Kikinda is a small town in the Vojvodina province in Serbia and lies close to Romanian border. Vojvodina is flat, mainly agricultural area with excellent bird watching possibilities throughout the year. In winter it is especially interesting with thousands of migrating birds such as Common cranes, Greylag geese and Long-eared owls to name a few. The latter were the reason for our weekend trip to Kikinda.

Every year 500 hundred or so Long-eared owls spend the winter in the main square of Kikinda. There are thousands more in the neighbouring villages and cities but the Kikinda colony is the biggest. No one knows for sure why and where exactly do they come from but there they are - in the middle of the city, ignorant of all the people walking by.

In December my ornithologist friends from Novi Sad invited me to come to Kikinda to join them for monitoring Long-eared owls (Asio otus) that spend winter in the city. With fellow birdwatchers from Birdlife Slovenia we drove to Novi Sad to meet Dimitrije who gave us instructions for the following morning. Then we drove further to Kikinda where we checked in to Paparazzo hostel. The hostel has an excellent location only 50 metres from the main square where the majority of long-eared owls overnight. It also has a convenient bar named Sova (Owl) with excellent local beer  and a bit loud music.

Next morning we went to Slano Kopovo for birdwatching. Our main goal was to observe Common cranes (Grus grus) and other water birds. it was difficult to get up early in the morning after a full day of driving. But it was totally worth it. When we arrived  it was still dark but it wasn’t difficult to navigate – we just followed loud noise that cranes were making  more than a kilometre away. It was a delightful sunny day and in the afternoon we met our Serbian friends of Serbian Owl Conservation Centre. We joined them for the evening and visited exhibition about long-eared owls in Kikinda’s city museum (organizer). Very well organized and very informative – great job guys!

Next day we went looking for Great bustard but with no luck. And in the evening we went for ringing and monitoring of the Long-eared owls. Dimitrije, Drazenko, Milan and Katarina are all very experienced and skilled ornithologists and we caught 4 owls in less than one hour. The record in one night is 37 owls and so far they ringed more than 300 of them in the last three years. Every owl was carefully examined ringed and released back into the night.

It was very interesting experience and we promised to come back in Spring when the bird life is the most abundant. Personally I already reserved a week for bird photography in May.  If you want to know more about birds and nature conservancy in Serbia visit this website run by Milan Ruzic: Wild Serbia. And to check out some excellent photos of Serbian wildlife, check out Katarina Paunovic’s photography website.

And don’t forget to check out our new gallery of photos from Serbia too!

We stayed at Virpazar, a town by the lake which has a good location and everything a traveller needs; accommodation, restaurants, shops, boats to rent, even wi-fi is available. Its a tiny little town but it has a nice vibe and locals are super friendly. On our first morning we arranged a boat ride from Vranjina town, where the National Park HQ are. Nice. Birdlife is abundant, ruined castles on small islands, water lilies form a green carpet over the waters, fishermen at their daily routine….

In the afternoon we drove the scenic route from Virpazar to the Albanian border and then on to the Coast. The vistas the road is offering are stunning and well worth driving on curvy mountain road, not wide enough for two cars to meet. Even if its only about 40 km long it takes forever to drive it – stopping for photos or to avoid cars driving the opposite direction. Almost at the Albanian border there is mountain pass which offers excellent views on both countries, the lake, mountains surrounding it and even to the Sea.

Next morning I woke up at 4.30AM to do some serious bird photography from a hide. My boatman of course did not wake on time so I had to find him and throw him out of his bed. There must be some truth in the jokes about Montenegrin being lazy:). Well despite small delay and the fact that our motor broke three times before getting to the location I managed to set up a hide and spent there three hours. That was an awesome experience – listening and watching this display of nature – there must have been more than twenty different bird species and some of them got pretty close to me. Most importantly – I managed to get some excellent shots that you can see in this post…

• Balkan Photography Adventure 16th – 27th Aug 2011 – Two places available
• Adriatic2Alps Tour17th Sep – 1st Oct 2011 – Three places available
• Adriatic2Alps Tour9th – 22nd Oct 2011 – Two places available

Our testimonials page is updated with two nice testimonials by Donna & Jody and Robert & Beverly.

And lastly, new photos have been added to our Slovenia and Croatia galleries. All photos of 2011 are newly added.

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To escape flooded streets of Ljubljana we decided to explore the underworld. Mistake! While the Postojna Cave was impressive and all, it rained inside! The soil was so saturated with water that it dripped from the cave ceilings everywhere. However, we didn’t let the elements spoil our mood as we delved into the secret chambers of the Predjama Castle and sampled some local schnapps. Especially the latter lifted our spirit!

The third day marked the beginning of some splendid early fall weather. With Bled as our destination we were thrilled to be finally able to leave the rain gear in the car, stroll around and soak up some sun. A visit to the Bled Island is a must, particularly if you can make Jami run up and down those steps to the church a few times. In the boat on the way back we admired the oarsman’s strong bicepses and I almost made everybody believe me we would be climbing the cliff to the Bled Castle.

Sadly, Jami had to leave the following morning (thanks for drinking all that wine and being such a great sport, Jami ), while Margaret, Kim and I visited the Vintgar Gorge. The river, usually green and peaceful, now roared through the narrow canyon. Of course Kim and I played with our tripods to get the milky water effect, and in the mean time Margaret simply used the rail as the support for her compact camera. Then the road across the plateau of Pokljuka through forests and past pastures took us to Lake Bohinj. The water was so still we could take perfect reflection photos!

On the fifth morning we made our way into the heart of the Julian Alps. Alpine valleys, spraying waterfalls and mountains passes with sheep took most of the day. I was hoping for some golden larches at the Vrsic pass but we were a few weeks too early. In Bovec Luka surprised us and joined us on the star-trail expedition to the Mangart pass in the afternoon. Oh, how we enjoyed the sweet sunset light in the mountains! OK, the chill that followed while we were waiting during the long exposures wasn’t all that enjoyable, but with the moon rising we got some pretty cool pictures of star trails and the moonlit landscape.

The area around Bovec offers so many things to see and do we had a hard time cramming them all in one day. We saw yet another waterfall, Kozjak near Kobarid, Kim’s favorite subject and Margaret’s not so favorite subject (because it involves quite a bit of waiting if you don’t take photos!). The afternoon was dedicated to two gorgeous valleys. In the Lepena valley it was interesting, and sad, to see the many abandoned and dilapidating houses set in such beautiful but remote environment. Climbing the banks of the Soca River canyons proved to be exhilarating, especially when we were on the verge of falling in a couple of times!

Landscape photography is a funny thing – you are totally dependent on the weather and light, and there are times when it is impossible to take one decent photo in a few weeks. But then sometimes you simply get lucky. And boy did we get lucky with the early morning mists in Bovec! Kim and I scrambled around looking for the best vantage point as the sun rose from behind the mountains and heated the ground. Then the mists slowly dissipated, offering us magical twenty minutes of magnificent mood. A red tractor under a tree was just a bonus.

The drive across the Predel pass offered perfect views of Mt. Mangart, and we made the effort to climb to an old fort towering above the road. A stroll to the shore of the serene Rabelj Lake on the Italian side was pleasant as always, and then we bid our farewell to the Julian Alps as we headed back to Ljubljana. Seeing it in completely different light on a warm and sunny afternoon we enjoyed a cup of coffee while people-watching along the Ljubljanica River, we found Julija’s window across the square from Prešeren’s statue and looked for examples of architecture by Plečnik. Kim and Margaret became quite expert at distinguishing his work from the work of others! The love locks on the Butcher Bridge were another great photo subject. As the dusk settled upon the city, we had our last dinner together.

One week flew by too quickly. Jami, Margaret, Kim, I will never forget the fun times with you guys. My stomach hurt from all the laughing! I truly hope Slovenia stays in your hearts.

Because of my busy schedule I’ve spent only a week in Tasikoki. Most of volunteers stay much longer – my girlfriend stayed for two months. In this short week I joined others at their daily routine of feeding the animals, cleaning the cages and enclosures and other regular tasks. This was my first volunteering experience and must say that I learned a lot. Not just about the animals and issues with illegal trade and poaching but about myself too. And it feels good when you can make a difference with your travelling.

If you would like to travel in a different way and do something good at the same time I definitely recommend volunteering! It doesnt matter where and for what cause – there are thousands of projects that will appreciate any help!

And here are some images I made at Tasikoki;

On your YouTube channel you can find two time-lapse movies created at Tasikoki.

The weather conditions were fantastic – great visibility and no clouds or mists. The only problem was cold – the batteries were failing and it was not possible to do star trail time lapse movie. But anyway, I managed to capture some decent shots that I am posting here.

The weather was totally unpredictable with rain followed by sunshine and rainbows and the sunsets were stunning. Mornings were ice cold, but it was worth every minute standing among colourful vineyards, waiting for the sun to rise. Here are some photos of these two days…

On our tours we spend at least four nights in the area of Lake Bled and Soca river valley. Only this way we can fully appreciate the beauty of the Julian Alps and the Triglav NP. Most of the area where we take our guests are easily accessible and do not require too much of walking. Within these four days we cover most of the natural attractions such as lakes, rivers, waterfalls and mountains.

One of the most popular optional trips with our guests is the panoramic flight over the Alps. It offers completely different perspective and only this way a man can experience all the vastness of the mountain world. The flight can be organised by our team and it can be done from the Lake Bled area or Bovec town. It is possible to open the side windows of the plane to point the camera lens out for unobstructed views. Usually the flight lasts from 30 minutes to one hour, which is long enough to make a full circle around the Julian Alps and lakes Bled and Bohinj.

If you would like to experience the Alps from the sky, let us know soon enough to make all the necessary arrangements.

Our host Klaudio took us to nearby forest where he usually hunts for truffles. Two of his loyal dogs were sniffing around the bushes with success – in just one hour we found seven white truffles! After short hunt we went back to his wine cellar to taste Klaudio’s excellent Istrian wines and the cream on the cake was a wonderful spread made of truffles, cheese and butter.

It was a lovely experience and we all had a great time!