Croatia 28th May - 9th June

We crossed the impressive toll bridge on to the island of Krk on the afternoon of 28th June and drove down to Krk town where we booked accommodation at Ana Rooms via Booking.com for 65€ (~£58) for 2 nights. The property was within easy walking distance of the centre and close to open countryside in a modern elegant property. I took a walk along a track into a maze of walled olive groves. A Cirl Bunting was singing from the top of a bush and I soon heard several Eastern Subalpine Warblers. I returned to the same area the following morning with a light rain still falling and added Red-backed Shrike plus a distant Lesser Grey Shrike. The latter was rather frustrating as it was sat in the open on top of a bush but the maze of deep drystone walls made it impossible to get closer. Sardinian Warblers were also present with the Eastern Subalpines. 

Cirl Bunting - male in song

The following morning I returned to the Krk Airport area where I had searched in vane for Rock Partridge in 2016.

Krk dry stone walls- the ground was covered in rocks and I concluded they just piled them up to clear the ground?

The signs were not good with heavy rain showers and almost gale force wind. Pam and I trudged up and down the area east of the quarry but it felt hopeless. We disturbed at least 6 Red-backed Shrikes which were sheltering close to the ground out of the wind but couldn't find the partridge. A single Eastern Black-eared Wheatear flew towards the quarry but in the weather conditions there seemed little point in pursuing it so we left the area heading south again hoping for more luck on the island of Pag.
We decided to stay at Nin for four nights at Apartments Ventura which were opposite the small island town of Nin and 
right on the coast. The weather finally started to improve and we enjoyed glorious sunshine here.
On Nin itself there was a large colony of Spanish Sparrow by the church and a pair of Woodchat Shrike.

Woodchat Shrike - female

Nin was badly flooded in 2017 and they were still repairing some of the access roads including that which ran parallel to the salt pans which made access to that area difficult although other than Little Terns and Black-winged Stilts there did not appear to be much bird activity.

Aerial view of the 2017 flooding at Nin on a poster at the town entrance

As we drove in to Nin Pam saw a Pygmy Cormorant sat on a rock close to the old town and subsequently we saw 2 or 3 everyday sat on posts or this same rock.

Pygmy Cormorant

A short walk from the apartment was some open ground with scattered trees, Turtle Doves and Nightingales could be heard with the occasional flutey whistle from Golden Oriole. Several pairs of Red-backed Shrike were courting and I came across a pair of Eastern Subalpine Warblers feeding young in a nest. The female was very elusive but the male came along the tops of the bushes to the nest giving some excellent views. He brought a range of different sizes of spiders, small butterflies and quite a large grasshopper of some kind.

Eastern Subalpine Warbler - male with a cricket

Eastern Subalpine Warbler - male

The male Red-backed Shrikes were very vocal giving a short croaking call that I can't recall hearing before and were clearly in courting mode as they were regularly chasing the females.

Red-backed Shrikes - male and female

From Nin we drove down the coast through Zadar to Lake Vrana. There is a conservation area on its northern edge with a decent boardwalk which gave good views of the lake and the reed bed. Pygmy Cormorants were flying past in ones and twos and there were marsh terns feeding over the lake including both White-winged and Whiskered Terns but they were always distant. Purple Herons kept appearing over the reed beds then disappearing in to them again. From the reeds Great Reed Warblers were calling incessantly with the occasional Cetti's Warbler. A couple of male Montagu's Harriers drifted northwards high over the lake and we also saw singles closer to Nin.

Montagu's Harrier - male

The following morning I got up early and drove round to the island of Pag. There are two linked wetlands on what is otherwise a very barren island so I headed for Veliko Blato which has open water and reed beds.

Sign at Veliko Blato

The edge of the lake is easily accessible and this held several Squacco Herons feeding amongst the sheep. 

Squacco Heron

There were also Crested Larks here and a few waders with singles of Wood Sandpiper and Little-ringed Plover I also saw several Lapwing in a wet area by the main road as I turned off to Veliko Blato. The only raptor was a rather tatty female Marsh Harrier and it was clear that I was at the tail end of migration here although small parties of Bee-eater were still moving. I stopped at various spots for Rock Partridge but without success.
The following morning I had another look around Nin, close to the salt pans I came across a hippolais warbler in song. It was sat out in the open but frustratingly, due to dense vegetation, I couldn't get very close. The song lacked the wheezy nasal elements of Icterine, not sure why its named Melodious though as it was still fast and scratchy. The primary projection was short, pale wing panel very narrow and buffy yellow underparts with yellow restricted to throat so all good for Melodious.

Melodious Warbler

Later that day we drove to Starigrad with a view to driving up to Veliko Rujno but the narrow road had suffered a landslip in the village and was impassable. I tried to find an alternate road to link up above the landslip but nothing connected so we entered the main Paklenica Park entrance. There were many climbers and few birds. Having walked fairly well up the gorge I tried in the low wooded area near the park entrance and soon found a singing Icterine Warbler. Croatia is one of the few countries where their breeding ranges overlap and seeing both species the same day was a real treat. The Icterine had a striking wing panel (although I've recently seen photos of Melodious with a distinct wing panel in the Netherlands so this is not a diagnostic feature). Primary projection was very long, equal to the exposed tertials and the underparts were a more uniform yellow and it looks like a short 1st primary is just visible. The song contained the characteristic repeated wheezy nasal elements.

Icterine Warbler

After leaving the park I had another look for a road up to Veliko Rujno and finally found an alternate route. Stops on the way up produced more Eastern Subalpine and where the paved road ends I had rather poor views of two Eastern Orphean Warblers, calling tack tack which to my ears was the same as Blackcap but no song.
We had a last day at Nin on 2nd June and made another trip to Pag. At a small supermarket at the entrance to Povljana there were both House and Spanish Sparrows together and I saw mating House and mating Spanish but no interspecies mating and no sign of any hybrid birds.

House and Spanish Sparrows

Spanish Sparrows courting with House Sparrow looking on, note the blackish throat on this female

I Left Pam by the beach at Povljana and drove over to Veliko Malo, just as I left the shoreline a Rock Partridge flew over the road in front of me and appeared to land in a rocky field.
I parked up and scanned the field, no sign. I waited and after several minutes it appeared below a bush, stood still for 30 seconds then moved out of view.

Rock Partridge

I waited another 15 minutes with no further sign then I heard a second bird calling some distance away and picked it up on top of a wall. It was distant but stood out in the open, Rock Partridge at last.

Rock Partridge

Whilst they may not be guaranteed on Pag or Krk the chances of seeing them and getting decent views appear a lot higher than on the hills of Paklenica or for that matter the French or Swiss Alps.

Rock Partridge habitat on Pag

The following day we moved to Camp Igor on the coastal southern edge of Starigrad. Early the next morning I walked up a paved road just south of the campsite and almost immediately heard the flutey song of Eastern Orphean Warbler, then another and within half an hour I counted at least six singing males. They appeared to choose the tops of the tallest trees as song post but after an hour or so I managed some reasonable photos.

Eastern Orphean Warbler - males

All the males I saw had irises that were only a slightly lighter blue grey than the pupil. The dark blotches on the under tail coverts are just visible on the lower bird as well as the extensive bluish bill base which help to distinguish Eastern from Western Orphean.

From Starigrad we started to head back north stopping at a large but empty campsite by the pretty fishing village of Klenovica and then continuing on to Pula in Istria where we stayed in Apartment T&S off Booking.com €124 (~£111) for 4 nights. A couple of km from Pula centre but walkable.

Pula amphitheatre

The amphitheatre at Pula is certainly spectacular and its a decent town centre. Nearby a promontory sticks out in to the Adriatic which forms the southern tip of Istria and is a protected area called Kamenjak. At times in the spring it must be alive with birds but Pam and I had the usual Eastern Subalpine Warblers, Red-backed Shrikes plus Woodlark and Tawny Pipit with lots of Shag off shore and a couple of orchids but apparently there are 30 species to be found here.

Tawny Pipit

 About 30km to the north of Pula there is another reserve, a coastal swamp called Palud. There were very few birds and lots of mosquitos when we visited but I could imagine it pulling birds in when the weather is right.

Palud reserve from the small hide

We saw Shelducks, Eastern Subalpine Warblers this time feeding fledged young and a few Little Egrets.
After Pula we headed north back in to Slovenia but we stopped a couple of times on the way to look at wooded and scrub areas. One bird I hadn't seen this trip was Sombre Tit although we'd looked in many areas that looked suitable but had no luck, are there Sombre Tit in Istria? Stopping near Pazin we came across a lovely group of flowering Lizard Orchids before finally leaving Croatia.

Lizard Orchid

Tarifa 6th - 12th September

We had no plans to return to Tarifa this year but checking flights at the end of August there were some good Ryanair deals to Malaga (return flights for the two of us at £213) so we decided to go at fairly short notice. I thought the car hire was too good to be true with Goldcar at £50 for the week, and it was, as we had to take their insurance at £147 when we picked up the car at Malaga Airport. We booked accommodation in Tarifa at the Hostal Tarifa close to the centre which was a great location for the town, beach and the Cazalla and Trafico watchpoints. The hotel was exceptionally clean, did a basic continental breakfast from 08:00 but no other meals which suited us.
First morning we headed up to Cazalla, a fly-by Golden Oriole was a good start and we soon started to see the first birds of prey with small groups of Honey Buzzard, Short-toed and Booted Eagles. Numbers of Griffon Vultures started to appear as the air warmed and we learned of a cow carcass below the watch point which had attracted large numbers of Griffon Vultures yesterday as well as at least 3 Ruppell's Vultures Griffons. I met fellow British birders Steve Duffield and Paul Eele and after Paul and his partner had moved on Steve and I were scrutinising all the Griffons .By mid-morning the Griffons were drifting closer, showing some interest in yesterdays carcass location although they never landed. Eventually we picked up an approaching dark bird which turned, showing the pale patagial line and pale tipped body feathers with underwing coverts and body as dark as the flight feathers, clearly Ruppell's Vulture. From the photos the serrated edge to the hindwing were clearly juvenile feathers with some fresh looking inner primaries suggesting it's probably a second calendar year.

Ruppell's Vulture - probably second calendar year

As we continued to check the vultures another dark bird passed overhead. Initially I thought that this was probably a Ruppell's also but on checking the photos it lacks the distinct pale patagial line and the body and underwing coverts don't have the pale edges of the classic Ruppell's. Could this be a hybrid Ruppell's x Griffon Vulture? I did find a photo of one in Israel in July/Aug 2014 but that would presumably be the east African race of Ruppell's, erlangeri, which is a much paler bird in any case.

Possible hybrid Griffon x Ruppell's Vulture

Still looking closely at the vultures, a wing tagged Griffon came by then another darkish Griffon so perhaps the bird above is just a dark Griffon?

Griffon Vulture wing-tagged

Griffon Vulture - a dark probably second calendar year

Mick Cunningham, a friend from the UK who had been out for a week already, arrived a little later but the Griffons were then distant dots over the hillside. Small numbers of raptors continued to pass including at least 3 juvenile Montagu's Harriers and a single Black Stork plus several parties of Bee-eater and Pallid Swift. Mick had mentioned a spot with several Black-eared Wheatear on the outskirts of town so I went looking for that them in the afternoon, stopping at the start of the Santuario de la Luz road on the way. I had nice views of a juvenile Woodchat Shrike here and less good views of a Melodious Warbler but couldn't find the wheatear spot.

Woodchat Shrike - juvenile moulting to 1st winter

The following morning I started at the fields bordering the beach at Los Lances.

Short-toed Lark - juvenile

Tawny Pipit - moulting adult

At least 8 Short-toed Larks were feeding in the fields plus 4 Tawny Pipits and several dozen 'flava' wagtails which were presumably Iberian Yellow Wagtails but none came close enough to confirm. There were a few waders; single Bar-tailed Godwit and small flocks of Sanderling, Ringed Plover and Dunlin with a scattering of Kentish Plover on the beach.
I finally found Mick's La Pena area which was at km 78.5 not km 76.5 as I had thought. I think the area is actually Valle del Santuario. Whatever its called it was good for wheatears with at least 5 Black-eared and two Northern Wheatears during several visits during the week. The group included 2 dark throated and a pale throated adult males, a 1st winter male pale throated and 1st winter female. So provided a great opportunity for a close look at this difficult to identify species and western race.

Black-eared Wheatear - adult male pale throated form

Black-eared Wheatear - adult male dark throated form

Black-eared Wheatear - 1st winter male pale throated form

Black-eared Wheatear - female, difficult to age (also two photos below of same bird)

The wind stayed in the west for the next 5 days until the 10th when it shifted 180º overnight to a force 5 easterly with low cloud over the hills. Until the wind shifted there had been a steady migration of raptors; Honey Buzzards, Black Kites and Short-toed and Booted Eagles numbering several hundred of each per day plus a handful of Montagu's Harriers and other migrants like Black and White Storks and Bee-eaters. On the 9th a distant imm Bonelli's Eagle was seen to stoop at a Black Stork and then follow a flock of White Storks but without further action.

Bonelli's Eagle, probably 2cy below a flock of White Stork

On the morning of the 10th the wind moved round to a force 5 easterly with low cloud over the mountains and raptors appeared to be circling along the coast with no clear destination. Several hundred Black Kite were blogging around the Trafico watchpoint with more visible to the east all remaining close to the coast. In strong winds I decided to have a look in the sheltered trees by the nearby Migres offices. I soon found Bonelli's Warbler and several Garden Warblers and Blackcap with single Common Redstart and an Iberian Chiffchaff that sang briefly.

Coastal path below Trafico with Morocco in the distance

The following morning in what was perhaps a gusting force 6 easterly the coast was fairly cloud free but there was heavy cloud immediately inland. There were perhaps 500 Black Kite attempting to fly east but many were landing on the hillside close to Trafico presumably waiting for the wind to subside.

Black Kites resting from the strong easterly wind

Many birds continued to move slowly east, some coming very close to the watchpoint.

Black Kite adult left foreground with juv inset to right

After a couple of hours at Trafico we drove inland to Facinas and then drove down the Santuario de la Luz road. Large groups of raptors were following the line of the road heading towards the coast. Several hundred Honey Buzzard were counted but there must have been several times this number across the valley, and I only watched for about 45 mins so it could have been thousands during the day. There were also Short-toed and Booted Eagles but fewer Black Kites here.

Honey Buzzard - male

Short-toed Eagle at eye level

The following morning was our last in Tarifa, the wind was still strongly in the east but there was a dense cloud cover with low cloud over the mountains. I counted at least 200 Short-toed Eagles in 2 hours ( I understand the count for the 12th at Cazalla was 2000 Short-toed!) along with 100 Booted Eagles, at least 500 Black Kite, several hundred Honey Buzzard, 20 close Black Stork and 50 Egyptian Vulture. It was an amazing sight to see clouds of raptors circling low over Tarifa, a spectacular end to a great week at Tarifa.

Black Stork juvenile

Varanger 21st - 24th June

We left Ivalo at around 10:00 in hard driving rain with a cold N wind and a temperature of 3℃, it was still raining when we stopped at Neljan Tuulan for a coffee. At least 4 male and 4 female or immature Pine Grosbeak were at the feeder and a Siberian Tit, which was ringed, also paid a visit. Pam was impressed with the Grosbeak but even more so with the Red Squirrel on the feeders. Plenty of Redpoll but all Mealy. As we crossed the higher ground towards Utsjoki the rain turned to sleet. We passed a Red-throated Diver on a roadside pool and a distant Rough-legged Buzzard hovering over the wooded hillside and a Merlin dashed across the road. 

Rough-legged Buzzard

Utsjoki was a row of wooden properties with a small well stocked supermarket just before the river crossing into Norway.
We followed the River Tana with clusters of fishermen on the shore where the river narrowed forming rapids and stopped at Tana Bru. Norway is even more expensive than Finland so we made do with a Pizza to share at the equivalent of 14€ which, when delivered was plenty for two anyway. Fuel was about 150€/litre but fortunately we had filled up in Inari at 129€/litre.
We quickly arrived at Varangerbotn and our first sighting of the Arctic Ocean. The rain had just about stopped but it was still cold. Pam spotted the first White-tailed Eagle on the shore and we saw four more as we drove towards Nesseby.

White-tailed Eagle

Flocks of birds on the water were mainly Goosander but we had one group of 50 Velvet Scoter which was impressive and there were groups of Eider strung along the shoreline.
At Nesseby there were 3 summer plumaged Little Stint feeding on the shoreline and several Arctic Skua and a single adult Long-tailed past along the coast. 

Little Stint - summer plumage

I met a dutch birder travelling back down the coast towards Pasvik and we exchanged sightings. He had seen King and single Steller's Eider at Vardo and more King Eider near Hemningsberg which was promising.
We stopped overnight at JV Camping at Vestre Jakobselv. There were bird feeders by the reception with more Redpoll but again all Mealy. The occasional Willow Tit made a visit but otherwise it was House Sparrows and Greenfinch. Around the harbour we had Temminck's and Little Stint, more Goosander and small parties of Long-tailed Duck.
We stopped at Vadso and had a good look around Vadsoya Island. The Mountain Hares were the highlight, the birding was difficult in the cold N wind but again there were Wheatear and Meadow Pipits and 8 Red-necked Phalarope on the pool.

Mountain Hare

Moving up the coast we visited Ekkeroy which was worth the stop just to witness the clouds of Kittiwake nesting on the cliffs. 

Kittiwake on Ekkeroy

I walked all over the island looking at the Pipits and managed several Meadow and a couple of Rock there were also Wheatear here and nice views of Arctic Skua stood.

Arctic Skua

We drove on to Vardo with a few stops on the way. The tunnel lights were out so we had to wait for a convey shuttle that was leading cars through the 3km tunnel and we parked up for the night at the Tourist Information in the North Bay. There were Black Guillemot, Eider and plenty of Kittiwake which were nesting on the buildings close to the Tourist Information. I checked South Bay for the King and Steller's Eider but if they were there they were to far away to distinguish without a telescope. I hadn't brought mine and this was one of several times when I regretted that decision. We ate in the Pokora Restaurant which was surprisingly good, a meal for two for about 40€.
It was another cold night, I got up around 06:00 and did another check of the harbour but the tide was out now and the birds were even further away.
The cold, rain and dark sky was getting a bit oppressive but we pressed on. My spirits were lifted when at Pam's suggestion we stopped on the first decent bog area north of Vardo and had several Lapland Bunting. 

Lapland Bunting

The males looked fantastic in their breeding plumage, quite different to the dull winter attire in which we usually see them in the UK. 
The drive around the coast towards Hamnigsberg is spectacular. We saw several groups of Reindeer feeding by the roadside and large groups of Goosander offshore at Persfjord there were some closer eider. The first ones I looked at, a group of half a dozen, looked like King I scanned for more Eider for comparison and came across a group of about 100 but scanning through these they looked the same as the first group then I saw a fine male King Eider. 

King Eider - male

They were all King Eider, a group of about 150 moulting males and females. I scrambled around on the seaweed covered rocks and eventually got some photos although there were never going to be close. There were a couple of males in the group that were still in more or less adult summer plumage but the rest were dark with various pale areas. 

King Eider - part of flock

The females looked to be in typical plumage.
There were gulls on the rocks at Sandfjord and included ad adult Iceland, first for the trip.

Iceland Gull -adult

As we neared Hamningberg a Red Fox crossed the road, still in its thick winter coat, it stopped and turned to look at us just as the sun was starting to brighten the sky and it looked amazing before slowly walking away along the edge of a pool.

Red Fox

We parked in the large car park and I went across to look for pipits in the heather clad area. Almost immediately a pipit flew up and called overhead, a cheeping call, I followed it until it landed. Red-throated Pipit at last and a fine male. It flew around landing about 50m away and was joined by another Red-throated Pipit, in all there were at least four Red-throated Pipits in quite a small area.

Red-throated Pipit

I watched them feeding and the Red-throated chased off another slightly larger buffy coloured pipit. It didn't fly far and when I got on it I was amazed to see that it was a Tawny Pipit. I took photos and managed some reasonable record shots. What was the chance of finding a Tawny Pipit here at 70°North! I sent the record through to Finnmark Birding and Tormod confirmed that it was only the second record for the Varanger area, with the first at Ekkeroy in 1999!

Tawny Pipit

We had a walk around the deserted village and a male Snow Bunting made a brief appearance. 

Snow Bunting

With the weather still poor we drove back to Vestre Jakobselv and stopped again at JV Camping. In the morning my walk around the village produced the first owl of the trip, Short-eared, a first summer Glaucous Gull and another Mountain Hare. Back at the feeders I bumped in to a birder from Norway Birding who was leading an American lady around the area. He had no additional news but surprisingly had already heard of my Tawny Pipit, the power of social media! 
With the weather forecast still poor we decided to head back towards Finland, as we drove between Tana Bru and Utsoki we saw a Rough-legged Buzzard hovering over the hillside then Pam called out Moose and sure enough there it was stood in a field by the roadside, starring at us. It looked like a young male with horns starting to appear on its head. It starred at us for perhaps 5 minutes before slowly walking back in to the forest. 

Moose or Elk as they are sometimes called

As we were about to make the turn to cross the river to Utsjoki another young Moose appeared by the roadside a great end to our short visit to Norway.

From here we are travelling south towards home and plan to work our way down the Swedish coast.
I'll add some scenic shots when I get chance.