BUTTERFLIES AND WILDFLOWERS OF SLOVAKIA Slovak Karst, High Tatras, White Carpathians

Throughout this tour we will concentrate on very diverse butterfly habitats, the best areas in the region. We will visit some of the most remote areas where rural lifestyle is still alive. The Slovakian countryside remains unspoiled and offers some of the best scenery in Eastern Europe. Another remarkable feature during the tour will be to witness the transition from the very warm southern slopes of the Slovakian Karst through the subalpine, up to alpine region in the High Tatras. Roads are largely good and landscape beautiful.

We arrive at Kosice airport in Eastern Slovakia by mid-afternoon. Within about an hours drive we arrive at our hotel in the Slovakian Karst, so we can settle into our hotel rooms well before dinner. Hotel grounds offer nice walks, some tracks lead through old beech forest. Bat mistnetting may be arranged in case of interest.

Hotel 3 nights

Slovak Karst is an open landscape of limestone plateau steeply rising from broad valleys. The omnipresent karst scenery is mainly covered with woodlands, forest-steppe and diminishing pastures. It is a dry, sunny region, and the plant community here displays a correspondingly eastern quality.

Mild uphill stretch leads us to a short climb and we reach the large plateau where we will spend the rest of the day slowly descending towards our coach. The track will lead us through a deeply cut valley, with beech forest and forest-steppe which are typical for this area. We will end our walking at Turna castle that has been ruined since times of Turkish invasion.

The next day will require much less walking. We will search open areas where it can become quite hot. Nevertheless, we won´t be too far from our coach or shady woods that are found everywhere.

Slovak Karst holds outstanding flora and many warmth-loving species of butterflies.

As anywhere on the warm limestone slopes most flowers appear in April or May but we still can find some of the most beautiful ones at this time of the year. Turna Golden Drop (Onosma tornense) is local endemic found only here and will be high on our list. It comes to full blossom in mid June. A host of other colourful and localised species could well include Inflated Milk-vetch (Astragalus vesicarius) , Pannonicum Thyme (Thymus pannonicus), Onosma visianii, Asyneuma canescens, Cyanus triumfetti, Aconitum moldavicum, Yellow Monkshood (Aconitum anthora), Linum hirsutum, Cimicifuga europaea, Orobanche lutea, Erysimum pallidiflorum, Cynoglossum hungaricum, Chamaecytisus albus or Echium russicum. Endemic Campanula xylocarpa and Campanula carpatica are in blossom from mid July but we may be lucky to see their first flowers.

We will search the skies for Imperial and Short-toed Eagle or Saker drifting over or gliding below us. Dipper, Red-backed Shrike, Rock Bunting, Barred Warbler, Syrian Woodpecker, Wryneck and Golden Oriole also occur commonly. Colony of Souslik, a ground dwelling squirrel-like rodent, could be a nice addition.

Slovak Karst was formerly less wooded than today but still provides good conditions for many species. Some of them prefer light forests and forest fringes. A few will be of particular interest. We will try hard to spot Woodland Brown, Woodland and Great Banded Grayling, Large Tortoiseshell, Yellow-legged Tortoiseshell, Camberwell Beauty, Hungarian Glider as they hawk gracefully along the woodland edges. On the other hand, Black-veined White, Black Hairstreak, Adonis, Turquoise, Large, Small-spot, Chequered, Idas and Meleager's Blue, Safflower Skipper, Purple-shot Copper and a host of fritillaries including Silver-washed, Niobe, Knapweed, Nickerl´s and Lesser Spotted prefer open habitats. If found in two days, they should challenge even the most experienced amongst us!

Day2 Walk: 6-7 miles, Drive: 40 km

Day3 Walk: 2-4 miles, Drive: 100 km

Today we travel from the Slovak Karst to the High Tatras in the north. During the transfer we will stop at a small mountain stream valley in the Muran plateau. Here we will look for mountain wildflowers and some butterflies that usually include Tau Emperor and Duke of Burgundy Fritillary. Aconitum moldavicum, Spiked Rampion (Phyteuma spicatum) or Alpine Clematis (Clematis alpina) are common alongside the stream.

Later we approach the impressive High Tatras. We take about a mile long walk before we check into our hotel. The day ends with an exploration of wet meadows below the High Tatras. We especially look for the endangered Scarce Heath, Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium coeruleum), Twinblade (Listera ovata) , Great Meadow Rue (Thalictrum aquilegiifolium) , Round-leaved Wintergreen (Pyrola rotundifolia) and magnificent Moor King (Pedicularis sceptrum-carolinum) . Corn Crakes and Quails often call from inside the meadow and Lesser Spotted Eagle regularly hunts there.

Walk: 1 mile, Drive: 120 km

Hotel 2 nights

We start early and spend the whole day in the Belanske Tatras climbing up to the saddle and back. It is an easy but long climb starting from an elevation around 3000 feet and walk along a mountain stream through beautiful mountain forest to subalpine and alpine zone at about 5000 feet. We descend by the same way. The total length of the tour is about 8 - 9 miles, but views and wildlife are outstanding in the upper part of the track.

Belanske Tatras are made of limestone and dolomite. Their large open meadows are refuge for many alpine flowers, deep forests are home to a number of animal species like Brown Bear, Lynx or Wolf. Last but not least we can have beautiful views of the granitic High Tatras from the mountain track that we will follow. This is the highest Carpathian mountain range and the highest mountains north of the Alps reaching 8000 feet.

We come in the peak season for alpine flowers of this region. We may still find some flowers of early summer but will concentrate on species such as Least Primrose (Primula minima) , False Orchid (Chamorchis alpina), Mountain Lentil (Astragalus penduliflorus) , Pallid Milk-vetch (Astragalus frigidus) , Alpine Milk-vetch (Astragalus alpinus) , Austrian Milk-vetch (Astragalus austriacus) and Norwegian Milk-vetch (Astragalus norvegicus), Oxytropis carpatica, Glacier Pink (Dianthus glacialis) and Styrian Gentian (Gentiana frigida), Aconitum firmum, Linum extraaxillare, Alpine Pansy (Viola alpina) , Edelweis (Leontopodium alpinum) , and (Malaxis monophyllos) , Spotted Gentian (Gentiana punctata), Round-headed Orchid (Traunsteinera globosa) , Alpine Bellflower (Campanula alpina) , and Campanula tatrae. It is very probable that we will observe very endangered Tatra race of the Chamois on the mountain crags.

High altitude butterflies will be already on wing. We will have a good chance of finding Dewy, Blind and Mountain Ringlet, Shepherd's Fritillary and Mountain Green-veined White plus nominate race of Purple-shot Copper and perhaps or Silky Ringlet and Chequered Skipper that disappers earlier at lower elevations. Masses of Brimstone and Small Tortoiseshell are sometimes seen this high.

Birdlife could include Water Pipits, Dipper, Nutcracker, Crested Tit, Firecrest, Crossbill and Goshawk, Golden Eagles and Peregrines are often seen soaring over the crags looking for Marmots whilst at ground level we may find an Alpine Accentor sitting on a rock.

Walk: 8 - 9 miles, Drive: 50 km

We move on to the White Carpathians. It is a hilly range that extends along the Czech/Slovak border and reaches only 3000 ft. Our small hotel is situated on the Czech side. In flowery meadows surrounding us you can easily spot some attractive butterflies such as Large, Scarce and Purple-edged Copper.

En route we visit moors at the Polish border. This place looks rather gloomy but it holds some good butterflies and is surrounded by large wet meadows. We will be looking for Moorland Clouded Yellow, Large Heath (race tiphon), Pearl-bordered, False Heath and Cranberry Fritillary, Cranberry Blue and Woodland Ringlet. To find them all is though a difficult task.

Second break is planned at a small village where we should find some nice mountain flowers just outside the village. During July a small mountain meadow with scattered pine and spruce trees holds Orange Lily (Lilium bulbiferum) , nice Slovak endemic wildflower Erysimum wittmannii, Alsace Broomrape (Orobanche alsatica) . Butterflies here should include Chalk-hill, Mountain Alcon and Turquoise Blue, plus some others.

Walk: 1,5-3 miles, Drive: 350 km

Hotel 3 nights

We spend the whole day in the White Carpathians.

After breakfast we will enjoy the wooded hilly country of White Carpathians. Here extensive flowery meadows dotted with solitary trees and clusters of bushes provide diverse habitat for many butterflies. We will head for the larger reserves to the south of our base where many host plants are best preserved. We expect Twin-spot Fritillary, Lesser Marbled Fritillary, Large Chequered Skipper, Black Hairstreak, 3 forms of High Brown and Nickerl's Fritillary, Amanda's, Meleager's, Chapman's, Mountain Alcon, Dusky and Scarce Large Blue, White Admiral, Scarce and Purple-edged Copper.

Before we reach our hotel for dinner we will search Purple and Lesser Purple Emperor - species that generally appear in June. Others include Geranium Argus and Large Copper that occur in wet meadows and both Swallowtails fly here. White Admiral, Mazarine Blue, or Great Banded Grayling are not uncommon but more frequent at wooded locations.

Many attractive flowers in bloom, especially magnificent Pedicularis exaltata with single Czech locality in these mountains.

Local meadows rank with the richest in Central Europe. We could pick up 3 species of Iris (Iris sibirica, graminea et variegata) among many others. They are later replaced by Orange and Martagon Lily (Lilium bulbiferum et martagon) . Other flowers growing there are Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) , Branched St. Bernard's Lily (Anthericum ramosum), Nepeta pannonica, Gymnadenia densiflora, Dragon's Teeth (Tetragonolobus maritimus), Pseudolysimachion spurium, Cross Gentian (Gentiana cruciata) , Burnt Orchid (Orchis ustulata) , Yellow Flax (Linum flavum) , Marsh Helleborine (Epipactis palustris) , Bloody Cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum) , or Crested Cow-wheat (Melampyrum cristatum) .

If weather conditions allow we will trap moths at dusk at the hotel and hopefully enjoy many night fliers in their full beauty.

Walk: 2 - 5 miles, Drive: 100 km

We visit Tematinske Hills in Slovakia today and another rocky outcrop at Vah river, both are limestone areas. If there will be time left we can explore higher lying meadows in the White Carpathians.

Tematinske Hills are situated at the Vah River. Crushy dolomite covers compact limestone underlayer. Hot and dry conditions are favourable for many butterflies among which a newly described taxa of butterfly stands high. Polyommatus slovakus (= Lysandra slovaka) was split from Chalk-hill Blue and has its type locality there though now regarded to be a 2 generation form of the latter. Butterflies should be plentiful and we rarely run a list shorter than 40 species that includes Eastern Pale Cluded Yellow, Sloe and Ilex Hairstreak, Marbled Fritillary, Woodland Grayling, number of skippers and Reverdin's and Eastern Short-tailed Blue.

Apollos will fly together with some last Clouded Apollos above limestone cliffs. It is difficult to predict which species will be found, but we have another chance for Small-spot Blue, Niobe, Glanville, Spotted and Lesser Spotted Fritillaries. Large Blue and Geranium Argus are more likely. Additionally on dikes along the River Vah we'll seek the numerous Knapweed Fritillaries which interspersed with Assmann's Fritillaries.

Walk: 1 - 3 miles, Drive: 150 km

We leave our hotel in the morning in order to have enough time to stop at interesting spots before we reach the small airport of Bratislava. Attractions are mostly cultural but we can take our last walk to look for more butterflies and flowers. We will hope to find some of the species found very locally. Possibilities depend on departure time from the airport. The best is probably sandy area with Grayling, Rock Grayling, Oriental and Dusky Meadow Brown, Ilex Hairstreak, Large Blue and Spotted Fritillary.

Walk: 1 - 1,5 mile, Drive: 150 km shortest route

All transportation from airport to airport is included, as well as full board accommodation (including water on bus), guide and necessary permit fees. All rooms are en suite, you are likely to spend another appr. 20 pounds sterling on evening drinks. Tick list, trip report and a CD with photos from the tour are provided by Etours.

Accommodation in small hotels in Slovak Karst, the High Tatras and the White Carpathians. Half board in the hotels, packed or picnic lunches in the field. Transport by comfortable bus with driver.

Flight to Kosice in Slovakia via Prague with Czech airlines and departure from Bratislava in Slovakia with Czech airlines (or reversed).

Moth trapping could be arranged near hotel.

The expected number of butterfly species is 100 in 9 days.