The Balkans - September 2024 - Logistics and Itinerary

Logistics

• A long weeked in late September with Mick with the aim of visiting two new countries, Bosnia and Montenegro. We figured that we could easily fly into the very south of Croatia, spend a morning crossing over a small corner of Bosnia to Montenegro, and then scoot down to the coast and work our way back up to Croatia. Naturally we would eBird the whole way, with the "map" functionality rapidly taking over from any of the "Countries I've visited" style apps. And the birds would be decent too, with a chance of Rock Partridge right next to Dubrovnik airport.
• Flights: British Airways from Gatwick on late Friday afternoon, landing at Dubrovnik at 8.30pm. Booked with a car making it into a BA holiday. No time for birding that evening so we checked into a nearby hotel and effectively started the trip on Saturday morning. The original plan had been to fly back late on Monday evening, so a full three days in the Balkans, but shortly before we left our return flight was cancelled. Options were very limited and we had to return via Helsinki on Finnair on Monday morning. Not exactly direct but thankfully I enjoy flying and this did at least allow for a bit of birding in Finland.
• Transport:  Cheap as chips hire car from Avis. We had to pay a hefty €80 "fee" to take the car over the borders to Bosnia and Montenegro. Frankly this is a tourist tax and had we booked flights only and then hired a car from a local company there would have been no charge. The car paperwork was checked at each international border. Driving was very straightfoward.
• Accomodation: Generally bargain hotels close to where we wanted to be birding the next morning. The first night we just wanted to be close to the Rock Partridge location so stayed very near Dubrovnik airport at Cavtat. Second night in Kotor in Montenegro, and the third night back close to Dubrovnik airport for the morning flight to Helsinki.
• Literature/Resources: We read a few trip reports which seemed to confirm that the premier location for Rock Partridge were the steep slopes directly inland of the runway at Dubrovnik. We then used eBird to discover the best birding sites along our itinerary with a view to seeing as many species as we could in both Bosnia and Montenegro before returning to Croatia. Finally we also had a copy of "Finding Birds in Montenegro and Herzegovina" by Dave Gosney. I am not sure how old this one was, but even the ones published many years ago are good for general areas in which to search for birds, even if you don't follow the maps to the letter.
• Other: Croatia and Montenegro both use Euros. In Bosnia it's Marka, but I am not sure we stayed long enough to use any. In Kotor, where we stayed overnight in Montenegro, the entire town is running a scam whereby their credit card machines are all mysteriously 'broken' and could we please pay cash? This happened at the hotel, the restaurant, the café....

Itinerary

• Day 0 - Evening arrival into Dubrovnik. Overnight on the coast at Cavtat, north-west of the airport.
• Day 1 - Early start on the hillside above DBV runway (Velji Do overlook) for Rock Partridge. A bit of birding back at sea level before crossing into Bosnia mid-morning at Donji Brgat-Ivanica. Birding in Bosnia was very limited. We drove through Trebinje to the Montenegro border at Dolovi, and then birded around Brocana and Klenak. Then down to Kotor via Grahovac and Perast. Overnight at Kotor.
• Day 2 - Started the day at Solila NR near Tivat. Then down to the coast and south to Virpazar, a good wetland area on Lake Skadar. From here we ascended north-west into Lovcen NP, exiting through the far side and descending back to Solila for the evening. We then drove back to Croatia and stayed overnight near Komaji.
• Day 3 - A quick session at Cadmos Marsh before flying to Helsinki as part of a very roundabout journey home. We had worked in a five hour layover so as at least to be able to do something in Finland, a new country for Mick. In the event we took a local train a few stops to Vantaa  and went birding for an hour and a half before catching the onward flight to London.