Recently, I have upgraded my photo equipment to be able to get some nice photos of Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus or Eja livadarka in Croatian) which breeds in the area. This harrier has a very graceful flight, with powerful but elegant wing beats which give an impression of floating. I am waiting for more close up photos to create a special post but here is a lovely group of Montagu’s harrier hunting at dusk.
I am always looking for other birds species and this area of Ravni Kotari is known for several rare bird species and most common is European bee-eater (Merops apiaster). Beautiful in its flight, it is one of the prettiest birds of Europe.
I wrote about them here: https://secretcroatia.blog/2017/07/30/european-bee-eater-in-croatia/
But, there is one even prettier bird in this area. It is a beautiful European roller (Coracias garrulus or Zlatovrana in Croatian)
This is a rare bird in Croatia with about 9 – 20 couples nesting but, in the rest of Europe, it is not as rare. It is nesting in old trees and the chicks are known to vomit a terribly smelling orange liquid onto itself to deter a predator.
And there are other animals hiding in the tall grass and flying the skies.
Aggressive nature of tourism and greed almost moved in heavy machinery to build a resort or, even worse, cheap apartment buildings but that was stopped thanks to the effort of the locals from Murter and Betina aware of the beauty of their heritage.
Hopefully, we will manage to preserve this beautiful area for generations to come.