SPRING WILDLIFE AND HERITAGE IN MACEDONIA Peonies, festoons and ancient churches in the Pearl of the Balkans

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1 SPRING WILDLIFE AND HERITAGE IN MACEDONIA Peonies, festoons and ancient churches in the Pearl of the Balkans Still largely unknown to visitors from Western Europe and North America, Macedonia is an extremely diverse and exciting destination. The most southerly of the group of republics that comprised the former Yugoslavia, it is a landlocked country characterized by dramatic mountains, forests and rolling landscapes of great beauty. Predominantly agricultural, Macedonia boasts an impressive range of wildlife-rich habitats, as well as having a fascinating cultural heritage. Spring comes early here usually, at least and by mid-may rising temperatures and long hours of sunshine ensure that all but the highaltitude habitats are approaching prime condition. Wildlife is everywhere the country has been likened to a huge, continuous nature reserve and the most casual stop at the side of the road rarely fails to provide an exciting variety of insects, plants and birds. We will spend most of our time in the northwest of this small country, where some of the most spectacular scenery and exciting flora and fauna can be found. We shall be looking for some of Macedonia's flagship spring flowers, including wild peonies and tulips, fritillaries such as the exquisite Fritillaria graeca, pasque flowers, gentians and orchids, well as the staggeringly beautiful Ramonda nathaliae. Also on our list will be a host of exciting butterflies, such as Eastern Orange-tip, Southern Festoon (right), Chequered Blue and Nettle-tree Butterfly. Birdlife should be outstanding, with summer migrants all arrived and many species preparing to breed. Macedonia has particularly good populations of raptors, and we hope to see Short-toed Eagle, Golden Eagle and Booted Eagle, among others. We shall also have the opportunity to spend time in the territory of one of Europe's rarest mammals, the Balkan Lynx, and learn about the ecology of this highly endangered animal. A particular highlight of this tour is the opportunity to visit and stay overnight in the heart of the Jasen Protected Area, to which public access is prohibited. Our itinerary also includes visits to some of Macedonia's outstanding cultural sites, including the old Ottoman quarter in Skopje and the 14th-century monasteries and churches at Matka.

2 Our local guides will be Dime Melovski, Macedonia's top butterfly authority, who has travelled all over the country surveying butterfly populations, and his wife Natalija, an expert botanist who will be guiding us through the dramatic array of spring flowers. As ever with plant- and wildlife-spotting, the pace will be gentle, with easy exploration on foot and flexibility in each day's itinerary to make adjustments depending on weather conditions and on what catches our eye and attention at each place. Fritillaria graeca (left) and Paeonia mascula (right) are two of the many plants we hope to encounter Fact file Macedonia tour, Tuesday 19 Sunday 24 May days/5 nights 3 hotels (1 2 2 nights) Ground cost: 765 (single room supplement 60). Includes Skopje airport transfers, all local transportation, full board (accommodation, dinner, bed and breakfast in 3* hotels/government guesthouse in Selishte, with picnic/packed lunches), guiding services. A donation of 20pp will be made to the Macedonian Ecological Society towards its work protecting the country's wildlife. Airport: Skopje (Wizzair direct from Luton; currently showing at approx. 160 return) Tour leader: James Parry Local guides: Dime Melovski and Natalija Melovska Group size: 6 (plus leader/guides) Itinerary in brief D1 Arrival in Skopje late evening, overnight Skopje (30mins) D2 Morning in Skopje, then afternoon in Matka Gorge. Overnight Matka (1hr) D3 Matka Gorge and Suva Gora. Overnight Matka (1hr) D4 Karadzica Massif. Overnight Selishte (1.5hrs) D5 Jasen Protected Area. Overnight Selishte D6 Morning in Radusha-Zheden, departure in early evening from Skopje (1.5hrs)

3 (time estimates in brackets give length of longer transfers/drive time in hours, a total for each day) DAY 1 Arrival in Skopje After a late evening arrival at Alexander the Great Airport in Skopje, we will drive into the city to our hotel in the historic centre, a journey usually taking about half an hour. DAY 2 Skopje Old Quarter and The Matka Gorge Skopje has one of the most attractive historic centres of any city in the Balkans. The Turkish Ottomans occupied the region for several hundred years until shortly before the First World War and their legacy is visible in the local mosques, characterful cobbled streets and former caravanserais. This morning we shall take a walking tour around the former Turkish bazaar, admiring the traditional architecture and perhaps stopping off in one of the many local cafés to enjoy burek, a delicious local pastry. At the end of our tour we shall drive for 45 minutes or so southwest of the city to the Matka Gorge. This steepsided limestone ravine, through which the River Treska (now dammed to form a reservoir) cleaves its way, boasts some of the most dramatic scenery in all of Macedonia. We shall explore the lower slopes for plants including different species of fritillary and limestone-lovers such as Koshanin Violet and Ramonda nathaliae (sometimes known as Phoenix Flower) before taking the short boat trip across the lake for an afternoon walk up to the monastery church of St Nikola Shishevski, looking en route for butterflies including Eastern Orange-tip, Grüner's Orange-tip, Southern Festoon and Eastern Baton Blue. above: We shall explore the historic cobbled streets of Old Skopje; left: Ramonda nathaliae, one of our target plant species during the tour. DAY 3 The Matka Gorge and Suva Gora This morning we shall take a boat-trip along the gorge for the stunning views and also the chance to spot typical rockbreeding birds such as Blue Rock Thrush, Rock Nuthatch, Rock Partridge, Crag Martin,

4 Alpine Swift and Peregrine. The gorge also serves as a flight corridor for larger raptor species such as eagles. From our boat we shall take a look at the Vrela Cave, one of the world's deepest underwater caverns (although we won't be descending into it...) before returning to the shore for an early lunch. We shall then head off to Suva Gora, about a 40- minute drive away and one of Macedonia's most important upland areas for wildlife. Here we shall explore the open, sparsely vegetated hillsides looking for butterflies such as Eastern Greenish Black-tip, Chequered Blue and Eastern Dappled White, as well as the stunning Southern Swallowtail. Exciting plants here include Hepatica nobilis and the beautifully aromatic Daphne oleoides, which should be in flower at this time. Typical birds should include Woodlark, Redbacked and Woodchat Shrikes, Black-eared Wheatear, Subalpine Warbler and Cirl Bunting. left: Horse-drawn transport is still a common sight in Macedonia. below: We shall be looking out for Shorttoed Eagles as they hunt for snakes and lizards. DAY 4 Karadzica Massif We leave Matka in the morning and head southeast towards the Karadzica Massif, another part of the 24,000-hectare Jasen Protected Area. This vast reserve was declared in 2010 and is home to a bewildering array of flora and fauna, including 47 mammal species almost one-third of the total number found in Europe. These include chamois (which we have a good chance of seeing), wild boar, brown bear, red deer, roe deer, wolf and a unique subspecies of the European Souslik (ground squirrel), as well as a tiny population of Balkan Lynx. Dime is one of the leading conservationists in the Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme and will take us to one of the sites where lynx have been camera-trapped in recent years. Karadzica reaches a peak of 2,500 metres, but we shall concentrate on the lower elevations, where attractive forests are interspersed with flower-rich meadows and valleys. Plant highlights here could include the endemic subspecies of Haller's Pasque Flower, alongside wild Lilac, hellebores and the exquisite Lady Orchid, whilst among the butterflies we shall be looking out for Duke of Burgundy, Grüner's Orange-tip, Bavius Blue and Southern

5 Festoon. We are making special arrangements to stay overnight in Selishte, in the core area of Jasen, where there is normally no public access a rare privilege to stay in a magnificent setting. DAY 5 Jasen Protected Area A full day spent exploring the dramatic and varied landscapes of this remarkable area, almost of it on foot. We will probably investigate some of the oak and beech woodland, looking for plants such as Columbine and forest birds including Hawfinch, Wryneck and Black Woodpecker. It will always be worth checking skywards for Booted Eagle, Honey-buzzard and other raptors, as well as Black Stork, which breeds in the area. Open areas and clearings will provide our best chance of finding rare orchid species, including Burnt. We will also take some easy walks at lower elevations in the valley of the River Ocha. Here we can explore a variety of riparian habitats, enjoying birds like Nightingale, Golden Oriole, Hoopoe, Bee-eater, Turtle Dove and Hobby, all of which are common here, as well as butterflies such as Cardinal, Clouded Apollo and Green-underside Blue. Local wardens with 4x4 vehicles will take us to places that are otherwise hard to reach, so this day promises to be a highlight of the tour. DAY 6 Radusha-Zheden and the Vardar River/departure As our flight is not until the late afternoon, we will take the opportunity during the morning to visit the Radusha-Zheden area to the northwest of Skopje. This south-facing hilly area has a dry, Mediterranean-style climate that supports many endemic plant species as well as birds such as Black-headed Bunting and Lesser Grey Shrike. The valley of the nearby River Vardar is a good site for wild peonies (two species occur here, although are not always straightforward to find in flower), as well as the wild Didier's Tulip Tulipa scardica, if we are lucky and the season is right. Other local botanical highlights include the dramatic flowering shrub Amelanchier lamarckii or Snowy Mespilus and Astrantia major or Great Masterwort, well enough known to British and North American gardeners but here found flourishing in its native haunts. We will also be on the lookout for Masked Shrike (top), which favours woodland and scrub in river valleys. The Raduska area also offers us another chance of finding Southern Swallowtail (above), which would be a fitting end to the tour before we head to Skopje after lunch for our flight back to the UK. For further information, please contact James Parry on mail@jamesvparry.com JP/DM 2014