Croatia
- Nicholas Turner
- Jun 9, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 31
31st May - 7th June 2023
This trip was primarily to look for butterflies since Croatia is one of the real hotspots for butterflies in Europe. However, in view of the time of the year it also seemed like a great opportunity to discover some of the local birdlife as well as possibly finding some orchids.
Wednesday 31st May: We flew from Manchester to Split, via Zurich, and then picked up our car rental for the 3 hour drive northwest to Maslenica, arriving early evening at our Airbnb.
Thursday 1st June: The main attraction near Maslenica is the extensive Paklenica National Park. On the first morning we decided to stay fairly local and drove to a nearby gorge called Mala Paklenica. The first butterfly of the trip was a male Large Wall Brown, quickly followed by Lulworth Skipper, Adonis Blue, Brown Argus, Small Copper, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and Wall Brown.
In the afternoon we moved on to the popular Paklenica Gorge where we parked the car near the top of the gorge and walked downhill. Butterflies were plentiful here with Green Hairstreak, Southern White Admiral, Large Tortoiseshell, Southern Comma, Nettle Tree Butterfly and Niobe Fritillary.
Back at our Airbnb in Maslenica a walk around the village resulted in good views of Red-backed Shrike, Turtle Dove, Garden Warbler and Blue Rock Thrush with a brief sighting of a Black-eared Wheatear and the sound of a Golden Oriole singing.
Friday 2nd June: Another local hotspot is the nature reserve south of Maslenica at Lake Vrana. Immediately upon arrival we spotted a Melodious Warbler and Woodchat Shrike. Further on a Montagu’s Harrier soared high in the sky and other highlights included Icterine Warbler, Purple Heron, Turtle Dove and Cuckoo. Close to the lake an orchid presumed to be Anacamptis morio x pyramidalis was growing. Around the lake there was a wide variety of different butterflies including Queen of Spain Fritillary, Spotted Fritillary, Knapweed Fritillary, Large Skipper, Grayling, Eastern Bath White, Blue Spot Hairstreak, Large Wall Brown, Southern White Admiral and Cleopatra. However, the highlight of the day was without doubt a spectacular and very fresh Two-tailed Pasha.
Saturday 3rd June: The plan on the Saturday was to visit the Plitvice Lakes National Park. However, events conspired against us and a police road block prevented us entering the National Park. The weather was also dull and overcast so we made our way back to Maslenica. Eventually the cloud cleared and we pulled over on the side of the road near Goris to explore. As we stepped out of the car a colony of Military Orchids became apparent together with many Green-winged Orchids which were past their best. Further searching for orchids revealed Bee Orchid, Lady Orchid, Bug Orchid, Chalk Fragrant Orchid, Pyramidal Orchid and Green-winged x Pyramidal Orchid. By now the butterflies were on the wing with Silver-studded Blue, Adonis Blue, Common Blue, Brown Argus, Marsh Fritillary, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Glanville Fritillary, Woodland Ringlet, Small Heath, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Scarce Swallowtail and Small Tortoiseshell. A day that started poorly finished with a flourish!
Back at the Airbnb more Golden Orioles were heard and the Red-backed Shrike was still present. The undoubted highlight was a singing Eastern Orphean Warbler.
Sunday 4th June: We were now off to Split and decided to break the journey at the Krka National Park. Having driven around for a little while we parked the car and then went for a wander. As always butterflies were very plentiful including some new species. Our total list of 30 species was Clouded Yellow, Large Tortoiseshell, Common Blue, Small White, Eastern Bath White, Large White, Black-veined White, Brimstone, Cleopatra, Nettle-tree Butterfly, Cardinal, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Knapweed Fritillary, Silver-washed Fritillary, Mallow Skipper, Orbed Red Underwing Skipper, Grayling, Iolas Blue, Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail, Blue Spot Hairstreak, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Small Heath, Safflower Skipper, Southern White Admiral, Painted Lady, Small Skipper, Yellow-banded Skipper and Clouded Apollo.
Monday 5th June: Even in Split a 20 minute walk from the hotel was enough to find some birds and butterflies. A flock of Bee-eaters, Nightingale and a Red-backed Shrike followed by a family of Blue Rock Thrushes, Turtle Dove, Serin, Golden Oriole, Blackcap, Eastern Bath White, Small Skipper, Small White and Painted Lady.
Tuesday 6th June: For the final day in Split a repeat visit to yesterday’s location threw up a similar set of birds and yet more butterflies including Small Copper, Brown Argus, Common Blue, Queen of Spain Fritillary, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Iolas Blue, Eastern Bath White, Small White, Mallow Skipper, Clouded Yellow and Red Admiral.
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