 |
| Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius |
Another sunny Sunday spent on the Snežnik plateau, this time including also a walk to the mountain's top (1796 m). Bird of the day was a
MIDDLE SPOTTED WOODPECKER Dendrocopos medius found by mistake when looking for Three-toeds in a conifer forest. Actually very odd to see a Middle Spot in this habitat. The bird was quite showy and vocal too.
 |
Middle Spot on a Norway spruce Picea abies - unusual to see this bird on conifers
video here |
A distant
THREE-TOED WOODPECKER Picoides tridactylus was also heard (calling) and on the same spot there were also a
Grey-headed Picus canus and 3 Black Woodpeckers
Dryocopus martius.
Overall pretty much the same mix of forest birds as last Sunday, including several Bramblings
Fringilla montifringilla and good passage of small passerines. Black Redstarts
Phoenicurus ochruros were literally on every bush in the upper part of the mountain (something like +80 ind.).
 |
| Black Redstart Phoenicurus ochruros - male (commoner than females) |
 |
| Black Redstart female |
Two or three
RING OUZELS Turdus torquatus in the mountain pines
Pinus mugo were a bonus species for the day. Just saw them briefly or heard them calling. At least one was a male.
Two unexpected raptors were a juvenile Hobby
Falco subbuteo and a
Peregrine Falco peregrinus. Both aggressively mobbed by the resident Ravens
Corvus corax.
A nice sight were also 7 Ravens feeding on a fresh Roe Deer's carcass in the forest.
 |
| Lichens on a conifer |
 |
| Mountain pine Pinus mugo |
 |
| Small cliff face on Mali Snežnik (the "Lesser Snežnik") |
 |
| A look eastwards from the mountain's top. Forests extending into Croatia as well. The cliffs above the Kolpa valley are visible. |
Below a couple of shots from the past days, taken on the Karst. My new superzoom camera seems to be doing a good job.
 |
| Marsh Tit Poecile palustris |
 |
| Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius - female |
 |
| Green Woodpecker Picus viridis |
