CROATIA 24–28 April 2010 Leader: Gerard Gorman

This short break to the beautiful Dalmatian coast of Croatia focuses mainly on birds of the Velebit Mountains, including Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Western Rock Nuthatch, Blue and Rufous-tailed Rock-thrushes, Rock Bunting, Rock Dove, Alpine Chough and, in particular, Rock Partridge. We will also visit some coastal locations. This holiday is suitable both for those on a first birdwatching tour and for those who wish to catch up with Rock Partridge and other Balkan specialities.

Day 1 Evening direct flight from London Stansted to Zadar. Meet our local guide Gerard Gorman and depart by private air-conditioned bus on a one-hour drive to Stari Paklenica where we base ourselves for four nights. We may well search out the local Eurasian Scops-owls after dinner.

Day 2 We will spend all day in the Paklenica National Park (Nacionalni Park Paklenica). This scenic area on the slopes of the Velebit Mountains stretches from the range's highest peaks down to sea level and the coastal Mediterranean zone. Habitats include rugged peaks, oak, elm, hornbeam and beech covered valleys, orchards, dry scrub and impressive karst features such as two large limestone gorges: Mala Paklenica and Velika Paklenica. We will start today by searching for Rock Partridge, one of our main targets, on the stony and scrubby hillsides. Another bird we will keep our eyes open for is Rock Dove as in some areas away from the coast genuine wild birds occur. Other birds we should come across today include Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Spanish Sparrow, European Serin, Cirl Bunting, Eastern Orphean, Sardinian and Subalpine Warblers, Zitting Cisticola, Sombre Tit, Eurasian Wryneck, Blue Rock-thrush, Eurasian Crag-martin, Western Rock Nuthatch and Rock Bunting. For those interested in reptiles there are Hermann's Tortoise, Dalmatian Algyroides, European Glass Lizard, Balkan Green Lizard and Italian Wall Lizard here, too.

Day 3 Today we make a short drive and head onto the island of Pag, via a road bridge. Pag (Otok Pag) lies in the Dalmatian archipelago and is the fifth largest island on the Croatian coast, and the one with the longest coastline. Most of the interior is stony terrain though there is some macchia scrub, vineyards, olive-groves and bush-dotted grass-sage grazing land, criss-crossed by dry-stone walls. Typical birds here are Eurasian Thick-knee, Short-toed and Crested Larks, Tawny Pipit, Eurasian Hoopoe and Woodchat, Lesser Grey and Red-backed Shrikes. Rock Partridges can be found here, too. At the heart of the island is a freshwater wetland, Veliko Blato, where we will look for Squacco and Purple Herons, Little Egret, Glossy Ibis, Garganey, White-winged Tern, Yellow-legged Gull, the black-headed feldegg race of Yellow Wagtail and Montagu's Harrier. We will also stop to check the island's coastline for passage waders.

Day 4 Today we drive further up into the Velebit Mountains. We will then have to do some walking to reach the beech and pine forests at higher elevations, home to Black Woodpecker and the alpinus race of Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker. Other possible birds today include Golden Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, Peregrine, Red-rumped Swallow, Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush, Common Raven and Alpine Chough. The latter are also sometimes sighted lower down, just above sea level. On the way back to our hotel we'll check the sea for Red-throated and Black-throated Divers, which occur on passage here at this time.

Day 5 This morning we head towards Lake Vrana (Vransko jezero), which is the largest natural lake in Croatia and an important wetland for birds. Besides the open water there are marshes, reedbeds, meadows, scrub and surrounding groves and farmland. The northwestern part of the lake is a reserve (Park prirode Vransko jezero) with Pygmy Cormorant and Purple Heron nesting in the reedbeds. Other possible birds here are Little Bittern, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night-heron, Ferruginous Duck, Little Crake, Cetti's Warbler, Western Marsh-harrier, Black-winged Stilt, Marsh and Wood Sandpipers, Whiskered and Black Terns, European Bee-eater plus Great Reed-warbler and Savi's Warbler. Later we head for nearby Zadar Airport and our evening flight home.

General Information There are no special health requirements. Visas are not required. The pace of the tour is medium with only a moderate level of fitness required for walking.

Group Size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 6; maximum group size: 10 with 1 leader, 16 with 2 leaders.

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