waiting to grow up.

One chick ventures out of the nest, but no sign of any wingflapping yet.

After the Emperor

An impromptu expedition to the land of the Purple Emperor took Sue P and I to just beyond Peterborough, to Bedford Purlieus - a national nature reserve run by English Nature and the Forestry Commission. It's an amazing tract of ancient woodland, full of magnificent trees and reputedly the home of the Emperor... Typically, a hot sunny day in Oxborough had slid into a muggy overcast one at BP, but even so we were in for some real treats. 

A network of rides dissects the forest, with great plants and butterflies along many of them.

First up was a whole patch of herb paris, just after going through the entrance:

From then on it was great plants all the way, very diverse rides full of classic wayside flowers but also with some more unusual stuff, like nettle-leaved bellflower:

We also found a magnificent plant of Atropa belladonna, Deadly Nightshade, just coming into flower and the "Death Cherries" just starting to form:

The sun managed to burn through the cloud a bit and things really warmed up - lots of butterflies soon around, hundreds of meadow browns and ringlets, plenty of large skippers too. Then a single marbled white in one of the more open grassy areas, a lone small heath and several brown arguses:

Then the first of several silver-washed fritillaries raced by - they must be the fastest-flying of all the British butterflies, but as the sun came through they increasingly settled:

Lifting up pieces of corrugated iron left in the grassy areas produced four slow-worms under one and these two under another - lefthand individual at least 18 inches long!

Butterflying at Drymere

Time out from the bird sex book and off to Drymere for a forest walk with Sue P. Had heard much about this place from her and it didn't disappoint! Within two minutes of arriving we were watching up to half a dozen humming-bird hawkmoths, busy nectaring on viper's bugloss along with lots of large and small skippers. Fabulous Brecky plants all along the ride, including some specialities like corn spurrey and sulphur cinquefoil.

 Warm and sheltered, just how they like it.. full of flowers and butterflies in abundance.

Blink and you'd miss it: corn spurrey.

Sulphur cinquefoil - great colour and up to a foot and half tall, maybe more?

Fabulous musk mallow, and a proper pink one after the oh-too-subtle pale effigy seen at Cranwich the other week!

Some good birds about too - heard a garden warbler singing early on and then three tree pipits, all within earshot of each other and one busy parachuting, plus a buzzard sailing about. Chiffchaff, blackcap and yellowhammer too. And butterflies galore: red admirals, ringlets and meadow browns aplenty, a couple of very smart brown argus, plus scores of skippers - definitely saw one Essex, but mostly small and large. Some good dragonflies too, including an emperor on patrol. And the constant chirruping of crickets!

Not sure who this little chap is...

A little further on we started to see good stands of flowering bramble and honeysuckle - white admiral territory! Passed one clump absolutely covered in commas and red ads and then finally got to a huge mass of bramble in a very sheltered and very hot spot - and there they were, three white ads all busy nectaring. Two a bit tatty, the other pristine (but much shyer), great to see them!

Always cutting a dash, the white admiral steals the bramble show.

Carried on through the forest, along wonderful grassy rides and through surprisingly mixed woodland, finally emerging onto clearfell, where suddenly more floristic again -  saw kidney vetch here and, finally, my first British common blue of the year! Plus another tree pipit, a couple of woodlarks and a superb singing yellowhammer on a wire, busy competing with a rival only metres away. More great plants as we got back to where we started, including greater knapweed, and then a late rush of red ads and hornets, seemingly feeding on sap oozing from a lesion on an oak tree... Great expedition, and more butterflies than I've seen in two hours in the UK for a loooong time!

Greater knapweed - got to be worth having in the garden anytime.

The Return of the Clouded Buff

It's back! The blue riband moth of Oxborough made a return last night, a rather worn individual but looking great nonetheless. Haven't recorded one in the trap for two years, so good to know they're still around. Also had four each of small elephant and large elephant hawks, plus two poplar hawks, a rosy footman, a pale tussock and a white satin... Plus a squillion brown things. The barn owl was quartering the meadow while I was sorting the trap out, and a female sparrowhawk and a noisy fledged juvenile passed through the garden too. Lots of greenfinches about too, seemingly recovered from their decline of last year.

Clouded Buff. Very flighty and didn't hang about when I tried to relocate it onto a leaf...

Pale Tussock. The best hairy legs in town!

Garden Skipper

Some welcome hot sunshine this morning and by 10am there were already several butterflies in the garden, including this large skipper. Saw it - or another - two days ago, and I think they're the first here for a couple of years or so. It was zipping around very fast, nectaring on geraniums and stopping to bask every so often. Still haven't yet seen a common blue this year though!

I know it's small and brown, but they're sparky little things and always good to see!

Trip to La Brenne

Aargh, too much going on and just realised that I haven't written anything on here about my trip to La Brenne last month. Incredible place, felt how I imagine the English countryside of the 1930s to have been, quiet country lanes, flower-filled lanes, butterflies and nightingales galore.... Highlights? European Pond Tortoises of course, especially meeting one on a track as it headed back to the water after egg-laying. Going up in a tiny plane with an 85-year-old pilot was merveilleux! Watching a male nightjar churring away as he sat on a branch silhouetted against the night sky was hard to beat. Plus the wonderful female large copper Tony Williams found for me ten minutes before we left. She'd just emerged and was drying off before taking her maiden flight, totally formidable! That's French formidable, not British formidable...

Oxborough Orchids

Just been over the fields to see the orchids again - still amazing, and lasting well thanks to the coolish weather. There must be 200 or so spikes there, mixture of spotteds and ?two types of marsh, one deep purple the other mid-fleshy pink (these last ones going over now). Lots of ragged robin too, plus betony coming through. Not many butterflies, even though the sun was out, a few meadow browns plus one large skipper. No common blues yet... Cuckoo calling, and a little owl flew out of the old oak tree, so hopefully nesting there. A lovely russet-coated young roe deer ran out of the hedge, thankfully unseen by Roger.

The Land of the Toothless Old Crone

Back on Saturday from a remarkable trip to Macedonia and the far north-west of Greece. Stupendous scenery and amazing wildlife. Geeky bird report below!

Saturday 21 May

Leaving Thessaloniki at lunchtime, we headed north to the Macedonian border. After managing to miss the access point to the motorway, we travelled instead on the old road and saw our first Black-headed Buntings, stopping at a bridge over a river where Great Reed and Cetti’s Warblers were singing and Red-rumped Swallows hawking over the water. We also saw Bee-eaters there and our first Yellow Wagtail of the “feldegg” or Black-headed race. The birding got even better once we are on the motorway, from which we counted three Rollers, perched on lamp-posts looking for insect road casualties, a Black Stork and White Stork circling together just overhead, Long-legged Buzzard (great views, as so close) and a Common Buzzard carrying a large lizard. After stopping briefly on the busy road through the Demir Kapija Gorge, where we saw Crag Martins (amazingly nesting in the carbon monoxide-filled road tunnel, along with House Martins) and a male Blue Rock Thrush, we drove round the other side of the gorge, where a much quieter road leads close to the rocky slopes. A stunning dark phase Booted Eagle gave great views overhead, as did a singing Nightingale right out in the open on a wire, a passing Black Kite, a superb male Cirl Bunting and our second Blue Rock Thrush of the day. We also found our first tortoise here! From Demir Kapija we drove towards Kavardaci and the village of Marena, with its nesting Lesser Kestrels – we saw at least 20 of these beautiful birds, perched on TV aerials and rooftops. Night-time Kavardaci itself produced two calling Scops Owls and Nightingales right in the town centre!

 Nightingale singing in the open in broad daylight... Why do they never do this in Britain?!

Sunday 22 May

An early-ish start and off to the Vitachevo Plateau, one of the vulture-feeding sites run by the local partners of the Balkan Vulture Action Plan. A single Griffon Vulture was soaring overhead, and we also had amazing views of four Honey Buzzards, which had been feeding on the ground and took off, slowly gaining height above us. Our exploration of the area produced Hobby, Woodlark, Turtle Dove, Hoopoe, Golden Oriole, Red-backed Shrike, Woodchat Shrike, Black-headed Bunting, Alpine Swift and a calling Lesser-spotted Woodpecker (the last two species in the village of Bojanciste), a very colourful male Ortolan Bunting, a Grey Partridge that posed beautifully for us, and two Egyptian Vultures – the first perched on a crag below us, seen beautifully through the telescope, and the second flushed from a grassy area on the plateau. The rocky slopes also harboured clumps of one the best plants of the whole week, Ramonda nathaliae. Driving back past the old iron ore conveyor belt, we stopped for a superb Roller perched on the wires and then managed very good views of a Barred Warbler, lured in by a recording of its song and flying to and fro around us. We then drove to the village of Mokliste, one of the Egyptian Vulture breeding sites, and were able to see one of the adults on the nest. Like all of Macedonia, this area was alive with Nightingales, and we also saw Syrian Woodpecker and Jay at the nest.

 Typical Macedonian farmhouse, at Bojanciste

Shepherd with his flock on the Vitachevo Plateau

The beautiful and deliciously rare Raimonda nathaliae

The stunning Russian Heath, a sign of the East!

Monday 23 May

We headed off towards the range of low hills east of the Vardar River, pausing on the way to look at the nest of a White Stork that was also home to a large colony of Spanish Sparrows. Many of the male sparrows were busy displaying, the females popping in and out of their nestholes within inches of the stork. Thence to a small valley, hot and dry, feeling very Mediterranean and with birds to match. Immediately on arrival we had amazingly close views of a Short-toed Eagle and soon spotted Tawny Pipit, Orphean Warbler, Bee-eaters, Hoopoe and a striking male “feldegg” Yellow (Black-headed) Wagtail. On almost every shrub were singing Black-headed Buntings and Corn Buntings, the latter so common that it was later reduced to “CB”, so wearied were we of its abundance! Woodchat and Red-backed Shrikes were also everywhere, and one of us had the briefest of glimpses of a fly-past Masked Shrike. Walking along the almost dry riverbed produced both Olivaceous and Olive-tree Warblers singing from the scrub, Black-eared Wheatear, Northern Wheatear and at least one very skittish Little Ringed Plover. The area looked great for Stone-curlew, although it being midday we did not see or hear any. We later had lunch at Klisura, looking at the Griffon Vulture nesting colony, with two adult birds visible on the ledges through the telescope. Subalpine Warbler and Cirl Bunting were seen well here too. In the late afternoon, following an adventure with a punctured tyre, we drove to an area of steppe at Gradsko, west of the confluence of the Crna and Vardar rivers. This beautiful landscape, covered in wildflowers and with stupendous views, was heaving with displaying Calandra Larks. A short walk brought us to the brow of a small hill from where it was possible to see a Lanner Falcon nest. This species uses old Raven nests on electricity pylons, and two adult birds were perched nearby. The fantastic evening light allowed us to see virtually every detail on what must be one of the most beautiful of all raptors.  With the evening sun flooding the countryside, we paused briefly to look at a Roller on a roadside wire before driving a short distance to an Imperial Eagle nest site. One of the adult eagles was perched on a bush close to the nest, giving great views through the telescope. Two great raptors in under an hour!

Typical rural transport, saw lots of these loaded with hay

Male Black-headed Bunting

Tuesday 24 May

A boat trip on Lake Tikvés, a reservoir created in the 1960s and surrounded by dramatic mountain scenery, with wooded slopes running down to the lakeshore. Grey Herons and Great Cormorants were immediately apparent, but it was the raptors that began to steal the show. We quickly spotted Levant Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard and Long-legged Buzzard soaring over the woods but the action really took off once we had entered a small bay and started scanning the hillsides. At least two Short-toed Eagles were regularly in the air, with their nest clearly visible in a bush on a steep slope, and then a pair of Egyptian Vultures soared into view, giving superb views as they glided about the crags. Their presence caused great excitement, as this particular pair was feared to have been among the three birds illegally poisoned in March. We were lucky enough to see one of the parent birds swooping into the nest ledge – more of a crevice really – carrying food for the chick. At one point a Raven ventured too close and was vigorously chased off by one of the adult vultures, which proved amazingly agile as it twisted and turned after the Raven, passing very close to our boat. Meanwhile, an adult Golden Eagle came over the brow of the hill, mobbed by a Raven and several Jackdaws, and passing almost right over our heads, a Griffon Vulture put in a brief appearance and two Common Kestrels mated enthusiastically on a rock as we sailed by. Black Stork on its nest, two Hobbies, three Honey Buzzards, Alpine Swifts, an out-of-range Sandwich Tern and a distant view of a lone Rock Partridge standing on a prominent crag provided the supporting cast during a truly memorable day’s birding!

 Lake Tikvés

Ancient church on the lake, the wonderful painted 

interior guarded by a particularly fierce nun 

who would allow no photos....

Wednesday 25 May

We headed south from Prilep towards the Mariovo area, passing through classic Macedonian countryside en route, with flower-filled meadows and scattered woods. Our first stop was to explore a sunny hillside, packed with orchids and butterflies (and a tortoise!). Quail and Cuckoo were calling and Red-backed, Woodchat and Lesser Grey Shrikes were everywhere – we easily found one Lesser Grey nest in a small shrub only a metre from the ground. Short-toed Eagles and Long-legged Buzzards were soaring overhead, with the sky also full of Calandra Larks busy displaying. Several hundred Common Starlings were also noisily present, with parent birds struggling to satisfy their youngsters’ constant clamouring for food. From here we headed off towards the village of Stavica, screeching to a halt at the sight of a Wallcreeper flying off a roadside crag. Although it could not be relocated, a scan of the village produced superb views of a male Rosy-coloured Starling, perched prominently in an acacia tree and “singing” away. Also seen well there were Lesser Whitethroat and a pair of Northern Wheatears, and as we continued driving we passed through wooded areas where we saw Hawfinch and Sombre Tit, the latter picking insects off the road surface before posing briefly in a roadside tree. We then stopped at Sveti Ilja, where a stunning pair of Black-eared Wheatears gave great views, as did a singing Orphean Warbler and a displaying Subalpine Warbler. However, a single male Rock Bunting was hard to see well and Rock Thrushes proved frustratingly elusive until finally a brightly coloured male flew past, white rump flashing, and then perched just long enough in a treetop for us to get him in the telescope. Not to be outdone, a male Blue Rock Thrush put in an appearance just as we were leaving! We then headed for the almost deserted village of Monastir, with Bee-eaters and Red-rumped Swallows along the roadside wires and, bizarrely, a Scops Owl calling at 5pm! The day’s highlight came soon thereafter with fantastic views of a second Blue Rock Thrush male in superb plumage, perched obligingly on the outcrop just above the village, whilst the road back to Prilep produced at least two Common Swallows of the transitiva race, with pink-coloured underparts.

 Cute tortoise in flowery meadow... Couldn't resist getting up close and personal!

Thursday 26 May

By road across the Pelagonian plain from Prilep to Bitola, seeing a pair of Grey Partridge and several Lapwings on the way. We stopped off to explore the historic centre of Bitola, once one of the most important towns in the Ottoman Balkans, with a great market and some impressive if derelict mansion houses.

 Bitola had clearly had its glory days

After spotting Grey Wagtails on the town’s river, we drove up onto the Galicica Plateau between Lakes Ohrid and Prespa. With its peak at some 2300 metres, this slab of exposed limestone is outstanding for plants. A stop for some wild irises on the way up produced a sighting of a superb Goshawk soaring over the forests that cloak the lower slopes. The open plateau itself is dotted with junipers and small wild azaleas and the birdlife here was initially reminiscent of upland Britain, with singing Tree Pipit, Skylark and Yellowhammer, together with a pair each of Stonechat and Whinchat and a persistent Cuckoo calling in the distance. Yet there was no mistaking our southerly latitude, for we also recorded Tawny Pipit, Hoopoe, Red-backed Shrike and Ortolan Bunting and caught a quick glimpse of a female Rock Thrush flying past at high speed. Can there be a more elusive bird?!

Fabulous wild irises on the way up to the Galicica Plateau

The plateau itself - great plants and birds like in Wales! (sort of)

Among the plants we (well, Martin) found was this exquisite fritillary

Friday 27 May

A full day spent exploring the superb wetland habitats around the two Prespa lakes. There was no missing the pelicans, hundreds of which were soaring above us in the rising thermals before they headed off from their breeding site on Little Prespa to their feeding grounds on Big Prespa. There were plenty of herons on the move too, and within half a hour we had seen Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Night Heron, Great White Egret and Little Egret in flight over our heads and often at close range. A short stop at a hide overlooking the wet meadows and reed-fringed pool produced Squacco Heron, Bearded Tit, Ferruginous Duck, Pochard and Marsh Harrier, with the most obvious passerine being Great Reed Warbler, hordes of which were chuntering away noisily in the reedbeds. Both Red-backed and Lesser Grey Shrikes were hunting from the wires and bushes, with Hoopoes busy passing to and fro and then 14 Rosy-coloured Starlings passed overhead – clearly part of a wider movement across the region. We then moved nearer to the lakeshore and had fantastic views of twenty or so Dalmatian Pelicans, including some in full breeding plumage, gathered on a pontoon alongside a couple of Great White Pelicans and several each of Great Cormorant and Pygmy Cormorants. The lake surface was dotted with pelicans, cormorants of both species and also  Great-crested Grebes, and a single female Goosander flew past – seemingly unexpected, but this species apparently now breeds locally. A pair of White Storks were nesting on a purpose-built platform and a Water Rail was squealing in the reeds. Closer examination of the lakeside willows produced fantastic views of a Penduline Tit and its nest. We then drove the short distance to the causeway that connects the mainland with the island of Ayios Achilios, and wandered through the scrub and open areas, having great views of Olivaceous Warbler, Cirl Bunting and six more Rosy-coloured Starlings, which had tacked themselves onto a much larger group of Common Starlings and posed beautifully in the top of a tree. 

Squacco heron fishing for frogs near the causeway across to Ayios Achillios

Saturday 28 May

After enjoying one of the hotel's resident Starlings, a proficient mimic who could do a deadringer for both Chough and Golden Oriole, usually back-to-back, we headed off on a final visit to the lakes and the last chance to find Glossy Ibis and Little Bittern. The ibises sometimes feed in the lakeside meadows where the water buffalo graze, but with no sign of them there this morning we headed off to the causeway reedbeds to try and see little bittern. After encountering three more tortoises (one of which was scavenging a dead snake on the road!), we sat down overlooking a small reed-fringed pool, occupied by no fewer than three pairs of Little Grebe and from where we could also see the apparently chaotic Dalmatian Pelican breeding colony beyond. After a wait of only a few minutes a female Little Bittern flew across in front of us, followed by a male shortly afterwards and then a second female a few minutes after that!. Astonishing, but there was more to come as we relocated to the narrow neck between the two lakes, looking down on the reedbeds from the roadside above. Almost immediately a stunning male Little Bittern flew into view, landing on a mass of dead reeds and perching in full view for a few seconds. Incredibly, a second male then flew in, prompting a brief territorial spat before both birds flew off and disappeared into the reeds. A memorable end to a fantastic week’s wildlife watching in a truly special corner of Europe.

Found this fabulous male ladybird spider Eresus sandaliatus on the road near the little bittern place

Lake Prespa, again looking a bit like Wales...

Total number of bird species recorded: 136