Tatra mountains Slovakia August (1 Viewer)

[Steve Babbs]

Any wildlife tips for any groups: birds, butterflies etc? I was planning on just going for walks and seeing what I saw but open to suggestions.

I will be staying in Stary Smokovec for a few days.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

I presume you have seen Camberwell Beauty? And Sand Lizard? Both of which I saw on the Polish side.

 

[Arbu]

I walked through the mountains from Poland to Slovakia in July 2008. It was pleasant walking and I saw Nutcracker, Wallcreeper, Alpine Accentor, Crossbill, Collared Flycatcher, Common Redstart. All birds that you have seen before, I suspect.

 

[Mono]

It is largely a case of walking about and see what you can see. There aren't really any destination wildlife spots. That said the walking is spectacular! The railway makes it possible to do some great non-circular walks.

 

[Steve Babbs]

Thanks all. Yes seen Camberwell Beauty and Sand Lizard although I have never seen a Sand Lizard outside the UK and then only a couple and two UK Camberwell Beauties and only a small number abroad There's no real chance of any new birds but always keen to see things that I rarely see such as Nutcracker. It's possible there might be a new butterfly or two.

 

[Jos Stratford]

It's possible there might be a new butterfly or two.

A bunch of interesting ringlets at higher altitude

 

[kb57]

I had my best ever view of a nutcracker on the path between Hrebienok and Strbske Pleso back in the early 2000s - I wasn't really birding at the time, but the walking is excellent - a great network of well-signed and maintained paths. Further west, the Bielanske ('white') Tatry is great for mountain flora - there's an excellent long walk from the Tatranska Lomnica cable car mid station to Zdiar - you can get a bus back. Stary Smocovec is a great base with good connections via the railway and the funicular to Hrebienok.

 

[Steve Babbs]

I had my best ever view of a nutcracker on the path between Hrebienok and Strbske Pleso back in the early 2000s - I wasn't really birding at the time, but the walking is excellent - a great network of well-signed and maintained paths. Further west, the Bielanske ('white') Tatry is great for mountain flora - there's an excellent long walk from the Tatranska Lomnica cable car mid station to Zdiar - you can get a bus back. Stary Smocovec is a great base with good connections via the railway and the funicular to Hrebienok.

Thanks. I'll be based in Start Smocovec.

 

[kb57]

Thanks. I'll be based in Start Smocovec.

...and I meant further east for the Bielanske Tatry!

 

[Steve Babbs]

A few tips for anyone who is thinking of going. It is incredibly beautiful but try to avoid August, especially the weekends: Slovakians are very enthusiastic hill/mountain walkers and the peaks are very busy. On the wildlife front Nutcrackers are common - but a pain in the arse to photograph - but the crowds really don't help with seeing much else. Marmots were more often seen than heard and we saw one Alpine Chamois.

My big regret is not spending time south of the railway line. The relatively low areas are much, much less visited by walkers who want to get up the spectacular peaks. We spend the last day in this area and saw lots of bear droppings and had a cyclist stop to warn us that he'd seen a bear - I'm not sure he realised that we were going to try to find it rather than avoid it. I suspect that a few days in this area would give you a good chance of seeing Brown Bear.

My other advice is don't come by car. It is easy to get to by train and once you're there there is a good, very cheap train around the areas Parking is expensive and traffic flow can be slow. We were certainly glad we didn't hire one.