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Good Reasons to Visit Slovenia
Hazel Grouse |
Slovenia
Slovenia is one of Europe's smallest countries but it lies in a zone where four major regions meet (Alps, Carpathian Basin, Adriatic Sea, Dinaric Mountains) and thus has a rich variety of landscapes and a diverse flora and fauna. In the east there are fertile farmlands, low-lying basins, temporary wetlands like Cerknica, hay-meadows and rolling hill country with orchards and vineyards. In the south of the country there are limestone karst regions with gorges, cave systems and rushing streams, and other areas with vast mixed forests. In the west a short Adriatic coastline is lined with beaches, rocky shores, salinas and old port towns. Yet above all Slovenia is a mountainous country dominated by the Kamniske-Savinjske Alps, the Karavanke Mountains and the Julian Alps where there are many snow-caped peaks of over 2000m. It is these limestone and dolomite ranges with their forests, pastures, meadows, rugged ridges, glacial lakes, rivers and scenic waterfalls, that ultimately typify Slovenia. The highest point in the county is Triglav (2864m) which has a 1000m north wall, the second highest wall in all the Alps. With more than half of the country forested, and much of this forest cover being in a semi-natural state, Slovenia is perhaps not surprisingly important for woodpeckers with all ten European species breeding, as well as various owls, Hazel Grouse and Nutcracker. Above the tree-line the Alpine terrain of boulder country, scree, cliffs and herb-rich meadows is the home of Golden Eagle, Ptarmigan, Wallcreeper, Water Pipit, Snow Finch, Alpine Accentor and Alpine Chough. Mammals such as Chamois, Alpine Ibex and Alpine Marmot are here, too. Elsewhere there are Rock Partridge and Black Grouse. Wet-grasslands in the east at places like Lake Cerknica and Ljubljansko Barje support White Stork, Corncrake, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Spotted and Little Crakes, Black Tern, Savi's and Great Reed Warblers and Yellow Wagtail. On the coast the salinas at Secovlje and Strunjan have breeding Black-winged Stilt, Yellow-legged Gull, Kentish Plover and Little Tern. Ljubljana, the capital city, can be reached national and "low-cost" airline carriers, but it is not as well served by flights as most of the other capital cities in the region. Most of Slovenia's mountain ranges are accessible by road, cable-car or ski-lift and, for the energetic, on foot. Each range has an integrated system of colour-coded trails which are marked on good walking maps. |
PROBIRDER'S TOURS TO SLOVENIA
We generally run tours to Slovenia in spring, timing our trips to catch the calling owls and woodpeckers, lekking grouse and the first arriving migrants. Tours to Slovenia invariably involve some uphill walking both in mountain forests and occasionally in rugged terrain, though not on every day. Thus a reasonable level of fitness and outdoor wear is required. For more details email us at Probirder.