The Forest is quiet in September; woodpeckers, crossbills and siskins break the silence in the ancient woodlands and conifer plantations. The heather on the open heaths is at its purple peak and the summer crowds have waned. In the late afternoon, ponies and donkeys start to move to forage on the roadsides, and cause a…
Tag: National Park
Soğuksu Millî Parkı
The winding road from the spa town of Kizilcahamam leads to Soğuksu Millî Parkı, literally translated as Cold Water National Park, a remnant patch of old pine forest that covers the steep hills. The protection may have been to safeguard the precious water, but the forest also holds petrified trees as the area was volcanic some 10 million years ago. Whatever…
Lovćen Mountain
Lovćen is a mountain within the heart of Montenegro’s coastal range, rising abruptly from the dark maquis and olive-clad hills between the coastal towns of Kotor and Budva to descend more gently inland to the old capital of Cetinje. The mountain is the most accessible of them all, as there is a road running round the base…
Lake Skadar Sunrise
Sunrise this morning, the last day of March was altogether a different affair to the pagan dystopia of that dragon dawn just a few days ago. The sun was for a moment a perfect star as it broke the cloud and lit the lake and mountains as if to say, today will be a good day;…
Biogradska Gora
The tarmac path from the car park up to the small lake within Biogradska National Park is only a couple of kilometres but Spring had not started to dent the knee deep snow. The lake is 1,094m above sea level so the sign told me and a different world from the oak-clad hills filled with crocus…
Pygmy Cormorant
The morning was crisp and clear and this unruffled pygmy cormorant hung out to dry just over the road. Pygmy and great cormorants, the latter far less confiding here, do not have any oils in their feathers to keep the water out like ducks, grebes and coot, so they swim, dive and dry, always in this…
Lake Skadar
Virpazar is a small town just off the main highway that runs from the inland capital Podgorica to Bar on the Adriatic coast. The small turning runs across the single track railway towards the Voli supermarket and Hotel Pelikan. The road runs past, soon-to-be busy cafes and tourist agencies set in a small plaza towards an old…