A few days ago I took a nice, long walk around the wooded area of my local patch. It is very didactic to see, especially in spring, how the vegetation (and animals too) changes between different locations within one area. The area lies on the south-facing slope that descends from the Karstic plateau to the sea, a few kilometres north-west of Trieste. The climate is sub-Mediterranean and it is reflected on the vegetation. Most of the woodland lies on flysch soils, rich in water, that in turn support a quite rich and lush vegetation at this time of year. I noticed that few other places are so much green and "lushy" in these weeks. The wood's predominant trees are oaks and similar warmth-loving species:
Quercus petraea,
Fraxinus ornus,
Quercus pubescens and
Ostrya carpinifolia. Here and there I also noticed a few
Quercus cerris.
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| Fraxinus ornus in flower |
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| Quercus pubescens (male flowers) |
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| Quercus petraea |
Of the most interesting bird species, I found a nice male
Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca and heard two
Wood Warblers Phylloscopus sibilatrix. Both species are typical migrants that I encounter in this kind of habitat. Common breeding species in the oak woodland include Green
Picus viridis and Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos major, Hawfinch
Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Nuthatch
Sitta europaea, Marsh Tit
Poecile palustris and Short-toed Treecreeper
Certhia brachydactyla. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos minor probably also breeds here.
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| Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca |
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| Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes |
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| Oak woodland |
One of the most interesting plant species I found is
Cistus salviifolius. I realised it grows in my patch just a few months ago and the other day I found some specimens in flower. This is one of the few locations where the species grows in the area of Trieste and it represents the northern limit of its distribution.
Cistus (family Cistaceae) is a typical genus of the Mediterranean region and
C. salviifolius is the only member of this genus to be present here.
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| Cistus salviifolius |
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| A small woodland clearing where C.salvifolius grows (bushy plant with dark green leaves on the ground) |
Another interesting species of this region is
Carpinus orientalis. As the name suggests it has an oriental distribution, from south-east Europe to the Middle East. In some places around Trieste there are entire woods made up of these and other termophilic trees.
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| Carpinus orientalis |
Most of the wildflowers have now already finished with their blooming, as the trees have put their leaves on. Here and there you can still find something more colorful, like the species below.
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| Genista pilosa/decumbens |
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| Euphorbia verrucosa |
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| Thymus sp. |
As I mentioned, most of the area is on flysch soil. However there's also a transitional part where limestone (calcareous) terrain is present and here the vegetation changes abruptly. From a rich and green oak woodland you find yourself on an open rocky grassland, with sparse bushes that are typically Mediterranean like
Pistacia terebinthus and
Paliurus spina-christii. The flowers here haven't reached their blooming climax yet (they will do so in May/June), but some are nevertheless prominent.
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| Iris illyrica |
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| Polygala nicaaensis |
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| Prunus mahaleb |
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| Warbler prime habitat (Coronilla emerus ssp. emeroides in flower) |
The above bushes are a perfect habitat for Mediterranean
Sylvias. Indeed both
Subalpine Sylvia cantillans and
Sardinian Warblers S. melanocephala breed in the area and the other day I had 2 of the former and one of the latter.
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| Subalpine Warbler Sylvia cantillans |
To add some additional Med atmosphere to the area, a nice
RED-RUMPED SWALLOW Cercopis daurica (3rd record for the patch) was present in a mixed flock of 30 House Martins
Delichon urbicum and 15 Common Swifts
Apus apus. Within a larger flock of hirundines I also managed to pick out a few
Sand Martins Riparia riparia and some Alpine Swifts
Apus melba.
The Red-rumped Swallow kept me entertained while the Subalpine Warbler was not showing, so I even managed to take some shots.
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| Red-rumped Swallow Cercopis daurica |
Apart from that I was also happy with a singing
Hoopoe Upupa epops. All in all a very interesting selection of species for the patch standards.
Two days ago I also had my first
Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus and
Tawny Pipit Anthus campestris of the year.
To round up the post, a short selection of some specialties of the Glinščica/Val Rosandra valley, fresh from today. All three are plants typical of steep limestone screes.
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| Biscutella laevigata |
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| Festuca spectabilis ssp. carniolica (B. laevigata on the left) |
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| Drypis spinosa ssp. jacquiniana (green "bush") with B. laevigata |
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| Male Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius |
