RFI: Tips for Easter in Central-ish Europe
Hello,
I would like to make a short trip for non-flying wildlife watching for Easter. I am based in Prague and so far no flight tickets for a price I would be willing to pay for 4 days came up (except for to Milan, but I was eyeing at Abruzzo), so I would probably drive. It would make sense to go further than a weekend would allow, so I would say 5-7 hours of driving would be optimal. I try to save my vacation days, so no extra days.
Even though I still have a lot of species to see locally, I would like to use this trip for something that cannot be seen where I have an easy access to, which is mostly central and southern Bohemia. I would also like to photograph on the trip, so maybe something focused on nighttime hides (such as bears in southern Slovenia) would not be the best, and I am budget conscious (paying 200 € for a few hours in a hide is quite above my budget). So far I considered the following options, each of them with drawbacks:
1) Western Slovakia (Malá Fatra or Nízké tatry), trying to find some bears. I only know (in theory) locations in Vysoké Tatry for bears, which are still closed in April. The areas I mentioned do have bears, but not sure about other species around. Bear watching is supposedly best in early autumn (in Vysoké Tatry). 5 hours driving.
2) Southern Slovenia, again trying for bears. Hides are expensive (maybe not for what they are, but yes for me), and mostly night/evening time. Photography hides for daytime seem to multiple the cost. There are a few herps which cannot be seen in central Europe and should be out by end of April, and I could also try for blind cave salamanders, which are fairly unique. 7+ hours driving
3) I considered Poland, but unless I am mistaken, the prime wildlife areas are in the east of the country, 9+ hours of driving.
4) Austrian Alps, there will still be snow above 1200 or 1400 meters, and I am not sure which are to choose. Any area with marmots will still have snow, I think, and might not be accessible. Obviously, I did not do much research here yet, even though I did live in Austria for half a year (before my wildlife watching days). 4-6 hours of driving.
5) Podyjí/Thayatal national park: I am probably inclining to this one the most. This would be mostly herping trip, with most of herps from the country resident, but mammals are also present, even though most, if not all, species can be also found where I live, and birdlife is supposedly very good. The issue with herping is my “health condition”, residing in me being snake-blind. But maybe I just need more training. Not sure if 4 days are not too much, but I can always do some outing elsewhere. It might be crowded. It is only 2,5 hours of driving, so I could do that any time as a weekend trip and it feels like a lost opportunity.
6) Šumava/Böhmerwald national park: This is as far as the wilderness goes in my country, but the area is very large and I feel I lack local knowledge, and I believe that wildlife sticks to the depths of the woods and is quite difficult to be seen. There are some fairly interesting species such as wolf, lynx or moose, but these would require immense luck, or way more time than 4 days. Woodgrouse is resident and I think that would be possible with a little effort. Again, only 2,5 hours of driving, for 4 days, I think it is better to go further.
7) I have an opportunity to join a family outing in far east of the country, in Beskydy mountains. The logistics would be complicated, we would overnight in Ostrava the first night, leave in the morning on Monday, loosing quite a lot of time. Carpathian newt would be the only obviously special species in the area, and it can be seen in western Slovakia as well. I can come here anytime, though, without the complicated logistics, driving time would be 4 hours (now at least 8 plus one night).
Would anyone care to share any comments or tips? Of course, I write here in hope that someone comes with “man, there is a greeat semi-habituated ibex site just 3 hours south!” 🙂 But any remarks are welcome.
Thank you.
PS: My Thailand trip report is coming! 🙂
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6 Comments
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Bruno Kovacs Gomez
Hi,
I was around Slovakia and the High Tatras this summer and I would 100% recommend it, although we didn’t manage to see any bears which was quite a dissapointment, as we only had 3 days in the Tatras maybe with a bit more time and more hours spent with a scope they would be 100% possible. Apart from that amazing scenery and pretty beautiful mammals too from the Tatra Chamois to European Ground Squirell which were quite a surprise. I would say the best areas for scoping and walking are around Tatranska Matliare, and a little bit more south of the Tatras (if you have time ), amazing plains with a lot of biodiversity.
Anyways, also if you have more time , Eastern Hungary is also really nice, with Hortobagy being a more or less good place for Golden Jackal and a lot of birds and herps (if you’re into that).
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JanEbr
Hi! Are you Czech or just staying in Prague for some time? If you want we can meet and look for some mammals sometime around here, let me know! We recently found a rather convincing Wild Cat near Křivoklát for example.
As for your question, you have to consider that Easter can still really be quite snowy in the Tatras – unless you are into mountaineering, it can be pretty dangerous to move around, it’s a harsh mountain range. Also note that April may be quite early for herping – I mean it’s obviously prime time for amphibians, but maybe not so much for snakes and lizards? In 7 hours, you get to both Ljubljana and Warszawa and then you have to drive a bit more to get to the wildlife areas, so it’s pretty much the same. Warszawa looks further on paper, but you can basically speed the entire length of S7, I never got any tickets there, so that balances it a little 🙂 I think both would be cool destinations for this season.
In general, there aren’t many “definitive destinations” within 5-7 hours from Prague, but there is a lot of interesting nature. You can drive 3 hours north into the forests north of Zgorzelec and there you start seeing warning signs for wolfs crossing the roads, we have seen a Steppe Polecat in broad daylight near Neusidler lake, that’s about 3 hours SE, etc… but nothing is ever guaranteed in these random explorations.
Beskydy is a cool area but in April, you are gonna miss one of the highlights – the chance for all three dormice! We haven’t found Forest Dormouse yet, the other two pop up from time to time, but mostly in summer.
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Asanoth
Hello,
I have to admit I was really hoping that you would join the discussion 🙂 .
I think Malá Fatra would be under snow only in the highest elevations, of course depending on the weather, but on the other hand misses most of Alpine species such as a marmot, ibex or chamois. I would still hope to find a lower (~1000 masl) elevation interesting area in Austria, which would be better (not considering the bear chance), even though marmots would still be difficult in late April, and possibly innaccessible.
Thank you for you offer, I would definitely like to join you for a local outing, but mind that my experience cannot even remotely be matched to that of you two 🙂 . You can contact me at asanoth@atlas.cz (in Czech).
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Steve Babbs
When I was in the Tatras Mountains, in August 23, I stayed at Stary Smokovec. We didn’t see a bear, probably because we spent most our time going up the mountains, and also because of the huge number of people present at this time of year, but we did find bear droppings at the same level as, and not far from, the hotel area and met a cyclist who’d seen just seen one as we were doing a wander at this altitude. You could also consider getting here by train as it very easy to do without a car. A very beautiful area too.