Wildlife to see in Slovenia in April
4 spectacles at their peak in Slovenia in April, and 2 more still going on. Wild animals only: no zoos, no wildlife parks, no hunting. Open Slovenia in April in the interactive calendar for listening times on the day you pick.
At their peak in April
Amphibian chorus of the intermittent lakeWall-to-wall Pelophylax chorus with tree frog 'krak-krak' on top, toad trills, yellow-bellied toad's soft 'poop-poop' from karst puddles, Savi's warbler and bittern in the mix.
Lake Cerknica reedbed chorus: bittern, crakes, great reed warblerBittern booming across open water, spotted crake's 'whit' whiplash all night, little crake, great reed and Savi's warblers, cuckoo, a huge pool/edible frog chorus underneath, corncrake from the wet meadows on the fringes.
Black grouse leks above the treelineBubbling 'rookooing' and explosive hissing from several cocks at once on a snow-patched clearing, ring ouzel and water pipit around them; capercaillie 'cork-pop' song from the forest edge in the same weeks.
Waders and terns on the Sečovlje salt pansLittle tern colonies screaming over the pans, stilts and avocets yelping, redshank and Kentish plover, reed warblers in the Dragonja channel; salt-worker rakes and the sea beyond the dyke.
Also going on in April
Mura floodplain dawn: orioles, bee-eaters, heronriesOriole fluting, cuckoo, nightingale, bee-eater 'prrup' flocks over the river, night heron croaks at dusk, stork bill-clattering from village nests, tree frogs from the oxbows.
Brown bears from forest hides, KočevskoBears are mostly quiet: heavy footfalls in beech litter, sniffing, huffing and jaw-popping when nervous, cubs squalling, mating-season moans; the surrounding evening chorus (wood warbler, Ural owl at dusk, red deer) is the real soundscape.