After a long but uneventful day of travel, Anne and I got home yesterday afternoon and began our adjustment to Central Standard Time. After a week in the relatively balmy Balkans, the latest cold snap in Estabrook Park and the stiff breeze that came with it took a bit of getting used to as wellContinue reading “A fine day to return to Estabrook Park.”
Author Archives: Andrew Dressel
Some last glimpses from the Balkans…
Yesterday was our last full day in the Balkans, and we drove from Dubrovnik, through Bosnia and Herzegovinian, back into Montenegro. We stopped at the spectacular Ostrog Monastery on the way, and ended up back in Podgorica. Early this morning we start our trek home via Vienna. Before we hit the road, however, I hadContinue reading “Some last glimpses from the Balkans…”
A real mystery in Mostar…
As I mentioned yesterday, today we drove into Bosnia and Herzegovina to visit historic Mostar and see its famous 16th-century Ottoman bridge over the Neretva River. It “was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557,” destroyed in 1993 by shelling during the Croat–Bosniak War, and reconstructed “with Ottoman construction techniques” from 2001 to 2004. We found the bridgeContinue reading “A real mystery in Mostar…”
Critters of Dubrovnik
After the dunnock got me all excited yesterday, we drove farther up the coast to the picturesque little old port town of Dubrovnik in Croatia. Anne and I had been here before, so after a quick stroll and lunch, I excused myself from the group to go visit a nearby park, while they endeavored toContinue reading “Critters of Dubrovnik”
More little birds of Budva…
Sorry about not posting yesterday. I did go out, but the winds in Budva were 20 mph and gusting to 40! The only picture I managed to get is a bad one of a chaffinch. Happily, the winds had subsided a bit by this morning and were only gusting to 20, plus there were noContinue reading “More little birds of Budva…”
Some Birds of Budva, Montenegro
We drove up the Adriatic coast from Shkodër, Albania to the picture-postcard town sea-side of Budva, Montenegro yesterday, and I set out early this morning to see who I could see. There hasn’t been much sun yet this trip, and today definitely did not break that trend. One of the first birds I spotted, wayContinue reading “Some Birds of Budva, Montenegro”
Pershendetje from Shkodër, Albania!
After Vienna, my next opportunity to take pictures of the local fauna came this morning in Shkodër, “the fifth-most-populous city” of Albania. The sky was dark and rainy this morning, but the air was a heck of a lot warmer than in Estabrook Park, or so I hear, and the Ebu Beker Mosque, across theContinue reading “Pershendetje from Shkodër, Albania!”
Greetings from Wien!
We made is safely to Austria and took a train into town during our layover. After lunch, when our group broke up to visit various museums, I slipped away to visit Wiener Stadtpark, were I found all kinds of pretty birds. Here’s an elusive Eurasian blue tit, who just wouldn’t let me get a clearContinue reading “Greetings from Wien!”
Travel Day Number 2
As I mentioned yesterday, Anne and I are off to the Balkans, and she got us a nice long layover in Vienna along the way, but I probably won’t have an opportunity to write a post again today, so let me show you a few more critters that I have a hope of seeing onContinue reading “Travel Day Number 2”
Travel Day Number 1
As I mentioned yesterday, Anne and I are off to the Balkans today. I do have time for a quick visit to Estabrook this morning before we go, but I probably won’t have time to write up what I found, so let me give you a little taste of some of the critters I canContinue reading “Travel Day Number 1”
