Croatia's Dalmatian Coast Naturetrek Tour Report 10 - 17 April 2019 Calandra Lark Bunch-flowered Narcissus Great Peacock Moth Four-spotted Orchid Report and images by Paul Tout Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ UK T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Tour Report Croatia's Dalmatian Coast Tour participants: Paul Tout (leader) with 8 Naturetrek clients Day 1 Wednesday 10th April Gatwick to Split, transfer to Vrana The group arrived at Split Airport in Croatia’s second city on their flight from Gatwick just a few minutes behind schedule in the late afternoon. Croatia is a horseshoe-shaped country of 4.1 million people and 57,000 km2 which borders (clockwise) Montenegro, the Adriatic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Hungary, and Serbia. Upon arrival, just before 5pm, and having got through the passport control we met up with Paul Tout, our tour leader. Loading our luggage into the minibuses, we set off towards Vrana, about a 70 minute drive away along the motorway towards the city of Zadar and at 18:30 we arrived at our hotel, the Maškovića Han, a converted 17th century Turkish caravanserai, the most north-western in the Ottoman Empire and a sort of fortified motel for travelling merchants. It is considered the most striking surviving piece of Ottoman architecture in Europe and was originally built as a retirement palace for Jusuf Mašković, an Ottoman vizier and admiral who had taken the surrender of Venetian forces at the end of the siege of Crete. Showing mercy on the Venetian troops and allowing them to sail away without their weapons, for his pains he was later executed by Sultan Ibrahim on 21st January 21 1646! Day 2 Thursday 11th April Island of Pag: Veliko Blato, Malo Blato and Fortica After breakfast at 8am, we met up outside the hotel at 9am, before embarking on our first full day. Normally the first day would be one spent orientating ourselves in the area around the hotel which is extremely rich in wildlife. Today, however, the local weather forecast was rather poor with cold and rain forecast so Paul decided to bring forward Friday’s programme with the visit to Pag about one hour away up the motorway and over the Pag Bridge, stopping on the way for a substantial 2kg piece of paski sir, Pag sheeps’ cheese considered the best in Croatia. Pag is much drier than the mainland and we were able to avoid the worst of the rain with just a few spots at various times during the day. Our first stop was a small area of wetland backing on to an area of saltmarsh close to the southern end of the island. Here the marshy area grades from salty to freshwater and often attracts a large number of migrant birds. Things did not look too promising at first but slowly the birds present began to reveal themselves. The lagoon held several duck species including Shoveler, Wigeon and Teal as well as waders such as Spotted and Common Redshank, Grey Plover and Wood Sandpiper while the vegetation and pools bordering the lagoon held a Blue- headed Wagtail and a there was a brief view of Little Bittern for some lucky observers. The other side of the road and further from the saltmarsh the water regime is evidently fresher and the close-cropped turf was greener but much drier than in previous springs although a pair of Lapwing was going about its displays and the ubiquitous Corn Buntings were in song everywhere. Single migrating Marsh and Hen Harriers flew through, the latter showing the heavy build, pale plumage and broad white rump of a “ringtail” which we were able to contrast with those of the confusion species Montagu’s Harrier later in the day. From here we moved on to Veliko Blato, a large shallow lake and an Important Bird Area protected under the © Naturetrek April 19 1 Croatia's Dalmatian Coast Tour Report EU’s Natura2000 programme. This site is a magnet for both migrants and breeding birds in the harsh, dry, rocky landscape of Pag and we were not disappointed. As we walked down towards the lake some local shepherds were gathering up lambs, it being just before Easter (!) and the flock had attracted a large gathering of about 20 Yellow Wagtails of a range of races (flava, cinereocapilla and feldegg) as well as one of the few White Wagtails of the trip, together with a lone (and very early) Whinchat. The edge of the lake held a flock of at least eight Little Ringed Plovers and a Hoopoe delighted everyone with a close fly-by. Marsh Harriers, Purple and Grey Herons and Great Egrets, Pygmy and Great Cormorants flew up and down over the extensive reedbeds while a single Spoonbill emerged from the marsh and flew over our heads. Moving along the lake edge towards a small plantation of Maritime Pines (one of the few true woods on Pag) we spotted a single Little Owl on the roof of one of the many makeshift stables dotted about the landscape and had good views through the telescope. We heard the odd call of Stone Curlew from amongst the stony pastures which are dominated by Branched Asphodel (Asphodelus ramosus) - utterly inedible and poisonous to all but the hordes of red and white Mirid plant bugs, probably of the species Capsodes infuscatus. A few butterflies were also seen including many Wall Browns and a strange, dwarf Clouded Yellow, about the size of a Gatekeeper and probably affected by the winter drought as it was not the only dwarf butterfly seen during the week. Paul popped back to collect the van while the group waited at a promising spot on the lake shore that yielded several interesting birds including Eurasian Curlew, Avocet and Greenshank. Lunch was a picnic by the lake accompanied by Coots, Yellow-legged Gulls and several Mute Swans but when one of the participants pointed out a dark brown butterfly fluttering low over the rocky ground Paul was after it like a shot. Soon, as the sun came out, there were several on the wing - Dalmatian Ringlet! This is a very rare endemic subspecies, ssp. dalmata of Protoerebia afra, (recently renamed Protoerebia phegea dalmata), a largely Asian species first described from Croatia by the French lepidopterist Jean Baptiste Godart in 1824. It was once considered extremely rare but more than 60 new colonies have been identified in recent years by Croatian entomologists. After a brief, wheel-spinningly muddy and rather unproductive diversion alongside the lake, about which the less said the better, we moved on to the nearby Malo Blato, a rather different type of wetland in which seawater has invaded the 4.5 km2 polje, a broad flat area of eroded-out bedrock and replaced with deep soil set and within limestone geology. The area closest the sea is very salty, with short, saltmarsh vegetation but further inland there are extensive beds of sedge and rush that support as many as a dozen pairs of Montagu’s Harriers. We saw five or six birds, both males and females which showed well, both perched and in flight although their usual displays were subdued as a result of the strong wind and overcast, drizzly conditions. Moving on in a circular fashion and heading back towards the bridge we stopped at a splendid meadow almost completely covered with Bunch-flowered Narcissus (Narcissus tazetta). These spring-flowering daffodils are widespread where sandy meadows occur in Dalmatia and although their heady scent did not fill the air on this breezy day, the spectacle was notable. Paul spotted a single bird on the water in the bay alongside the road and it proved to be a Black-throated Diver in its summer plumage. It was soon joined by a second in its dowdy winter garb. Our final stop which was just for the view was at Fortica, just below the bridge. Here the ruins of a Venetian fort remain that once guarded the channel between Pag and the mainland from Ottoman raiders whose most 2 © Naturetrek April 19 Croatia's Dalmatian Coast Tour Report northerly “push” in the 17th century brought their Empire to “Saddislam” (“the wall of Islam”) 25km to the south-east. Fortiza means “little fort” in Venetian. Back across the bridge, we headed directly to the hotel along the main motorway Day 3 Friday 12th April Vransko Jezero / Lake Vrana: Vrana, boardwalk and Kamenjak panoramic viewpoint After dodging the wind and rain of the previous day with our trip to Pag, today we were forced to “take it on the chin” close to the hotel on what would prove the worst day in weather terms. Setting off across the field behind the hotel we made our way to the main Ornithogical Reserve through the village of Vrana, but not before checking out a singing male Blue Rock Thrush on the ruins of the Templar castle close by. The first interesting birds on the walk were a Hoopoe, a calling Wryneck (which did not show) and several Crested Larks, all in the village. Moving out of the village, in spite of the blustery conditions we were treated to close fly-bys of both male Montagu’s Harrier and Hobby and on into the scrubland bordering the lake we began to encounter some of the typical breeding birds including Sardinian and Subalpine Warbler as well as several Linnets and a Serin in song in the dense Mediterranean scrub of Phillyrea, Prickly Juniper, Lentisk and Myrtle. Close to the lake we heard a migrant Lesser Whitethroat (a mountain species around the Mediterranean) and a Nightingale.