The old town of Ulcinj with its fort above a small, deeply incised bay can trace its history back to the Illyrian times. Yesterday, on a warm Spring evening the smart cafes and restaurants were full, the promenade busy and the air was welcoming and civilised. Earlier that morning, a few kilometres out of town, I…
Tag: Protected Area
Crkva Sv. Petke
This little stone church sits high above the town of Virpazar, remote and quiet, with one of the best views of Lake Skadar. The place is always picturesque and this was the sunset on 6th March when winter was still hanging on hard in the mountains to the north. Crkva Sv. Petke or Church of…
Tivat Saltpans
Tivat Saltpans (Tivatska Solilas) is an area of intertidal habitats and former saltpans within the Bay of Kotor protected in 2008 as a 150 ha. natural heritage site. In the language of protected areas, ‘potentially damaging operations’ are not permitted. In a country where hunting and fishing is so prevalent, this is great news for the…
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…
Teynham, Oare thereabouts
Teynham’s rich brown brick earth was where the first cherry orchards sprang, planted by command of Henry VIII. As I walked under another Spring blue sky accompanied as ever by a razor sharp wind from the northwest, I could find no sign of old manor or other tell-tale history apart from the church on the low hill…