Karst nights: scops owl, nightjar and cicadas

Scops owl (Otus scops), nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), eagle owl; cicadas (Cicada orni, Lyristes plebejus) and bush-crickets by day. Kras plateau, Vipava valley, Slovenian Istria, Slovenia.

Best time: 20 May – 10 Jul (May to July). Where: Lipica – Sežana dry meadows, Škocjan Caves regional park (Matavun), Dragonja valley, Istria (Slovenia). Time of day: Scops owls and nightjars from about 30 min after sunset, strongest until midnight and again before dawn.

• You can go on your own
• Free
• No binoculars needed
• Sound 5/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 20 May – 10 Jul. Late May to early July

Active from 1 May to 15 Aug (May to August) in a typical year.

Time of day

Scops owls and nightjars from about 30 min after sunset, strongest until midnight and again before dawn; cicadas from late morning to late afternoon (11:00–17:00) in July heat.

• Night owls and nightjar: 30 min after sunset → 00:00
• Cicada day chorus: 11:00 → 17:00

What will you hear?

Scops owl's monotone 'tyuh' every 2–3 s from village edges, nightjar churring on the dry meadows, sub-Mediterranean bush-cricket wall of sound, cicadas at 90+ dB at midday in July, eagle owl from the Vipava cliffs in late winter.

Binoculars?

No binoculars needed. Night song from village edges and dry meadows; nothing to see, cicadas by day are all around.

Where to go

• Lipica – Sežana dry meadows — Nightjar and scops owl in the oak-hornbeam edges; the A1 motorway is 2–3 km away, pick the south side. Map
• Škocjan Caves regional park (Matavun) — Scops owl in the villages; eagle owl on the collapse dolines; the caves themselves are a bat site. Map
• Dragonja valley, Istria — Oak scrub and terraces; scops owl, nightjar, cicadas; Croatian border along the river. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Village edges and dry meadows are public: the Lipica–Sežana lanes, Matavun village by the Škocjan caves (park outside the paid cave complex), the Dragonja valley road. Free at night; the caves themselves are a ticketed attraction.

Cost: Free.

Field-recording notes

The bora (burja) is the enemy — check the Trieste forecast; still nights are usually after a warm day with a southerly. Scops owls sing from villages, so church bells, dogs and the odd scooter are unavoidable; the best clean recordings are from isolated farms. The Kras is limestone with no surface water — the acoustic is dry and open, good for wide stereo. All owls are protected; no playback (scops owls respond very readily, which is exactly why you shouldn't).

Sources

• Park Škocjanske jame
• xeno-canto – Scops owl

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More: all spectacles in Slovenia · owls · nightjars · cicadas · wildlife at night · Slovenia in May · Slovenia in June · Slovenia in July