{"v":1,"theatre":"EU","note":"Europe registry. Schema in EU-DOCTRINE.md section 8. Accession codes are append-only: never reorder, never reuse. Files run 14-28 days; tiers are EU TRIP (14), EU MEGA TRIP (21), EU GRAND QUEST (28).","verified":"2026-08","nextFileCode":"E21","nextCorridorCode":"C01","nextAccession":2334,"corridors":[],"files":[{"id":"ireland","code":"E01","name":"Ireland: The Gentle Crossing","page":"eu-ireland.html","days":14,"minDays":9,"tier":"EU TRIP","demand":2,"demandWord":"STEADY","miles":[900,1050],"countries":["IE"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Pembroke / Fishguard","to":"Rosslare","operator":"Irish Ferries / Stena Line","hours":4},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Dublin","to":"Holyhead","operator":"Irish Ferries / Stena Line","hours":3},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":false,"drive":"left","tolls":{"system":"barrier + free-flow","tag":false,"notes":"The M50 around Dublin is barrier-free and must be paid online by 8pm the following day. Every other toll takes cash or card at a booth."},"vignette":null,"lez":[],"lat":52.25,"lon":-6.35,"clim":"ie-west","regions":["ireland-south","ireland-west"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"hard":[],"near":["wales","mid","north"],"papers":["Nothing posted. Photo ID for the ferry, and that is all."],"seasonNote":"No Schengen clock, left-hand driving, and a four-hour boat from Wales."},"transit":3},{"id":"france","code":"E02","name":"France: Normandy, Brittany and the Loire","page":"eu-france.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":3,"demandWord":"COMMITTING","miles":[1300,1500],"countries":["FR"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Portsmouth","to":"Le Havre","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":6.5,"note":"Brittany Ferries announced in June 2026 that Portsmouth–Le Havre closes by October 2026. Caen or Cherbourg is the replacement for Normandy."},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Roscoff","to":"Plymouth","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":6},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier + télépéage","tag":true,"notes":"Autoroutes are tolled by barrier. A 2.98 m van under 3.5 t is Classe 2, not Classe 1 — check the overhead sign before choosing a lane. A télépéage badge is optional but removes the reaching-out problem entirely on a right-hand-drive road."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Rouen","Rennes","Paris (if approached)"],"lat":49.49,"lon":0.11,"clim":"fr-nw","regions":["normandy","brittany","loire"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker — posted, so allow weeks.","Télépéage badge if you want one — also posted."],"seasonNote":"Where the continental paperwork arrives. Order the sticker before you book the boat."},"transit":2},{"id":"low-countries","code":"E03","name":"The Low Countries and the Rhine","page":"eu-low-countries.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":3,"demandWord":"COMMITTING","miles":[1100,1300],"countries":["NL","BE","DE"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Hull","to":"Rotterdam","operator":"P&O Ferries","hours":12},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Zeebrugge","to":"Hull","operator":"P&O Ferries","hours":13},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"mostly free","tag":false,"notes":"No motorway toll for a motorhome in the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany. A handful of tunnels charge. The cost on this file is low-emission-zone registration, not the road."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Brussels","Antwerp","Ghent","Amsterdam","Rotterdam","Utrecht","Cologne","Bonn"],"lat":51.92,"lon":4.48,"clim":"nl-coast","regions":["netherlands","belgium","rhineland"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["north","mid","scot"],"papers":["German green Umweltplakette — posted, or from a testing station on arrival.","Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent LEZ registrations — online, and each one separately."],"seasonNote":"Free motorways and eight low-emission zones. The cost is registration, not road tax."},"transit":1},{"id":"nordics","code":"E04","name":"The Nordic Quest: Denmark, Norway and Sweden","page":"eu-nordics.html","days":28,"minDays":21,"tier":"EU GRAND QUEST","demand":5,"demandWord":"EXPEDITION","miles":[2500,2800],"countries":["DK","NO","SE"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Newcastle","to":"IJmuiden","operator":"DFDS","hours":17},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"IJmuiden","to":"Newcastle","operator":"DFDS","hours":16},"currency":["DKK","NOK","SEK","EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"free-flow, billed to the plate","tag":true,"notes":"Norway and Sweden read the plate and bill it afterwards. Register the vehicle with a toll account before you travel or an administration fee follows you home. The great bridges charge separately."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Copenhagen","Gothenburg","Stockholm","Bergen","Oslo"],"lat":58.0,"lon":9.0,"clim":"nordic","regions":["jutland","south-norway","fjords","dovrefjell","sweden"],"engine":{"best":[6,7,8],"hard":[11,12,1,2,3,4],"near":["north","scot"],"papers":["AutoPASS toll account registered against the plate before you drive.","German green sticker for the transit days.","Confirm insurance covers Norway specifically — many EU policies exclude it."],"seasonNote":"Trollstigen and Sognefjellet are shut by snow for roughly half the year."},"transit":2},{"id":"france-south","code":"E05","name":"Southern France: Provence, the Camargue and the Cévennes","page":"eu-france-south.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":4,"demandWord":"DEMANDING","miles":[2000,2300],"countries":["FR"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier télépéage","tag":true,"notes":"This is the file that uses the autoroute most — two long transit days each way. Classe 2 for a van over 2 m, and a télépéage badge earns its fee here more than anywhere."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Lyon","Marseille","Montpellier","Nice","Grenoble"],"lat":43.68,"lon":4.62,"clim":"fr-med","regions":["provence","camargue","cevennes","languedoc"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker — posted, and Lyon sits on the transit route.","Télépéage badge — this file uses the autoroute more than any other."],"seasonNote":"July and August are punishing heat and heavy crowds. May, June, September and October are the honest season."},"transit":3},{"id":"alps","code":"E06","name":"The Alps: Switzerland and Austria","page":"eu-alps.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":5,"demandWord":"EXPEDITION","miles":[2300,2600],"countries":["CH","AT"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["CHF","EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"two vignettes plus separate pass and tunnel tolls","tag":false,"notes":"Switzerland sells an annual motorway vignette valid the calendar year whenever you buy it. Austria sells a time-based one — and then charges again for the Brenner, Tauern, Arlberg and the Grossglockner. Neither is optional."},"vignette":["CH annual","AT 10-day / 2-month / annual"],"lez":["Basel","Bern","Zurich","Vienna","Graz"],"lat":46.55,"lon":9.85,"clim":"alpine","regions":["jura","bernese-oberland","valais","engadine","tyrol","hohe-tauern","salzkammergut"],"engine":{"best":[6,7,8,9],"hard":[11,12,1,2,3,4],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Swiss motorway vignette — buy at the border or online, and never early.","Austrian vignette — time-based, so match it to your dates.","Crit’Air sticker for the French transit days.","Confirm breakdown cover includes recovery from an alpine pass, not just a motorway."],"seasonNote":"The high passes open around late May or June and shut in October, and the dates move every year with the snow."},"transit":3},{"id":"italy-north","code":"E07","name":"Northern Italy: the Lakes, the Dolomites and Tuscany","page":"eu-italy-north.html","days":28,"minDays":21,"tier":"EU GRAND QUEST","demand":4,"demandWord":"DEMANDING","miles":[3000,3400],"countries":["IT"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["EUR","CHF"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier tolls, plus Alpine tunnel charges","tag":false,"notes":"Italian autostrade take a ticket in and charge on exit by class and height. The Mont Blanc and Fréjus tunnels charge separately and heavily, and both restrict LPG."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Milan","Turin","Bologna","Florence","Genoa","Verona"],"lat":45.6,"lon":10.6,"clim":"it-north","regions":["aosta","lakes","dolomites","veneto","po-delta","tuscany","liguria"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker for the French transit days — posted, so allow weeks.","Swiss vignette if you route through Switzerland rather than the Mont Blanc tunnel.","Check whether your gas installation is permitted in the Alpine tunnels before you rely on one."],"seasonNote":"July and August are heat, crowds and Ferragosto. May, June, September and October are the honest season, and the Dolomite passes are shut in winter."},"transit":3},{"id":"iberia-north","code":"E08","name":"Iberia North: the Picos, Galicia and the Douro","page":"eu-iberia-north.html","days":28,"minDays":21,"tier":"EU GRAND QUEST","demand":4,"demandWord":"DEMANDING","miles":[2000,2300],"countries":["ES","PT"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Portsmouth","to":"Santander","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":30},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Bilbao","to":"Portsmouth","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":32},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier tolls in Spain, free-flow in Portugal","tag":true,"notes":"Many Spanish motorways are now free. Portugal has barrier-free electronic sections that bill the plate afterwards — arrange a transponder or a prepaid arrangement before you cross the border."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Madrid","Barcelona","Bilbao","Pontevedra","Lisbon"],"lat":43.3,"lon":-5.6,"clim":"atlantic-iberia","regions":["cantabria","picos","asturias","galicia","minho","geres","douro","zamora","basque"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["south","wales","mid"],"papers":["Portuguese toll arrangement — the free-flow roads bill the plate and there is no booth.","Nothing else posted. No vignette, no emission sticker for this route.","Confirm the ferry booking early — the Biscay sailings are few and they sell out."],"seasonNote":"The Atlantic north is green because it rains. April to June and September to October are the honest season; July and August are hot inland and busy on the coast."},"transit":2},{"id":"germany-south","code":"E09","name":"Southern Germany: the Black Forest, Bavaria and the Danube","page":"eu-germany-south.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":3,"demandWord":"COMMITTING","miles":[2200,2500],"countries":["DE"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"free","tag":false,"notes":"No car or motorhome toll on the autobahn, and no vignette. The only charges are a handful of alpine toll roads and the Austrian ones if you clip the border. This is the cheapest long file in the archive to drive."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Freiburg","Stuttgart","Munich","Augsburg","Regensburg","Nuremberg"],"lat":48.2,"lon":11.1,"clim":"de-south","regions":["black-forest","kaiserstuhl","bodensee","allgaeu","berchtesgaden","danube","franconia","bavarian-forest"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,7,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["south","mid","north"],"papers":["German green Umweltplakette — posted before travel, or from a testing station on arrival. One sticker covers the whole country.","Crit’Air sticker for the French transit days.","Nothing else. No vignette, no toll account, no city registration."],"seasonNote":"The gentlest three-week continental file. Alpine roads and gorge walks open from roughly May; the Black Forest and the Danube work almost year-round."},"transit":3},{"id":"central","code":"E10","name":"Central Europe: Poland, Czechia and Slovakia","page":"eu-central.html","days":28,"minDays":21,"tier":"EU GRAND QUEST","demand":5,"demandWord":"EXPEDITION","miles":[3200,3600],"countries":["PL","CZ","SK"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["PLN","CZK","EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"three separate digital vignettes","tag":false,"notes":"Czechia and Slovakia both sell digital vignettes bought online against the plate — nothing to display. Poland charges cars on some concession motorways and is free elsewhere. Buy each one before you cross its border."},"vignette":["CZ digital","SK digital"],"lez":["Prague (limited)","Kraków","Warsaw"],"lat":50.1,"lon":19.9,"clim":"continental","regions":["bohemia","moravia","silesia","bialowieza","biebrza","tatras","bieszczady","slovak-karst"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,7,9],"hard":[],"near":["south","mid","north"],"papers":["Czech digital vignette — bought online against the plate before you cross.","Slovak digital vignette — the same, and separate.","German green sticker and Crit’Air for the transit days.","Check whether your breakdown cover extends this far east — several policies stop at Germany."],"seasonNote":"The longest file in the archive. May to September is the honest window; the Tatra and Slovak Paradise gorge routes are closed in winter and the eastern roads are hard going in snow."},"transit":3},{"id":"iberia-south","code":"E11","name":"Iberia South: Extremadura, Andalucía and the Algarve","page":"eu-iberia-south.html","days":28,"minDays":21,"tier":"EU GRAND QUEST","demand":4,"demandWord":"DEMANDING","miles":[3000,3400],"countries":["ES","PT"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Portsmouth","to":"Santander","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":30},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Santander","to":"Portsmouth","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":30},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier tolls in Spain, free-flow in Portugal","tag":true,"notes":"Much of the Spanish motorway network is now free. Portugal has barrier-free electronic sections that bill the plate afterwards — arrange it before you cross."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Madrid","Seville","Granada","Lisbon"],"lat":37.4,"lon":-5.9,"clim":"mediterranean-iberia","regions":["extremadura","donana","algarve","alentejo","strait","grazalema","sierra-nevada","cabo-de-gata"],"engine":{"best":[2,3,4,5,10,11],"hard":[7,8],"near":["south","wales","mid"],"papers":["Portuguese toll arrangement — the free-flow roads bill the plate and there is no booth.","Confirm the Biscay ferry early; the sailings are few and they sell out.","Nothing else posted. No vignette and no emission sticker for this route."],"seasonNote":"The one European file best driven in winter. February to May is peak — wildflowers, migration and no heat. July and August routinely exceed forty degrees inland and the file should not be attempted then."},"transit":3},{"id":"france-atlantic","code":"E12","name":"France: the Atlantic Coast","page":"eu-france-atlantic.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":3,"demandWord":"COMMITTING","miles":[1400,1600],"countries":["FR"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Portsmouth","to":"St Malo","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":11},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Bilbao","to":"Portsmouth","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":32},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier télépéage","tag":true,"notes":"The A10 and A63 run the length of this coast and are tolled at Classe 2 for a van over 2 m. The parallel D-roads are free, slower and far better."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Bordeaux","Bayonne"],"lat":45.6,"lon":-1.1,"clim":"fr-atlantic","regions":["vendee","marais-poitevin","charente","gironde","arcachon","landes","basque"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["south","mid","wales"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker — posted, and Bordeaux sits on the route.","Télépéage badge if you intend to use the A10 or A63.","Book the Bilbao return early — the Biscay sailings are few and they sell out."],"seasonNote":"May, June, September and October are the honest season. July and August fill the islands and the campsites solid, and the Landes closes on high fire-risk days."},"transit":1},{"id":"france-east","code":"E13","name":"France: the East — Champagne, Alsace, the Vosges and the Jura","page":"eu-france-east.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":3,"demandWord":"COMMITTING","miles":[1600,1800],"countries":["FR"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier télépéage","tag":true,"notes":"Two autoroute days at Classe 2 for a van over 2 m, and free D-roads for the rest. This is the cheapest French file to drive."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Strasbourg","Reims","Dijon"],"lat":47.9,"lon":6.4,"clim":"fr-east","regions":["champagne","lac-du-der","alsace","vosges","doubs","jura","burgundy","morvan"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker — posted, and Strasbourg and Reims both run zones.","Télépéage badge for the two autoroute days.","Nothing else. No vignette, no toll account, no registration."],"seasonNote":"Two seasons, both good. May to October for the mountains, the bogs and the vendange; October to February for the cranes at the Lac du Der, which is the single greatest wildlife spectacle in France."},"transit":2},{"id":"pyrenees","code":"E14","name":"The Pyrenees: both slopes, sea to sea","page":"eu-pyrenees.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":5,"demandWord":"EXPEDITION","miles":[2200,2500],"countries":["FR","ES"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Santander","to":"Portsmouth","operator":"Brittany Ferries","hours":30},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"French barrier tolls, Spanish mostly free","tag":true,"notes":"Two French autoroute days at Classe 2 on the run south. In the mountains almost nothing is tolled — the Bielsa and Somport tunnels are free, and much of the Spanish network now is too."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Toulouse","Barcelona","Bilbao"],"lat":42.7,"lon":0.1,"clim":"pyrenean","regions":["roussillon","ariege","bigorre","bearn","basque-fr","aragon","catalonia","navarra"],"engine":{"best":[6,7,8,9],"hard":[12,1,2,3],"near":["south","mid","wales"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker — posted, and Toulouse sits near the route.","Télépéage badge for the two French autoroute days.","Book the Santander return early — the Biscay sailings are few and they sell out.","Confirm mountain rescue is covered; several travel policies exclude it above a stated altitude."],"seasonNote":"A short window. The high cols and the Spanish park roads open properly from June and most close again by late October. July and August are hot in the valleys and busy at Gavarnie and Ordesa; September is the best month on the whole range."},"transit":2},{"id":"germany-north","code":"E15","name":"Germany: the Wadden, the Baltic and the East","page":"eu-germany-north.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":3,"demandWord":"COMMITTING","miles":[2000,2300],"countries":["DE"],"corridor":["NL"],"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Hull","to":"Rotterdam","operator":"P&O Ferries","hours":11},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Hook of Holland","to":"Harwich","operator":"Stena Line","hours":7},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"free","tag":false,"notes":"No car or motorhome toll anywhere in Germany, and no vignette. The only charges on this file are the Sylt car train and the island ferries."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Hamburg","Berlin","Bremen","Hannover","Magdeburg"],"lat":54.1,"lon":11.5,"clim":"de-north","regions":["ostfriesland","wadden","luneburg","hamburg","nordfriesland","luebeck","darss","ruegen","mueritz","berlin","spreewald","harz"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,8,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["north","mid","south"],"papers":["German green Umweltplakette — posted, or from a testing station. Hamburg, Berlin and Bremen all run zones.","Sylt car train (Sylt Shuttle) — booked ahead in season, and it is a train, not a bridge.","Nothing else. No vignette and no road toll at all."],"seasonNote":"Two windows. May and June for breeding birds, the Wadden and long light; September and October for the cranes on the Darß, the heath in flower just before, and the beech turning. Winter is bleak, cheap and has the geese."},"transit":3},{"id":"adriatic","code":"E16","name":"The Adriatic: Slovenia and Croatia","page":"eu-adriatic.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":4,"demandWord":"DEMANDING","miles":[3000,3400],"countries":["SI","HR"],"corridor":["DE","AT"],"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"Slovenian vignette, Croatian barrier tolls","tag":true,"notes":"Slovenia sells a digital e-vignette against the plate, and it is separate for vehicles over 3.5 t. Croatia charges at barriers on the A1 and there is no vignette. Austria and Germany sit on the transit."},"vignette":["SI e-vignette","AT vignette"],"lez":["Ljubljana (limited)","Zagreb (limited)"],"lat":45.6,"lon":15.0,"clim":"dinaric","regions":["julian-alps","soca","karst","slovenian-coast","istria","kvarner","velebit","plitvice","dalmatia-north"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,9,10],"hard":[7,8],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Slovenian e-vignette, bought online against the plate before the border.","Austrian vignette for the transit — also digital now, also against the plate.","German green Umweltplakette and Crit’Air for the run out.","Croatia is in Schengen and the euro since 2023 — no border check and no currency change."],"seasonNote":"May, June, September and October. July and August are hot, the coast is solid, and Plitvice queues from dawn. The bora season runs October to March and closes roads to motorhomes."},"transit":3},{"id":"italy-south","code":"E17","name":"Southern Italy: Abruzzo, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily","page":"eu-italy-south.html","days":28,"minDays":21,"tier":"EU GRAND QUEST","demand":5,"demandWord":"EXPEDITION","miles":[4200,4800],"countries":["IT"],"corridor":["FR","CH"],"entry":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Folkestone","to":"Calais","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"exit":{"mode":"tunnel","frm":"Calais","to":"Folkestone","operator":"LeShuttle","hours":1},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"barrier autostrade, free in the far south","tag":true,"notes":"The A1 and the coastal autostrade are tolled by class and a van over 1.3 m at the axle counts higher. The A2 through Calabria is free, and so is most of Sicily bar the Messina–Catania and Palermo roads."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Rome","Naples","Palermo","Catania","Bari","Milan"],"lat":40.2,"lon":16.2,"clim":"mediterranean-south","regions":["lazio","abruzzo","gargano","murgia","basilicata","salento","pollino","sila","aspromonte","sicily-east","sicily-south","sicily-west","campania"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,9,10],"hard":[7,8],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker for the French transit days.","Swiss vignette if you route through the Gotthard rather than over the Riviera.","Nothing for Italy itself — no vignette, no sticker. The ZTL cameras need no permit, only avoidance.","Ferry to Sicily is turn-up-and-go at Villa San Giovanni and runs all day and most of the night."],"seasonNote":"April to June and September to October. July and August are genuinely dangerous in the far south — forty degrees is normal and Europe’s highest recorded temperature was measured in Sicily. February in Sicily is almond blossom and empty roads."},"transit":3},{"id":"frisia","code":"E18","name":"The Netherlands: Frisia, the Wadden and the New Land","page":"eu-frisia.html","days":14,"minDays":10,"tier":"EU TRIP","demand":2,"demandWord":"STEADY","miles":[900,1100],"countries":["NL"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Harwich","to":"Hook of Holland","operator":"Stena Line","hours":7},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Hook of Holland","to":"Harwich","operator":"Stena Line","hours":7},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"free","tag":false,"notes":"No motorway toll and no vignette. The only road charges in the country are the Westerschelde and Kil tunnels, neither of which is on this route."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Amsterdam","Rotterdam","Utrecht","Arnhem"],"lat":53.2,"lon":5.8,"clim":"nl-north","regions":["texel","wadden-islands","friesland","lauwersmeer","groningen","weerribben","flevoland","ijsselmeer"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,9,10],"hard":[],"near":["north","mid","south"],"papers":["Nothing. No vignette, no toll account, no emission sticker for this route.","Island ferries booked ahead in summer if you take the van — and mostly you should not.","Wadlopen crossing booked with a licensed guide."],"seasonNote":"April to June for the breeding birds and the meadows; September and October for passage and the cranberries. Winter is bleak, cheap and full of geese — and the only time the Elfstedentocht could ever happen."},"transit":2},{"id":"islands","code":"E19","name":"Corsica and Sardinia: the island file","page":"eu-islands.html","days":21,"minDays":14,"tier":"EU MEGA TRIP","demand":4,"demandWord":"DEMANDING","miles":[2400,2700],"countries":["FR","IT"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Toulon","to":"Bastia","operator":"Corsica Ferries","hours":8},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Olbia","to":"Livorno","operator":"Moby / GNV","hours":9},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":true,"drive":"right","tolls":{"system":"French barrier tolls on the transit; nothing on the islands","tag":true,"notes":"Two French autoroute days at Classe 2 to reach Toulon, and two more coming home from Livorno. Neither island has a single toll road."},"vignette":null,"lez":["Cagliari (limited)"],"lat":41.6,"lon":9.1,"clim":"tyrrhenian","regions":["cap-corse","balagne","porto","corte","ajaccio","bavella","bonifacio","gallura","alghero","campidano","barbagia","ogliastra"],"engine":{"best":[4,5,6,9,10],"hard":[7,8],"near":["south","mid"],"papers":["Crit’Air sticker for the French transit days.","Three ferries booked ahead — mainland to Corsica, Bonifacio to Sardinia, and Sardinia home.","Measure the van honestly. Island ferries and several Corsican roads charge and restrict by length and height.","Nothing else. Neither island has a vignette, a toll or an emission zone on this route."],"seasonNote":"April to June and September to October. July and August are hot, the ferries and campsites are full, and fire restrictions close much of the interior. February and March in Sardinia are almond blossom and empty roads."},"transit":4},{"id":"ireland-north","code":"E20","name":"Ireland: the North-West, the Bogs and the Boyne","page":"eu-ireland-north.html","days":14,"minDays":10,"tier":"EU TRIP","demand":3,"demandWord":"COMMITTING","miles":[1200,1400],"countries":["IE"],"corridor":null,"entry":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Holyhead","to":"Dublin","operator":"Irish Ferries / Stena Line","hours":3},"exit":{"mode":"ferry","frm":"Dublin","to":"Holyhead","operator":"Irish Ferries / Stena Line","hours":3},"currency":["EUR"],"schengen":false,"drive":"left","tolls":{"system":"barrier and free-flow","tag":false,"notes":"The M50 around Dublin is barrier-free and bills the plate — pay online within a day or the penalty escalates. Other motorway tolls are ordinary barriers and this route mostly avoids them."},"vignette":null,"lez":[],"lat":54.4,"lon":-8.2,"clim":"atlantic-ireland","regions":["boyne","midlands","connemara","mayo","sligo","donegal","inishowen"],"engine":{"best":[5,6,7,9],"hard":[],"near":["north","wales","mid"],"papers":["Nothing to buy. Ireland is not in Schengen and not in the CEMT vignette world at all.","eFlow account or same-day payment for the M50 barrier-free toll.","Green card is not required, but carry the insurance certificate.","Bring the V5C. Ireland is outside the EU customs union with Britain in practice, and checks happen."],"seasonNote":"May to July for corncrake, machair and long light; September and October for the deer rut and the colour. Winter brings the geese and the aurora, and takes the ferries away in a storm."},"transit":1}],"species":[{"a":"E001","n":"Killarney red deer","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s only herd with an unbroken native line — the rut roars across Killarney’s oakwoods through October.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E002","n":"Skellig gannets","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Little Skellig carries one of the world’s largest gannet colonies. Boats circle it; nobody lands.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E003","n":"Shannon dolphins","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"A resident bottlenose group in the estuary — often visible from the Tarbert ferry crossing itself.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E004","n":"Burren spring gentian","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["IE"],"d":"An impossible electric blue on bare limestone — an Alpine flower growing at sea level, and the Burren’s emblem.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E005","n":"Kerry natterjack toads","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s only toad, and it lives in Kerry and nowhere else on the island. Dune pools after dark in spring.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E006","n":"Choughs on the western cliffs","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Red bill, red legs, a tumbling flight and a call like its own name. The Atlantic coast is a European stronghold.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E007","n":"Puffins on the Skelligs","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ashore only for the breeding weeks. Landings on Skellig Michael are strictly limited and weather-dependent.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E008","n":"Basking sharks","r":"LUCKY","g":"shark","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Plankton-feeding giants off the southern and western headlands — a dorsal fin and a tail, moving slowly.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E009","n":"Humpback + fin whales off West Cork","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s great autumn spectacle — whales following sprat inshore off the Cork headlands. Autumn and winter, not summer.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E010","n":"Irish hare","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A subspecies of its own, older on this island than the brown hare is on Britain. Field edges and bog margins at dawn.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E011","n":"Kerry dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"The Iveragh peninsula holds a gold-tier International Dark Sky Reserve — one of very few in the northern hemisphere.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E012","n":"Killarney oakwoods + strawberry tree","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Atlantic oakwood hung with moss, and the arbutus — a Mediterranean tree growing wild here and almost nowhere else north.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E013","n":"Burren orchids","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"Early purple, fly and dense-flowered orchids in the grikes, sharing ground with Arctic and Mediterranean plants at once.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E014","n":"Common lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s only reptile. Sunny mornings on boardwalk edges, dune fences and warm limestone.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E015","n":"Grey seals","r":"COMMON","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Hauled out on rocks and sandbars all round the coast, and curious about anyone in a kayak.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E016","n":"Atlantic salmon leaping","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[9,10,11],"c":["IE"],"d":"Autumn spates put fish over the weirs on the Blackwater and the Kerry rivers — wait at a falls and watch.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E017","n":"Pine marten","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Recovering across the west after a long absence, and quietly bringing the red squirrel back with it. Dusk, woodland edge, mostly luck.","f":"eu-ireland.html"},{"a":"E018","n":"Mont-Saint-Michel grande marée","r":"LIKELY","g":"crab","m":[3,4,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"The bay has the largest tidal range in Europe — around fourteen metres on the big equinoctial tides, and the sea returns across the sand fast enough to be worth respecting.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E019","n":"Sept-Îles gannets","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Île Rouzic carries France’s largest gannet colony. The boat from Perros-Guirec circles it; nobody lands in the breeding season.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E020","n":"Sept-Îles puffins","r":"RARE","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"France’s only puffin colony, and a small and declining one. A handful of birds on a reserve island, seen from a boat at distance or not at all.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E021","n":"Étretat cliff seabirds","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Fulmars and kittiwakes on the famous chalk arches — the same white cliff seam that surfaces in Sussex, working the updraughts.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E022","n":"Iroise grey seals","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Brittany’s grey seal population lives in the Iroise marine park — the Molène archipelago and the rocks off the Finistère tip. Seen from the island boats, hauled out on the skerries.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E023","n":"Iroise dolphins","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Bottlenose and common dolphins in the marine park off the Finistère tip — the crossing to Ouéssant or Sein is the best chance.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E024","n":"Brière marsh harriers","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Low, slow and V-winged over the reed of the Grande Brière — a marsh the size of a small county behind the Guérande salt pans.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E025","n":"Loire beavers","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Back on the river after near-extinction, and now widespread. Gnawed willow stumps give them away long before the animal does; dusk on a quiet bank is the only real chance.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E026","n":"Brière white storks","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Nesting on platforms and chimneys across the marsh — a bird Britain lost centuries ago, standing in a field an hour from the ferry.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E027","n":"European green lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Twice the size of anything at home and an implausible electric green. Sunny banks and dry stone in the Loire and the Breton south.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E028","n":"Fire salamander","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"Black and yellow, and out on damp woodland paths after rain rather than in sunshine. Huelgoat and the Norman beechwoods.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E029","n":"Loire sandbank terns","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Common and little terns nesting on the bare shingle islands of an unembanked river — the last big wild river in western Europe, and it shows.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E030","n":"Loire otters","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Recovering along the river after a long absence, and still genuinely hard to see. A spraint on a rock or a print in the silt is the usual sighting; the animal itself is dawn, dusk and luck.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E031","n":"Pêche à pied at low spring","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A Breton institution: the whole coast walks out at the big low tides. Size limits and closed seasons are real and enforced — read the panel at the slipway.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E032","n":"Monts d’Arrée heather","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Brittany’s inland moor turns purple in late summer — bare, unexpected and much more Pennine than anyone expects of Finistère.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E033","n":"Basking sharks off Brittany","r":"LUCKY","g":"shark","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"The same Atlantic giants that pass Cornwall, working the plankton lines off the western headlands in early summer.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E034","n":"Loire kingfishers","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A blue bolt along every backwater and side channel. The Loire holds more of them than any river you have walked at home.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"a":"E035","n":"The vendange","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"The grape harvest along the Loire — Saumur and Chinon in September, and the one seasonal spectacle on this file you can also drink.","f":"eu-france.html"},{"n":"Fulmars on the sea cliffs","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Stiff-winged and unbending, riding the updraught along every Atlantic cliff on the file.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E036"},{"n":"Guillemot and razorbill cities","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"Shoulder-to-shoulder ledges on the Skelligs, Rathlin and the Cliffs of Moher — noise and smell before sight.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E037"},{"n":"Kittiwakes calling their own name","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"The only gull that says what it is. Nesting on the sheerest ledges, gone to open ocean by winter.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E038"},{"n":"Manx shearwaters at dusk","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Rafting offshore before dark, then coming ashore only at night. A sound before it is ever a sighting.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E039"},{"n":"Storm petrels of the Skelligs","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Britain and Ireland hold most of the world’s population; the Skelligs are a stronghold. Smaller than a swallow, and lives on the open Atlantic.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E040"},{"n":"Arctic terns","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"The longest migration on earth, nesting on shingle within a few yards of the road.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E041"},{"n":"Roseate terns on Rockabill","r":"RARE","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Europe’s largest colony sits on one small island off Dublin — a genuine conservation success, and strictly no landing.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E042"},{"n":"Greenland white-fronted geese","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"Half the world population winters on the Wexford Slobs, twenty minutes from the Rosslare ramp.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E043"},{"n":"Light-bellied brent geese","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"Arriving from the Canadian Arctic to graze Irish estuaries all winter.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E044"},{"n":"Whooper swans","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"Icelandic birds on the callows and turloughs — louder and wilder than the resident mutes.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E045"},{"n":"Little egrets","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Unknown in Ireland a generation ago and now on every estuary. A quiet, complete colonisation.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E046"},{"n":"Oystercatchers","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Piping along every shore, and the easiest wader in Ireland to name from a moving van.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E047"},{"n":"Black-tailed godwits","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"Icelandic birds wintering on the mudflats; brick-red by the time they leave in spring.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E048"},{"n":"Curlew calling inland","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5],"c":["IE"],"d":"Once the sound of every Irish bog, now down to a few hundred breeding pairs. Hearing one inland is a genuinely rare thing.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E049"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles at Killarney","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Reintroduced from 2007 and breeding again over the lakes — barn doors on a thermal above Muckross.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E050"},{"n":"Peregrines on the sea cliffs","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Working the updraught at every headland on the file. The stoop is the giveaway.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E051"},{"n":"Hen harrier over the forestry","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s upland harrier, squeezed between afforestation and open bog. The male is a grey ghost.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E052"},{"n":"Barn owls at dusk","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Declining hard, but still hunting the field margins of the south-east at last light.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E053"},{"n":"Long-eared owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s commonest owl and its least seen — a shape in a conifer, and a chick begging like a rusty gate.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E054"},{"n":"Cuckoo in May","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"Still widespread in the Irish west, and still the sound the whole island listens for.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E055"},{"n":"Stonechats on the gorse","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A pebble-tapping call from the top of every gorse bush on every coastal path.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E056"},{"n":"Dippers on the mountain rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Bobbing midstream on the Kerry and Wicklow rivers, walking underwater against the current.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E057"},{"n":"Skylarks over the machair","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"Invisible and endless above the dune grassland.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E058"},{"n":"Red grouse on the bog","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A declining bird of the raised and blanket bogs — heard barking before it bursts out underfoot.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E059"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"LIKELY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Holding on in the conifer forests, and quietly recovering wherever the pine marten came back first.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E060"},{"n":"Otters on the loughs","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland has one of the healthiest otter populations in Europe. Dawn, dusk, and a falling tide.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E061"},{"n":"Badgers on the lane","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"Dusk on a quiet boreen, or a well-worn path under a hedge that nothing else would make.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E062"},{"n":"Red fox","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Verges at dusk, bolder in winter, and entirely at home in Dublin as well as Kerry.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E063"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"LUCKY","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"Campsite edges after dark, from April until they turn in for the winter.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E064"},{"n":"Sika deer in Wicklow","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Introduced to Powerscourt in 1859 and now throughout the Wicklow hills — whistling rut in October.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E065"},{"n":"Fallow deer in the Phoenix Park","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A herd kept in the capital’s park since the seventeenth century, and completely unbothered by anyone.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E066"},{"n":"Lesser horseshoe bats","r":"RARE","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland holds an internationally important population in the west — old stone buildings and cave mouths at dusk.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E067"},{"n":"Humpback and fin whales","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["IE"],"d":"West Cork’s great autumn spectacle: whales following sprat inshore. Autumn and winter, not summer.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E068"},{"n":"Common dolphins offshore","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"Big fast pods on any calm-day boat trip out of the south-west harbours.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E069"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Small dark fins in flat water close inshore — easy to miss and everywhere once you have your eye in.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E070"},{"n":"Harbour seals","r":"COMMON","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Smaller, rounder and more nervous than the greys, hauled out on estuary sandbars.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E071"},{"n":"Sea trout on the Kerry rivers","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Night-running fish on summer spates — permits are local, cheap and worth asking about in the shop.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E072"},{"n":"Mackerel from the pier","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Summer shoals within reach of a hand line from any harbour wall. Supper in twenty minutes.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E073"},{"n":"Pike in the midland lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland is a European destination for them. Winter water, strong tackle, barbless hooks, big net.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E074"},{"n":"Marsh fritillary","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"A declining butterfly of damp unimproved grassland, and Ireland holds good populations of it.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E075"},{"n":"Painted lady arrival","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Some years a handful, some years a mass arrival from North Africa across two thousand miles.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E076"},{"n":"Common blue on the dunes","r":"COMMON","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Dune slacks and machair all summer — the male is startling in low sun.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E077"},{"n":"Four-spotted chaser","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Patrolling bog pools and turloughs, and it will land on the same perch repeatedly.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E078"},{"n":"Six-spot burnet moth","r":"COMMON","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"A day-flying moth, red on black, clustered on dune knapweed in high summer.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E079"},{"n":"Connemara ponies","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s own breed, out on the western commonage where it was bred to work.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E080"},{"n":"Feral goats of the Burren","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Long-horned and long-established, keeping the limestone scrub down.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E081"},{"n":"Bloody cranesbill on limestone","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Magenta against grey pavement — the Burren’s other signature flower, and far commoner than the gentian.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E082"},{"n":"Mountain avens at sea level","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"An Arctic-alpine growing on bare Burren rock a few metres above the tide, which should not be possible.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E083"},{"n":"Fuchsia hedges","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"Introduced, escaped and now the defining hedgerow of the south-west. Red and purple down every boreen.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E084"},{"n":"Gorse in full bloom","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[2,3,4,5],"c":["IE"],"d":"Coconut-scented and blazing from February. The saying is that when gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E085"},{"n":"Bluebells at Portglenone","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["IE"],"d":"Irish woodland floors in full carpet through late April.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E086"},{"n":"Autumn in the Killarney oakwoods","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["IE"],"d":"Atlantic oakwood hung with moss and lichen, turning slowly and late.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E087"},{"n":"Autumn fungi","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["IE"],"d":"A famous flush in the western oakwoods — look, photograph, and leave it standing.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E088"},{"n":"Crinoids in Burren limestone","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"The pavement is a Carboniferous sea floor: sea-lily stems and corals underfoot on every clint.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E089"},{"n":"Rockpool life at low spring","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Anemones, blennies and shore crabs on every rocky shore — the best hour of any beach day.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E090"},{"n":"Starling murmurations","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["IE"],"d":"Winter roosts over reedbeds and town centres — Ireland gets them as well as Somerset.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E091"},{"n":"Perseids over Kerry","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[8],"c":["IE"],"d":"August’s reliable shower, seen from a gold-tier dark sky reserve.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E092"},{"n":"Guillemots and razorbills","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Auk ledges on the Sept-Îles reserve and the Breton stacks — France’s northern seabird cities.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E093"},{"n":"Manx shearwaters off Brittany","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Rafting off the Finistère headlands at dusk before the night landings on the islands.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E094"},{"n":"Sandwich terns","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Harsh-voiced and shaggy-crested, fishing the shallow bays and estuaries all along the coast.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E095"},{"n":"European shags","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every Breton rock, wings out to dry, greener and more punkish than a cormorant.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E096"},{"n":"Spoonbills on the Loire estuary","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Breeding in the estuary reedbeds and feeding with that unmistakable side-to-side sweep.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E097"},{"n":"Purple herons in the Brière","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Slimmer, darker and far shyer than a grey heron, slipping into the reed rather than flying off.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E098"},{"n":"Bitterns booming","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Brière’s reedbed foghorn, carrying a mile across the marsh before dawn.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E099"},{"n":"Grey herons","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Statue-still on every ditch, dyke and river margin in the country.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E100"},{"n":"Black-winged stilts","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Absurd pink legs on the salt pans at Guérande — a bird Britain almost never gets.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E101"},{"n":"Avocets on the salt pans","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Sweeping the brine with that upturned bill, on the worked pans behind the coast.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E102"},{"n":"Curlews on the estuary","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"Wintering flocks on the Mont-Saint-Michel bay and the Loire mudflats.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E103"},{"n":"Ospreys on passage","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[4,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Following the Loire north in spring and south in autumn — a fishing bird over a big wild river.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E104"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every second roadside pole between Normandy and Finistère.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E105"},{"n":"Red kites","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Forked tails over the farmland of the Loire and the Norman interior.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E106"},{"n":"Montagu’s harrier","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A summer harrier of open cereal country — lighter and more buoyant than the marsh harrier of the Brière.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E107"},{"n":"Little owls on the walls","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Far commoner in France than at home, sitting out in daylight on barn roofs and orchard posts.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E108"},{"n":"Tawny owls in the beechwoods","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Heard far more than seen, from the Norman woods to the Huelgoat boulders.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E109"},{"n":"Barn owls over the marsh","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Ghost-pale along the Brière dykes and the Loire meadows at last light.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E110"},{"n":"Nightingales in every thicket","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"What is a rarity in Kent is background noise in France. Full song, day and night, through May.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E111"},{"n":"Golden orioles","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"A fluting whistle from the poplar canopy along the Loire, and a bird you will hear ten times for every one you see.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E112"},{"n":"Hoopoes","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Improbable crest, butterfly flight and an oop-oop-oop call — open country and orchards in the Loire.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E113"},{"n":"Cirl buntings","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Widespread in French farmland while Britain holds a few hundred pairs in Devon.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E114"},{"n":"Black redstarts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the roof of every village church and quarry wall, flicking that rusty tail.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E115"},{"n":"Cetti’s warbler","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"An explosive shout from deep cover on every damp margin. Almost never shows itself.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E116"},{"n":"Roe deer at the field edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"First and last light along every wood margin from Normandy to the Loire.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E117"},{"n":"Red deer in the Loire forests","r":"LUCKY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The great state forests hold them; the October rut is audible a long way through the oaks.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E118"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LUCKY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Abundant and almost entirely nocturnal. Rootings across a forest ride are the usual evidence.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E119"},{"n":"Coypu on the waterways","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"South American, escaped from fur farms, and now on every French canal and backwater. Orange teeth, and no attempt at concealment.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E120"},{"n":"European hare","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Bigger than a rabbit and built like a greyhound, out in the open cereal country at dawn.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E121"},{"n":"Pine martens in the forests","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Present through the Norman and Breton woods and very rarely seen. Dusk, woodland edge, and luck.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E122"},{"n":"Greater horseshoe bats","r":"RARE","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Loire’s troglodyte caves and old quarries hold internationally important roosts — watched from outside, never entered.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E123"},{"n":"Common dolphins off the coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Fast, marked and in big pods on any calm crossing to the Breton islands.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E124"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Small dark fins in the tide races off the Finistère headlands.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E125"},{"n":"Bay seals at Mont-Saint-Michel","r":"LUCKY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A small resident group uses the sandbanks of the bay — watched from the shore, never approached across that sand.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E126"},{"n":"Wall lizards","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every sunlit wall, ruin and rock pile in the country. The first reptile most people meet in France.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E127"},{"n":"Western whip snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Big, fast, harmless and entirely unwilling to be looked at. A rustle and a green-black flash on a bank.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E128"},{"n":"Grass snakes in the marsh","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Swimming the Brière dykes and the Loire backwaters with the head held clear.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E129"},{"n":"European pond terrapin","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Basking on a log in the Brière, and genuinely native rather than an abandoned pet.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E130"},{"n":"Midwife toad calling","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"A single pure bell note repeated after dark. The male carries the eggs wrapped round his back legs.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E131"},{"n":"Marbled newt","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"Green and black marbling, in ponds and ditches across western France, and larger than anything at home.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E132"},{"n":"Allis shad running the Loire","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"A sea fish that climbs the river in thousands to spawn — audible at night at the weirs.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E133"},{"n":"Sea bass off the headlands","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Tide races and rock marks along the whole Breton coast — the prize fish, and size limits apply.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E134"},{"n":"Pike and zander in the Loire","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A big slow river full of predators. Winter is the season; a French permit is required and easy to buy.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E135"},{"n":"Grey mullet in the harbours","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Cruising the marina surface everywhere, and far harder to catch than they look.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E136"},{"n":"Swallowtail butterflies","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Britain’s rarest big butterfly is an ordinary French garden insect. Sailing over verges all summer.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E137"},{"n":"Scarce swallowtail","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Pale, striped and even larger, drifting round orchards and hedgerows in the Loire.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E138"},{"n":"Marbled whites on the verges","r":"COMMON","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Chequered black and white in their thousands along uncut roadside grassland.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E139"},{"n":"Map butterfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Two broods that look like different species entirely — orange in spring, black and white in summer.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E140"},{"n":"Beautiful demoiselle","r":"COMMON","g":"dragonfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Metallic blue-green with dark wings, fluttering like a butterfly over every clean Breton stream.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E141"},{"n":"Emperor dragonfly","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Patrolling the Brière dykes and every Loire backwater like a drone on station.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E142"},{"n":"Stag beetles","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Heavy, antlered and clattering out of the Loire oakwoods on warm June evenings.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E143"},{"n":"Glow-worms on the banks","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Green lamps in the grass of a warm still night. No torch — it defeats the entire point.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E144"},{"n":"Praying mantis","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Further north than most people expect, in dry grassland along the Loire by late summer.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E145"},{"n":"Pré-salé lambs on the salt marsh","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Grazing the tidal marsh of the Mont-Saint-Michel bay, and the reason the local lamb is protected by name.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E146"},{"n":"Normandy dairy cattle","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Brown-and-white, spectacle-eyed and standing in exactly the fields that make the cheese and the cream.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E147"},{"n":"Breton draught horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Heavy, ancient and still worked in places — including hauling the oyster carts at low tide.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E148"},{"n":"Sea holly on the dunes","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Steel-blue and architectural on the Atlantic dune fronts, and protected — photograph it, leave it.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E149"},{"n":"Broom in full flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"Brittany turns yellow in May. Gorse first, then broom, along every embankment and heath.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E150"},{"n":"Wild orchids on the tuffeau","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"Lady, pyramidal and bee orchids on the thin chalk slopes above the Loire.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E151"},{"n":"Water lilies in the Brière","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Whole canals of them, seen from a flat-bottomed punt at water level.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E152"},{"n":"Sea aster on the salt marsh","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Pale purple across the tidal marsh in late summer, with samphire underfoot.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E153"},{"n":"Loire vineyards turning","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"The slopes above Saumur and Chinon in yellow and rust after the harvest is in.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E154"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the beechwoods","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Norman woods in a serious flush — and France takes its pharmacie mushroom identification seriously.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E155"},{"n":"Ammonites at Villers-sur-Mer","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Vaches Noires cliffs east of Caen are a famous Jurassic fossil coast — collect from the foreshore, never the cliff.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E156"},{"n":"Oyster beds at Cancale","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Rows of trestles uncovering at low water, worked by tractor, with a shucking stall at the top of the beach.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E157"},{"n":"Starling murmurations","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["FR"],"d":"Winter roosts over the Loire poplars and the marsh reedbeds.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E158"},{"n":"Norman apple harvest","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Orchards shaken for cider and calvados, and roadside stalls selling both.","f":"eu-france.html","a":"E159"},{"n":"Oostvaardersplassen konik herds","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Semi-wild horses on a polder reclaimed from the sea and then handed back to nature — Europe’s most argued-over rewilding, and unlike anywhere else.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E160"},{"n":"Wadden Sea seals","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Harbour and grey seals hauled out on sandbanks in the largest unbroken intertidal system on earth — a World Heritage site you can watch from a dyke.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E161"},{"n":"Rhine Gorge peregrines","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Nesting on the castle crags and the slate cliffs above the river, hunting the gorge like a corridor.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E162"},{"n":"Hautes Fagnes cotton grass","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"White flags across Belgium’s high peat bog — a boardwalked Arctic remnant sitting at six hundred metres.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E163"},{"n":"Hallerbos bluebells","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["BE"],"d":"Ten days a year, a beech wood south of Brussels turns entirely blue. Go on a weekday or not at all.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E164"},{"n":"Biesbosch beavers","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Reintroduced in 1988 and thriving in a freshwater tidal delta — the best beaver watching in the Low Countries, from a canoe at dusk.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E165"},{"n":"Spoonbills on the delta","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"The Netherlands holds a large share of the European population — that side-to-side sweep through shallow brackish water.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E166"},{"n":"Black-tailed godwits over the polder","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"The national bird in all but name, and its meadows are the reason Dutch grassland management is a political subject.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E167"},{"n":"Avocets on the brackish shallows","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Upturned bill sweeping the brine on every delta and Wadden shore.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E168"},{"n":"Ruff in spring plumage","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[4,5],"c":["NL"],"d":"Absurd ruffs and ear tufts, no two males alike, on passage through the wet meadows.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E169"},{"n":"Lapwing tumbling display","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"Wheeling and creaking over the polder in spring — far commoner here than in the British lowlands now.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E170"},{"n":"Barnacle geese in their thousands","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["NL"],"d":"Wintering flocks that turn whole polders black and white, and audible a mile off.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E171"},{"n":"Bewick’s swans","r":"LUCKY","g":"waterbird","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"Siberian swans on the flooded washlands, smaller and yellower-billed than the whoopers beside them.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E172"},{"n":"White storks on the nest","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Reintroduced from near-extinction and now on platforms across the country — clattering bills audible from the road.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E173"},{"n":"Great white egret","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Unknown here a generation ago, now standing in every reed-fringed ditch.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E174"},{"n":"Bluethroat in the reeds","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"A robin-shaped bird with a startling blue and chestnut throat, singing from a reed stem in the marsh.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E175"},{"n":"Bearded reedlings","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Pinging like tiny bells and bouncing across the reed tops on still mornings.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E176"},{"n":"Black terns over the polder","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Buoyant, sooty and dipping to the water rather than diving — a marsh tern, not a sea one.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E177"},{"n":"Marsh harriers over the reed","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Low, slow, V-winged and on every Dutch reedbed. The commonest big raptor of the file.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E178"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles at Oostvaardersplassen","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Breeding in the Netherlands since 2006, and improbable over a polder that did not exist a century ago.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E179"},{"n":"Common cranes on passage","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Thousands crossing the Rhineland twice a year, bugling at altitude — one of Europe’s great migration sounds.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E180"},{"n":"Hoge Veluwe red deer","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"A fenced but genuinely wild herd on heath and drift sand, with a roaring rut through September.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E181"},{"n":"Wild boar of the Veluwe","r":"LUCKY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Common, nocturnal and destructive to a lawn. Rootings across the sand tracks are the usual evidence.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E182"},{"n":"Mouflon on the drift sand","r":"LUCKY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Introduced wild sheep on the Veluwe’s open sand — curved horns, and completely at home.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E183"},{"n":"Roe deer at the wood edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"First and last light along every Dutch forestry margin.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E184"},{"n":"Sand lizards in the dunes","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"The coastal dune belt is a stronghold — males go emerald green in the breeding season.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E185"},{"n":"Natterjack toads in the dune slacks","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"Running rather than hopping, and calling loud enough to carry across a dune valley after dark.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E186"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise in the Delta","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Small dark fins in the Oosterschelde and off the Wadden islands — recovered strongly in the North Sea.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E187"},{"n":"Oosterschelde mussel and oyster beds","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"A tidal basin farmed for centuries and now behind the world’s largest storm surge barrier.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E188"},{"n":"Sea buckthorn on the dunes","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[8,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Orange berries and silver leaves holding the dune front together the whole coast long.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E189"},{"n":"Tulip fields in bloom","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["NL"],"d":"Stripes of colour across the bulb fields for a few weeks only — agricultural, spectacular, and gone by June.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E190"},{"n":"Otters in the Weerribben","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Extinct in the Netherlands by 1988 and reintroduced in 2002; the northern peat marshes now hold a growing population. Spraints on a jetty are the usual sighting.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E191"},{"n":"Rockpooling on the Delta works","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Anemones, crabs and starfish on the artificial reef of the storm barrier — an accidental habitat.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E192"},{"n":"Wadden waders at high tide","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"Knot and dunlin pushed off the flats in clouds — the Dutch equivalent of Snettisham, at twice the scale.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E193"},{"n":"Ardennes wild boar","r":"LUCKY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"The forest’s most numerous large mammal and its least visible. Dusk on a forest track, or nothing.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E194"},{"n":"Ardennes red deer","r":"LUCKY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"A proper forest herd, and the autumn rut in the Ardennes is a genuine reason to travel in October.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E195"},{"n":"European wildcat","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Genuinely wild cats survive in the Ardennes and the Eifel. Effectively a camera-trap species — what you see by the road is somebody’s tabby.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E196"},{"n":"Pine martens in the beechwoods","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Present throughout the Ardennes forests and very seldom seen. Dusk, woodland edge, luck.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E197"},{"n":"Hazel dormouse","r":"RARE","g":"squirrel","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"Golden, tiny and asleep for half the year. Hazel nuts opened with a neat round hole are the honest sighting.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E198"},{"n":"Black woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Crow-sized, entirely black with a red cap, and its call carries half a mile through the beech.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E199"},{"n":"Middle spotted woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"An oak-forest specialist, commoner here than anywhere in Britain — which is to say, present at all.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E200"},{"n":"Red kites over the Famenne","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Forked tails over the farmland between the Meuse and the Ardennes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E201"},{"n":"Black grouse on the fens","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["BE"],"d":"A tiny relict population on the Hautes Fagnes, and the reason large parts of the bog are closed in spring.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E202"},{"n":"Fire salamander after rain","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["BE"],"d":"Black and yellow on wet Ardennes forest paths at dusk, and never in sunshine.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E203"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the forest pools","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["BE"],"d":"Orange-bellied and slate-blue, in every woodland puddle and wheel rut in spring.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E204"},{"n":"Wild daffodils of the Eifel valleys","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[3,4],"c":["BE"],"d":"Whole valley floors yellow for a fortnight in the Belgian–German borderland — a genuine spring pilgrimage.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E205"},{"n":"Purple emperor in the Ardennes","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"The oak-canopy king, down at ride level only on hot mornings, and only if something unspeakable is on the track.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E206"},{"n":"Beavers on the Ourthe","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Back on the Walloon rivers after four centuries away, and reshaping side channels as they go.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E207"},{"n":"Zwin storks and spoonbills","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"A salt marsh on the Dutch border that funnels migration — and holds a stork colony you can walk under.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E208"},{"n":"Kalmthout heath in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"Purple heath and drift sand on the Antwerp border, and one of the largest heathlands in the Low Countries.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E209"},{"n":"Semois valley mists","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[9,10,11],"c":["BE"],"d":"The river looping through wooded gorges under morning fog — the Ardennes at its most photographed.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E210"},{"n":"North Sea harbour porpoise","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Winter is the season off the Belgian coast, watched from the beach at Nieuwpoort and De Panne.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E211"},{"n":"Flanders poppies","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"Field margins around Ypres in June. Not a coincidence of history — disturbed ground is what they need.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E212"},{"n":"Wall lizards on the vineyard terraces","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"On every dry-stone terrace wall in the gorge, and the reason the Rhine slopes hold species found nowhere else this far north.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E213"},{"n":"Aesculapian snake","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"A relict population survives in the warm Rhine and Lahn valleys — long, harmless, a climber, and genuinely rare to meet.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E214"},{"n":"Yellow-bellied toad","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Declining hard across Europe. In a wheel rut or a quarry puddle, and it arches to show a startling belly when alarmed.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E215"},{"n":"Black kites over the river","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Quartering the Rhine for anything dead or dying. Commoner along a big European river than any British raptor is at home.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E216"},{"n":"Rhine cormorants","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Lines of them on every groyne and barge mooring, wings out to dry.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E217"},{"n":"Atlantic salmon returning to the Rhine","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[9,10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Extinct in the river by 1958 and now returning through fish passes after decades of work — one of Europe’s great restoration stories.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E218"},{"n":"Rhine barbel and chub","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Powerful fish in fast gravel water. A day permit is available almost everywhere and the paperwork is genuinely simple.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E219"},{"n":"Vineyard grape harvest","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Riesling terraces worked by monorail and by hand on slopes too steep for anything else.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E220"},{"n":"Rhine slopes in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Vine terraces turning gold under castles — the gorge’s best fortnight, and its busiest.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E221"},{"n":"Eifel beech forests","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[4,5,10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Some of the oldest managed beech in Europe, and part of it now a national park left deliberately alone.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E222"},{"n":"Black storks of the Eifel","r":"RARE","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"The shy forest cousin of the white stork — nesting deep in old woodland and almost never seen near people.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E223"},{"n":"Wild cats of the Eifel","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany’s stronghold, and the subject of a long reintroduction and corridor programme. Still effectively unseeable.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E224"},{"n":"Eifel volcanic maars","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Circular crater lakes from eruptions ten thousand years ago — among the youngest volcanic features in central Europe.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E225"},{"n":"Middle Rhine falcons on the castles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Nesting on Marksburg, Rheinfels and half the crags between — the gorge is a raptor corridor.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E226"},{"n":"Dippers on the Eifel streams","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Bobbing midstream on fast clean water in the volcanic uplands.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E227"},{"n":"Red squirrels in the Rhine woods","r":"LIKELY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"No greys anywhere on the continent, so the red is simply the squirrel — in every park and wood.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E228"},{"n":"Nightingales along the river","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"Full song from the scrub of the Rhine islands and backwaters through May.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E229"},{"n":"Golden orioles in the poplars","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"A fluting whistle from the canopy of every riverside poplar stand.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E230"},{"n":"Swallowtails on the terraces","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Sailing along the warm vineyard walls all summer, and often the first big butterfly of the trip.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E231"},{"n":"Scarce swallowtail","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Pale, tiger-striped and even larger, hanging around orchard blossom on the warm slopes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E232"},{"n":"Map butterfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Two annual broods that look like different insects entirely — orange in spring, black-and-white in summer.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E233"},{"n":"Green hawker dragonfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Patrolling the Rhine backwaters and the maar lakes, and it will hover close enough to inspect you.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E234"},{"n":"Banded demoiselle","r":"COMMON","g":"dragonfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Blue-black wings flickering over every slow side-channel.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E235"},{"n":"Greater horseshoe bats in the slate mines","r":"RARE","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Old workings in the gorge hold hibernation and nursery roosts — watched from outside, never entered.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E236"},{"n":"Glow-worms on the vineyard walls","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"Green lamps in the terrace grass on a warm still night above the river.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E237"},{"n":"Wine-slope orchids","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"Lady, bee and lizard orchids on the dry limestone and slate between the vines.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E238"},{"n":"Sand martins in the river banks","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Colonies drilled into the soft banks and cuttings of the Rhine and the Meuse — hundreds of birds over the water on a summer evening.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E239"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over the reed","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"Winter roosts over the Dutch reedbeds, in numbers that dim the light.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E240"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the Ardennes","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["BE"],"d":"A serious flush in the beech and oak, and a country where foraging is taken seriously and regulated.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E241"},{"n":"Perseid meteors over the fens","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[8],"c":["BE"],"d":"The Hautes Fagnes plateau is the darkest sky in Belgium, which is a low bar cleared handsomely.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E242"},{"n":"Common blue butterflies","r":"COMMON","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Dune slacks and grassy dykes all summer.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E243"},{"n":"Brown hares on the polder","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Out in the open on ploughed and stubble fields, and boxing in the early spring.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E244"},{"n":"Red foxes on the dunes","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Established through the coastal dunes and increasingly bold around the campsites.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E245"},{"n":"Badgers of the Veluwe","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Recovered strongly from a low point in the seventies — setts under the sandy woodland banks.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E246"},{"n":"Konik and Heck cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Back-bred grazers standing in for the aurochs and tarpan on the reclaimed polder — and a real argument about what wildness means.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E247"},{"n":"Little owls on the pollards","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Sitting out in daylight on old pollarded willows across the farmland.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E248"},{"n":"Tawny owls in the estate woods","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Heard far more than seen, from the Ardennes to the Brussels park woodland.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E249"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the canals","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"A blue bolt along every canal, ditch and backwater in the delta.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E250"},{"n":"Grey herons in the towns","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Standing on Amsterdam canal boats waiting for a fishmonger to look away. Entirely urban, entirely wild.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E251"},{"n":"Egyptian geese","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Introduced, established and everywhere on Dutch water. Loud, and no longer going anywhere.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E252"},{"n":"Great crested grebes displaying","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[3,4,5],"c":["NL"],"d":"The weed dance on every polder lake in early spring.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E253"},{"n":"Sea aster on the salt marsh","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[8,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Purple across the Wadden and Zeeland marsh in late summer, with samphire underfoot.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E254"},{"n":"Samphire on the tidal flats","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Picked commercially in Zeeland, and on every good restaurant plate in the province.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E255"},{"n":"Dovrefjell musk ox","r":"LUCKY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Ice-age survivors reintroduced in the 1940s and now the only free herd in Europe. Walked to, watched from two hundred metres, and never approached — they charge.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E256"},{"n":"Hardangervidda wild reindeer","r":"LUCKY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Europe’s last genuinely wild mountain reindeer, on the largest plateau on the continent. Everything in Fennoscandia north of here is herded; these are not.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E257"},{"n":"Sort Sol — the black sun","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[3,4,9,10],"c":["DK"],"d":"A million starlings over the Tønder marshes at dusk in spring and autumn, thick enough to darken the sky. The Danish name is not an exaggeration.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E258"},{"n":"Cranes at Hornborgasjön","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4],"c":["SE"],"d":"Up to twenty thousand cranes dancing on one Swedish lake for a few weeks each spring — the best-attended wildlife event in Scandinavia.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E259"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Norway holds the densest population on earth. Barn doors over every fjord, and genuinely hard to miss on the coastal legs.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E260"},{"n":"The midnight sun and the aurora","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,6,7,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Two opposite spectacles from the same latitude: light that never leaves in high summer, and light that arrives in the dark months.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E261"},{"n":"Moose at the forest edge","r":"LUCKY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Enormous, unhurried and mostly crepuscular. Warning triangles on the road are not decorative — a collision at speed is fatal to everyone.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E262"},{"n":"Arctic fox on Dovrefjell","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Down to a handful of animals before a captive-breeding programme began. Blue-grey in summer, white in winter, and still genuinely scarce.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E263"},{"n":"Wolverine","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"The most improbable animal in Europe: bear-shaped, badger-sized, and capable of crossing a mountain range. Effectively a camera-trap species.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E264"},{"n":"Lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Present through the Norwegian and Swedish forests and almost never seen. A track in fresh snow is the honest sighting.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E265"},{"n":"Norwegian beavers","r":"LIKELY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Norway is the reason Europe still has beavers — a few hundred survived here and restocked the continent. Dusk on a slow river.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E266"},{"n":"Otters on the skerries","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Coastal otters working the tideline of the fjord mouths, as in Shetland and the Hebrides.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E267"},{"n":"Mountain hares in ermine","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[11,12,1,2,3,4],"c":["NO"],"d":"White against dark rock when the snow is late, which is now most winters.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E268"},{"n":"Lemmings in a peak year","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["NO"],"d":"Some years none at all; some years the fell is alive with them and every predator has a good season. The cycle is roughly four years and entirely real.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E269"},{"n":"Red squirrels in the pine","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"No greys anywhere in Scandinavia, so the red is simply the squirrel — and darker-coated than the British ones.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E270"},{"n":"Reindeer herds of the Sami","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Semi-domesticated and herded across the north for a thousand years. On the road, in the road, and with absolute right of way.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E271"},{"n":"Runde puffins","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"A seabird island off the Møre coast holding hundreds of thousands of birds — the southernmost great colony in Norway.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E272"},{"n":"Runde gannets","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NO"],"d":"Norway’s only mainland-accessible gannetry, on the same island as the puffins.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E273"},{"n":"Kittiwakes on the town buildings","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Nesting on warehouse ledges in Ålesund and Tromsø because the cliffs are no longer safe from eagles. Loud, and legally protected.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E274"},{"n":"Golden eagles over the plateau","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Quartering the fell above the tree line — commoner here than anywhere in Britain outside the Highlands.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E275"},{"n":"Gyrfalcon","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"The largest falcon on earth, on the high fells and the northern coasts. A bird most Norwegian birders have not seen.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E276"},{"n":"Ptarmigan on the fell","r":"LIKELY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Willow and rock ptarmigan both, white in winter and mottled in summer, and almost invisible until they burst out underfoot.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E277"},{"n":"Dippers on the fjord rivers","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Norway’s national bird, walking underwater against glacier-fed current in the middle of winter.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E278"},{"n":"Bluethroat in the birch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"The mountain birch zone’s own robin, with a throat like a piece of enamel. Sings from the top of a stunted tree.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E279"},{"n":"Snow buntings on the tops","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Arctic finches breeding on high boulder fields, and the last small bird before bare rock.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E280"},{"n":"Ring ouzels above the treeline","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"The mountain blackbird, with a white bib, on every scree slope in the fell country.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E281"},{"n":"Eiders in the fjords","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Cooing offshore all year, and historically farmed for down on the northern islands.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E282"},{"n":"Great and Arctic skuas","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Piratical, fearless and prepared to dive-bomb anyone who approaches a nest. Give them the width of the headland.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E283"},{"n":"Black guillemots","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Sooty with white wing patches and startling red feet, in every harbour and skerry channel.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E284"},{"n":"Cormorants and shags on the skerries","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Lines of them on every rock, wings out, on the whole coastal run.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E285"},{"n":"Orca in the fjords","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[10,11,12,1],"c":["NO"],"d":"Following the herring into the northern fjords through the dark months — one of the great wildlife spectacles of Europe, and firmly a winter one.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E286"},{"n":"Minke and humpback whales","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10,11],"c":["NO"],"d":"Feeding along the coast through the light months, and taken by boat trips from a dozen ports.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E287"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise in the sounds","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Small dark fins in the narrows, and often visible from a coastal ferry deck.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E288"},{"n":"Grey and harbour seals","r":"COMMON","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Hauled out on the outer skerries the whole coast long.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E289"},{"n":"Atlantic salmon in the rivers","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Norwegian salmon rivers are famous, expensive and strictly licensed. A disinfected net and rod is a legal requirement, not a courtesy.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E290"},{"n":"Sea trout on the fjord shore","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NO"],"d":"Fished from the rocks all along the coast, and one of the cheapest permits in the country.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E291"},{"n":"Cod and coalfish from the quay","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Deep water within a rod’s length of a harbour wall. Sea fishing needs no licence for a visitor — the rules are about quantity, not permission.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E292"},{"n":"Arctic char in the mountain lakes","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["NO"],"d":"High cold water, and the only fish in many of the tarns above the tree line.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E293"},{"n":"Jostedalsbreen glacier tongues","r":"LIKELY","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Mainland Europe’s largest ice cap, with arms reaching down into green valleys. Approach with a guide or not at all — the fronts calve.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E294"},{"n":"Snow on the high passes","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Sognefjellet and Trollstigen are closed by snow for roughly half the year, and the opening dates move each spring.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E295"},{"n":"Cloudberries on the bog","r":"LUCKY","g":"apple","m":[7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Amber, tart and the most prized berry in Scandinavia. On open bog, briefly, and locals will not tell you where.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E296"},{"n":"Bilberries and lingonberries","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[7,8,9],"c":["NO"],"d":"Underfoot across the whole forest floor, and free to pick under the right to roam.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E297"},{"n":"Purple saxifrage on bare rock","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["NO"],"d":"One of the first things to flower after the snow goes, on ground with almost no soil at all.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E298"},{"n":"Glacier buttercup","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Growing higher than any other flowering plant in Norway, at the edge of permanent snow.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E299"},{"n":"Mountain avens on the fell","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"White eight-petalled flowers across the limestone fell, tracking the sun through the day.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E300"},{"n":"Reindeer lichen underfoot","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Pale grey-green and crunching in dry weather; it is the winter food of every reindeer on the plateau, and it takes decades to regrow.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E301"},{"n":"Mountain birch turning","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[9,10],"c":["NO"],"d":"The birch zone goes gold for a fortnight before the first snow, and the whole country goes walking in it.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E302"},{"n":"Brown bears in the forest","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Sweden holds around three thousand and they want nothing to do with you. Tracks, scats and turned stones are the realistic sighting.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E303"},{"n":"Wolves in the Bergslagen","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"A small, controversial and closely monitored population. Heard on a still night far more often than seen — and even that is rare.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E304"},{"n":"Swedish moose","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Around three hundred thousand of them. Dawn and dusk on forestry roads, and moose fences along the main routes for good reason.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E305"},{"n":"Capercaillie at the lek","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["SE"],"d":"A turkey-sized grouse displaying at dawn in old pine forest, and occasionally an aggressive male that has decided it owns the track.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E306"},{"n":"Black grouse lekking","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["SE"],"d":"Bubbling and sneezing on a frozen bog at first light — one of the great sounds of the northern spring.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E307"},{"n":"Hazel grouse","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"The forest’s most retiring bird. A thin whistle from dense spruce, and a bird most Swedes have never laid eyes on.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E308"},{"n":"Great grey owl","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Enormous, flat-faced and hunting voles in daylight over clear-fell. A bird people cross Europe for.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E309"},{"n":"Ural owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["SE"],"d":"Nesting in boxes and broken stumps in old forest, and prepared to defend the nest with real violence.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E310"},{"n":"Pygmy owl","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Smaller than a starling and hunting other birds. The whistled song carries a long way through winter forest.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E311"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"A specialist of dead standing spruce, and a good indicator that a forest has been left alone.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E312"},{"n":"Black woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Crow-sized and entirely black bar a red cap, with a call that carries half a mile through the pines.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E313"},{"n":"Ospreys on the lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"Sweden holds one of Europe’s largest populations. Fishing every big lake on the route.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E314"},{"n":"Whooper swans on the lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"The national bird, breeding on forest lakes and audible long before it is visible.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E315"},{"n":"Common cranes over the forest","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"Bugling at altitude on passage across the whole country, spring and autumn.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E316"},{"n":"Baltic grey seals","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Hauled out on the Bohuslän skerries, and recovered strongly from a twentieth-century collapse.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E317"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise off Kullaberg","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"The Kattegat holds a genuine population, and the Kullaberg headland is the best land-based watch point in Sweden.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E318"},{"n":"Swedish beavers","r":"LIKELY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Reintroduced from Norwegian stock in the 1920s and now everywhere. Felled aspen along a lake shore gives them away.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E319"},{"n":"Pine martens","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Common in the forest and rarely seen. Campsite bin raiders after dark in the right places.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E320"},{"n":"Arctic char and brown trout","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Cold clear lakes, cheap or free fishing under the right to roam on the five big waters, and permits elsewhere.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E321"},{"n":"Pike in the reed edges","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"Enormous, abundant and the fish most Swedish anglers actually target. Barbless hooks and a big net.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E322"},{"n":"Perch on the rocks","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Striped, greedy and the classic first fish for a child anywhere on the Baltic coast.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E323"},{"n":"Chanterelles in August","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"A national obsession, picked freely under allemansrätten, and locations guarded like state secrets.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E324"},{"n":"Lingonberries on the forest floor","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Free to pick, everywhere, and the reason every Swedish plate has a spoonful of something red on it.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E325"},{"n":"Midsummer meadow flowers","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["SE"],"d":"The hay meadows of Dalarna at the solstice, and the flowers that go into the midsummer wreaths.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E326"},{"n":"Bohuslän granite skerries","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Ice-scoured pink and grey rock running out into the Kattegat in thousands of islands — a whole coast of it.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E327"},{"n":"Aurora over the lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["SE"],"d":"Central Sweden gets it on active nights; go north and it becomes routine.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E328"},{"n":"Common blue damselflies","r":"COMMON","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"In clouds over every lake margin through the short intense summer.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E329"},{"n":"Camberwell beauty","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"A large dark butterfly with a cream border — scarce in Britain, and a normal Swedish woodland insect.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E330"},{"n":"Mosquitoes in the north","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"Not a spectacle, but the single most important fact about a Nordic summer. Head net, repellent, breezy pitches.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E331"},{"n":"Adders on the sun-warmed rock","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Common across Sweden and entirely uninterested in you. Warm granite in the morning.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E332"},{"n":"Sand lizards on the heath","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Emerald-flanked males on the dry sandy heaths of Skåne and the Baltic coast.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E333"},{"n":"Moor frogs turning blue","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4],"c":["SE"],"d":"For a few days at spawning the males turn genuinely blue. Then they go brown again and nobody believes you.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E334"},{"n":"Wadden Sea seals at Ribe","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Harbour and grey seals on the sandbanks of the Danish Wadden Sea, watched from the dyke or a low-tide boat.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E335"},{"n":"Skagen raptor migration","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,9,10],"c":["DK"],"d":"Denmark funnels to a point at Grenen, and raptors pile up waiting for the crossing. Thousands of birds on a good day.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E336"},{"n":"Grenen: where two seas meet","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"The Skagerrak and Kattegat collide on a spit of sand you can stand on with a foot in each. The waves come from both directions at once.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E337"},{"n":"Amber on the west coast","r":"LUCKY","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Washed up after westerly gales, especially in winter. Forty million years old, warm to the touch, and floats in salt water.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E338"},{"n":"Danish white-tailed eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Extinct as a breeding bird for most of the twentieth century and back since 1996 — now on lakes and coasts across the country.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E339"},{"n":"Cranes at Lille Vildmose","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DK"],"d":"Breeding again in Denmark’s largest raised bog, alongside red deer and reintroduced elk.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E340"},{"n":"Jutland red deer","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Denmark’s largest wild mammal, in the west Jutland plantations and on the heath, with an autumn rut worth planning around.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E341"},{"n":"Roe deer on the field edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Everywhere in the farmland, first and last light.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E342"},{"n":"Danish beavers","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Reintroduced in 1999 after five hundred years away, and now well established on the west Jutland rivers.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E343"},{"n":"Rubjerg Knude migrating dune","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"A vast sand dune walking inland at metres a year — it swallowed a lighthouse, which was then moved bodily to save it.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E344"},{"n":"Dune heath in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[8,9],"c":["DK"],"d":"Purple heather across the Thy and north Jutland dune systems in late summer.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E345"},{"n":"Barnacle and pink-footed geese","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DK"],"d":"Wintering flocks on the Wadden marshes in numbers that make the field move.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E346"},{"n":"Eiders and common scoter","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Rafting offshore all along the Kattegat coast.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E347"},{"n":"Sea trout from the coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["DK"],"d":"Denmark is a European destination for coastal sea-trout fly fishing. Waders, a cheap national licence, and cold clear water.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E348"},{"n":"Garfish in May","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[5,6],"c":["DK"],"d":"Green-boned, beaked and arriving in numbers every spring — the fish every Danish child catches first.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E349"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise in the belts","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"The straits between the Danish islands hold one of the densest populations in Europe.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E350"},{"n":"Bornholm and Baltic amber pines","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"The forests that produced the amber, in their modern descendants along the Baltic shore.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E351"},{"n":"Storks at Ribe","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DK"],"d":"Down to a single pair nationally at the low point, and slowly returning to the nests on Ribe’s rooftops.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E352"},{"n":"Allemansrätten — the right to roam","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Not a species but the reason this file works: a legal right to walk, camp and pick berries on almost any land, balanced by an absolute duty not to disturb.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E353"},{"n":"Reindeer on the road","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Herded animals with total right of way, standing on tarmac because it is warm. Stop, wait, and do not sound the horn.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E354"},{"n":"Fjord waterfalls in melt","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[5,6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"Every cliff runs white in the weeks after the thaw, and the fjord roads pass under several of them.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E355"},{"n":"Midsummer bonfires","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[6],"c":["SE"],"d":"The whole of Scandinavia stops for a week around the solstice. Book everything, or arrive expecting nothing to be open.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E356"},{"n":"Golden jackal","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Arrived under its own steam from the south-east in the 2010s and now breeding. Europe’s quietest colonisation.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E357"},{"n":"European elk in Lille Vildmose","r":"LUCKY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Reintroduced to the raised bog in 2016 and browsing the birch scrub. Denmark’s largest animal, back after millennia.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E358"},{"n":"Fallow deer at Dyrehaven","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"A royal hunting park north of Copenhagen holding deer since 1669, and entirely unbothered by walkers.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E359"},{"n":"Wild horses at Langeland","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Exmoor ponies grazing a Danish nature reserve as conservation machinery — and thriving on it.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E360"},{"n":"European bison at Bornholm","r":"LUCKY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"A small free-ranging herd on the Baltic island since 2012, in an enclosure the size of a parish.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E361"},{"n":"Harbour seals at Anholt","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"One of the largest colonies in the Kattegat, on a sandbank at the island’s eastern tip.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E362"},{"n":"Grey seals returning","r":"LUCKY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Hunted out of Danish waters by 1900 and breeding again on the Baltic reefs since 2003.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E363"},{"n":"Bottlenose dolphins in the Limfjord","r":"RARE","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["DK"],"d":"Occasional visitors that make national news when they arrive and stay for a summer.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E364"},{"n":"Ospreys on passage","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,8,9],"c":["DK"],"d":"Crossing on migration in numbers, and now nesting again in Jutland after a long absence.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E365"},{"n":"Red kites over Jutland","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Recolonised from Germany and spreading north — forked tails over the farmland.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E366"},{"n":"Marsh harriers on the fjords","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DK"],"d":"Over every reedbed on the Limfjord and the Wadden marshes.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E367"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"On roadside poles the length of every Danish road.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E368"},{"n":"Montagu’s harrier","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7],"c":["DK"],"d":"A handful of pairs in the Wadden Sea marshland, individually protected and closely watched.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E369"},{"n":"Eagle owls","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"The largest owl in Europe, back in Jutland quarries after reintroduction. Heard, almost never seen.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E370"},{"n":"Tawny owls in the beechwoods","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Denmark’s commonest owl, in every mature wood and churchyard.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E371"},{"n":"Little owls","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Down to a few dozen pairs and one of the country’s most threatened breeding birds.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E372"},{"n":"Black woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Crow-sized and entirely black bar the red cap, in the older Jutland plantations.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E373"},{"n":"Great spotted woodpecker","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Drumming from February in every wood and large garden.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E374"},{"n":"Golden orioles","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["DK"],"d":"A fluting whistle from the canopy of Bornholm’s and Zealand’s older woodland.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E375"},{"n":"Nightingales in the scrub","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6],"c":["DK"],"d":"Thrush nightingale here rather than the common nightingale — harsher, louder, and singing at midnight.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E376"},{"n":"Barnacle geese on the marsh","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DK"],"d":"Wintering in tens of thousands on the Wadden and Limfjord grazing.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E377"},{"n":"Whooper swans on the fjords","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DK"],"d":"Icelandic birds down for the winter, louder and wilder than the resident mutes.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E378"},{"n":"Avocets on the Wadden","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DK"],"d":"Sweeping the brine on every tidal flat in the south-west.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E379"},{"n":"Black-tailed godwits","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["DK"],"d":"A declining breeder of the wet meadows, and the subject of serious restoration work.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E380"},{"n":"Ruff lekking on the marsh","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[4,5],"c":["DK"],"d":"Almost gone as a Danish breeder — the spring display is now a passage spectacle rather than a local one.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E381"},{"n":"Dunlin clouds at high tide","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["DK"],"d":"Pushed off the Wadden flats in smoke-like flocks by the rising water.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E382"},{"n":"Kentish plover on the shell banks","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["DK"],"d":"A tiny beach-nesting wader clinging on at a handful of west-coast sites.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E383"},{"n":"Sandwich terns","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DK"],"d":"Harsh-voiced colonies on the Wadden islands and the Kattegat reefs.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E384"},{"n":"Little terns","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["DK"],"d":"Nesting on bare shingle above the tideline, and fenced against people and foxes alike.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E385"},{"n":"Guillemots on Bornholm","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["DK"],"d":"Denmark’s only auk cliff, on the granite of Bornholm’s northern coast.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E386"},{"n":"Cormorants at Vorsø","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Tree-nesting colonies that kill the wood they stand in — spectacular and controversial in equal measure.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E387"},{"n":"Great crested grebes displaying","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[3,4,5],"c":["DK"],"d":"The weed dance on every lake and fjord in early spring.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E388"},{"n":"Bitterns booming","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["DK"],"d":"The reedbed foghorn of the Limfjord and the Zealand lakes.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E389"},{"n":"Great white egrets","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"A recent colonist, now standing in ditches across the country.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E390"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"No greys anywhere, so the red is simply the squirrel — in every plantation and park.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E391"},{"n":"Badgers in the plantations","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DK"],"d":"Setts in the sandy banks of the Jutland forestry, and a well-worn path under the fence.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E392"},{"n":"Pine martens","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Present in the larger forests and almost never seen.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E393"},{"n":"Brown hares on the stubble","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Out in the open on the farmland, and boxing in the early spring.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E394"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DK"],"d":"Gardens, campsite edges and hedgerows from April until they turn in.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E395"},{"n":"Bats over the lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DK"],"d":"Daubenton’s skimming the water at dusk on every Zealand lake.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E396"},{"n":"Sand lizards on the dune heath","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DK"],"d":"Emerald-flanked males on the dry heath of Thy and north Jutland.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E397"},{"n":"Adders on the heath","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DK"],"d":"Sunny mornings on the Jutland heather, and entirely uninterested in you.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E398"},{"n":"Smooth snake","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DK"],"d":"Denmark’s rarest reptile, on a few southern heaths and almost impossible to find.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E399"},{"n":"Moor frogs turning blue","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4],"c":["DK"],"d":"For a few days at spawning the males go genuinely blue. Then brown again, and nobody believes you.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E400"},{"n":"Fire-bellied toads","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["DK"],"d":"A tiny relict population on the southern islands, with a call like a distant bell and a startling belly.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E401"},{"n":"Great crested newts","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["DK"],"d":"In field ponds across the country, and legally protected wherever they turn up.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E402"},{"n":"Baltic herring runs","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[4,5,9,10],"c":["DK"],"d":"The fish that built the Baltic towns, still running the belts in spring and autumn.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E403"},{"n":"Cod from the Sound","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DK"],"d":"Deep cold water within sight of Copenhagen, and a winter boat-fishing tradition.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E404"},{"n":"Pike in the Zealand lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Big fish in clear water, on a cheap national licence.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E405"},{"n":"Swallowtail butterflies","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DK"],"d":"Sailing over the Bornholm and southern-island meadows in summer.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E406"},{"n":"Beech woods in spring green","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[4,5],"c":["DK"],"d":"The national tree, and the whole country goes out the week it breaks bud.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E407"},{"n":"Roe deer in the Famenne","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"First and last light along every wood margin between the Meuse and the Ardennes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E408"},{"n":"Fallow deer in the estate woods","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Introduced herds in the old hunting forests of Flanders and Wallonia.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E409"},{"n":"Red foxes in the suburbs","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"As at home in Brussels as in the Ardennes, and increasingly bold.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E410"},{"n":"Badgers of the Ardennes","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["BE"],"d":"Setts in the limestone banks of the Famenne, and dusk on a forest track.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E411"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"In every park and wood, and darker-coated than the British ones.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E412"},{"n":"Brown hares on the arable","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Out in the open on the Flemish and Hesbaye cereal country.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E413"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["BE"],"d":"Garden and campsite edges after dark through the warm months.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E414"},{"n":"Greater horseshoe bats","r":"RARE","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"The Walloon caves and old quarries hold internationally important roosts — watched from outside.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E415"},{"n":"Daubenton’s bats over the Meuse","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"Skimming the river surface at dusk, hunting the insects the water throws up.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E416"},{"n":"Wild boar of the Hertogenwald","r":"LUCKY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Abundant, nocturnal and unmistakable once you learn what rootings look like.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E417"},{"n":"Peregrines on the cathedrals","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Nesting on Brussels, Antwerp and Liège church towers, with public webcams on several.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E418"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"On every second roadside pole in the country.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E419"},{"n":"Honey buzzards","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"A summer visitor of the Ardennes forests, and a wasp-nest specialist.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E420"},{"n":"Goshawks in the beech","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[2,3,4],"c":["BE"],"d":"Late-winter display flights above the Walloon forests before the leaves come.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E421"},{"n":"Short-toed treecreepers","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Spiralling up trunks in every wood — the continental cousin of the British bird.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E422"},{"n":"Crested tits in the conifer","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Widespread in Belgian plantations while Britain holds them only in the Caledonian pines.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E423"},{"n":"Firecrests","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Europe’s smallest bird after the goldcrest, and commoner here than at home.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E424"},{"n":"Black redstarts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"On every quarry face, church roof and industrial yard.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E425"},{"n":"Golden orioles in the poplars","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"Heard ten times for every one seen, along the Meuse and the Kempen.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E426"},{"n":"Nightingales in the Kempen","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["BE"],"d":"Full song from the scrub of the sandy north-east through May.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E427"},{"n":"Woodlarks on the heath","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["BE"],"d":"A liquid descending song over the Kalmthout and Kempen heathlands.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E428"},{"n":"Great grey shrike","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2],"c":["BE"],"d":"A winter visitor to the open heath, impaling prey on thorns like a butcher.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E429"},{"n":"Little owls on the pollards","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Sitting out in daylight on old willows across the Flemish farmland.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E430"},{"n":"Long-eared owls roosting","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["BE"],"d":"Winter roosts of a dozen birds in a single conifer, in village churchyards.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E431"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Ourthe","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"A blue bolt along every clean Walloon river.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E432"},{"n":"Dippers on the Amblève","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Bobbing midstream on the fast Ardennes rivers all year.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E433"},{"n":"Grey herons in the towns","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Standing on canal edges and market stalls, entirely urban and entirely wild.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E434"},{"n":"Little egrets on the polders","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Unknown a generation ago and now on every coastal ditch.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E435"},{"n":"Spoonbills at the Zwin","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"Breeding in the reserve on the Dutch border and feeding with that side-to-side sweep.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E436"},{"n":"Avocets on the Ijzer","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"On the brackish creeks of the coastal polder.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E437"},{"n":"Lapwing over the Ijzer meadows","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["BE"],"d":"Wheeling and creaking over the wet grassland the country has worked hard to keep.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E438"},{"n":"Black-tailed godwits","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"A declining breeder of the coastal polder meadows.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E439"},{"n":"Sandwich terns off the coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"Fishing the shallow North Sea along the whole sixty-five kilometres of Belgian coast.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E440"},{"n":"Great crested grebes on the canals","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"The weed dance on every canal and gravel pit in spring.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E441"},{"n":"Greylag and Egyptian geese","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Established, loud and on every piece of Flemish water.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E442"},{"n":"Common lizards on the heath","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"Basking on boardwalk edges across the Kempen and the Fagnes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E443"},{"n":"Adders on the Fagnes","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"On the warm boardwalk margins of the high peat bog on still mornings.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E444"},{"n":"Slow-worms in the garden edges","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"Legless lizards, not snakes, under any flat warm object.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E445"},{"n":"Midwife toads calling","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"A single pure bell note after dark in the Walloon quarries and villages.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E446"},{"n":"Great crested newts","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["BE"],"d":"In field ponds and old quarry pools, and protected wherever found.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E447"},{"n":"Grayling in the Ourthe","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"The lady of the stream in gin-clear Ardennes winter water — a genuine fly-fishing destination.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E448"},{"n":"Brown trout in the Semois","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["BE"],"d":"Small wild fish in a river that loops through wooded gorges. Permits are local and cheap.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E449"},{"n":"Marbled white on the calcareous grassland","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"Chequered black and white in thousands on the Famenne limestone slopes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E450"},{"n":"Chalkhill blues on the Meuse slopes","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"A calcareous-grassland specialist on the steep south-facing banks above the river.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E451"},{"n":"Stag beetles in the oakwoods","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["BE"],"d":"Clattering out of the Walloon oak on warm June evenings.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E452"},{"n":"Beech woods in spring","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[4,5],"c":["BE"],"d":"The Soignes forest south of Brussels leafing out — a UNESCO-listed remnant of the primeval beech.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E453"},{"n":"Roe deer at the forest edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"First and last light along every German wood margin.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E454"},{"n":"Fallow deer in the Rhine parks","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Introduced herds in the old estate woods of the Rhineland.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E455"},{"n":"Alpine ibex on the Rhine slopes","r":"RARE","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A reintroduced colony on the steep slate above the river — improbable, and entirely real.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E456"},{"n":"Chamois in the Eifel","r":"RARE","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A small introduced population on the volcanic crags, far from any Alp.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E457"},{"n":"Red foxes","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"From the Eifel forests to the middle of Cologne.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E458"},{"n":"Badgers","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Setts in the loess banks of the Rhineland and the beech forest floor.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E459"},{"n":"Beech marten in the towns","r":"LIKELY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The urban cousin of the pine marten, and notorious for chewing car wiring in the night.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E460"},{"n":"Brown hares on the arable","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Out in the open on the cereal plains, boxing from February.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E461"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Gardens, verges and campsite edges through the warm months.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E462"},{"n":"Wildcats returning to the Eifel","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany’s stronghold, and the subject of a long corridor-planting programme. Still effectively unseeable.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E463"},{"n":"Lynx in the Eifel","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A handful of animals from the Belgian and Luxembourg reintroductions, and a track in snow is the honest sighting.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E464"},{"n":"Daubenton’s bats over the Mosel","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Skimming the river at dusk below the vineyard terraces.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E465"},{"n":"Red kites over the Eifel","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany holds over half the world population. Forked tails over every open valley.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E466"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The default raptor of every German roadside.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E467"},{"n":"Honey buzzards","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Summer visitors to the beech forests, digging out wasp nests.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E468"},{"n":"Goshawks over the plantations","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[2,3,4],"c":["DE"],"d":"Late-winter skydancing above the forest, and increasingly urban in German cities.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E469"},{"n":"Eagle owls in the quarries","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Recovered strongly and nesting on Rhine and Eifel rock faces. The largest owl in Europe.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E470"},{"n":"Tawny owls in the beech","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Heard far more than seen, in every mature wood.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E471"},{"n":"Middle spotted woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"An old-oak specialist, commoner here than anywhere in Britain — which is to say present at all.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E472"},{"n":"Grey-headed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A descending whinnying call from riverside woodland, and a bird Britain has never had.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E473"},{"n":"Wryneck","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"A woodpecker that behaves like a songbird, in old orchards and vineyard margins. Declining everywhere.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E474"},{"n":"Hoopoes on the warm slopes","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Improbable crest and butterfly flight, on the dry vineyard terraces of the Rhine and Nahe.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E475"},{"n":"Red-backed shrikes","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"On hedgerow tops in scrubby grassland, with a larder of impaled insects nearby.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E476"},{"n":"Black redstarts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"On every quarry, church roof and industrial building in the country.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E477"},{"n":"Cirl and ortolan buntings","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"Warm-slope buntings of the vineyard country, both of them scarce and declining.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E478"},{"n":"Firecrests in the conifer","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Everywhere in German plantations, and singing from February.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E479"},{"n":"Nightingales on the Rhine islands","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"Full song from the willow scrub of the backwaters through May.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E480"},{"n":"White storks on the village roofs","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Recovered dramatically since the 1980s and nesting on chimneys and church towers.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E481"},{"n":"Great white egrets","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A recent colonist, now standing in ditches along the whole river.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E482"},{"n":"Grey herons","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Statue-still on every backwater and gravel pit.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E483"},{"n":"Goosanders on the Rhine","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Sawbill ducks fishing the fast clear water below the gorge.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E484"},{"n":"Mandarin ducks","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Escaped, established and improbably ornamental on the Rhineland lakes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E485"},{"n":"Sand lizards on the terraces","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Emerald-flanked males on the dry-stone walls between the vines.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E486"},{"n":"Adders in the Eifel","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"On the volcanic heath and the warm quarry margins.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E487"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the forest pools","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"Orange-bellied and slate-blue, in every woodland puddle and wheel rut in spring.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E488"},{"n":"Tree frogs calling","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"A deafening chorus from a green frog the size of a thumbnail, in the Rhine floodplain ponds.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E489"},{"n":"Zander in the Rhine","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"A predator of the deeper slower water, and the fish German anglers prize most.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E490"},{"n":"Wels catfish","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Enormous, nocturnal and increasingly common in the big rivers. Genuinely startling to hook.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E491"},{"n":"Apollo butterfly on the Mosel slate","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"A large white mountain butterfly surviving on the hot Mosel terraces — a glacial relict at low altitude.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E492"},{"n":"Purple emperor in the oakwoods","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"The canopy king, down to the ride edges only on hot mornings.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E493"},{"n":"Beech forests in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Eifel and Hunsrück in copper and gold — and Germany takes its autumn walking seriously.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E494"},{"n":"Wild boar on the Veluwe roads","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Fenced sections and warning signs exist for a reason — a boar at dusk on a forest road is a real hazard.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E495"},{"n":"Badgers in the sandy banks","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Recovered strongly from a low point in the seventies, with setts through the Veluwe woodland.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E496"},{"n":"Pine martens returning","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Back in the Veluwe and Drenthe forests after near-extinction, and almost never seen.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E497"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"In every wood and park, and no greys anywhere to compete with them.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E498"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Gardens, dune scrub and campsite edges through the warm months.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E499"},{"n":"Daubenton’s bats over the canals","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Skimming the water at dusk in the middle of Utrecht and Amsterdam.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E500"},{"n":"Pond bats in the Weerribben","r":"RARE","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"A European rarity with an important Dutch population in the northern peat marshes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E501"},{"n":"Common seals pupping","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Pups born on the Wadden sandbanks in early summer, and the sandbank is closed while they are there.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E502"},{"n":"Peregrines on the power stations","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Nesting on industrial towers and cooling stacks across the Randstad, with public webcams.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E503"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"On every roadside pole between the polders.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E504"},{"n":"Montagu’s harriers on the arable","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"A summer harrier of the Groningen cereal plains, individually nest-protected by volunteers.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E505"},{"n":"Goshawks in the Veluwe pines","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[2,3,4],"c":["NL"],"d":"One of the densest populations in Europe, and increasingly urban.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E506"},{"n":"Long-eared owls roosting","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"Winter roosts of a dozen birds in a single village conifer.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E507"},{"n":"Barn owls on the polder","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Ghost-pale along the dyke margins at last light, and heavily supported by nest boxes.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E508"},{"n":"Black woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Crow-sized and entirely black bar the red cap, in the Veluwe’s older pine.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E509"},{"n":"Nightingales in the dune scrub","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"Full song from the coastal dune thickets through May.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E510"},{"n":"Golden orioles in the poplars","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"A fluting whistle from the canopy of the river floodplain woods.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E511"},{"n":"Bluethroats in the reed","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Commoner here than anywhere in western Europe, on every marsh margin.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E512"},{"n":"Savi’s and grasshopper warblers","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Reeling insect-like songs from the reedbed at dusk — heard far more than seen.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E513"},{"n":"Spoonbills at Texel","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"The Wadden islands hold the core of the Dutch population.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E514"},{"n":"Purple herons in the marsh","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Slimmer, darker and far shyer than a grey heron, slipping into the reed.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E515"},{"n":"Bitterns booming","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"The reedbed foghorn of the Weerribben and the Oostvaardersplassen.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E516"},{"n":"Pied avocet chicks on the flats","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Long-legged and absurd, running the brackish mud within days of hatching.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E517"},{"n":"Spotted redshank in eclipse","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Coal-black in full plumage on spring passage — one of the most striking waders in Europe.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E518"},{"n":"Sand lizards in the dunes","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"The coastal dune belt is a national stronghold, and males go emerald in spring.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E519"},{"n":"Smooth snakes on the heath","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"The rarest Dutch reptile, on the dry heaths of Brabant and the Veluwe.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E520"},{"n":"Tree frogs in the Achterhoek","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"A green frog the size of a thumbnail with a chorus you can hear a kilometre off. Recovered from near-loss.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E521"},{"n":"Roe deer everywhere","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"The commonest deer in the country, on every field edge and forest ride.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E522"},{"n":"Red deer in Skåne","r":"LUCKY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"A native southern population, with an autumn rut in the beech woods.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E523"},{"n":"Fallow deer in the parks","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Introduced to the southern estates centuries ago and thoroughly established.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E524"},{"n":"Reindeer of the Sámi","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Herded across the north for a thousand years, and with absolute right of way on the road.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E525"},{"n":"Red foxes","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"From the Skåne farmland to the edge of the fell.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E526"},{"n":"Badgers","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"Setts in the sandy banks of the southern woodland.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E527"},{"n":"Mountain hares in ermine","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[11,12,1,2,3,4],"c":["SE"],"d":"White against dark forest when the snow is late.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E528"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"In every wood, and noticeably darker in winter coat.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E529"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"LIKELY","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Gardens and campsite edges through the short warm season.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E530"},{"n":"Bats over the summer lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"Northern bats hunting in near-daylight at midnight in June.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E531"},{"n":"Wild boar spreading north","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Absent for centuries and now abundant in the south, moving north year on year.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E532"},{"n":"Golden eagles over the forest","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Breeding through the northern forests and the fell edge.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E533"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles on the Baltic","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"A conservation triumph — from near-extinction in the seventies to a common coastal sight.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E534"},{"n":"Goshawks in the spruce","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"The default forest raptor, and a serious predator of everything up to a hare.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E535"},{"n":"Rough-legged buzzards","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["SE"],"d":"Arctic buzzards down for the winter, hovering over open fields.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E536"},{"n":"Tengmalm’s owl","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[2,3,4],"c":["SE"],"d":"A small forest owl with a hollow bouncing song on late-winter nights.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E537"},{"n":"Hawk owl","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["SE"],"d":"Perched on the very top of a dead spruce in broad daylight, hunting voles like a falcon.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E538"},{"n":"Eagle owls","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"On coastal cliffs and old quarries, and the largest owl in the world by some measures.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E539"},{"n":"Willow and Siberian tits","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Northern forest specialists, and the Siberian tit is a genuine northern prize.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E540"},{"n":"Waxwings in a good winter","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["SE"],"d":"Irruptive flocks stripping rowan berries, and the birds that then arrive in Britain.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E541"},{"n":"Pine grosbeak","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["SE"],"d":"A large rose-pink finch of the northern forest, and one most Swedish birders travel for.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E542"},{"n":"Redwings and fieldfares breeding","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["SE"],"d":"What Britain gets as winter thrushes breed here in every birch wood.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E543"},{"n":"Bluethroats in the mountain birch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[6,7],"c":["SE"],"d":"The fell zone’s own robin, with a throat like enamel.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E544"},{"n":"Common cranes at Kvismaren","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"A second great crane site after Hornborgasjön, and quieter for it.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E545"},{"n":"Whooper swans breeding","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"On forest lakes across the country — the national bird, and audible before visible.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E546"},{"n":"Slavonian grebes displaying","r":"LUCKY","g":"waterbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["SE"],"d":"Golden head tufts on small northern lakes in spring.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E547"},{"n":"Black-throated divers","r":"LUCKY","g":"waterbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"Wailing across a forest lake at dusk — the defining sound of a Swedish summer night.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E548"},{"n":"Ringed seals in the Bothnian Bay","r":"RARE","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4],"c":["SE"],"d":"A landlocked Baltic subspecies that pups on the ice, and one of Europe’s most threatened mammals.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E549"},{"n":"Harbour seals on the west coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Hauled out on the Bohuslän skerries alongside the greys.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E550"},{"n":"Salmon in the northern rivers","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"Baltic salmon running the big northern rivers, and a serious licensed fishery.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E551"},{"n":"Grayling in the fell rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["SE"],"d":"Clear cold water and free-rising fish under the midnight sun.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E552"},{"n":"Zander in the southern lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"A predator of the big shallow lakes, and the fish most southern Swedes target.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E553"},{"n":"Scarce heath and cranberry fritillary","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["SE"],"d":"Bog and mire specialists, and both declining as the wet ground is drained.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E554"},{"n":"Cloudberries on the mire","r":"LUCKY","g":"apple","m":[7,8],"c":["SE"],"d":"Amber, tart and prized. Free to pick under the right to roam, and locations are never shared.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E555"},{"n":"Birch forest in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"The whole country goes gold for a fortnight, and the whole country goes walking in it.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E556"},{"n":"Roe deer in the south","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Common through the southern and coastal lowlands, and spreading north.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E557"},{"n":"Red deer on the west coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Norway holds a large population, and the autumn rut echoes round the fjord valleys.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E558"},{"n":"Red foxes on the fell","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Moving up the mountain as the climate warms, and squeezing the arctic fox as it goes.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E559"},{"n":"Badgers in the south","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["NO"],"d":"At the northern limit of their European range, in the southern woodland.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E560"},{"n":"Mountain hares","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"White in winter, blue-grey in summer, from the coast to the high fell.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E561"},{"n":"Hedgehogs in the south","r":"LUCKY","g":"hedgehog","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NO"],"d":"At the northern edge of their range, in gardens around Oslo and the south coast.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E562"},{"n":"Bats at the fjord head","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Northern bats hunting in the half-dark of a midsummer night.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E563"},{"n":"Eurasian otter on the coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Coastal otters working the tideline, as in Shetland — healthier here than almost anywhere.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E564"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"In every sound and fjord mouth, and often seen from a ferry deck.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E565"},{"n":"White-beaked dolphins offshore","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NO"],"d":"A cold-water dolphin of the outer coast, larger and blunter than the common.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E566"},{"n":"Basking sharks off the west coast","r":"RARE","g":"shark","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Once heavily hunted here and now genuinely scarce — a fin off a headland is a real event.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E567"},{"n":"Sea eagles at the nest","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"Nest sites are known, protected and often visible from a boat at a respectful distance.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E568"},{"n":"Rough-legged buzzards on the fell","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"A tundra buzzard that breeds well when the lemmings do and vanishes when they do not.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E569"},{"n":"Merlins over the heath","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Europe’s smallest falcon, hunting pipits across the open fell.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E570"},{"n":"Hawk owls on the dead spruce","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Daylight hunters perched on the highest available point, entirely unbothered by people.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E571"},{"n":"Great grey owl","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Enormous and flat-faced, in the eastern forests near the Swedish border.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E572"},{"n":"Capercaillie in the pinewood","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["NO"],"d":"Displaying at dawn in old pine, and occasionally an aggressive male that has decided it owns the track.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E573"},{"n":"Black grouse lekking","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["NO"],"d":"Bubbling and sneezing on a frozen bog at first light.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E574"},{"n":"Common cranes in the north","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Breeding on the northern mires and bugling across them at dawn.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E575"},{"n":"Red-throated divers on the lochans","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Wailing over small hill tarns — a sound that carries an extraordinary distance.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E576"},{"n":"Long-tailed ducks in winter","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[11,12,1,2,3],"c":["NO"],"d":"Rafting offshore in the dark months, and yodelling across the water.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E577"},{"n":"Arctic char under the ice","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Ice fishing is a national pastime, and the char is the fish it targets.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E578"},{"n":"Halibut and cod from the boat","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Deep water close inshore, and sea angling needs no licence for a visitor.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E579"},{"n":"Camargue greater flamingos","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Thirty thousand birds on the salt lagoons, and the only regular breeding colony in France. Pink is the wrong word for it in low sun.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E580"},{"n":"Camargue white horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Born dark and greying with age, working the marsh with the gardians. Semi-feral, ancient and entirely at home in salt water.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E581"},{"n":"Griffon vultures over the Cévennes","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Extinct in the massif by 1945 and reintroduced from 1981; hundreds now ride the thermals over the gorges. One of Europe’s great restoration stories.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E582"},{"n":"Hermann’s tortoise in the Maures","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"France’s only wild tortoise, confined to the Massif des Maures and a corner of Corsica. Fire and collection have nearly finished it.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E583"},{"n":"Ocellated lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Europe’s largest lizard — up to two feet including tail, green with blue eye-spots along the flank. Dry stone walls and garrigue.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E584"},{"n":"Cicadas in the pines","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"The sound of the Midi, and it stops the instant you look. Above roughly twenty-two degrees they sing; below it, silence.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E585"},{"n":"Camargue bulls","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Black, lyre-horned and raised half-wild on the marsh for the course camarguaise — in which the bull is not killed.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E586"},{"n":"Black-winged stilts","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Absurd pink legs wading the salt pans, and one of the birds Britain almost never gets.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E587"},{"n":"Avocets on the salins","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Sweeping the brine with that upturned bill across every worked pan.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E588"},{"n":"Glossy ibis","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Bronze-green and curve-billed, in flocks over the marsh — a recent and rapid colonist.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E589"},{"n":"Squacco heron","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Buff and hunched in the reed until it flies, when it turns startlingly white.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E590"},{"n":"Cattle egrets with the horses","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Following the hooves for whatever they turn up. Golden-crowned in the breeding season.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E591"},{"n":"Whiskered terns over the marsh","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A marsh tern that dips rather than dives, in loose flocks over the étangs.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E592"},{"n":"Slender-billed gulls","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Pale, long-necked and flushed pink on the breast in spring. A Mediterranean speciality.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E593"},{"n":"European bee-eaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"The most improbably coloured bird in Europe, hawking insects over the garrigue and nesting in sand banks.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E594"},{"n":"European roller","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Electric blue on a roadside wire, and declining hard across its range.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E595"},{"n":"Montagu’s harrier over the cereal","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A summer harrier of the Crau and the cereal plains, nests individually protected by volunteers.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E596"},{"n":"Coypu in the ditches","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"South American, escaped and everywhere on southern French water. Orange teeth, and no attempt at concealment.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E597"},{"n":"European pond terrapin","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Basking on a log in the marsh, and genuinely native rather than an abandoned pet.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E598"},{"n":"Sea lavender on the salt flats","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Purple haze across the sansouire in late summer, with glasswort underfoot.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E599"},{"n":"Seahorses in the Étang de Thau","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The lagoon holds a population of long-snouted seahorses among the oyster tables — seen by snorkellers, and easily missed.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E600"},{"n":"Thau oyster tables","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Rows of trestles in a lagoon between the sea and the Languedoc hills, worked from flat-bottomed boats.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E601"},{"n":"Bonelli’s eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Down to around forty pairs in France, most of them in the south-east. A garrigue specialist, and one of the country’s rarest raptors.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E602"},{"n":"Short-toed snake eagle","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Hovering over the scrub hunting snakes, pale-bellied and unmistakable once you have seen one.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E603"},{"n":"Egyptian vulture","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Small, scruffy and yellow-faced, on a handful of southern cliffs. Uses stones to break eggs.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E604"},{"n":"Cinereous vulture","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The black vulture, reintroduced to the Grands Causses alongside the griffons and larger than either.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E605"},{"n":"Eagle owls on the cliffs","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Europe’s largest owl, on quarry faces and gorge walls right through the south.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E606"},{"n":"Scops owl calling","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A single pure electronic note every two seconds, all night, from every southern village plane tree.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E607"},{"n":"Blue rock thrush","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Slate-blue on a bare crag or a village roof, and singing from the highest available point.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E608"},{"n":"Sardinian warbler","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Black cap, red eye-ring and a rattling scold from every scrub bush in the Midi.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E609"},{"n":"Subalpine warbler","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"A summer visitor of the garrigue, and far more retiring than its Sardinian cousin.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E610"},{"n":"Woodchat shrike","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Chestnut-capped, on a wire or a thorn, with a larder of impaled insects nearby.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E611"},{"n":"Crag martins on the gorge walls","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Hugging the rock in the Verdon and the Ardèche, and resident where the swallows are not.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E612"},{"n":"Alpine swifts","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Twice the size of a common swift, white-bellied, screaming round the gorge cliffs.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E613"},{"n":"Hoopoes on the tracks","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Crest up, butterfly flight, and probing the dust of every vineyard track.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E614"},{"n":"Montpellier snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Long, fast and rear-fanged but effectively harmless to people. A garrigue hunter and quite happy to be watched at distance.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E615"},{"n":"Ladder snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Named for the rungs of the young; adults lose them and keep two dark stripes.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E616"},{"n":"Wall lizards everywhere","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every wall, ruin and rock pile in the south. The first reptile anyone meets here.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E617"},{"n":"Western spadefoot toad","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"A burrowing toad with a spade on each hind foot, in the Camargue sands. Heard underwater more than seen.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E618"},{"n":"Praying mantis in the grass","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"On dry grassland from late summer, and far commoner in the Midi than most visitors expect.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E619"},{"n":"Two-tailed pasha","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Europe’s most spectacular butterfly, feeding on strawberry-tree fruit and fallen figs.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E620"},{"n":"Spanish festoon","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[3,4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"A zebra-striped early-spring butterfly of the garrigue, and one of the first on the wing.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E621"},{"n":"Cleopatra butterfly","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A brimstone with an orange flush, drifting the scrub from the first warm days.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E622"},{"n":"Scarce swallowtail","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Pale, tiger-striped and sailing round every southern orchard.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E623"},{"n":"European beavers on the Cèze","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Rhône tributaries are where the French beaver survived when the rest of Europe lost it. Gnawed willow at dusk.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E624"},{"n":"Otters in the Cévennes rivers","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Recovering along the clean upland water, and still genuinely hard to see.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E625"},{"n":"Przewalski’s horses at Le Villaret","r":"LUCKY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A conservation herd of the last true wild horse, kept on the Causse Méjean and used to restock Mongolia.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E626"},{"n":"Mouflon on the causse","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Introduced wild sheep on the limestone plateaux, curved-horned and entirely established.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E627"},{"n":"Red deer in the Cévennes","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Reintroduced from the 1950s and now roaring across the chestnut woods each October.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E628"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Abundant, nocturnal and the reason every vineyard has a fence. Rootings are the usual evidence.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E629"},{"n":"Cévennes dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"The park is an International Dark Sky Reserve — among the largest in Europe, and the Milky Way is genuinely bright.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E630"},{"n":"Ventoux alpine flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"The bare white summit holds Arctic and alpine plants marooned since the ice, a thousand miles from their range.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E631"},{"n":"Wild thyme and rosemary","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"The garrigue underfoot, and the whole hillside smells of it in the heat.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E632"},{"n":"Lavender in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Valensole and Sault plateaux in full colour for about four weeks, and the roads are busy with everyone who came for it.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E633"},{"n":"Wild orchids of the garrigue","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"Bee, tongue and lizard orchids on the thin limestone soils, and dozens of species between them.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E634"},{"n":"Holm and cork oak","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The two evergreen oaks that define the Midi — and the cork stripped in ochre stripes down the trunk.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E635"},{"n":"Cèpes after autumn rain","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"The chestnut woods of the Cévennes, and a serious local pursuit with serious local secrecy.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E636"},{"n":"Black truffles","r":"RARE","g":"fungi","m":[12,1,2],"c":["FR"],"d":"Under the oaks of the Vaucluse and the Drôme, found by dog, and the reason for the winter markets at Richerenches.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E637"},{"n":"Striped and bottlenose dolphins","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Pelagos Sanctuary offshore is a protected cetacean area the size of a small country.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E638"},{"n":"Fin whales offshore","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"The second largest animal on earth, feeding in the Ligurian Sea within reach of a day boat.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E639"},{"n":"Loggerhead turtles","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Increasingly seen off the Var coast, and now occasionally nesting on French beaches for the first time in memory.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E640"},{"n":"Ocean sunfish","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A vast lopsided disc basking flat at the surface, and completely harmless.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E641"},{"n":"Posidonia meadows","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Seagrass beds that oxygenate the whole Mediterranean shallows and are protected accordingly — do not anchor in them.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E642"},{"n":"Octopus in the calanques","r":"LIKELY","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"In every rock crevice of the limestone inlets, and visible with a mask from the surface.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E643"},{"n":"Peregrines over the calanques","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Nesting on the white limestone cliffs above the sea between Marseille and Cassis.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E644"},{"n":"Aleppo pines on the cliff","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Growing horizontally out of bare limestone above the water, and the smell of them in August is the coast itself.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E645"},{"n":"Cherry harvest in the Luberon","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"The first of the southern harvests, and the roadside stalls appear overnight.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E646"},{"n":"The vendange in the Rhône","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Grapes off the Châteauneuf and Gigondas slopes, and the villages smell of fermentation for a fortnight.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E647"},{"n":"Olive harvest","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Nets under the trees across Provence and the Alpilles, and the mills running day and night.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E648"},{"n":"Perseid meteors over the causse","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[8],"c":["FR"],"d":"August, a limestone plateau, no light for thirty miles, and warm enough to lie out all night.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E649"},{"n":"Alpine ibex","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Shot out of Switzerland entirely by 1809 and rebuilt from animals smuggled out of Gran Paradiso. Now on every high ridge, and utterly unbothered by walkers.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E650"},{"n":"Bearded vultures over the Engadine","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Extinct in the Alps by 1913 and reintroduced from 1986; the Swiss National Park is the best place in Europe to see one. Nearly three metres across, and it eats bone.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E651"},{"n":"Grossglockner marmots","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Whistling from every slope on the High Alpine Road, and so used to people at the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe that they beg.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E652"},{"n":"Chamois on the scree","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Smaller and far more nervous than ibex, working ground no ibex would bother with. Autumn is when they come lower.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E653"},{"n":"Alpine salamander","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Jet black, out on wet paths after rain, and the only European amphibian that gives birth to fully formed live young after up to three years’ gestation.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E654"},{"n":"The Aletsch glacier","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Twenty-three kilometres of ice and the largest glacier in the Alps — a UNESCO site, and visibly, measurably shorter every decade.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E655"},{"n":"Alpine marmots","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"Whistling alarm calls across every high pasture, and asleep underground from October to April.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E656"},{"n":"Golden eagles over the ridges","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Around three hundred pairs hold the Swiss Alps, and a bird over a corrie is more often this than a buzzard.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E657"},{"n":"Eurasian lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Reintroduced from 1971 and now established in the Jura and the north-west Alps. Effectively a camera-trap animal.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E658"},{"n":"Wolves returning","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Walked back over the Italian border in 1995 under their own steam, and now breeding in packs. Extremely controversial and almost never seen.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E659"},{"n":"Red deer in the Engadine","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"A conservation success that became a management problem — the September rut in the National Park is genuinely loud.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E660"},{"n":"Roe deer at the wood edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"On every valley-floor field margin at first and last light.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E661"},{"n":"Mountain hares in ermine","r":"LUCKY","g":"hare","m":[11,12,1,2,3,4],"c":["CH"],"d":"White against dark rock above the tree line when the snow comes late.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E662"},{"n":"Red squirrels in the larch","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Darker-coated than the British ones, and no greys anywhere to compete with them.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E663"},{"n":"Beavers on the Swiss rivers","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Extinct here by 1820, reintroduced from 1956, and now on the Aare, the Reuss and the Rhône.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E664"},{"n":"Alpine shrew","r":"RARE","g":"hedgehog","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"A high-altitude specialist living in scree and snowbeds, and barely ever seen alive.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E665"},{"n":"Bats in the valley barns","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"Over the meadows at dusk; several Alpine species roost in the old timber hay barns.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E666"},{"n":"Wallcreeper","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"The great Alpine prize: crimson wings flicking against grey rock on a gorge face. Comes lower in winter, which is the honest time to look.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E667"},{"n":"Alpine choughs at the summit","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Yellow-billed, acrobatic, and waiting at every cable-car station for a dropped sandwich. Recorded above eight thousand metres on Everest.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E668"},{"n":"Red-billed choughs","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Lower than the alpine chough and rarer here, with a curved red bill and a ringing call.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E669"},{"n":"Spotted nutcracker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"It buries stone-pine seeds by the thousand and forgets enough of them to plant the forest. The whole Arve woodland exists because of this bird.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E670"},{"n":"Snowfinch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"A sparrow of the high snowbeds and ski stations, and the highest-breeding songbird in Europe.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E671"},{"n":"Alpine accentor","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"A dunnock of the summit boulder fields, tame to the point of walking over your boots.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E672"},{"n":"Water pipits on the pasture","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Parachuting song-flights over every alpine meadow above the tree line.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E673"},{"n":"Citril finch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"A small green finch of the conifer treeline, and effectively an Alpine and Pyrenean endemic.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E674"},{"n":"Ring ouzels above the treeline","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["CH"],"d":"The mountain blackbird with a white bib, on every scree slope.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E675"},{"n":"Crossbills in the spruce","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Breeding in midwinter because that is when the cones open. Listen for falling scales.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E676"},{"n":"Rock ptarmigan","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"White in winter and mottled in summer, and nearly invisible until it explodes from underfoot.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E677"},{"n":"Black grouse lekking","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["CH"],"d":"Bubbling and hissing on a snow patch at first light in the treeline scrub.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E678"},{"n":"Capercaillie","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["CH"],"d":"Down to a few hundred birds and declining. Lek sites are protected and unpublished for good reason.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E679"},{"n":"Hazel grouse","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"A thin whistle from dense spruce, and a bird most Swiss have never seen.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E680"},{"n":"Rock partridge","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"A southern Alpine specialist on hot dry slopes in Ticino and the Valais.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E681"},{"n":"Tengmalm’s owl","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[2,3,4],"c":["CH"],"d":"A hollow bouncing song from old spruce on late-winter nights.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E682"},{"n":"Pygmy owl","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Smaller than a starling and hunting other birds. The whistled song carries a long way through cold air.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E683"},{"n":"Eagle owls on the gorge walls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"On rock faces through the Jura and the lower valleys.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E684"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"A specialist of dead standing spruce, and a good sign a forest has been left alone.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E685"},{"n":"Black woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Crow-sized, entirely black bar the red cap, and audible half a mile off.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E686"},{"n":"Dippers on the meltwater","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Walking underwater against glacier-fed current in the middle of winter.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E687"},{"n":"Grey wagtails on the torrents","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"On every rock in every alpine stream in the country.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E688"},{"n":"Common goldeneye on the lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[11,12,1,2,3],"c":["CH"],"d":"Wintering on the big lakes with red-crested pochard and tufted duck.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E689"},{"n":"Great crested grebes on Léman","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"The weed dance on the big lakes from February, well before the mountains thaw.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E690"},{"n":"Asp viper","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"Southern-slope rock and scree in the Valais and Ticino. Venomous, entirely avoidant, and best left alone.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E691"},{"n":"Adders on the alp","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Higher than most people expect — well above two thousand metres on warm mornings.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E692"},{"n":"Common wall lizard","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["CH"],"d":"On every south-facing wall and vineyard terrace in the Valais and Ticino.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E693"},{"n":"Viviparous lizard","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"Bears live young rather than laying eggs, which is how it survives at altitude.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E694"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the tarns","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["CH"],"d":"Orange-bellied and slate-blue, in high pools that were frozen a fortnight earlier.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E695"},{"n":"Fire salamander in the beech","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["CH"],"d":"Lower down than its alpine cousin, out on wet forest paths after rain.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E696"},{"n":"Brown trout in the mountain streams","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"Small wild fish in gin-clear water. Permits are cantonal, well organised and easy to buy.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E697"},{"n":"Arctic char in the deep lakes","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"Ice-age relicts in the cold depths of the big lakes, fished from boats in summer.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E698"},{"n":"Lake whitefish — féra","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"The commercial fish of Léman and Neuchâtel, and on every lakeside restaurant menu.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E699"},{"n":"Apollo butterfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Big, white and red-spotted, drifting slowly over flowery alpine slopes. Protected, and declining as the meadows change.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E700"},{"n":"Alpine blues","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Several species of small blue butterfly over the short turf, and telling them apart is a lifetime’s work.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E701"},{"n":"Rosalia longhorn beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Powder-blue with black spots and long banded antennae, on old beech. A protected European flagship insect.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E702"},{"n":"Edelweiss","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Felted white stars on limestone ledges. Protected, genuinely uncommon, and never to be picked.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E703"},{"n":"Spring and trumpet gentians","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["CH"],"d":"A blue that photographs badly and stops people in their tracks in person.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E704"},{"n":"Alpenrose in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["CH"],"d":"Whole hillsides of dwarf rhododendron turning pink just above the treeline.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E705"},{"n":"Glacier crowfoot","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"A buttercup growing higher than almost any other flowering plant in Europe, at the very edge of the ice.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E706"},{"n":"Martagon lily","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["CH"],"d":"Turk’s-cap flowers in the tall-herb meadows and open woods.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E707"},{"n":"Lady’s slipper orchid","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["CH"],"d":"Europe’s most spectacular orchid, on limestone, and dug up almost to extinction in places.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E708"},{"n":"Arnica on the pasture","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["CH"],"d":"Yellow daisies across the acid alpine meadows, and the source of the ointment.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E709"},{"n":"Stone pine woodland","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"The Arve, growing to the absolute treeline and planted almost entirely by nutcrackers.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E710"},{"n":"Larches turning gold","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["CH"],"d":"The only European conifer that drops its needles, and the Engadine in late October is the reason people come.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E711"},{"n":"Alpine transhumance","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[6,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"Cattle up to the high alps in June and down in September in flower-decked procession. A living practice, not a display.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E712"},{"n":"Valais blacknose sheep","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Entirely absurd — black face, white curls — and a genuine working mountain breed.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E713"},{"n":"Foehn wind","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"A warm dry downslope wind that can raise the temperature ten degrees in an hour and gives half the country a headache.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E714"},{"n":"Alpine night sky","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["CH"],"d":"Above two thousand metres with no haze, and the Milky Way is genuinely bright.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E715"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the valleys","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[9,10],"c":["CH"],"d":"A serious flush in the beech and spruce, and cantonal rules on how much you may pick.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E716"},{"n":"Glacial erratics and moraine","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Boulders carried tens of kilometres and dumped where the ice stopped — the evidence that first proved the ice ages.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E717"},{"n":"Ravens over the passes","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Tumbling and croaking above every col, and often the only thing moving up there.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E718"},{"n":"Alpine ibex in the Hohe Tauern","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Reintroduced to the national park and now a reliable sight on the high ground above the Grossglockner road.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E719"},{"n":"Golden eagles of the Hohe Tauern","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Austria’s national park holds one of the densest populations in the Alps.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E720"},{"n":"Bearded vultures","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Released into the Rauris valley from 1986 as part of the Alpine programme, and now breeding wild again.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E721"},{"n":"Griffon vultures in Rauris","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"A summer gathering of non-breeding birds that has become one of the most reliable vulture sites in the Alps.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E722"},{"n":"Ural owls","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["AT"],"d":"Extinct in Austria by the 1950s and reintroduced from 2009 into the Wienerwald and Alpine foothills.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E723"},{"n":"Eagle owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"On quarry faces and gorge walls, and the largest owl in Europe.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E724"},{"n":"Tengmalm’s and pygmy owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[2,3,4],"c":["AT"],"d":"Both in the old spruce of the Tyrol, and both far more often heard than seen.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E725"},{"n":"Black grouse at the lek","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["AT"],"d":"On the treeline scrub at first light, and a protected spectacle watched from marked hides.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E726"},{"n":"Capercaillie","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["AT"],"d":"Present in the older forests and genuinely rare. Lek sites are protected and unadvertised.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E727"},{"n":"Rock ptarmigan","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Above the treeline on the Tauern ridges, white in winter and invisible in summer.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E728"},{"n":"Hazel grouse","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"The forest’s most retiring bird, and a thin whistle from dense cover.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E729"},{"n":"Red deer of the Tauern","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"A large managed population, and the September rut echoes down the valleys.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E730"},{"n":"Roe deer","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"On every field edge and forest ride in the country.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E731"},{"n":"Wild boar in the lowlands","r":"LUCKY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Abundant in the eastern lowlands and moving up the valleys. Nocturnal and destructive.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E732"},{"n":"Brown bears","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"A handful of animals at most, and Austria’s reintroduction largely failed. Effectively unseeable, and honestly listed as such.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E733"},{"n":"Lynx in the Kalkalpen","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"A fragile population in the limestone Alps, monitored by camera and rarely confirmed by eye.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E734"},{"n":"Wolves crossing the border","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Returning naturally from Italy and Slovenia, and the subject of a great deal of argument.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E735"},{"n":"Otters on the Danube tributaries","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Recovered strongly in the eastern rivers, and now spreading back up the alpine valleys.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E736"},{"n":"Beavers on the Danube","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Reintroduced in the 1970s and now common along the whole eastern river system.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E737"},{"n":"Alpine marmots on the Tauern","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Whistling from the boulder fields, and the sound of an Austrian high summer.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E738"},{"n":"Mountain hares","r":"LUCKY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Above the treeline, white in winter, and squeezed as brown hares move up.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E739"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"In every wood and park, and often nearly black in the mountains.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E740"},{"n":"Bats in the ice caves","r":"LUCKY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"The limestone cave systems of the Salzkammergut hold important hibernation roosts.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E741"},{"n":"Alpine choughs","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"At every summit station and mountain hut, and entirely without shame.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E742"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the limestone","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"On the Dachstein and Kalkalpen cliffs, and easier in winter when they come down.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E743"},{"n":"Nutcrackers in the stone pine","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Planting the Zirbenwald one buried seed at a time.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E744"},{"n":"Alpine accentor","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"On summit boulder fields, and tame enough to be irritating.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E745"},{"n":"Snowfinch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Around the high ski stations and snowbeds all year.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E746"},{"n":"Ring ouzels","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["AT"],"d":"On every scree slope above the treeline.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E747"},{"n":"Crested tits","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"In every spruce plantation, while Britain holds them only in the Caledonian pines.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E748"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"The Kalkalpen national park was created partly for this bird and the dead wood it needs.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E749"},{"n":"White-backed woodpecker","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"An old-growth specialist, and one of the rarest woodpeckers in central Europe.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E750"},{"n":"Dippers on the Salzach","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"On the fast clean water of every alpine river.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E751"},{"n":"Grey herons on the lakes","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"On every Salzkammergut lake shore, and increasingly urban.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E752"},{"n":"Great crested grebes","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"The weed dance on the Attersee and the Wolfgangsee each spring.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E753"},{"n":"Goosanders on the alpine rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Sawbill ducks fishing the clear fast water below the gorges.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E754"},{"n":"Asp viper and adder","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"Both occur; both are venomous, avoidant and best watched from where you already are.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E755"},{"n":"Aesculapian snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"Long, harmless and a climber — the snake on the physician’s staff, and genuinely named for it.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E756"},{"n":"Green lizard in the east","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Electric green on warm slopes in the eastern foothills and the Wachau.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E757"},{"n":"Fire salamander after rain","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["AT"],"d":"On wet forest paths in the limestone Alps at dusk.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E758"},{"n":"Yellow-bellied toad","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"In wheel ruts and quarry puddles, arching to show a startling belly when alarmed. Declining hard.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E759"},{"n":"Alpine newts","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["AT"],"d":"In every high pool and cattle trough in spring.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E760"},{"n":"Huchen — the Danube salmon","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"A metre-long predatory salmonid found nowhere else on earth, and one of Europe’s most threatened fish.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E761"},{"n":"Grayling in the Tyrolean rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"The lady of the stream in clear cold water, and a serious fly-fishing destination.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E762"},{"n":"Brown trout in the Salzkammergut","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Wild fish in lakes so clear the boats look suspended. Permits are local and simple.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E763"},{"n":"Arctic char in the deep lakes","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Ice-age relicts in the Traunsee and the Attersee, hundreds of metres down.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E764"},{"n":"Apollo butterfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"Drifting the flowery limestone slopes, protected, and an indicator that the meadow is still cut by hand.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E765"},{"n":"Scarce and clouded apollos","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7],"c":["AT"],"d":"Two more members of a declining family, both tied to specific and shrinking habitats.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E766"},{"n":"Marbled whites on the meadows","r":"COMMON","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["AT"],"d":"In their thousands on the uncut hay meadows before the first cut.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E767"},{"n":"Rosalia longhorn beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"Powder-blue on old beech in the Wienerwald and the Kalkalpen, and a protected European flagship.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E768"},{"n":"Alpine longhorn and stag beetles","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"Heavy, armoured and clattering out of the old wood on warm evenings.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E769"},{"n":"Edelweiss on the Tauern","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"Protected since 1886 in some provinces, and the national flower for good reason.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E770"},{"n":"Gentians on the pasture","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["AT"],"d":"Trumpet and spring gentians across every alp, and the root of the schnapps.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E771"},{"n":"Alpenrose","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["AT"],"d":"Pink hillsides just above the treeline through midsummer.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E772"},{"n":"Arnica and alpine aster","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"The flowering hay meadow, and the reason Austrian mountain hay smells the way it does.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E773"},{"n":"Lady’s slipper orchid","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["AT"],"d":"On limestone in the Kalkalpen, and strictly protected.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E774"},{"n":"Zirbenwald — stone pine forest","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Growing to the treeline in the Ötztal, and the timber that scents every Tyrolean bedroom.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E775"},{"n":"Larches in October","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["AT"],"d":"Gold against black spruce the length of every Tyrolean valley.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E776"},{"n":"Almabtrieb — the cattle descent","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Cattle brought down from the high alps in September wearing enormous decorated headdresses, and the village turns out for it.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E777"},{"n":"Haflinger horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"The Tyrol’s own breed — chestnut with a flaxen mane, bred for mountain work since the 1870s.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E778"},{"n":"Krimml falls in melt","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[5,6,7],"c":["AT"],"d":"Europe’s tallest waterfall at three hundred and eighty metres, and loudest in the weeks after the thaw.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E779"},{"n":"Pasterze glacier","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Austria’s largest, below the Grossglockner — and the marker posts showing where the ice stood are genuinely sobering.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E780"},{"n":"Ice caves at Werfen","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"The largest ice cave system in the world, forty kilometres of it inside a limestone mountain.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E781"},{"n":"Alpine dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["AT"],"d":"High valleys with the lights below you, and long clear winter nights.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E782"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the Kalkalpen","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[9,10],"c":["AT"],"d":"A serious flush, taken seriously, and picking limits are enforced.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E783"},{"n":"Ravens over the Grossglockner","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"Tumbling above the highest road in the country, and often the only thing above you.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E784"},{"n":"Foehn over the Tyrol","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"The warm dry downslope wind that clears the valley in an hour and unsettles everyone in it.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E785"},{"n":"Ibex kids on the ledges","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Born in June on ground no predator can reach, and climbing near-vertical rock within days.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E786"},{"n":"Swiss National Park red deer rut","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[9,10],"c":["CH"],"d":"The park was founded in 1914 and nothing has been managed since — the September rut here is as close to wild as the Alps get.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E787"},{"n":"Alpine ringlet butterflies","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Dark, velvety and everywhere on the high turf in midsummer. A genus with dozens of near-identical species.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E788"},{"n":"Cotton grass on the high bogs","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["CH"],"d":"White flags across the peat of the Jura and the alpine plateaux.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E789"},{"n":"Gran Paradiso ibex","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The founding population. Every ibex in the Alps descends from the few hundred that survived here under royal protection when the rest of Europe shot them out.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E790"},{"n":"The Dolomite fossil reef","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The whole range is a Triassic coral reef lifted three thousand metres. Corals, shells and sponges are in the rock you are walking on.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E791"},{"n":"Enrosadira — the alpenglow","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Dolomites go pink and then blood red for a few minutes at dawn and dusk. The dolomite rock itself does it, and the Ladin legend explains it better than the geology.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E792"},{"n":"Comacchio flamingos","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Thousands of greater flamingos on the Po delta salt pans — a colony that established itself in the 1990s and never left.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E793"},{"n":"Crested porcupine","r":"LUCKY","g":"hedgehog","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Africa’s largest rodent, in Italy since Roman times and now common through Tuscany. Quills on a track are the usual sighting; the animal is nocturnal.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E794"},{"n":"Marmots on the Sella","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Whistling from every Dolomite boulder field, and the sound of a summer walk above two thousand metres.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E795"},{"n":"Chamois in the Dolomites","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"On ground even the ibex leave alone, and lower in autumn when the weather turns.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E796"},{"n":"Bearded vultures over the Dolomites","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Released into the Alps from 1986 and now breeding on the Italian side. Nearly three metres across.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E797"},{"n":"Golden eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Over every Dolomite corrie and the whole Aosta valley.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E798"},{"n":"Alpine choughs at the refuges","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Yellow-billed and entirely without shame at every mountain hut table.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E799"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the walls","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Crimson wings against grey limestone. The Dolomite cliffs hold them and winter brings them lower.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E800"},{"n":"Spotted nutcracker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Planting the stone pine forest one buried seed at a time.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E801"},{"n":"Rock ptarmigan","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"White in winter, mottled in summer, and invisible until it bursts out from underfoot.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E802"},{"n":"Black grouse lekking","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["IT"],"d":"Bubbling on a snow patch at first light in the treeline scrub.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E803"},{"n":"Capercaillie","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["IT"],"d":"In the older Alpine forests, declining, and with lek sites deliberately unpublished.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E804"},{"n":"Alpine accentor","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"On the summit boulder fields, and tame to the point of nuisance.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E805"},{"n":"Snowfinch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Around the high passes and ski stations all year.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E806"},{"n":"Alpine salamander","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Jet black on wet Dolomite paths after rain, and it gestates for up to three years.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E807"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the tarns","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"In high pools that were under ice a fortnight before.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E808"},{"n":"Red deer in the Aosta valley","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A strong Alpine population, roaring through the larch woods each October.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E809"},{"n":"Roe deer","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"On every valley field margin at first and last light.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E810"},{"n":"Wolves in the Apennines","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Never quite extinct in Italy, down to around a hundred animals in the seventies, and now recolonising the Alps from the south under their own power.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E811"},{"n":"Lynx in the eastern Alps","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A handful of animals crossing from Slovenia and Switzerland, monitored by camera and almost never confirmed by eye.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E812"},{"n":"Edelweiss on the limestone","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Protected, genuinely uncommon, and never to be picked.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E813"},{"n":"Dolomite gentians","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"Trumpet and spring gentians across the alpine turf, in a blue that photographs badly.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E814"},{"n":"Alpenrose","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"Pink hillsides just above the treeline right through midsummer.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E815"},{"n":"Larches turning gold","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"Val Gardena and the Val di Funes in late October, and the reason to travel then rather than in August.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E816"},{"n":"The Marmolada glacier","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The only glacier left in the Dolomites, and shrinking fast enough that its retreat is measured yearly.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E817"},{"n":"Apollo butterfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Big, white and red-spotted over the flowery alpine slopes. Protected.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E818"},{"n":"Rosalia longhorn beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Powder-blue with black spots on old beech, and a protected European flagship insect.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E819"},{"n":"Great crested grebes on Como","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The weed dance on all three great lakes from February, long before the mountains thaw.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E820"},{"n":"Cormorants on the lake posts","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"On every mooring and breakwater, wings out to dry, and blamed by every angler on the water.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E821"},{"n":"Carpione of Lake Garda","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A trout found in Garda and nowhere else on earth, down to a fraction of its former numbers and effectively unfishable now.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E822"},{"n":"Agone and lavarello","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The commercial lake fish of Como and Iseo, salted and dried on the shore in the old way.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E823"},{"n":"Pike and perch in the reeds","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"In every quiet bay of the northern lakes, and a licence is required and easy to buy.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E824"},{"n":"Monte Baldo flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"The ridge above Garda is called the garden of Europe — a limestone ark that escaped the ice and holds species found nowhere else.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E825"},{"n":"Olive groves on the lake shore","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"Garda grows olives further north than almost anywhere, because the lake holds the winter off.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E826"},{"n":"Cypress and umbrella pine","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The two trees that make an Italian horizon look Italian.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E827"},{"n":"Italian wall lizard","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"On every wall, ruin and lakeside terrace from the Alps to Tuscany.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E828"},{"n":"Green whip snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Long, fast, harmless and completely unwilling to be looked at.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E829"},{"n":"Aesculapian snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"A climber, harmless, and the snake coiled round the physician’s staff.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E830"},{"n":"Asp viper","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"On warm rock and scree. Venomous, avoidant, and best watched from where you already are.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E831"},{"n":"European pond terrapin","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Basking on a log in the delta and the lake margins, and genuinely native.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E832"},{"n":"Pygmy cormorant","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A small dark cormorant of the delta reedbeds, recovered strongly from near-loss.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E833"},{"n":"Glossy ibis","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Bronze-green and curve-billed over the Comacchio valli.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E834"},{"n":"Purple herons in the reed","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Slimmer and shyer than a grey heron, slipping into cover rather than flying.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E835"},{"n":"Squacco heron","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Buff and hunched until it flies, when it turns startlingly white.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E836"},{"n":"Little bittern","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"The smallest European heron, in the reed edges and gone before you focus.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E837"},{"n":"Black-winged stilts","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Absurd pink legs across the salt pans.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E838"},{"n":"Avocets on the valli","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Sweeping the brine on the worked lagoons of the delta.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E839"},{"n":"Kentish plover on the lido","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"Nesting on open Adriatic sand, and fenced against feet and dogs alike.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E840"},{"n":"Penduline tit","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"It weaves a hanging purse of a nest in the delta willows, and the nest is easier to find than the bird.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E841"},{"n":"European bee-eaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Hawking over the delta banks in the most improbable colours in Europe.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E842"},{"n":"Mediterranean gulls","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Pure white-winged and red-billed, on the lagoon and the Adriatic shore.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E843"},{"n":"Sandwich and little terns","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Fishing the shallow Adriatic and nesting on the lagoon shell banks.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E844"},{"n":"Striped and bottlenose dolphins","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"In the Ligurian Sea, inside the Pelagos Sanctuary — a protected cetacean area the size of a small country.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E845"},{"n":"Fin whales off Liguria","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"The second largest animal on earth, feeding within reach of a day boat from Genoa.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E846"},{"n":"Loggerhead turtles","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Increasingly nesting on Italian beaches, and each nest fenced and watched by volunteers.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E847"},{"n":"Cory’s shearwaters","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Shearing the Ligurian swell on stiff wings, far offshore and worth a boat trip.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E848"},{"n":"Seahorses in the lagoon","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Venice lagoon holds them in the eelgrass, and their recovery is used as a measure of the lagoon’s health.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E849"},{"n":"Wild boar in the Chianti","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Abundant, nocturnal, destructive to a vineyard, and on every Tuscan menu as a result.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E850"},{"n":"Hoopoes on the tracks","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Crest up and butterfly-flighted along every olive terrace.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E851"},{"n":"European roller","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Electric blue on a roadside wire, and declining across its range.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E852"},{"n":"Scops owl calling","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"One pure electronic note every two seconds, all night, from every Tuscan village.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E853"},{"n":"Little owls on the walls","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Out in daylight on barn roofs and ruined farmhouses.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E854"},{"n":"Barn owls over the fields","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Ghost-pale along the field margins of the Val d’Orcia at last light.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E855"},{"n":"Short-toed snake eagle","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Hovering over the scrub hunting snakes, pale-bellied and unmistakable.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E856"},{"n":"Red kites over the Apennines","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Forked tails over the hill farmland between Florence and Siena.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E857"},{"n":"Italian sparrow","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A species in its own right rather than a house sparrow, and found only here.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E858"},{"n":"Zitting cisticola","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A tiny warbler bouncing over the stubble with a call like a dripping tap.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E859"},{"n":"Cirl buntings","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Common in Italian farmland while Britain holds a few hundred pairs in Devon.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E860"},{"n":"Beech marten in the villages","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The urban marten, and notorious for chewing car wiring overnight.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E861"},{"n":"Hermann’s tortoise in the Maremma","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Wild in the coastal scrub, protected, and collection is one of the reasons it is scarce.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E862"},{"n":"Spectacled salamander","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"Found only in Italy — a small dark salamander with a red belly and pale marks over the eyes.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E863"},{"n":"Italian crested newt","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["IT"],"d":"In field ponds and stone troughs through the hills.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E864"},{"n":"Cicadas in the pines","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"The sound of an Italian August, and it stops the instant you look.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E865"},{"n":"Praying mantis","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"On dry grassland from late summer, and commoner than most visitors expect.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E866"},{"n":"Stag beetles in the oakwoods","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"Heavy and antlered, clattering out of the chestnut and oak on warm evenings.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E867"},{"n":"Scarce swallowtail","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Pale and tiger-striped round every orchard and olive terrace.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E868"},{"n":"Two-tailed pasha","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Europe’s most spectacular butterfly, on strawberry-tree fruit in the Maremma scrub.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E869"},{"n":"Italian festoon","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[4,5],"c":["IT"],"d":"Zebra-striped and one of the first butterflies of the Italian spring.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E870"},{"n":"Maremmana cattle and the butteri","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Long-horned white cattle worked from horseback by Italy’s own cowboys — a living tradition on the Tuscan coast.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E871"},{"n":"Maremma sheepdogs","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"White livestock guardians living with the flock rather than herding it, and the reason wolves and sheep coexist here.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E872"},{"n":"Chianina cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Enormous, porcelain-white, among the oldest breeds in the world, and the bistecca alla fiorentina.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E873"},{"n":"Sunflower fields","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"Whole Tuscan valleys turned yellow and all facing the same way for a few weeks.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E874"},{"n":"Poppies in the wheat","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["IT"],"d":"Red through the green corn of the Val d’Orcia before the harvest.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E875"},{"n":"Wild orchids on the limestone","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["IT"],"d":"Bee, tongue and pyramidal orchids on the thin Apennine soils.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E876"},{"n":"Chestnut woods in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Apennine chestnut, which fed these hills for centuries and still supplies the flour.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E877"},{"n":"Porcini after the rain","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"A national obsession in the chestnut and beech, with permits and daily limits that are enforced.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E878"},{"n":"White truffles of Alba","r":"RARE","g":"fungi","m":[10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"Found by dog in the Piedmont hills, sold by the gram, and the most expensive food on earth by weight.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E879"},{"n":"The vendemmia","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Grapes off the Chianti and Barolo slopes, and the whole hillside smells of fermentation.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E880"},{"n":"Olive harvest","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Nets under the trees across Tuscany, and the mills running through the night.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E881"},{"n":"Firefly nights","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6],"c":["IT"],"d":"Lucciole over the Tuscan vineyards for a fortnight in June, and no torch — it defeats the point.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E882"},{"n":"Apennine dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Between the hill towns there is very little light, and the Milky Way stands up properly.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E883"},{"n":"Cantabrian brown bears","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"Down to around eighty animals in the nineties and now several hundred. Somiedo and Muniellos are the strongholds, and the watching is done from a road with a telescope, at distance, in silence.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E884"},{"n":"Iberian wolves of the Culebra","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Sierra de la Culebra holds the highest wolf density in western Europe and is the most reliable place on the continent to see one wild. Dawn, a scope, and a great deal of patience.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E885"},{"n":"Whales of the Bay of Biscay","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"The ferry crosses a submarine canyon four thousand metres deep. Fin whales, Cuvier’s beaked whales and even blue whales are recorded from the deck — the crossing is a wildlife event in itself.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E886"},{"n":"Garrano horses of Gerês","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"An ancient Iberian breed running semi-wild in Portugal’s only national park, and depicted on cave walls in the same hills.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E887"},{"n":"Griffon vultures of the Douro","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"The Douro Internaçional gorge holds one of Iberia’s great vulture concentrations, riding the thermals off a river that is also the border.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E888"},{"n":"Percebes on the Costa da Morte","r":"LUCKY","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Goose barnacles prised off the rock between waves by percebeiros who are regularly killed doing it. The most dangerous harvest in Europe, and the most expensive shellfish in Spain.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E889"},{"n":"Cantabrian chamois","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The rebeco, on the Picos limestone and lower in autumn. Smaller and darker than its Alpine cousin.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E890"},{"n":"Iberian ibex in the Picos","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Recolonising the eastern massif, having been shot out of most of the range in the nineteenth century.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E891"},{"n":"Cantabrian capercaillie","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"A distinct subspecies of the Atlantic beechwoods, down to a few hundred birds and among the most threatened in Europe. Lek sites are closed and unpublished.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E892"},{"n":"Pyrenean desman","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"An aquatic mole with a trunk and webbed feet, found only in Iberia and the Pyrenees, declining fast and almost never seen.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E893"},{"n":"Otters on the Asturian rivers","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Healthy populations on the clean northern rivers. Spraint on a boulder is the usual sighting.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E894"},{"n":"Common genet","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Spotted, ring-tailed and cat-like, introduced from Africa centuries ago and now thoroughly at home in Iberian woodland. Strictly nocturnal.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E895"},{"n":"Egyptian mongoose","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s only mongoose, found on the Iberian peninsula and nowhere else on the continent. Diurnal, and it trots.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E896"},{"n":"European wildcat","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Genuinely wild cats in the Cantabrian forests, and effectively a camera-trap species.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E897"},{"n":"Pine and beech martens","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both present through the northern woods, and both far more often inferred than seen.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E898"},{"n":"Red deer in the Cantabrian woods","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A strong population, and the September rut in the beech is one of the great sounds of northern Spain.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E899"},{"n":"Roe deer at the wood edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"On every Asturian and Galician field margin at first and last light.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E900"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Abundant, nocturnal, and on every menu in the mountains as a result.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E901"},{"n":"Iberian hare","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Smaller than the brown hare and found only on the peninsula.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E902"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Dark-coated and often black in the northern forests, with no greys anywhere.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E903"},{"n":"Bearded vultures over the Picos","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Reintroduced to the Picos de Europa from 2010 after eighty years absent, and now breeding again.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E904"},{"n":"Griffon vultures","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Spain holds most of Europe’s griffons. Over every gorge and cliff on this route.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E905"},{"n":"Egyptian vulture","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Small, scruffy and yellow-faced, and a summer visitor that winters in Africa.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E906"},{"n":"Cinereous vulture","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The black vulture, the largest bird of prey in Europe, and recovering strongly from near-extinction.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E907"},{"n":"Golden eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Over the Picos ridges and the Zamora dehesa alike.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E908"},{"n":"Bonelli’s eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A rocky-country specialist, scarce everywhere and declining.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E909"},{"n":"Short-toed snake eagle","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Hovering over the scrub hunting snakes, pale-bellied and unmistakable.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E910"},{"n":"Red and black kites","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both over the farmland and both by the dozen at a rubbish tip.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E911"},{"n":"Iberian green woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A full species found only on the peninsula, and greyer-faced than the northern bird.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E912"},{"n":"White-backed woodpecker","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Cantabrian subspecies is one of the rarest birds in Spain, tied to old beech with standing dead wood.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E913"},{"n":"Middle spotted woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"An old-oak specialist through the Atlantic woods.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E914"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the Picos walls","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Crimson against grey limestone in the Cares gorge, and lower in winter.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E915"},{"n":"Alpine accentor and snowfinch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both on the high Picos, and both tamer than anything has a right to be.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E916"},{"n":"Red-billed choughs","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"On every sea cliff and mountain crag, curved red bill and a ringing call.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E917"},{"n":"Blue rock thrush","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Slate-blue on a bare crag, singing from the highest point available.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E918"},{"n":"Rock bunting","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Grey-headed and striped, on dry stony slopes throughout the north.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E919"},{"n":"Dartford and Sardinian warblers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Scolding from every gorse and scrub bush on the Atlantic heath.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E920"},{"n":"European bee-eaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Nesting in sand banks inland, and the most improbable colours in Europe.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E921"},{"n":"Hoopoes","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Crest up on every track and vineyard edge.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E922"},{"n":"White storks on the towers","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[2,3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"On church towers and pylons across the meseta, and increasingly resident year-round.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E923"},{"n":"Black storks on the gorges","r":"RARE","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"The shy forest cousin, nesting on cliff ledges in the Douro and Zamora country.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E924"},{"n":"Atlantic salmon of the Sella","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7],"c":["ES"],"d":"Asturian rivers still hold runs, and the first salmon of the season is auctioned for a headline price.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E925"},{"n":"Sea trout on the northern rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Night-running fish on summer spates, and permits are regional and inexpensive.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E926"},{"n":"Octopus in the rías","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Pulpo á feira is the Galician dish, and the animal itself is in every rock crevice of the rías.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E927"},{"n":"Mussel rafts of the Rías Baixas","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Thousands of wooden bateas covering the sheltered rías — Galicia produces a large share of Europe’s mussels.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E928"},{"n":"Common and bottlenose dolphins","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"In the rías and off the headlands, and regularly from the ferry.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E929"},{"n":"Cory’s and Manx shearwaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Shearing the Atlantic swell on stiff wings, and best from a boat or a headland in a westerly.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E930"},{"n":"European shags on the stacks","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"On every Galician and Asturian sea stack, wings out to dry.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E931"},{"n":"Storm petrels off the Ciés","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Smaller than a swallow, living on the open Atlantic and coming ashore only at night.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E932"},{"n":"Yellow-legged gulls of the Ciés","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Atlantic Islands national park holds an enormous colony, and they are entirely unbothered by people.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E933"},{"n":"Schreiber’s green lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"An Iberian endemic of damp Atlantic scrub, and startlingly green.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E934"},{"n":"Iberian rock lizard","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"On the high Picos scree, and found only in these mountains and the Pyrenees.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E935"},{"n":"Ocellated lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s largest lizard, green with blue eye-spots, on dry walls and scrub inland.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E936"},{"n":"Seoane’s viper","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"A small north-western viper found only in Atlantic Iberia. Venomous, retiring, and best left entirely alone.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E937"},{"n":"Iberian worm lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"A legless burrowing reptile that looks like a pink worm and is neither worm nor snake.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E938"},{"n":"Gold-striped salamander","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,10,11],"c":["ES"],"d":"Found only in north-west Iberia — black with two copper stripes, on wet stone beside Atlantic streams.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E939"},{"n":"Iberian midwife toad","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["ES"],"d":"The male carries the eggs wrapped round his hind legs, and calls a single bell note after dark.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E940"},{"n":"Sharp-ribbed newt","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[2,3,4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s largest newt, which can push its own ribs through its skin as a defence.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E941"},{"n":"Fire salamander after rain","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["ES"],"d":"On wet Atlantic woodland paths at dusk, and the Iberian forms are exceptionally well marked.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E942"},{"n":"Spanish moon moth","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6],"c":["ES"],"d":"Pale green with long tails and eye-spots, in mountain pinewoods, and one of the most beautiful insects in Europe.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E943"},{"n":"Rosalia longhorn beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Powder-blue on old Cantabrian beech, and a protected European flagship.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E944"},{"n":"Apollo butterfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"On the flowery limestone of the Picos, and protected.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E945"},{"n":"Two-tailed pasha","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Feeding on strawberry-tree fruit in the coastal scrub.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E946"},{"n":"Cantabrian beech forests","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[5,10,11],"c":["ES"],"d":"Muniellos is among the largest oak and beech forests in Europe and entry is limited by permit each day.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E947"},{"n":"Atlantic oakwoods and laurel","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Green Spain is genuinely green — mossy oakwood that looks far more like Devon than Andalucía.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E948"},{"n":"Eucalyptus plantations","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Not native, planted for pulp across Galicia and Asturias, and a real part of the fire problem. Worth seeing and worth understanding.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E949"},{"n":"Gorse and heather on the heath","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[3,4,5,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Yellow in spring and purple in late summer across the Atlantic hills.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E950"},{"n":"Picos alpine flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["ES"],"d":"Gentians, saxifrages and Iberian endemics on the high limestone above the Cares.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E951"},{"n":"Chestnut woods in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[10,11],"c":["ES"],"d":"The magosto — the chestnut roast — is a Galician and Asturian festival in November.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E952"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in Galicia","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["ES"],"d":"A serious flush in the Atlantic woods, taken seriously, and regulated in some councils.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E953"},{"n":"Picos dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"High limestone valleys with very little light, and long warm summer nights.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E954"},{"n":"Iberian wolves of Peneda-Gerês","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"A small, protected and closely monitored population in Portugal’s only national park. Heard far more often than seen, and even that is rare.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E955"},{"n":"Iberian ibex, returned","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Extinct in Portugal by 1892 and back in Gerês since the 1990s by natural recolonisation from Spain.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E956"},{"n":"Roe deer in the Gerês oakwoods","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Recovering strongly through the northern mountains.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E957"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Abundant through the north, and the reason every smallholding has a fence.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E958"},{"n":"Otters on the Minho","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Portugal holds one of the healthiest otter populations in Europe, on clean granite rivers.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E959"},{"n":"Common genet","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Spotted and ring-tailed in the oakwoods, and strictly nocturnal.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E960"},{"n":"Egyptian mongoose","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Trotting across a track in daylight, and found nowhere else in Europe outside Iberia.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E961"},{"n":"Pine marten","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Present in the northern forests and very seldom seen.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E962"},{"n":"Iberian hare","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On the open granite uplands and the terraced farmland alike.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E963"},{"n":"Golden eagles over Gerês","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"A handful of pairs in the north, and the park is the stronghold.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E964"},{"n":"Bonelli’s eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On the Douro gorge cliffs, scarce and declining across Iberia.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E965"},{"n":"Egyptian vultures of the Douro","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Summer visitors to the international gorge, breeding on ledges above the river.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E966"},{"n":"Black storks on the Douro","r":"RARE","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"Nesting on the gorge cliffs of the Douro Internacional — one of the best places in Europe for them.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E967"},{"n":"Red-billed choughs","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On the granite crags of the north and the Douro cliffs.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E968"},{"n":"Iberian magpie","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Azure-winged, sociable and noisy — an Iberian bird whose nearest relatives are in east Asia.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E969"},{"n":"Iberian green woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"A full species, found only on the peninsula.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E970"},{"n":"Blue rock thrush","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On the Douro terraces and the coastal cliffs.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E971"},{"n":"Hoopoes and bee-eaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"Both common through the Douro and the Minho in summer.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E972"},{"n":"White storks on the chimneys","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[2,3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"On every church tower and pylon, and increasingly staying all year.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E973"},{"n":"Cory’s shearwaters offshore","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Shearing the Atlantic off the Minho coast on stiff wings.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E974"},{"n":"Sardines off the coast","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"The summer fish, grilled on charcoal in the street, and the reason for the June festivals.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E975"},{"n":"Sea lamprey in the Minho","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[2,3,4],"c":["PT"],"d":"A jawless fish older than the dinosaurs, running up the border river each spring and served as a delicacy.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E976"},{"n":"Allis shad — sável","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[4,5],"c":["PT"],"d":"Running the Minho and the Douro to spawn, and a seasonal fixture on northern menus.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E977"},{"n":"Brown trout in the Gerês rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Wild fish in granite pools, and licences are cheap and easy.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E978"},{"n":"Percebes on the Atlantic rock","r":"LUCKY","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Harvested from the same dangerous rock as in Galicia, and just as prized.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E979"},{"n":"Gold-striped salamander","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,10,11],"c":["PT"],"d":"Black with two copper stripes, on wet stone by Atlantic streams, and found only in north-west Iberia.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E980"},{"n":"Iberian emerald lizard","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Startling green on granite walls and terrace edges in the north.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E981"},{"n":"Ocellated lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Europe’s largest lizard, on the dry Douro slopes.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E982"},{"n":"Seoane’s viper","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"An Atlantic-Iberian endemic. Venomous, retiring, and left alone.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E983"},{"n":"European pond terrapin","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"In the slow water of the Minho tributaries, and genuinely native.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E984"},{"n":"Iberian midwife toad","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["PT"],"d":"A bell note after dark from every granite village wall.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E985"},{"n":"Barrosã and Cachena cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Ancient northern breeds with enormous lyre horns, still worked on the terraces and protected by name.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E986"},{"n":"Serra da Estrela dogs","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Livestock guardians living with the flock, and the reason wolves and sheep can share a mountain.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E987"},{"n":"Douro terraces","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"Schist cut into steps by hand over three centuries, a UNESCO landscape, and among the steepest vineyards worked anywhere.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E988"},{"n":"The vindima","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"The Douro harvest, still partly picked and trodden by foot, and the whole valley smells of it.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E989"},{"n":"Vinho verde vines","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Trained high on granite posts and pergolas in the Minho so the grapes ripen slowly and the land beneath still grows food.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E990"},{"n":"Chestnut and oak woodland","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["PT"],"d":"The souto — chestnut groves that fed the north for centuries and still supply the magusto.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E991"},{"n":"Eucalyptus and the fire question","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Planted on a vast scale for pulp, and central to Portugal’s wildfire problem. Worth understanding rather than photographing.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E992"},{"n":"Heather and gorse on the granite","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[3,4,5,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"The northern uplands go yellow in spring and purple in late summer.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E993"},{"n":"Wild orchids in Gerês","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6],"c":["PT"],"d":"Dozens of species on the thin granite soils and terrace margins.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E994"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the souto","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[10,11],"c":["PT"],"d":"A serious flush under the chestnuts, and picked with local knowledge and local rules.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E995"},{"n":"Gerês dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Granite uplands with almost no settlement, and the Milky Way stands up properly.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E996"},{"n":"Atlantic winter swells","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[10,11,12,1,2],"c":["PT"],"d":"The north coast takes the full Atlantic in winter, and Nazaré further south records the largest surfed waves on earth.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E997"},{"n":"Cantabrian holly woods","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Ancient holly stands on the high pastures, cut for winter fodder for centuries and now protected.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E998"},{"n":"Barn owls on the espigueiros","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Hunting the terraces at dusk, and roosting in the stone granaries that stand on stilts above every northern village.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E999"},{"n":"Tawny owls in the souto","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Heard far more than seen, from every chestnut grove in the north.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1000"},{"n":"Little owls on the walls","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Out in daylight on granite walls and ruined quintas.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1001"},{"n":"Scops owl calling","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"One pure note every two seconds through a Douro summer night.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1002"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On roadside poles the length of the country.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1003"},{"n":"Booted eagles","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"A small summer eagle over the northern woodland, in pale and dark forms.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1004"},{"n":"Short-toed snake eagle","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Hovering over the Douro slopes hunting snakes.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1005"},{"n":"Red kites over the Minho","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Forked tails over the terraced farmland.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1006"},{"n":"Griffon vultures at the roost","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Hundreds on the Douro Internacional cliffs, and best watched from the Portuguese side at dawn.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1007"},{"n":"Dippers on the granite streams","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Bobbing midstream on the fast clean water of Gerês.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1008"},{"n":"Grey wagtails","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On every rock in every northern stream.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1009"},{"n":"Black redstarts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On granite walls, quinta roofs and every village church.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1010"},{"n":"Nightingales in the valley scrub","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["PT"],"d":"Full song from the Minho thickets through May.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1011"},{"n":"Golden orioles in the poplars","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["PT"],"d":"A fluting whistle from the riverside canopy, heard ten times for every sighting.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1012"},{"n":"Cirl buntings","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Common in the terraced farmland while Britain holds a few hundred pairs.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1013"},{"n":"Crested larks","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On every verge and car park in the drier east.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1014"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Recolonising the north after centuries away, and darker than the British ones.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1015"},{"n":"Badgers in the oakwoods","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"Setts under granite banks, and a well-worn path nothing else would make.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1016"},{"n":"Bats over the quintas","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Hunting the terraces at dusk, and the old schist wine lodges hold important roosts.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1017"},{"n":"Fire salamander after rain","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,10,11],"c":["PT"],"d":"Black and yellow on wet Gerês paths at dusk, never in sunshine.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1018"},{"n":"Marbled newt","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[2,3,4,5],"c":["PT"],"d":"Green and black marbling, in granite troughs and field ponds.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1019"},{"n":"Iberian frog","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["PT"],"d":"A north-western endemic of cold clean mountain streams.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1020"},{"n":"Praying mantis on the Douro","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[8,9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"On dry terrace grassland from late summer.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1021"},{"n":"Cicadas in the Douro heat","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"The sound of the valley in July, and it stops the instant you look.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1022"},{"n":"Two-tailed pasha","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Europe’s most spectacular butterfly, on strawberry-tree fruit in the coastal scrub.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1023"},{"n":"Spanish festoon","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[3,4,5],"c":["PT"],"d":"Zebra-striped and among the first butterflies of the Iberian spring.","f":"eu-iberia-north.html","a":"E1024"},{"n":"Bavarian Forest lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Returned to Europe’s first national park after a century away. A track in snow or a camera-trap image is the honest sighting; people who see one by eye talk about it for years.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1025"},{"n":"Archaeopteryx country","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Solnhofen limestone of the Altmühltal produced the most famous fossil on earth. Working quarries let you split slabs yourself, and ammonites and feathers turn up in the same rock.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1026"},{"n":"Danube beavers","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Extinct in Bavaria by 1867 and reintroduced from 1966; the state now holds more beavers than anywhere else in central Europe, and the felled willow is unmistakable.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1027"},{"n":"Black Forest fire salamanders","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Black and yellow on wet forest paths at dusk after rain, and the Black Forest is the classic German place to meet one.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1028"},{"n":"The bark beetle forest","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Bavarian Forest let the beetle kill its spruce rather than fell it, and the regrowth beneath the grey skeletons is one of the most argued-over decisions in European conservation. Go and judge it.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1029"},{"n":"Zugspitze and its glacier","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany’s highest point at 2,962 m, with the last of its shrinking glaciers below the summit and four countries visible on a clear day.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1030"},{"n":"Capercaillie of the Black Forest","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["DE"],"d":"A relict population down to a few hundred birds and falling. Lek areas are closed in spring and their locations are deliberately unpublished.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1031"},{"n":"Hazel grouse","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A thin whistle from dense spruce, and one of the least-seen birds in Germany.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1032"},{"n":"Black grouse on the high moor","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["DE"],"d":"Almost gone from the Black Forest, and clinging on where the raised bog stays open.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1033"},{"n":"Pygmy owl","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Smaller than a starling and hunting other birds. Its whistle carries a long way through cold spruce.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1034"},{"n":"Tengmalm’s owl","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[2,3,4],"c":["DE"],"d":"A hollow bouncing song on late-winter nights, from holes a black woodpecker made first.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1035"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A specialist of dead standing spruce, and a direct beneficiary of the bark beetle policy.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1036"},{"n":"Black woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Crow-sized and entirely black bar the red cap, and the architect of most forest holes.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1037"},{"n":"Ring ouzels above the treeline","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"On the Feldberg and the high Black Forest slopes.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1038"},{"n":"Crossbills in the spruce","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Breeding in midwinter because that is when the cones open. Falling scales give them away.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1039"},{"n":"Spotted nutcracker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Burying pine seeds by the thousand and forgetting enough to plant the next forest.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1040"},{"n":"Red deer of the Black Forest","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Confined by law to designated areas for decades, and the September rut is loud in the high valleys.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1041"},{"n":"Roe deer at the forest edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"On every clearing and field margin at first and last light.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1042"},{"n":"Wild boar in the oakwoods","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Abundant and nocturnal, and the reason every Baden vineyard has a fence.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1043"},{"n":"Feldberg alpine flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"Arnica, gentians and alpine species marooned on the highest ground since the ice age, a long way from any Alp.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1044"},{"n":"Raised bog and sundew","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Hochmoor with cotton grass and carnivorous sundew, on boardwalks that exist because the peat does not recover.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1045"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the forest pools","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"Orange-bellied and slate-blue, in every woodland puddle and wheel rut in spring.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1046"},{"n":"Brown trout in the streams","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Small wild fish in fast clean water, and permits are local, cheap and well organised.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1047"},{"n":"Hinterwälder cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The smallest cattle breed in central Europe, bred for slopes too steep for anything larger, and still working them.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1048"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the Schwarzwald","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"A serious flush in the spruce and beech, with picking limits that are genuinely enforced.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1049"},{"n":"Kaiserstuhl bee-eaters","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany’s warmest corner is a volcanic hill in the Rhine plain, and it holds the country’s main bee-eater colonies.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1050"},{"n":"Praying mantis on the Kaiserstuhl","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Far further north than most people expect, on the dry terraces among the vines.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1051"},{"n":"Green lizard of the Kaiserstuhl","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Electric green on the loess terraces, at the northern edge of its European range.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1052"},{"n":"Kaiserstuhl orchids","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"Dozens of species on the volcanic loess, including several found almost nowhere else in Germany.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1053"},{"n":"Hoopoes in the vineyards","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Recolonising the warm Rhine terraces, crest up on every bare patch of ground.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1054"},{"n":"Red-crested pochards on the Bodensee","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DE"],"d":"Wintering in thousands, and the lake is internationally important for wildfowl.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1055"},{"n":"Great crested grebes displaying","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[3,4,5],"c":["DE"],"d":"The weed dance across the whole lake from early spring.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1056"},{"n":"Bearded reedlings in the Wollmatinger reed","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Pinging like tiny bells and bouncing over the reed tops on still mornings.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1057"},{"n":"Bodensee whitefish","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Blaufelchen, netted commercially for centuries and on every lakeside menu.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1058"},{"n":"Little ringed plover on the gravel","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"Nesting on bare river shingle and gravel workings, and gone the moment you look away.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1059"},{"n":"The Rhine Falls","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Europe’s largest waterfall by volume, at Schaffhausen just over the Swiss line, and loudest after the alpine thaw.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1060"},{"n":"Mainau island planting","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"A whole island gardened since the nineteenth century, with palms outdoors on a lake that freezes.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1061"},{"n":"Alpine ibex in the Allgäu","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Reintroduced to the Bavarian Alps and now on the high ridges above the lakes.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1062"},{"n":"Chamois in the Berchtesgaden","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"On the Watzmann faces and lower in autumn when the weather turns.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1063"},{"n":"Alpine marmots","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Whistling from every Bavarian boulder field above the treeline.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1064"},{"n":"Golden eagles over the Watzmann","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Berchtesgaden national park holds a well-studied population, and the park publishes its nest counts.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1065"},{"n":"Alpine choughs at the summit","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"At every cable-car station and mountain hut, entirely without shame.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1066"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the limestone","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Crimson against grey rock on the Berchtesgaden and Wetterstein cliffs, lower in winter.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1067"},{"n":"Rock ptarmigan","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"On the highest Bavarian ridges, white in winter and invisible in summer.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1068"},{"n":"Alpine salamander","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Jet black on wet paths after rain, and it gestates for up to three years before live birth.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1069"},{"n":"Edelweiss on the Bavarian limestone","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Protected in Bavaria since 1886, and genuinely uncommon.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1070"},{"n":"Alpenrose above the treeline","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"Pink hillsides through midsummer across the whole Bavarian range.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1071"},{"n":"Königssee and the echo","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Electric boats only since 1909, and the boatman still plays a flugelhorn at the rock face to demonstrate the echo.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1072"},{"n":"Partnach and Breitachklamm gorges","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Meltwater gorges cut so deep the path is bolted to the wall, and loudest in June.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1073"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles on the Danube","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Recolonising Bavaria from the east after being shot out entirely, and now breeding on the river again.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1074"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Altmühl","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A blue bolt along every clean Bavarian river and gravel pit.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1075"},{"n":"Huchen — the Danube salmon","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A metre-long predator found only in the Danube basin, and among the most threatened fish in Europe.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1076"},{"n":"Nase and barbel on the gravel","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Shoaling fish of fast clean water, and an indicator that the river is in good order.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1077"},{"n":"The Danube Gorge at Weltenburg","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The river cuts a limestone gorge below a monastery that has brewed since 1050. Reachable by boat and by nothing else.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1078"},{"n":"Franconian cave systems","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Fränkische Schweiz limestone is riddled with caves, several of them show caves, and cave-bear bones came out of them.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1079"},{"n":"Ammonites in the Jura","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Solnhofen and Altmühltal quarries let visitors split their own slabs, and finds are usually yours to keep — which is rarer than it sounds.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1080"},{"n":"White storks in Franconia","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"On village roofs and chimneys, recovered strongly since the 1980s.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1081"},{"n":"Red kites over the Franconian farmland","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany holds more than half the world population, and Franconia is thick with them.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1082"},{"n":"Wolves of the Bavarian Forest","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Returned across the Czech border and breeding again in Bavaria since 2016. Almost never seen, and politically contentious.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1083"},{"n":"Ural owls, reintroduced","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"Extinct in Germany and released back into the Bavarian Forest from the 1970s. It will defend a nest with real violence.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1084"},{"n":"Eurasian elk, occasionally","r":"RARE","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Wanderers cross from Czechia and Poland from time to time, and each one makes the regional news.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1085"},{"n":"White-backed woodpecker","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"An old-growth specialist, and one of the rarest woodpeckers in central Europe.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1086"},{"n":"Urwald — the primeval remnants","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Small patches of forest that were never cleared, kept as a control against everything managed around them.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1087"},{"n":"The treetop walk","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A kilometre-long walkway through the canopy at forty-four metres, and the only way most people ever see a spruce crown.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1088"},{"n":"Lynx tracks in snow","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[12,1,2,3],"c":["DE"],"d":"The realistic sighting: a line of round prints in fresh snow, walking a forest road as though it owned it.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1089"},{"n":"Boreal forest fungi","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"A serious autumn flush in the spruce, and dead wood everywhere for it to work on.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1090"},{"n":"Beech forests in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Southern Germany in copper and gold, and the country takes its autumn walking seriously.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1091"},{"n":"Alpine dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DE"],"d":"High Bavarian valleys with the lights below you and long clear winter nights.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1092"},{"n":"Föhn over the Alps","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The warm downslope wind that clears the horizon in an hour, makes the mountains look close enough to touch, and gives half of Bavaria a headache.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1093"},{"n":"Hop gardens of the Hallertau","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"The largest continuous hop-growing area on earth, and the reason for a great deal of what happens in Bavaria.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1094"},{"n":"Apple and pear meadows","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Streuobstwiesen — traditional orchards grazed beneath, and among the richest habitats in Germany.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1095"},{"n":"Bats in the church towers","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Baroque roof spaces hold important maternity roosts, and several churches carry a plaque explaining it.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1096"},{"n":"Hedgehogs in the villages","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Gardens and campsite edges from April until they turn in.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1097"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"In every wood and park, often near-black in the mountains, and no greys anywhere.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1098"},{"n":"Białowieża bison","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"The last wild-living European bison died here in 1919 and every animal alive today descends from twelve zoo survivors. Several hundred now range the forest — the single greatest conservation recovery on the continent.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1099"},{"n":"The primeval forest","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Białowieża holds the last substantial lowland forest in Europe never cleared or replanted. Oaks four hundred years old, dead wood left where it falls, and a strict reserve you may only enter with a guide.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1100"},{"n":"Tatra chamois","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"A subspecies found only in these mountains, down to under two hundred animals in the nineties and now recovered. On the ridges above the treeline in both countries.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1101"},{"n":"Brown bears of the Tatras","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["SK"],"d":"Slovakia holds one of the strongest bear populations in Europe. Genuinely present, genuinely wild, and the reason food is never left outside a tent here.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1102"},{"n":"Pravčická brána","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The largest natural sandstone arch in Europe, twenty-six metres across, in a landscape of towers and gorges the Czechs call Bohemian Switzerland.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1103"},{"n":"European souslik","r":"RARE","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A ground squirrel of the south Moravian steppe, extinct across much of its former range and now confined to a handful of protected grasslands.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1104"},{"n":"Wolves of Białowieża","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Never exterminated in the Polish east, and now a stable population. Tracks, scats and a howl at night are the realistic encounter.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1105"},{"n":"Lynx in the eastern forests","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Present in Białowieża and the Bieszczady, and effectively a camera-trap animal.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1106"},{"n":"Elk in the Biebrza marshes","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Europe’s largest deer, and the Biebrza holds the best population in the European Union. Dawn on a marsh road is the moment.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1107"},{"n":"Konik horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Back-bred to resemble the extinct tarpan and grazing the Białowieża meadows and Polish reserves.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1108"},{"n":"Red deer of the primeval forest","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Rutting in September among four-hundred-year-old oaks, which is a different experience from a deer park.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1109"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Abundant in the eastern forests, and the reason bins in Białowieża village are bear- and boar-proofed.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1110"},{"n":"Beavers on the Narew","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Reintroduced from the 1970s and now everywhere on the eastern rivers, reshaping whole side channels.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1111"},{"n":"Otters on the Biebrza","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Healthy populations on the clean marsh rivers, seen at dawn from a punt more often than from a bank.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1112"},{"n":"Raccoon dog","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"An east Asian canid introduced to the Soviet Union and now across northern Europe. Nocturnal, and an honest reminder that not every animal here belongs.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1113"},{"n":"Pine marten","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"In every large eastern forest, and rarely seen without a hide.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1114"},{"n":"Ten woodpecker species","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Białowieża holds all ten European woodpeckers — the only forest on the continent that does. White-backed and three-toed are the prizes.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1115"},{"n":"White-backed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"An old-growth specialist that needs standing dead wood, and thrives here because none is tidied away.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1116"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"On dead spruce, and a direct beneficiary of a forest left alone.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1117"},{"n":"Grey-headed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"A descending whinnying call through the riverside woodland.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1118"},{"n":"Collared flycatcher","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"Black and white and startlingly crisp, and Białowieża is one of the best places in Europe to see one.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1119"},{"n":"Red-breasted flycatcher","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"A tiny robin-throated flycatcher of the old canopy, heard far more than seen.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1120"},{"n":"Ural owls","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["PL"],"d":"Nesting in broken stumps in the old forest, and prepared to defend a nest with real violence.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1121"},{"n":"Pygmy and Tengmalm’s owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[2,3,4],"c":["PL"],"d":"Both in the eastern forests, and both far more often heard on a cold night than seen.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1122"},{"n":"Eagle owls","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Europe’s largest owl, on quarry faces and forest edges, and scarce throughout.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1123"},{"n":"Aquatic warbler","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"A globally threatened bird of open sedge fen, and the Biebrza is its world stronghold. Singing at dusk from a marsh you cannot walk into.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1124"},{"n":"Great snipe at the lek","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[5,6],"c":["PL"],"d":"Males displaying at dusk on a marsh lek, tail fanned and bill clattering. One of the strangest bird spectacles in Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1125"},{"n":"Ruff lekking on the marsh","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[4,5],"c":["PL"],"d":"Absurd ruffs and ear tufts, no two males alike, on the Biebrza wet meadows.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1126"},{"n":"Corncrake calling","r":"LIKELY","g":"grouse","m":[5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"A rasping two-note call all night from the hay meadows, and Poland holds a large share of the European population.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1127"},{"n":"Spotted crake and little crake","r":"LUCKY","g":"waterbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["PL"],"d":"Whip-cracking and yelping from the reed at night, and almost never visible.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1128"},{"n":"White storks on the poles","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Poland holds roughly a quarter of the world population. Nests on power poles in every village on this route.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1129"},{"n":"Black storks in the forest","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"The shy forest cousin, nesting deep in old woodland and rarely seen near people.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1130"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"The national bird in all but name, on every large lake and river in the north.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1131"},{"n":"Greater spotted eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Down to a handful of pairs in the Biebrza, and among the rarest breeding raptors in the European Union.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1132"},{"n":"Montagu’s harriers over the fen","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Buoyant and light over the open marsh, with nests individually protected by volunteers.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1133"},{"n":"Tatra marmots","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PL"],"d":"Whistling from the boulder fields above Zakopane, and a distinct Tatra subspecies.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1134"},{"n":"Wallcreeper in the Tatras","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Crimson against grey limestone, and easier in winter when it comes down the valleys.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1135"},{"n":"Alpine accentor","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PL"],"d":"On the high Tatra boulder fields, tame to the point of nuisance.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1136"},{"n":"Golden eagles over the Tatras","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"A small, closely watched population on both sides of the range.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1137"},{"n":"Bieszczady wolves","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"The Bieszczady holds one of the highest wolf densities in Europe, and the poloniny meadows above the treeline are where people watch for them.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1138"},{"n":"Bison of the Bieszczady","r":"LUCKY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"A second free-ranging Polish herd, established from Białowieża stock in the sixties.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1139"},{"n":"European wildcat","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"In the Bieszczady and the Carpathian foothills, and effectively unseeable.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1140"},{"n":"Fire-bellied toad","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"A chorus of soft hooting from every field pond, and a startling orange belly when it arches.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1141"},{"n":"European pond terrapin","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Basking on logs in the eastern oxbows, and genuinely native.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1142"},{"n":"Aesculapian snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"A climber, harmless, at the northern edge of its range in the Bieszczady.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1143"},{"n":"Adders on the peat","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"On bog margins and forest rides, sometimes in the near-black form.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1144"},{"n":"Sand lizards","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PL"],"d":"Emerald-flanked males on every sandy bank and railway embankment.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1145"},{"n":"Hermit beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Living inside hollow veteran oaks and smelling faintly of apricots. A European flagship for old trees.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1146"},{"n":"Rosalia longhorn beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Powder-blue on old beech, and protected across the continent.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1147"},{"n":"Large copper butterfly","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Extinct in Britain, and still present on eastern Polish fen.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1148"},{"n":"Scarce fritillary","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6],"c":["PL"],"d":"A declining woodland-edge butterfly with a stronghold in eastern Poland.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1149"},{"n":"Apollo of the Pieniny","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"A relict population on the Pieniny limestone, saved from extinction by a deliberate reintroduction.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1150"},{"n":"Białowieża oaks","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Named giants four and five hundred years old, several of them with their own signposts and their own histories.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1151"},{"n":"Peat bogs of the north-east","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Cotton grass, sundew and cranberry across raised bog, on boardwalks that exist because peat does not recover.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1152"},{"n":"Tatra alpine flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"Gentians, edelweiss and Carpathian endemics on the high limestone.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1153"},{"n":"Autumn fungi","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[8,9,10],"c":["PL"],"d":"Mushrooming is close to a national sport, whole families in the woods at dawn, and the roadside stalls follow.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1154"},{"n":"Bieszczady dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["PL"],"d":"A designated Starry Sky Park on the Slovak and Ukrainian border, and among the darkest in the European Union.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1155"},{"n":"Grey seals on the Baltic","r":"LUCKY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Recovering on the Polish coast after near-extermination, with a rehabilitation station at Hel.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1156"},{"n":"Cranes gathering in autumn","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[9,10],"c":["PL"],"d":"Thousands staging on the eastern marshes before the flight south, bugling at altitude.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1157"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Often near-black in the eastern forests, and no greys anywhere.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1158"},{"n":"Hazel grouse","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"A thin whistle from dense spruce, and a bird most Poles have never seen.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1159"},{"n":"Black grouse and capercaillie","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["PL"],"d":"Both cling on in the eastern forests and the Carpathians, both declining, and both with protected lek sites.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1160"},{"n":"Hoopoes and wrynecks","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"On the orchard margins and sandy village edges of the east.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1161"},{"n":"Barn and little owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"In the churches and barns of the eastern villages, and both in decline.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1162"},{"n":"Bats in the old forts","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PL"],"d":"Disused nineteenth-century fortifications hold internationally important hibernation roosts — Nietoperek is among the largest in Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1163"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Narew","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"A blue bolt along a river that still braids across its own floodplain.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1164"},{"n":"Bream, pike and zander","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PL"],"d":"The Masurian lakes are a serious angling destination, and permits are cheap and simple.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1165"},{"n":"Wisent tracks in snow","r":"LUCKY","g":"fossil","m":[12,1,2,3],"c":["PL"],"d":"In winter the forest reads like a book — bison, wolf, lynx and elk all leave their record on the same ride.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1166"},{"n":"Great grey and long-eared owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["PL"],"d":"Winter roosts in village conifers, and occasional irruptions from the north-east.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1167"},{"n":"Beech and hornbeam in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["PL"],"d":"The eastern forest turns copper and stays that way for weeks.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1168"},{"n":"Lynx of the Šumava","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Reintroduced in the 1980s and now the core of the Bohemian population, shared with the Bavarian Forest across the border.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1169"},{"n":"Elk in south Bohemia","r":"RARE","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A small, self-established population — the westernmost breeding elk in Europe, and rarely seen.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1170"},{"n":"European hamster","r":"RARE","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Once an agricultural pest, now critically endangered across Europe, and clinging on in Moravian farmland.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1171"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles at Třeboň","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The medieval fishpond landscape holds a strong breeding population and a UNESCO biosphere designation.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1172"},{"n":"Black storks in Bohemian Switzerland","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Nesting on the sandstone ledges, and the park closes areas around the nests each spring.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1173"},{"n":"Peregrines on the sandstone","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Recovered from extinction in the region and now on the towers of the České Švýcarsko.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1174"},{"n":"Eagle owls in the quarries","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On rock faces throughout the sandstone and karst country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1175"},{"n":"Ural owls in the Šumava","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Part of the same restored population as Bavaria and Austria, and just as defensive of a nest.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1176"},{"n":"Capercaillie of the Šumava","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A relict Bohemian population, protected, and with lek sites closed and unpublished.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1177"},{"n":"Black grouse on the peat","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On the open raised bogs of the Šumava plateau, and declining.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1178"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On dead spruce in the Šumava, where the bark beetle has been allowed to run as in Bavaria.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1179"},{"n":"Ring ouzels and water pipits","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On the Krkonoše ridges, where arctic-alpine tundra survives above the treeline.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1180"},{"n":"Krkonoše endemic flora","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Plants found on this one range and nowhere else on earth — relicts of the ice age on a Czech mountain top.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1181"},{"n":"Bats of the Moravian Karst","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The cave systems hold internationally important hibernation roosts, and parts are closed in winter for exactly that reason.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1182"},{"n":"The Macocha abyss","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A hundred-and-thirty-metre collapsed sinkhole with a river running through the caves beneath it, reached by boat underground.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1183"},{"n":"Aragonite caves","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Rare needle-like crystal formations rather than ordinary stalactites, in a handful of caves in the karst.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1184"},{"n":"Pálava steppe flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Feather grass, pasqueflower and steppe species on white limestone in south Moravia — the westernmost steppe in Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1185"},{"n":"Praying mantis in Moravia","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[8,9,10],"c":["CZ"],"d":"At the northern edge of its range on the warm Pálava slopes.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1186"},{"n":"Bee-eaters in south Moravia","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Nesting in loess banks and sand pits, and spreading north as the climate warms.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1187"},{"n":"Red-backed shrikes","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On hedge tops in every stretch of scrubby farmland, with a larder of impaled insects nearby.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1188"},{"n":"Carp of the Třeboň ponds","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A landscape of fishponds engineered in the sixteenth century, still harvested each autumn, and the source of the Christmas carp.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1189"},{"n":"Huchen in the Morava","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The Danube salmon, found only in this basin and among the most threatened fish in Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1190"},{"n":"Brown trout and grayling","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"In the Šumava and Krkonoše streams, on cheap and well-organised permits.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1191"},{"n":"Beavers on the Morava","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Recolonised from Austria and Poland, and now common on the lowland rivers.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1192"},{"n":"Otters in south Bohemia","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A healthy population around the fishponds, and the subject of long argument with the fishery owners.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1193"},{"n":"Mouflon on the sandstone","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Introduced wild sheep, thoroughly established on the rocky country of north Bohemia.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1194"},{"n":"Red and roe deer","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Throughout the forests, with the September rut loud in the Šumava.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1195"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Abundant and nocturnal across the whole country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1196"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"In every wood and city park, dark-coated in the uplands.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1197"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Gardens and campsite edges through the warm months.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1198"},{"n":"Badgers and pine martens","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Both widespread in the forests, and both mostly known from tracks.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1199"},{"n":"Fire salamander","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On wet paths in the Bohemian woods after rain, never in sunshine.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1200"},{"n":"Alpine and crested newts","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["CZ"],"d":"In forest pools and field ponds across the country in spring.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1201"},{"n":"Aesculapian snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A relict warm-valley population in the north, isolated and closely protected.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1202"},{"n":"Green lizard in Moravia","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Electric green on the warm Pálava and Moravian slopes.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1203"},{"n":"Adders and smooth snakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Both on the sunny margins of the uplands.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1204"},{"n":"Apollo, restored","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Extinct in Czechia and returned by deliberate reintroduction to the sandstone country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1205"},{"n":"Large blue butterflies","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Dependent on one ant species and one plant, and a flagship for old meadow management.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1206"},{"n":"Peat bogs of the Šumava","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Raised bog, glacial lakes and sundew on the Bohemian plateau, on boardwalks throughout.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1207"},{"n":"Boušín primeval forest","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"One of the oldest forest reserves in Europe, protected since 1858 and never cleared.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1208"},{"n":"Sandstone rock towers","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Whole cities of eroded sandstone pillars in the north, and the reason Czech climbing developed its own rules.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1209"},{"n":"Vineyard harvest in Moravia","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["CZ"],"d":"South Moravia is a serious wine region, and the burcak — part-fermented must — appears for a few weeks only.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1210"},{"n":"Autumn fungi","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[8,9,10],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Mushrooming is a Czech national pastime, and the roadside stalls appear the same weekend everywhere.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1211"},{"n":"Šumava dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A dark-sky park on the Bavarian border, with almost no settlement for thirty miles.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1212"},{"n":"Beech forests in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The Bohemian uplands in copper, and the whole country walks in it.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1213"},{"n":"Cranes over Bohemia","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,9,10],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On passage twice a year, bugling at altitude, and now breeding again in the north.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1214"},{"n":"Storks on the village chimneys","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On nests maintained by whole villages, with ringing schemes that have run for decades.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1215"},{"n":"Kingfishers and dippers","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On every clean stream from the Šumava to the karst.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1216"},{"n":"Wolves of the Carpathians","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"A continuous population along the whole Slovak arc, and among the healthiest in Europe. Heard far more often than seen.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1217"},{"n":"Lynx in the Slovak forests","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Never exterminated here, and the source population for several western reintroductions.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1218"},{"n":"Tatra marmots","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"Whistling from the boulder fields, and a Tatra subspecies found nowhere else.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1219"},{"n":"Eastern imperial eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Slovakia is a European stronghold for this globally threatened eagle, with individual nests guarded through the season.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1220"},{"n":"Saker falcon","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Nesting on pylons on the Danube plain, and the subject of a long anti-persecution programme.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1221"},{"n":"Golden eagles over the Tatras","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"A closely monitored population on both sides of the range.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1222"},{"n":"Ural owls","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["SK"],"d":"Common in the Carpathian beech, and Slovakia is where much of the European reintroduction stock came from.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1223"},{"n":"Eagle owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"On karst cliffs and quarry faces throughout.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1224"},{"n":"Capercaillie and black grouse","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both in the Tatra and Poloniny forests, both declining, and both with protected lek sites.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1225"},{"n":"Hazel grouse","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Commoner here than almost anywhere in Europe, and still hard to see.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1226"},{"n":"White-backed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"In the primeval beech of the Poloniny, which is exactly the habitat it needs.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1227"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"On dead spruce in the High Tatras, where windthrow has left a great deal of it.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1228"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the karst","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"On the Slovak Paradise and Tatra limestone, and lower in winter.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1229"},{"n":"Alpine accentor and ptarmigan","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both on the highest Tatra ridges, above everything else.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1230"},{"n":"Carpathian newt","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["SK"],"d":"Found only in the Carpathians and nowhere else on earth, in cold mountain pools and troughs.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1231"},{"n":"Fire salamander in the beech","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["SK"],"d":"On wet Carpathian paths at dusk after rain.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1232"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the tarns","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["SK"],"d":"In high pools that were frozen a fortnight earlier.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1233"},{"n":"Bison of the Poloniny","r":"LUCKY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Reintroduced to the far east in 2004, and now free-ranging across the Slovak-Polish border forests.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1234"},{"n":"Red deer of the Carpathians","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"A large population, and the September rut carries a long way in these valleys.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1235"},{"n":"Chamois below the ridges","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"The Tatra subspecies, and lower down in autumn when the weather turns.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1236"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Abundant through the forests, and entirely nocturnal.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1237"},{"n":"Otters and beavers","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both recovered strongly on the Danube tributaries and the mountain rivers.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1238"},{"n":"Bats of the Slovak Karst","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"The UNESCO cave systems hold major hibernation roosts, and access is limited accordingly.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1239"},{"n":"Domica and the underground rivers","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Caves worked by an underground river, with boat sections, and continuously occupied by people in the Neolithic.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1240"},{"n":"Ochtiná aragonite cave","r":"RARE","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"One of only three aragonite caves open to the public anywhere on earth — white needle crystals rather than stalactites.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1241"},{"n":"Ice cave at Dobsiná","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"A cave that holds permanent ice year-round, open only in summer, and cold enough that you need a coat in August.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1242"},{"n":"Slovak Paradise gorges","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SK"],"d":"Gorge routes climbed on fixed ladders and chains beside waterfalls, one-way in places, and closed in winter.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1243"},{"n":"Primeval beech of the Poloniny","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"A UNESCO World Heritage forest, never cleared, and part of a chain that runs the length of the Carpathians.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1244"},{"n":"Tatra alpine flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["SK"],"d":"Gentians, edelweiss and Carpathian endemics on the high limestone and granite.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1245"},{"n":"Huchen in the Váh","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"The Danube salmon, a metre long and found only in this basin.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1246"},{"n":"Grayling and brown trout","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"In clear Carpathian water, and permits are regional and inexpensive.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1247"},{"n":"Danube floodplain forest","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Willow and poplar softwood forest along the river, and among the most productive habitats in central Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1248"},{"n":"Red-footed falcons","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Colonial and insect-hunting on the southern plain, and declining across the range.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1249"},{"n":"Great bustards on the plain","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"A tiny remnant of the population that once covered the Pannonian steppe, and among the heaviest flying birds on earth.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1250"},{"n":"European souslik","r":"RARE","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Ground squirrels on the southern grasslands, and the imperial eagle’s main prey.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1251"},{"n":"Sheep on the salaš","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"Summer sheep farming in the mountains, with bryndza cheese made on the spot as it has been for centuries.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1252"},{"n":"Storks on the poles","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"On village power poles across the southern lowland, with platforms provided by the electricity company.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1253"},{"n":"Bee-eaters on the plain","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Nesting in loess banks on the Danube lowland in the most improbable colours in Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1254"},{"n":"Hoopoes and rollers","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both on the southern plain, and the roller is declining hard across Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1255"},{"n":"Sand and green lizards","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"On the warm southern slopes and every karst outcrop.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1256"},{"n":"Adders and Aesculapian snakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both widespread; both entirely uninterested in you.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1257"},{"n":"Apollo of the Slovak Karst","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"On the limestone grassland, protected, and an indicator that the sward is still grazed rather than abandoned.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1258"},{"n":"Rosalia longhorn beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Powder-blue on the old Carpathian beech, and a European flagship insect.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1259"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the Carpathians","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[8,9,10],"c":["SK"],"d":"A serious flush in the beech and spruce, and picking is a normal part of the year.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1260"},{"n":"Carpathian dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"Poloniny is a dark-sky park on the Polish and Ukrainian border, and among the darkest in the European Union.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1261"},{"n":"Beech in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["SK"],"d":"The Carpathian arc turns copper for a fortnight and the whole country goes walking in it.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1262"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Dark-coated in the mountain forests, and no greys anywhere.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1263"},{"n":"Hedgehogs and dormice","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"Edible and hazel dormice both occur, and both sleep through half the year.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1264"},{"n":"Whooper swans on the Masurian lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[11,12,1,2,3],"c":["PL"],"d":"Wintering in numbers, louder and wilder than the resident mutes.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1265"},{"n":"Black terns over the fishponds","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Sooty marsh terns dipping to the water rather than diving.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1266"},{"n":"Bluethroats in the sedge","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"A robin-shaped bird with an enamel-blue throat, on the Biebrza margins.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1267"},{"n":"Penduline tits on the oxbows","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["PL"],"d":"Weaving a hanging purse nest in the riverside willows, easier to find than the bird.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1268"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On every second roadside pole in the country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1269"},{"n":"Red and black kites","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Both over the Moravian farmland, and both increasing.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1270"},{"n":"Honey buzzards","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Summer visitors to the Bohemian forests, digging out wasp nests.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1271"},{"n":"Goshawks in the spruce","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[2,3,4],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Late-winter display above the forest, and increasingly urban in Prague.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1272"},{"n":"Tawny and long-eared owls","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"In every mature wood and churchyard, and in winter roosts of a dozen birds.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1273"},{"n":"Little owls on the barns","r":"RARE","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Down to a few hundred pairs and one of the most threatened breeders in the country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1274"},{"n":"Black woodpeckers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Crow-sized and entirely black bar the red cap, and audible half a mile off.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1275"},{"n":"Middle spotted woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"An old-oak specialist in the lowland floodplain forests.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1276"},{"n":"Nightingales in the scrub","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Full song from the Moravian thickets through May.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1277"},{"n":"Golden orioles in the poplars","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A fluting whistle from the floodplain canopy.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1278"},{"n":"Crested tits and firecrests","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"In every spruce plantation, and singing from February.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1279"},{"n":"Black redstarts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On every quarry face, church roof and factory in the country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1280"},{"n":"Great crested grebes","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[3,4,5],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The weed dance on every fishpond in early spring.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1281"},{"n":"Greylag geese on the ponds","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Breeding on the Třeboň system and staging in thousands in autumn.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1282"},{"n":"Grey herons and great white egrets","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On every pond margin, and the egret unknown here a generation ago.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1283"},{"n":"Bitterns booming","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The reedbed foghorn of the south Bohemian ponds before dawn.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1284"},{"n":"Brown hares on the arable","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Out in the open on the Moravian cereal plains, boxing from February.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1285"},{"n":"Bats over Prague","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Hunting the Vltava at dusk in the middle of the city.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1286"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the peat pools","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Northern and moorland species on the Šumava bogs, several at their southern limit.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1287"},{"n":"Swallowtail butterflies","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Sailing over the warm Moravian slopes all summer.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1288"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"The default raptor of every Slovak roadside.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1289"},{"n":"Lesser spotted eagle","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"A woodland eagle of the Carpathian foothills, and Slovakia holds a good share of the European population.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1290"},{"n":"Honey buzzards","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Summer visitors to the beech forests.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1291"},{"n":"Montagu’s harriers","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Over the southern cereal plain, with nests protected by volunteers.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1292"},{"n":"Tawny and long-eared owls","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"In every wood and village churchyard.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1293"},{"n":"Pygmy and Tengmalm’s owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[2,3,4],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both in the Tatra spruce, both heard far more than seen.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1294"},{"n":"Black and green woodpeckers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both common through the Carpathian forests.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1295"},{"n":"Middle spotted woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"In the old oak of the Danube floodplain.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1296"},{"n":"Nightingales on the plain","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["SK"],"d":"Full song from the lowland scrub through May.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1297"},{"n":"Golden orioles","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["SK"],"d":"A fluting whistle from every floodplain poplar stand.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1298"},{"n":"Red-backed shrikes","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"On hedge tops across the whole country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1299"},{"n":"Barred warblers","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["SK"],"d":"In scrubby grassland, and usually alongside the shrikes.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1300"},{"n":"Crag martins on the karst","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Hugging the limestone of the Slovak Paradise gorges.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1301"},{"n":"Dippers on the mountain rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Walking underwater against the current in midwinter.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1302"},{"n":"Black storks in the Carpathians","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Nesting deep in old forest, and rarely seen near people.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1303"},{"n":"Great crested grebes on the Danube","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"On every backwater and gravel pit along the river.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1304"},{"n":"Brown hares","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"On the open southern plain, and boxing in early spring.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1305"},{"n":"Badgers and pine martens","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both widespread in the Carpathian forests, and mostly known from tracks.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1306"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Danube backwaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Emperor, demoiselle and clubtail species on the floodplain channels.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1307"},{"n":"Swallowtail and scarce swallowtail","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SK"],"d":"Both on the warm southern slopes all summer.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1308"},{"n":"Iberian lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Down to ninety-four animals in 2002 and the most endangered cat on earth. Now several thousand across Iberia after the largest carnivore recovery ever attempted. Doñana and Sierra de Andújar, at dawn, with a scope.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1309"},{"n":"Spanish imperial eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Found nowhere but Iberia, down to around thirty pairs in the sixties, and back to several hundred. Monfragüe and Doñana are the places.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1310"},{"n":"Cinereous vultures of Monfragüe","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The largest colony of black vultures on earth sits on one Extremaduran cliff, and the Salto del Gitano viewpoint puts them at eye level.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1311"},{"n":"Orca in the Strait","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"A small, studied pod that hunts bluefin tuna in the Strait of Gibraltar each summer, and has learned to take fish directly off the lines.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1312"},{"n":"Mediterranean chameleon","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"On the Ria Formosa dunes and the Andalusian coast — Europe’s only chameleon, protected, and almost impossible to spot until it moves.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1313"},{"n":"Great bustards of Extremadura","r":"LIKELY","g":"grouse","m":[3,4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"Among the heaviest flying birds on earth, and the Iberian steppe holds most of the world population. The spring display has to be seen to be believed.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1314"},{"n":"Sierra Nevada ibex","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Spanish ibex on the highest ground in mainland Spain, and easily seen from the Alpujarras trails.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1315"},{"n":"Barbary macaques of Gibraltar","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s only free-living monkeys, on the Rock since at least the eighteenth century. Do not feed them, and do not carry an open bag.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1316"},{"n":"Common genet","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Spotted and ring-tailed in the cork oak woodland, and strictly nocturnal.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1317"},{"n":"Egyptian mongoose","r":"LIKELY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s only mongoose, trotting across a track in daylight in the southern scrub.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1318"},{"n":"Red deer of the dehesa","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The September rut in the cork oak parkland is one of the great sounds of the Spanish autumn.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1319"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Abundant through the sierras and the Doñana scrub, and entirely nocturnal.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1320"},{"n":"Otters on the Guadalquivir","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Recovered strongly on the southern rivers, and best looked for at dawn.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1321"},{"n":"Garden dormouse","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Bandit-masked and long-tailed, in the sierras, and declining across Europe for reasons nobody fully understands.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1322"},{"n":"Bearded vultures of Cazorla","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Extinct in Andalucía by 1986 and reintroduced from 2006. Nearly three metres across, and it eats bone.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1323"},{"n":"Griffon vultures","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Spain holds most of Europe’s griffons, and every southern gorge has them.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1324"},{"n":"Egyptian vulture","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Small, scruffy and yellow-faced, and a summer visitor that winters in Africa.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1325"},{"n":"Bonelli’s eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A rocky-country specialist, and Andalucía holds a good share of the European population.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1326"},{"n":"Black-winged kite","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Ghost-grey with red eyes, hovering over the dehesa, and spreading north through Iberia.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1327"},{"n":"Lesser kestrels in the towns","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["ES"],"d":"Colonial, nesting in church towers and old walls in Trujillo and Cáceres, and screaming over the plaza at dusk.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1328"},{"n":"Montagu’s harriers over the cereal","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["ES"],"d":"Nests in standing crops are individually located and protected by volunteers before the harvest.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1329"},{"n":"Booted and short-toed eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both summer visitors, and both common over the sierras and the dehesa.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1330"},{"n":"Black kites in thousands","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Over every rubbish tip and river, and streaming across the Strait in autumn.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1331"},{"n":"Little bustard","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[3,4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"Declining fast across Iberia, and the male’s snorting display call carries a surprising distance over open ground.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1332"},{"n":"Pin-tailed and black-bellied sandgrouse","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Steppe birds that fly miles to water each morning, and are invisible on the ground until they move.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1333"},{"n":"Stone curlew","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Enormous yellow eyes, active at dusk, and a wailing call across the open plain at night.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1334"},{"n":"Collared pratincole","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Hawking insects like a tern over the marisma, and nesting on bare dried mud.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1335"},{"n":"Great spotted cuckoo","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[2,3,4,5,6],"c":["ES"],"d":"Parasitises magpies rather than small birds, and arrives startlingly early in the year.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1336"},{"n":"Iberian magpie","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Azure-winged, sociable and noisy in the dehesa, with its nearest relatives in east Asia.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1337"},{"n":"Black wheatear","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"All black bar a white rump, on the driest rocky slopes, and the male builds piles of stones.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1338"},{"n":"Blue rock thrush","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Slate-blue on a crag or a castle wall, singing from the highest point available.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1339"},{"n":"Thekla and calandra larks","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The larks of the open steppe, and the calandra’s song flight is one of the sounds of Extremadura in spring.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1340"},{"n":"Dupont’s lark","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"One of the most elusive birds in Europe, on flat shrub-steppe, singing before dawn and almost never seen.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1341"},{"n":"Spectacled and Dartford warblers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Scolding from every scrub bush across the southern hills.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1342"},{"n":"Red-necked nightjar","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"An Iberian and North African speciality, churring from a warm track after dark.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1343"},{"n":"White-rumped swift","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Breeds in Europe only in southern Spain, and only in old red-rumped swallow nests.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1344"},{"n":"Eagle owls in the gorges","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s largest owl, on the limestone faces of Grazalema and El Torcal.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1345"},{"n":"Scops owl calling","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"One pure note every two seconds, all night, from every Andalusian plaza.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1346"},{"n":"White storks on the dehesa","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Nesting in colonies in the cork oaks and on every tower, and increasingly resident all year.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1347"},{"n":"Black storks in the sierras","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Nesting on cliff ledges in Monfragüe, and shy wherever it occurs.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1348"},{"n":"Flamingos at Fuente de Piedra","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[2,3,4,5,6,7],"c":["ES"],"d":"One of Europe’s two great flamingo breeding colonies, on an inland salt lake that dries out completely in a bad year.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1349"},{"n":"White-headed duck","r":"RARE","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Down to twenty-two birds in 1977 and saved by one of Spain’s first modern conservation campaigns.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1350"},{"n":"Marbled duck and crested coot","r":"RARE","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both globally threatened, both clinging on in southern Spanish wetlands.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1351"},{"n":"Purple swamphen","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Enormous, blue and red-billed, stalking the reed edges of the marisma.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1352"},{"n":"Glossy ibis and spoonbills","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both recovered dramatically in Doñana, and both now in thousands.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1353"},{"n":"Audouin’s gull","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"One of the rarest gulls in the world in the eighties, and now recovering along the Mediterranean coast.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1354"},{"n":"Bluefin tuna and the almadraba","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[5,6],"c":["ES"],"d":"A trap fishery worked off Cádiz since Phoenician times, and the same run of fish the orca follow.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1355"},{"n":"Pilot and sperm whales","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"Resident in the Strait, where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet over a deep sill.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1356"},{"n":"Common and striped dolphins","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"In the Strait year-round, and often visible from the Tarifa shore.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1357"},{"n":"Ocellated lizard","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s largest lizard, green with blue eye-spots, and commoner here than anywhere.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1358"},{"n":"Spiny-footed lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"A sand specialist of the Doñana and Cabo de Gata dunes, with red flanks when young.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1359"},{"n":"Moorish gecko","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"On every wall and ceiling in the south after dark, and entirely welcome there.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1360"},{"n":"Montpellier and horseshoe whip snakes","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both long, fast and harmless to people, and both gone before you have focused.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1361"},{"n":"Lataste’s viper","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"An Iberian endemic with a small upturned snout. Venomous, retiring, and left entirely alone.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1362"},{"n":"Spanish pond turtle","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"An Iberian and North African endemic of slow southern rivers, and declining.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1363"},{"n":"Western spadefoot toad","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[2,3,4],"c":["ES"],"d":"A burrowing toad with a spade on each hind foot, in the sandy Doñana country.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1364"},{"n":"Iberian painted frog","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[1,2,3,4],"c":["ES"],"d":"Found only in south-west Iberia, and breeding in winter pools after the first real rain.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1365"},{"n":"Betic midwife toad","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["ES"],"d":"Confined to the mountains of southern Spain, and the male carries the eggs on his hind legs.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1366"},{"n":"Monarch butterflies","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[8,9,10,11],"c":["ES"],"d":"An established population on the southern coast — the only place in Europe where they breed year-round.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1367"},{"n":"Two-tailed pasha","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s most spectacular butterfly, on strawberry-tree fruit in the Alcornocales.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1368"},{"n":"Spanish festoon","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[2,3,4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"Zebra-striped, and among the first butterflies of an Andalusian spring — in February.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1369"},{"n":"Praying mantis","r":"LIKELY","g":"insect","m":[7,8,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"On dry grassland from midsummer, in several species including a stick-thin cone-head.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1370"},{"n":"Cicadas in the cork oaks","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"The sound of an Andalusian summer, and it stops the instant you look.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1371"},{"n":"Sierra Nevada endemics","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"More than sixty plants grow on this one mountain range and nowhere else on earth — the richest endemic flora in Europe.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1372"},{"n":"Spanish fir — the pinsapo","r":"RARE","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A relict fir surviving in a handful of Grazalema and Ronda valleys, left behind when the ice retreated.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1373"},{"n":"Cork oak dehesa","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Wood pasture worked for centuries — cork stripped in ochre stripes, pigs on the acorns, and among the richest man-made habitats in Europe.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1374"},{"n":"Dwarf fan palm","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s only native palm, on the dry hillsides of Cabo de Gata and the Alcornocales.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1375"},{"n":"Almond blossom","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[1,2],"c":["ES"],"d":"Whole Andalusian hillsides in white and pink in January and February, when nothing else in Europe is flowering.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1376"},{"n":"Orange groves in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[3,4],"c":["ES"],"d":"The azahar — orange blossom — scents entire cities in Seville and the Guadalquivir valley for a fortnight.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1377"},{"n":"The olive sea of Jaén","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[11,12,1],"c":["ES"],"d":"Sixty million trees in one province, the largest olive forest on earth, and harvested by shaking from November.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1378"},{"n":"El Torcal karst","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Limestone weathered into stacked plates and towers, a Jurassic seabed lifted and dissolved, and full of ammonites.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1379"},{"n":"Cabo de Gata volcanic desert","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Europe’s driest corner — volcanic rock, dunes, salt pans and flamingos, with under two hundred millimetres of rain a year.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1380"},{"n":"Tabernas badlands","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The only true desert in continental Europe, and the reason a hundred westerns were filmed here.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1381"},{"n":"Río Tinto","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A river running deep red with dissolved iron, mined since the Bronze Age, and studied by astrobiologists as a model for Mars.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1382"},{"n":"Sierra Nevada snow","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[11,12,1,2,3,4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"Snow on mainland Spain’s highest ground into May, forty miles from a subtropical coast.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1383"},{"n":"Andalusian dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"Sierra Nevada carries a major observatory for a reason, and the sierras below it are genuinely dark.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1384"},{"n":"Raptor migration at Tarifa","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[8,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"Half a million birds funnel across the fourteen-kilometre Strait each autumn — one of the great migration spectacles on earth.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1385"},{"n":"Gannets through the Strait","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[10,11,12,1,2],"c":["ES"],"d":"Streaming into the Mediterranean in winter, and visible in numbers from the Tarifa headland.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1386"},{"n":"Iberian lynx of the Guadiana","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Extinct in Portugal by 2000 and reintroduced to the Vale do Guadiana from 2015. Now breeding in the wild again on the Spanish border.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1387"},{"n":"Great bustards of Castro Verde","r":"LIKELY","g":"grouse","m":[3,4,5],"c":["PT"],"d":"The Alentejo steppe holds Portugal’s population, protected by an agri-environment scheme that pays farmers to keep the cereal rotation.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1388"},{"n":"Little bustards","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[3,4,5],"c":["PT"],"d":"Declining fast, and the Castro Verde plains are the stronghold.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1389"},{"n":"Lesser kestrels","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["PT"],"d":"Colonial in the Alentejo villages and on purpose-built nesting towers.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1390"},{"n":"Black-winged kite","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Hovering over the montado, and commoner in Portugal than almost anywhere in Europe.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1391"},{"n":"Bonelli’s eagle","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On the Guadiana and Costa Vicentina cliffs, scarce and closely monitored.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1392"},{"n":"Montagu’s harriers","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["PT"],"d":"Over the Alentejo cereal, with nests found and protected before the harvest.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1393"},{"n":"Black storks on the Guadiana","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"Nesting on the schist cliffs of the border river.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1394"},{"n":"Sagres raptor migration","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"Birds heading for the Strait pile up at the south-western corner of Europe when the wind is wrong. Thousands on a good October day.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1395"},{"n":"Cory’s shearwaters off Sagres","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Shearing the Atlantic swell in long lines, and best from the cape in an onshore wind.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1396"},{"n":"Balearic shearwater","r":"RARE","g":"seabird","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"The most threatened seabird in Europe, and the Portuguese coast is a key feeding area.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1397"},{"n":"Greater flamingos at Castro Marim","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On the salt pans of the Guadiana mouth, and increasing every year.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1398"},{"n":"Spoonbills in the Ria Formosa","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Feeding with that side-to-side sweep across the lagoon at low water.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1399"},{"n":"Purple swamphen","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Enormous and blue in the Algarve reed margins, and recovered from near-loss.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1400"},{"n":"Little terns on the sand","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["PT"],"d":"Nesting on bare Algarve beaches above the tideline, and fenced against feet and dogs.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1401"},{"n":"Kentish plover","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"A tiny beach-nesting wader on the Ria Formosa spits, and squeezed everywhere by tourism.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1402"},{"n":"Audouin’s gull","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Recovering along the southern coast after being one of the world’s rarest gulls.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1403"},{"n":"Waders of the Ria Formosa","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["PT"],"d":"Godwits, dunlin, curlew and stilts in thousands on a sixty-kilometre lagoon behind barrier islands.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1404"},{"n":"Bee-eaters over the montado","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"Nesting in sandy banks across the Alentejo in the most improbable colours in Europe.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1405"},{"n":"Azure-winged magpies","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Sociable and noisy through the cork oak, and an Iberian bird with its relatives in east Asia.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1406"},{"n":"Red-necked nightjar","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["PT"],"d":"Churring from a warm Alentejo track after dark.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1407"},{"n":"Great spotted cuckoo","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[2,3,4,5],"c":["PT"],"d":"Arriving in February and parasitising the magpies rather than small birds.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1408"},{"n":"Common genet and mongoose","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Both in the montado, one nocturnal and one not.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1409"},{"n":"Otters on the Guadiana","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Healthy populations on the southern rivers, and best at dawn.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1410"},{"n":"Bottlenose dolphins off the Algarve","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"Resident groups along the south coast, and boat trips from every harbour.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1411"},{"n":"Ocean sunfish","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"A vast lopsided disc basking flat at the surface off the Costa Vicentina.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1412"},{"n":"Loggerhead turtles","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Increasingly recorded, and now occasionally nesting on Algarve beaches for the first time in memory.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1413"},{"n":"Ocellated lizard","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"Europe’s largest lizard, on the dry Alentejo and Algarve slopes.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1414"},{"n":"Moorish gecko","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"On every whitewashed wall after dark, and doing you a favour.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1415"},{"n":"Horseshoe whip snake","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Fast, harmless and beautifully marked, and gone before you focus.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1416"},{"n":"Iberian painted frog","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[1,2,3,4],"c":["PT"],"d":"Found only in south-west Iberia, breeding in winter pools after the first rain.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1417"},{"n":"Sharp-ribbed newt","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[1,2,3,4],"c":["PT"],"d":"Europe’s largest newt, which can push its own ribs through its skin as a defence.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1418"},{"n":"Cork oak montado","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Portugal produces roughly half the world’s cork, stripped by hand every nine years from trees that live two centuries.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1419"},{"n":"Almond blossom in the Algarve","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[1,2],"c":["PT"],"d":"Hillsides white in January, and the legend about the Nordic princess is told at every roadside stall.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1420"},{"n":"Cistus in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[3,4,5],"c":["PT"],"d":"Rockrose across the whole Alentejo scrub, white and pink, and gone by noon each day.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1421"},{"n":"Algarve wild orchids","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[2,3,4],"c":["PT"],"d":"Dozens of species on the limestone barrocal, and flowering when Britain is still frozen.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1422"},{"n":"Costa Vicentina cliffs","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"A wild Atlantic coast of schist and sandstone, and the only place in the world where storks nest on sea stacks.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1423"},{"n":"Salt pans of Castro Marim","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"Hand-harvested flor de sal on the Guadiana marsh, worked the same way for centuries.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1424"},{"n":"Alqueva dark sky","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PT"],"d":"The world’s first certified Starlight Tourism Destination — a reservoir the size of a county with almost no light around it.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1425"},{"n":"Sardines on the charcoal","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"The summer fish, grilled in the street, and the reason for the June festivals.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1426"},{"n":"Northern butterflies on the fell","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"Arctic ringlets and fritillaries flying in a season measured in weeks, and several found no further south.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1427"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the mires","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Northern emerald and white-faced darters over bog pools, hunting in near-daylight at midnight.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1428"},{"n":"Common frogs at altitude","r":"COMMON","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7],"c":["NO"],"d":"Spawning in meltwater pools within days of the ice going, higher than seems reasonable.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1429"},{"n":"Mosquitoes and the head net","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"Not a spectacle, but the single most important fact about a Norwegian summer inland.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1430"},{"n":"Rockpools on the skerries","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Anemones, urchins and shore crabs in water clear enough to read through, on every outer island.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1431"},{"n":"Glacial striations and erratics","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Bedrock scored by ice and boulders dumped where it stopped — the whole country is a diagram of the last glaciation.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1432"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the southern rivers","r":"LUCKY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"At the very northern edge of the European range, on a handful of southern rivers that stay ice-free.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1433"},{"n":"Feral goats on the west coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Old Norwegian breeds kept on coastal farms and islands, and out on the hill much of the year.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1434"},{"n":"Starling murmurations at Sørlandet","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[9,10],"c":["NO"],"d":"Autumn roosts on the south coast before the birds move on, in numbers that darken a field.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1435"},{"n":"Cloudberry bogs in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6],"c":["NO"],"d":"White flowers across the mire weeks before the amber fruit that everybody actually wants.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1436"},{"n":"Badgers in the Jura","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["CH"],"d":"Setts in the limestone banks of the Jura woods, and a path nothing else would make.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1437"},{"n":"Wild boar in the lowlands","r":"LUCKY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Increasing across the Mittelland and the Ticino, nocturnal, and destructive to a vineyard.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1438"},{"n":"Grey herons on the lakes","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"On every lake shore and river margin, and entirely at home in Zurich and Geneva.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1439"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Aare","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"A blue bolt along the clean lowland rivers and the reed-fringed lake edges.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1440"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the alpine tarns","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"Alpine emerald and blue hawkers over pools that were frozen a month earlier.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1441"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over Geneva","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"Autumn roosts over the lake and the city reedbeds.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1442"},{"n":"Valais apricots and apples","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[7,8,9],"c":["CH"],"d":"The Rhône valley is dry and sunny enough to be Switzerland’s orchard, and the roadside stalls prove it.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1443"},{"n":"Rockpooling in the lake shallows","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[6,7,8],"c":["CH"],"d":"No sea, but crayfish, caddis and stone loach under every lifted stone in the clear shallows.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1444"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Salzach","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["AT"],"d":"On every clean river and gravel pit from the Tyrol to the Danube.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1445"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Danube backwaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["AT"],"d":"Emperor and clubtail species over the floodplain channels east of Vienna.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1446"},{"n":"Hedgehogs in the villages","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["AT"],"d":"Gardens and campsite edges from April until they turn in for the winter.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1447"},{"n":"Starling murmurations in the east","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[9,10,11],"c":["AT"],"d":"Over the Neusiedler See reedbeds, and over the vineyards they have just stripped.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1448"},{"n":"Wachau apricots","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[7],"c":["AT"],"d":"Marillen from the Danube terraces, protected by name, and the whole valley sells them for three weeks.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1449"},{"n":"Stream life under the stones","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Stonefly, caddis and the native crayfish in the alpine streams — and the crayfish is a good sign the water is clean.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1450"},{"n":"Otters returning to Wallonia","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Effectively lost by the 1990s and now recolonising the Ardennes rivers from Luxembourg and Germany.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1451"},{"n":"Belgian Blue and Ardennes cattle","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"The Blue is the country’s dairy and beef workhorse; the red Ardennes breed is older and rarer.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1452"},{"n":"Ardennes draught horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"One of the oldest heavy breeds in Europe, still used for extraction in woods too soft for machines.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1453"},{"n":"Feral goats on the Meuse cliffs","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"On the limestone above the river between Namur and Dinant, keeping the scrub down.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1454"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Kempen pools","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["BE"],"d":"Bog and heath specialists on the acid pools of the north-east, several at their western limit.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1455"},{"n":"Fossils in the Meuse limestone","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Carboniferous corals and crinoids in the quarry faces — and the Bernissart iguanodons came out of a Belgian coal mine.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1456"},{"n":"Rockpools at De Panne","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Sixty-five kilometres of coast, and the groynes and breakwaters hold the whole shore fauna.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1457"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over the polder","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[10,11,12,1],"c":["BE"],"d":"Winter roosts over the coastal reedbeds and the Antwerp docks.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1458"},{"n":"Haspengouw blossom and harvest","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[4,9,10],"c":["BE"],"d":"Belgium’s orchard country — white in April, and picked from September.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1459"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Weerribben","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"The peat marshes hold species lost across much of western Europe, including the green hawker.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1460"},{"n":"Pike and zander in the polder water","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Every ditch, canal and lake holds them, and a Dutch fishing permit is cheap and covers a great deal.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1461"},{"n":"Eels of the delta","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[4,5,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"A fish that breeds in the Sargasso Sea and has collapsed by ninety-five per cent. The Dutch eel fishery is now tightly restricted.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1462"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the Veluwe","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["NL"],"d":"A serious flush in the old pine and beech, and the Netherlands takes its fly agaric photography seriously.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1463"},{"n":"Fossil shells on the Zeeland beaches","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Dredged sand throws up Pliocene shells, shark teeth and mammoth fragments — the Zeeland beaches are a known collecting ground.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1464"},{"n":"Feral goats and sheep on the dunes","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Grazers used as conservation machinery to keep the dune grassland open.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1465"},{"n":"Beech and oak in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["NL"],"d":"The Veluwe and the eastern woods turn copper, and the whole country cycles out to see it.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1466"},{"n":"Betuwe blossom and orchards","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[4,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"The river-clay orchard belt in white and pink each April, and picked from September.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1467"},{"n":"Glow-worms on the Limburg banks","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Green lamps in the grass of the southern hills on a warm still night.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1468"},{"n":"Badgers of the eastern forests","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PL"],"d":"Setts in the sandy banks of Białowieża and the Bieszczady.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1469"},{"n":"Brown hares on the arable","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Out on the open cereal country, and boxing from February.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1470"},{"n":"Hedgehogs in the villages","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["PL"],"d":"Gardens and campsite edges through the warm months.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1471"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Biebrza","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["PL"],"d":"Marsh and bog species in numbers, including several lost from western Europe.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1472"},{"n":"Rockpools on the Hel peninsula","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"The Baltic is nearly fresh, so the shore fauna is odd and sparse — which is itself worth seeing.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1473"},{"n":"Polish koniks on the commons","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Back-bred to resemble the tarpan and used as conservation grazers across the country.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1474"},{"n":"Polish Red cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"An old native breed, nearly lost to industrial farming, and kept now on nature reserves as grazers.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1475"},{"n":"Orchard blossom and the apple harvest","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[4,9,10],"c":["PL"],"d":"Poland is the largest apple producer in Europe, and the orchards run for miles around Grójec.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1476"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over the reed","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[9,10],"c":["PL"],"d":"Autumn roosts on the eastern marshes before the birds move south.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1477"},{"n":"Czech Red cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"An old native breed reduced to a few hundred animals and kept going deliberately as a genetic reserve.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1478"},{"n":"Feral goats on the karst","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"On the limestone of the Moravian and Bohemian karst, keeping the steppe grassland open.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1479"},{"n":"Hucul ponies in the Beskydy","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CZ"],"d":"A Carpathian mountain breed, small, tough, and used for forest work and grazing schemes.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1480"},{"n":"Stream life in the Šumava","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The native stone crayfish survives in the coldest streams, and its presence is a formal indicator of water quality.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1481"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over Moravia","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[9,10],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Over the vineyards at harvest, which the growers do not welcome.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1482"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Váh","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"A blue bolt along the clean Carpathian rivers and the Danube backwaters.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1483"},{"n":"Hucul ponies of the Carpathians","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SK"],"d":"The mountain breed of the whole arc, still worked in forestry and kept in a national stud.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1484"},{"n":"Stone crayfish in the streams","r":"LUCKY","g":"crab","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SK"],"d":"Native crayfish in the coldest water, and a formal indicator that the stream is genuinely clean.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1485"},{"n":"Starling murmurations on the plain","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[9,10],"c":["SK"],"d":"Over the Danube reedbeds and the southern vineyards in autumn.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1486"},{"n":"Orchards and slivovica","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["SK"],"d":"Plum orchards through the Carpathian foothills, and the distilling that follows the picking.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1487"},{"n":"Badgers in the Apennine woods","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Setts under the chestnut and oak banks, and a well-worn path in the leaf litter.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1488"},{"n":"Bats in the Roman ruins","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Aqueducts, catacombs and abandoned quarries hold important roosts across the north.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1489"},{"n":"Otters on the southern rivers","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Nearly lost by the 1980s and slowly recolonising northward. Still genuinely rare in the north.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1490"},{"n":"Brown hares on the Po plain","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Out on the open arable of the Po valley at dawn.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1491"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Ticino","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Along every clean lowland river and the lake margins.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1492"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Po backwaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Emperor, demoiselle and clubtail species on the river’s side channels and the rice paddies.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1493"},{"n":"Rockpools on the Ligurian shore","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Sea urchins, blennies and octopus in the clear shallows below the Cinque Terre terraces.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1494"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over Rome","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[11,12,1],"c":["IT"],"d":"Hundreds of thousands over the city each winter, and a civic nuisance as well as a spectacle.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1495"},{"n":"Haflinger horses of the Alto Adige","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Chestnut with a flaxen mane, bred in the South Tyrol since the 1870s and still worked on the alps.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1496"},{"n":"Fireflies over the vineyards","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6],"c":["IT"],"d":"Lucciole for a fortnight in June across the northern vine country, and no torch.","f":"eu-italy-north.html","a":"E1497"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Irish rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A blue bolt along every clean lowland river and canal, and commoner than most visitors expect.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E1498"},{"n":"Kerry cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Small, black and among the oldest cattle breeds in Europe, kept going by a handful of breeders.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E1499"},{"n":"Blackface sheep on the hills","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"On every mountain commonage in the west, and the reason the uplands look the way they do.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E1500"},{"n":"Feral goats in the mountains","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Long-established herds in Kerry, Wicklow and Burren — and the puck goat of Killorglin is crowned king for three days each August.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E1501"},{"n":"Irish apple orchards","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[4,9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"Armagh and the south-east, white in April and picked from September, with the cider following.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E1502"},{"n":"Snow on the Reeks","r":"LUCKY","g":"snow","m":[12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"Rare, brief and transforming — Carrauntoohil under snow is a genuinely alpine sight in a country that mostly is not.","f":"eu-ireland.html","a":"E1503"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the southern streams","r":"LUCKY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"At the northern edge of the range, on Skåne and Blekinge rivers that stay ice-free.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1504"},{"n":"Otters returning","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Down to a few hundred animals in the seventies and recovered strongly since the ban on organochlorines.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1505"},{"n":"Gotland ponies — russ","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"A semi-wild native breed running on the Lojsta heath on Gotland, and one of the oldest in Europe.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1506"},{"n":"Fjällko mountain cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Small hornless northern cattle kept at the summer fäbod pastures, and nearly lost to modern breeds.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1507"},{"n":"Rockpools on the Bohuslän granite","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"The west coast is properly salt, so the shore life is rich — unlike the Baltic side.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1508"},{"n":"Otters on the Danish streams","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Nearly extinct by 1980 and recovered across Jutland after a hunting ban and holt building.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1509"},{"n":"Jutland draught horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"A chestnut heavy breed, once the Carlsberg dray horse, and now kept going by enthusiasts.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1510"},{"n":"Danish Red cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"A native dairy breed reduced to a handful of herds and preserved deliberately.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1511"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Jutland lakes","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["DK"],"d":"Bog and heath species on the acid pools of the western plantations.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1512"},{"n":"Apple orchards and æblemost","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["DK"],"d":"Fyn and the southern islands, picked from September, and pressed unfiltered.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1513"},{"n":"Lapwing and snipe on the wet meadows","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["CH"],"d":"Drumming snipe and tumbling lapwing on the few Swiss wet meadows that survive, and both declining hard.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1514"},{"n":"Waders on the Neusiedler See","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"The shallow steppe lake and its salt pans hold avocets, stilts and passage waders in numbers.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1515"},{"n":"Lapwing over the Moravian fields","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["CZ"],"d":"Wheeling and creaking over the spring arable, and down by more than half in thirty years.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1516"},{"n":"Waders on the Danube gravel","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["SK"],"d":"Little ringed plovers and common sandpipers on the bare shingle of the river and its gravel workings.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1517"},{"n":"Snow on the Swedish forest","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[11,12,1,2,3],"c":["SE"],"d":"Half the year in the north, and the forest reads like a book while it lasts.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1518"},{"n":"Snow in the Krkonoše","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[11,12,1,2,3],"c":["CZ"],"d":"The Giant Mountains hold snow into April, and the ridge tundra is genuinely arctic under it.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1519"},{"n":"Snow in the Tatras","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[11,12,1,2,3,4],"c":["PL"],"d":"On the high ground into May, and the only time lynx and wolf tracks can be read reliably.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1520"},{"n":"Elfstedentocht ice","r":"RARE","g":"snow","m":[1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"The eleven-city skating tour needs fifteen centimetres of natural canal ice. It has not been held since 1997.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1521"},{"n":"Frost on the Ardennes","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[12,1,2],"c":["BE"],"d":"The high fens hold snow when the coast has none, and the boardwalks become the only safe line.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1522"},{"n":"Bergamasca and Alpine sheep","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["AT"],"d":"Driven up to the high alps for the summer and down again in September with the cattle.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1523"},{"n":"Gute and Roslag sheep","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Old Swedish landrace breeds, horned and hardy, kept as conservation grazers on Gotland and the coast.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1524"},{"n":"Marsh sheep on the Wadden dykes","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Grazing the sea dykes because their feet compact the turf and keep the defence sound. They are infrastructure.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1525"},{"n":"Ardennes and Ardense Voskop sheep","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["BE"],"d":"Old Walloon breeds kept on the high fens as conservation grazers.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1526"},{"n":"Wallachian sheep","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PL"],"d":"Long-horned Carpathian sheep on the Tatra pastures, and the source of the smoked oscypek cheese.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1527"},{"n":"Merino and churra flocks","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The merino built Castile’s medieval wealth, and the transhumance drove routes are still legally protected rights of way.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1528"},{"n":"Heidschnucke and Alpine flocks","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Horned heath sheep in the north and alpine breeds on the Bavarian alms, both used as conservation grazers.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1529"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the beechwoods","r":"COMMON","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["DK"],"d":"A serious flush in the Danish beech, and foraging is a normal part of the autumn.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1530"},{"n":"Feral goats on the cliffs","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Conservation grazers on Møns Klint and the coastal slopes, keeping the chalk grassland open.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1531"},{"n":"Black grouse, all but gone","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["DK"],"d":"Down to a handful of birds on the Jutland heaths and effectively lost as a Danish breeder.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1532"},{"n":"Glow-worms on the banks","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["DK"],"d":"Green lamps in the grass of the southern islands on a warm still night.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1533"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the streams","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"On the clear Jutland streams, and hit hard by any hard winter.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1534"},{"n":"Wild boar on the border","r":"RARE","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DK"],"d":"Denmark built a fence along the German border in 2019 to keep them out. A few cross anyway.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1535"},{"n":"Dark skies over Møn","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["DK"],"d":"Møn and Nyord are a certified Dark Sky Park, and the only one in Denmark.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1536"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the southern rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"On every clean river and irrigation channel, and easiest at a reservoir margin.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1537"},{"n":"Bats in the caves and cathedrals","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Southern caves hold enormous colonies, and the Andalusian cathedrals hold more.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1538"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the marisma","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Emperor and scarlet darter over the Doñana channels, and several African species reaching Europe here.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1539"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over the olives","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[11,12,1],"c":["ES"],"d":"Winter roosts over the Jaén olive groves in numbers the growers do not welcome.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1540"},{"n":"Retinta and fighting-bull cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The red retinta works the dehesa; the toro bravo is bred half-wild on the same ground and is a genuine wild sight from the road.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1541"},{"n":"Andalusian horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The pura raza española, bred here since the fifteenth century, and worked at every feria.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1542"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Guadiana","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PT"],"d":"A blue bolt along the border river and every Algarve creek.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1543"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Alentejo pools","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"Over the farm reservoirs and temporary ponds, including several North African species.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1544"},{"n":"Hedgehogs in the montado","r":"LIKELY","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["PT"],"d":"The Algerian hedgehog as well as the common one — Iberia has both.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1545"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over the Alentejo","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[11,12,1],"c":["PT"],"d":"Winter roosts over the cork oak and the olive, and over Lisbon’s squares.","f":"eu-iberia-south.html","a":"E1546"},{"n":"Badgers in the bocage","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Setts in the hedge banks of Normandy and the Loire, and a path nothing else would make.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E1547"},{"n":"Red foxes","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"From the Camargue dykes to the middle of Paris, and increasingly bold everywhere.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E1548"},{"n":"Hedgehogs","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Gardens, campsite edges and hedgerows through the warm months.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E1549"},{"n":"Feral goats on the causses","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the limestone plateaux of the Cévennes, keeping the scrub down.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E1550"},{"n":"Grey partridge on the plains","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A farmland bird in steep decline across northern France, and a conservation priority.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E1551"},{"n":"Snow on the Cévennes","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"Mont Lozère and the Aigoual hold real snow, and the roads close — a surprise to anyone who thinks of France as warm.","f":"eu-france-south.html","a":"E1552"},{"n":"Rockpools on the Baltic coast","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The German Baltic is nearly fresh, so the shore life is sparse and strange — which is the interesting part.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1553"},{"n":"Starling murmurations on the Wadden","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Autumn roosts over the north German reedbeds before the birds move on.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1554"},{"n":"Rhön and Black Forest horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Black Forest cold-blood, chestnut with a flaxen mane, still worked in woods too soft for machines.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1555"},{"n":"Harbour seals on the German Wadden","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"On the sandbanks off the North Sea coast, and recovered strongly after two viral epidemics.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1556"},{"n":"Fjord horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Dun with a dark dorsal stripe and a two-tone mane, bred in western Norway for at least two thousand years.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1557"},{"n":"Adders at the Arctic Circle","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NO"],"d":"The northernmost snake in the world reaches almost seventy degrees north here — further than any reptile has business going.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1558"},{"n":"Old Norwegian sheep","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Short-tailed spelsau on the coastal heaths, out through the winter, and the breed the Vikings kept.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1559"},{"n":"Waders on the Jaeren shore","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,8,9,10],"c":["NO"],"d":"Purple sandpipers, turnstones and knot on the south-western beaches on passage and through the winter.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1560"},{"n":"Wild boar on the Swedish border","r":"RARE","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NO"],"d":"Absent for centuries and now crossing from Sweden, with Norway officially trying to keep them out.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1561"},{"n":"Seabird cliffs at Störa Karlsö","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["SE"],"d":"Guillemots and razorbills in tens of thousands on a Gotland limestone stack — Sweden’s great seabird colony.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1562"},{"n":"Waders at Falsterbo","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10],"c":["SE"],"d":"The southern cape funnels migration, and the wader passage is as good as the famous raptor counts.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1563"},{"n":"Feral goats on the öland alvar","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SE"],"d":"Grazers on the limestone pavement, keeping one of Europe’s strangest grasslands open.","f":"eu-nordics.html","a":"E1564"},{"n":"Freiberger horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["CH"],"d":"The last native Swiss breed, bred in the Jura, and still used by the army as a pack horse.","f":"eu-alps.html","a":"E1565"},{"n":"Black grouse of the Veluwe","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["NL"],"d":"Down to a handful of birds on one heath, and the subject of a last-ditch reinforcement programme.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1566"},{"n":"Dark skies over Lauwersmeer","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"A certified dark-sky park in one of the most light-polluted countries on earth, which is quite an achievement.","f":"eu-low-countries.html","a":"E1567"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise in the Baltic","r":"RARE","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"The Baltic population is down to a few hundred animals and is among the most threatened cetaceans in the world.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1568"},{"n":"Feral goats on the Pieniny","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["PL"],"d":"Conservation grazers on the limestone gorge slopes, keeping the flower-rich sward open.","f":"eu-central.html","a":"E1569"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise off Fehmarn","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany’s Baltic and North Sea coasts both hold them, and the Baltic population is critically low.","f":"eu-germany-south.html","a":"E1570"},{"n":"European sturgeon of the Gironde","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"The last population in western Europe, and one of the oldest fish lineages on earth. Protected absolutely since 1982, restocked from a hatchery, and a live one is a genuine event.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1571"},{"n":"European mink","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Among the most endangered mammals in Europe, and south-west France holds one of the last populations. Almost never seen; the American mink you do see is the reason it is going.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1572"},{"n":"The Dune du Pilat","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Europe’s tallest sand dune at over a hundred metres, moving inland several metres a year and burying the pine forest behind it as it goes.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1573"},{"n":"Baudets du Poitou","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"An enormous shaggy donkey breed of the Poitou marshes, down to forty-four animals in 1977 and recovered by a deliberate rescue.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1574"},{"n":"The ânes en culotte of Ré","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Island donkeys wearing checked trousers — originally to keep the marsh mosquitoes off their legs, and now kept up because the island decided to.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1575"},{"n":"Oyster claires of Marennes-Oléron","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Oysters finished in shallow clay ponds where a microscopic alga turns their gills green. The largest oyster region in Europe, and the green is not a fault.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1576"},{"n":"The Passage du Gois","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A four-kilometre road across the sea to Noirmoutier, open for about ninety minutes either side of low water and under two metres of water the rest of the time.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1577"},{"n":"Cockles and razor clams","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Pêche à pied on the vast Vendéen flats at low spring tide, with size limits and closed seasons that are checked.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1578"},{"n":"Little terns on the shingle","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Nesting on bare beach above the tideline, and fenced against feet and dogs at every site that still holds them.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1579"},{"n":"Kentish plover","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A tiny beach-nesting wader squeezed by tourism the whole length of this coast.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1580"},{"n":"Oystercatchers and curlew","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every flat and mudbank, and in winter the curlew flocks are in thousands.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1581"},{"n":"Whimbrel on passage","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Seven-note whistle over the marsh in spring and autumn, and easy to tell from the curlew once you have heard it.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1582"},{"n":"Sanderling on the beach","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"Running the wave edge like clockwork toys on every Atlantic beach in winter.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1583"},{"n":"Green Venice","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Eight hundred kilometres of tree-lined canals under ash and poplar, punted flat-bottomed, and green enough that the light itself changes colour.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1584"},{"n":"European eels of the marsh","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[3,4,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"A fish that breeds in the Sargasso Sea and has collapsed by more than ninety per cent. The marsh fishery is now tightly restricted.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1585"},{"n":"Otters in the canals","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Recovered through the Poitevin and the Landes, and best looked for from a punt at first light.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1586"},{"n":"Coypu on the banks","r":"COMMON","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"South American, escaped from fur farms, and everywhere on this coast. Orange teeth and no attempt at concealment.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1587"},{"n":"Black-crowned night heron","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Stocky and grey, roosting in the canal willows by day and hunting at dusk.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1588"},{"n":"Purple herons in the reed","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Slimmer and shyer than a grey heron, slipping into cover rather than flying off.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1589"},{"n":"Cattle egrets with the herds","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Following the marsh cattle for whatever they turn up, and golden-crowned in spring.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1590"},{"n":"Bluethroat in the marsh scrub","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"A robin shape with an enamel-blue throat, singing from a bush edge on the salt marsh.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1591"},{"n":"Marsh harriers over the reed","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Low, slow and V-winged over every reedbed on this coast.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1592"},{"n":"European pond terrapin","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"The cistude, basking on a canal log, and genuinely native rather than an abandoned pet.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1593"},{"n":"Maraichine cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The marsh breed, nearly lost to modern dairying and kept now as conservation grazers on the wet meadows.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1594"},{"n":"Brent geese on the Aiguillon","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"Wintering in tens of thousands on one bay, straight from the Russian Arctic.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1595"},{"n":"Spoonbills on the flats","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Feeding with that side-to-side sweep, and now breeding on this coast after a long absence.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1596"},{"n":"Avocets on the salt pans","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Sweeping the brine on the worked pans of Ré, Oléron and the Guérande system.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1597"},{"n":"Black-winged stilts","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Absurd pink legs on the shallow pans, and a bird Britain almost never gets.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1598"},{"n":"Shelduck on the mudflats","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Bottle-green and chestnut on every estuary, and moulting here in flocks in late summer.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1599"},{"n":"Fleur de sel","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Hand-raked from the surface of the pans on still evenings by saunier who work the same squares their grandparents did.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1600"},{"n":"Salt-pan flora","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Sea lavender, glasswort and sea aster across the sansouire, purple in late summer.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1601"},{"n":"Fort Boyard and the sea forts","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A stone fort built in open water between two islands over thirty years, and abandoned as obsolete almost as soon as it was finished.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1602"},{"n":"Allis shad and lamprey","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[3,4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"Both run the Gironde to spawn each spring, and both are older lineages than almost anything else swimming.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1603"},{"n":"Ospreys on the estuary","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"On passage down the Atlantic flyway, and increasingly nesting in the Landes pines.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1604"},{"n":"Cordouan lighthouse","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A Renaissance lighthouse standing alone in the estuary mouth since 1611, with a chapel inside it, reachable only at low water by boat.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1605"},{"n":"Médoc vendange","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Gravel banks laid down by the river, planted since Roman times, and picked from mid-September.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1606"},{"n":"Vineyard peach and fig","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Planted at the row ends as an early warning for mildew, and the fruit is a bonus nobody minds.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1607"},{"n":"Banc d’Arguin terns","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A shifting sandbank in the basin mouth, a national reserve, and the most important tern colony on the French Atlantic.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1608"},{"n":"Arcachon oyster beds","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Trestles across the whole basin, uncovering at low water, and worked by flat-bottomed pinasse.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1609"},{"n":"Île aux Oiseaux","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A low island with two stilted cabins on it, surrounded at high water, and a roost for the whole basin.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1610"},{"n":"Maritime pine of the Landes","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A million hectares planted from 1857 to drain and fix the dunes — the largest man-made forest in western Europe, and it changed the region completely.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1611"},{"n":"Cèpes of the Landes","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"A serious autumn flush under the pines, taken seriously, and the roadside stalls follow within a day.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1612"},{"n":"Courant d’Huchet","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A short wild river running through subtropical forest to the sea, navigable only by punt with a licensed batelier.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1613"},{"n":"Common genet in the pines","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Spotted and ring-tailed, introduced centuries ago and thoroughly established in the Landes woodland.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1614"},{"n":"Wild boar in the forest","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Abundant under the pines, nocturnal, and the reason every clearing is fenced.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1615"},{"n":"Southern damselfly","r":"RARE","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A declining European species with a stronghold on the small clear streams of Aquitaine.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1616"},{"n":"Sea holly and marram","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Steel-blue and architectural on the dune front, holding a hundred kilometres of sand together.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1617"},{"n":"Immortelle des sables","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Yellow everlasting flowers that smell of curry in the heat, on the grey dune behind the front.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1618"},{"n":"Pottok ponies","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A small semi-wild Basque breed on the hills behind the coast, and depicted on cave walls in the same country.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1619"},{"n":"Griffon vultures of La Rhune","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Riding the ridge above the coast, and crossing the border a dozen times a day without noticing it.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1620"},{"n":"Egyptian vulture","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A summer visitor to the Basque foothills, small, scruffy and yellow-faced.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1621"},{"n":"Raptor migration at Organbidexka","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"A Pyrenean pass where honey buzzards, black kites and cranes funnel through in tens of thousands each autumn.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1622"},{"n":"The palombe migration","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"Woodpigeons crossing the western Pyrenees in millions, watched, counted and — in the Basque country — hunted with nets from towers, which is a live argument.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1623"},{"n":"Cranes over the Landes","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[10,11,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"Bugling at altitude on the western flyway between Scandinavia and Spain, twice a year.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1624"},{"n":"Manech and Basque sheep","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Red- and black-faced ewes on the foothills, and the milk that becomes Ossau-Iraty.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1625"},{"n":"Kintoa pigs","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Basque pig, nearly extinct in the eighties, now out in the oak and chestnut woods again and protected by name.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1626"},{"n":"Common and bottlenose dolphins","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Along the whole coast and regularly from the Biscay ferry, which crosses a canyon four thousand metres deep.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1627"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Small dark fins close inshore, and recovering in the Bay of Biscay.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1628"},{"n":"Fin whales offshore","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"The second largest animal on earth, over the canyon edge, and seen from the deck rather than from land.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1629"},{"n":"Basking sharks","r":"LUCKY","g":"shark","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Working the plankton lines off the shelf edge in early summer.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1630"},{"n":"Ocean sunfish","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A vast lopsided disc basking flat at the surface, and completely harmless.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1631"},{"n":"Bluefin tuna","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Recovered dramatically in the Bay of Biscay after quota reform, and hunted here as they are in the Strait.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1632"},{"n":"Grey seals on the outer rocks","r":"LUCKY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Scarce this far south, but increasing, and hauled out on the Breton and Vendéen skerries.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1633"},{"n":"Atlantic winter swell","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[10,11,12,1,2],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Landes and Basque beaches take the full ocean, and Belharra off Saint-Jean-de-Luz produces genuine big-wave surfing.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1634"},{"n":"Rockpools on the Basque shore","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The flysch platforms south of Biarritz uncover into a rock pavement full of life, and the geology is a textbook in itself.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1635"},{"n":"Flysch cliffs","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Layered rock tilted almost vertical, each band a few thousand years — including the boundary layer from the asteroid that ended the dinosaurs.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1636"},{"n":"Dark skies over the Landes","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A million hectares of forest with almost nobody in it, and the Milky Way stands up properly.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1637"},{"n":"Perseids from the dune","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[8],"c":["FR"],"d":"August, a hundred-metre dune, the Atlantic on one side and forest on the other.","f":"eu-france-atlantic.html","a":"E1638"},{"n":"Cranes at the Lac du Der","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"The largest crane gathering in western Europe — well over two hundred thousand birds on one artificial lake in a good autumn. They lift off at dawn in waves and the noise carries for miles.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1639"},{"n":"Jura lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Reintroduced from Slovakia in the 1970s and now France’s core population. Effectively a camera-trap animal, and a track in fresh snow is the honest sighting.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1640"},{"n":"European hamster of Alsace","r":"RARE","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Critically endangered, found in France only on the Alsace plain, and down to a few hundred animals. France has been taken to court over its decline.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1641"},{"n":"Jurassic dinosaur trackways","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Jura gives its name to the Jurassic, and the limestone at Loulle and Coisia carries sauropod trackways you can walk beside.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1642"},{"n":"Alsace white storks","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[2,3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Down to nine pairs in Alsace by 1974 and reintroduced deliberately; now on chimneys and platforms in every village, and increasingly staying all winter.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1643"},{"n":"Vosges chamois","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Introduced in 1956 and thoroughly established on the sandstone and granite crags of the Hautes-Chaumes.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1644"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles over the Der","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"Following the cranes and the wildfowl in, and now breeding on the lake after recolonising from the east.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1645"},{"n":"Wildfowl on the great lakes","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Der and the Forêt d’Orient hold hundreds of thousands of duck, geese and swans through the winter.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1646"},{"n":"Black woodpecker in the Der oaks","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The lake is ringed by wet oak forest, and the woodpecker is the architect of most holes in it.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1647"},{"n":"Middle spotted woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"An old-oak specialist, and the Der woodland is one of the best places in France for it.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1648"},{"n":"Chalk grassland orchids","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the Champagne chalk — bee, pyramidal and monkey orchids on thin soil above the cellars.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1649"},{"n":"The Champagne chalk cellars","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Roman chalk quarries turned into hundreds of kilometres of cellar, at a constant twelve degrees, and cut into a sixty-million-year-old sea bed.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1650"},{"n":"Roe deer of the wet forest","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Throughout the oak and hornbeam around the lakes, at first and last light.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1651"},{"n":"Beavers on the Rhine","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Back on the French Rhine after centuries, and reshaping the side channels of the Petite Camargue.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1652"},{"n":"Petite Camargue Alsacienne","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"France’s oldest nature reserve in Alsace — old Rhine backwaters, gravel islands and reed, with a fish hatchery from 1852 still in it.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1653"},{"n":"Great white and little egrets","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every Rhine backwater and ditch, and neither was here a generation ago.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1654"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Ill","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A blue bolt along the Ill and every clean Alsatian side-stream.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1655"},{"n":"Red kites over the plain","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Forked tails over the vineyards and the cereal, and increasing steadily.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1656"},{"n":"Black kites on the Rhine","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Quartering the river for anything dead, and in numbers at the barrages.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1657"},{"n":"Hoopoes in the vineyards","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the warm terraces of the Route des Vins, and recolonising steadily northward.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1658"},{"n":"European green lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Electric green on the dry-stone walls between the vines, at the northern edge of its range.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1659"},{"n":"Alsace vendange","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Riesling and Gewürztraminer off the Vosges foothills, picked from mid-September, with the villages open all night.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1660"},{"n":"Munster cheese and the marcaires","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Made on the high Vosges pastures by the marcaires since the ninth century, and the herds still go up in May.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1661"},{"n":"Capercaillie of the Vosges","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"Down to a handful of birds and probably beyond saving as a wild French population. Lek zones are closed and unpublished.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1662"},{"n":"Black grouse on the chaumes","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the open high pasture, and declining with the same pressures as the capercaillie.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1663"},{"n":"Hazel grouse in the spruce","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A thin whistle from dense cover, and a bird most French foresters have never seen.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1664"},{"n":"Vosges lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A separate and much more fragile population than the Jura’s, reinforced by release and repeatedly set back by poaching.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1665"},{"n":"Peregrines on the sandstone","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the red sandstone crags and the castle rocks, recovered from extinction in the region.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1666"},{"n":"Pygmy and Tengmalm’s owls","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[2,3,4],"c":["FR"],"d":"Both in the high Vosges spruce, and both far more often heard on a cold night than seen.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1667"},{"n":"Ring ouzels above the treeline","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the Hautes-Chaumes scree and the corrie edges.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1668"},{"n":"Vosges peat bogs","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Raised bog with cotton grass, sundew and cranberry in glacial hollows, on boardwalks throughout.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1669"},{"n":"Glacial cirque lakes","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Lac Blanc, Lac Noir and the rest, each sitting in a hollow the ice scooped out of the granite.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1670"},{"n":"Arnica of the chaumes","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Yellow across the high pasture, still hand-picked under licence for the pharmaceutical trade.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1671"},{"n":"Beech and fir in autumn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Vosges slopes in copper and dark green, and the whole region walks in it.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1672"},{"n":"Wild boar in the sandstone forest","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Abundant through the northern Vosges, nocturnal, and the reason the vineyards are fenced.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1673"},{"n":"Red deer of the Vosges","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The September rut carries a long way in the corries, and the park runs listening evenings for it.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1674"},{"n":"Fire salamander after rain","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"On wet Vosges paths at dusk, and the sandstone forest is classic ground for them.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1675"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the forest pools","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"Orange-bellied and slate-blue, in every wheel rut and pool in spring.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1676"},{"n":"Comtois horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Jura’s own heavy breed, chestnut with a flaxen mane, still worked in forests too steep for machines.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1677"},{"n":"Montbéliarde cattle","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Red and white, on every Jura pasture, and the reason Comté exists. The cheese is legally tied to the breed.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1678"},{"n":"Dippers on the Doubs","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Walking underwater against the current in the middle of winter, on every clean Jura river.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1679"},{"n":"Grey wagtails on the cascades","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every rock in the Hérisson falls and the Doubs tributaries.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1680"},{"n":"Peregrines on the Doubs cliffs","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the limestone reculées, and the climbing bans in spring exist for them.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1681"},{"n":"Eagle owls in the reculées","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Europe’s largest owl, on the box-canyon walls at Baume-les-Messieurs and Cirque de Baume.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1682"},{"n":"Wallcreeper in winter","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[11,12,1,2],"c":["FR"],"d":"Crimson against grey limestone on the Jura cliffs, and easier in winter when they come down.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1683"},{"n":"Grayling and brown trout","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"In the Loue and the Doubs, and the Loue is one of the most famous fly rivers in Europe — and one of the most troubled.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1684"},{"n":"Apron du Rhône","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A small bottom-living fish found only in the Rhône basin and among the most threatened in France. The Loue holds some of the last.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1685"},{"n":"Freshwater crayfish","r":"RARE","g":"crab","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"The white-clawed crayfish survives in a few cold Jura headwaters, and the American signal crayfish is why there are not more.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1686"},{"n":"Beavers on the Ain","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Recolonised from the Rhône, and gnawed willow along every quiet stretch.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1687"},{"n":"Otters returning to the Jura","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Effectively lost by the 1980s and now recolonising from the Massif Central. Spraint on a boulder is the realistic sighting.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1688"},{"n":"Cascades du Hérisson","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[3,4,5,6,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"Thirty-one falls in three kilometres, best in the spring melt and frozen solid in a hard winter.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1689"},{"n":"Reculées and box canyons","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Blind valleys cut back into the limestone plateau by springs — Baume-les-Messieurs is the textbook example.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1690"},{"n":"Jura karst and the Loue source","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Loue rises full-grown out of a cliff, and dye tests in 1901 proved it was the Doubs disappearing underground.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1691"},{"n":"High Jura snow","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[12,1,2,3],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Haut-Doubs holds real snow and records some of the coldest temperatures in France — Mouthe is called la petite Sibérie.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1692"},{"n":"Mont d’Or and Comté","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Mont d’Or made only between August and March, boxed in spruce bark; Comté aged in old forts. Both are tied to the mountain by law.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1693"},{"n":"Vin jaune and the savagnin","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Aged six years under a veil of yeast in barrels deliberately left unfilled, and bottled in a clavelin holding what is left.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1694"},{"n":"Absinthe country","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Wormwood on the Val-de-Travers slopes either side of the border, and the drink is legal again after a century.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1695"},{"n":"Morvan forest and bocage","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Granite, oak and beech in a regional park that supplied Paris with firewood by floating it down the Yonne.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1696"},{"n":"Charolais cattle","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"White, enormous, and on every Burgundian pasture. The breed is named for a single town.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1697"},{"n":"Ospreys over the Morvan lakes","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"On passage down the flyway, and increasingly lingering on the reservoirs.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1698"},{"n":"Black storks in the Morvan","r":"RARE","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Nesting deep in old forest, and among the shyest breeding birds in France.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1699"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the Morvan","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"A serious flush under the oak and beech, and a local pursuit with local secrecy.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1700"},{"n":"The Burgundy vendange","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"The Côte d’Or picked by hand from mid-September, and the whole slope smells of it.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1701"},{"n":"Truffles of Burgundy","r":"LUCKY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"The tuber uncinatum, less famous than the black Périgord and found under the same hornbeam the whole region grows.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1702"},{"n":"Bibracte and the oppidum","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A Celtic hill city on Mont Beuvray, abandoned two thousand years ago, and still being excavated under beech.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1703"},{"n":"Guédelon","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A castle being built from scratch since 1997 using only thirteenth-century methods and materials. It will take another decade.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1704"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over the Der","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Over the reed and the poplar at the lake edge, in the same hour as the cranes come in.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1705"},{"n":"Dark skies over the Morvan","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A regional park with almost no settlement and a genuine dark-sky programme.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1706"},{"n":"Perseids from the chaumes","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[8],"c":["FR"],"d":"August on the high Vosges pasture, above the valley haze and well away from Strasbourg.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1707"},{"n":"Swallowtail butterflies","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Over the chalk grassland and the vineyard margins all summer.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1708"},{"n":"Apollo of the Jura","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A relict population on the high limestone, protected, and an indicator that the sward is still cut by hand.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1709"},{"n":"Stag beetles in the oak","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Clattering out of the Der and Morvan oakwoods on warm June evenings.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1710"},{"n":"Bats in the Jura caves","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"The karst holds important hibernation roosts, and several show caves close sections for them.","f":"eu-france-east.html","a":"E1711"},{"n":"Bearded vultures","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Pyrenees hold the largest population in western Europe. Nearly three metres across, and it lives almost entirely on bone — dropped onto rock until it breaks.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1712"},{"n":"Pyrenean brown bears","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Down to five animals by the mid-nineties and reinforced with Slovenian bears from 1996. The population is recovering and the argument with the shepherds has never stopped.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1713"},{"n":"The last bucardo","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Pyrenean ibex went extinct in 2000 when a falling tree killed the last female. In 2003 a clone was born and lived seven minutes — the first and so far only de-extinction. There is a memorial in Ordesa.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1714"},{"n":"Isard — the Pyrenean chamois","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A distinct subspecies, hunted almost to nothing by the 1940s and now abundant on both slopes. Reddest in autumn.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1715"},{"n":"The Cirque de Gavarnie","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Walls fifteen hundred metres high in a near-perfect semicircle, with the highest waterfall in France falling four hundred and twenty metres down the back of it.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1716"},{"n":"The patou","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Pyrenean mountain dogs living with the flock, not with a shepherd. They will place themselves between you and the sheep, and how you behave in that moment matters — see the briefing.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1717"},{"n":"Pyrenean desman","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"An aquatic mole with a trunk and webbed feet, found only in the Pyrenees and northern Iberia, declining fast, and almost never seen by anyone.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1718"},{"n":"Alpine marmots","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Not native — introduced from the Alps in 1948 and now whistling from every Pyrenean boulder field.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1719"},{"n":"Griffon vultures","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Over every valley and col, and the Ossau and Aspe cliffs hold major colonies.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1720"},{"n":"Egyptian vulture","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A summer visitor, small and yellow-faced, and one of the few birds known to use a tool.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1721"},{"n":"Golden eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A strong population across the whole chain, and often seen from a col without walking at all.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1722"},{"n":"Short-toed snake eagle","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Hovering over the lower slopes hunting snakes, pale-bellied and unmistakable.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1723"},{"n":"Red kites over the piedmont","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the foothills and in numbers at any tip or carcass.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1724"},{"n":"Raptor migration at Organbidexka","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"A western pass where honey buzzards, black kites and cranes funnel through in tens of thousands each autumn, counted since 1979.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1725"},{"n":"Capercaillie of the Pyrenees","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"A distinct subspecies, declining, and with lek zones closed in spring and their locations withheld.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1726"},{"n":"Rock ptarmigan","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the highest ridges, white in winter and invisible in summer, and squeezed upward as the climate warms.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1727"},{"n":"Black grouse on the treeline","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"At the upper forest edge, and hit hard by ski development and spring disturbance.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1728"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the cirque walls","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Crimson against grey limestone at Gavarnie, and lower in the valleys in winter.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1729"},{"n":"Alpine accentor and snowfinch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Both on the high scree and both far tamer than they have any right to be.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1730"},{"n":"Citril finch","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A mountain finch of the pine treeline, found only in south-west Europe.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1731"},{"n":"Alpine choughs at the col","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"At every cable-car station and summit car park, entirely without shame.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1732"},{"n":"Dippers on the gaves","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Walking underwater against the current on every Pyrenean torrent, in every month.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1733"},{"n":"Pyrenean brook salamander","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Found only in these mountains, in cold streams and tarns above a thousand metres, and nowhere else on earth.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1734"},{"n":"Common midwife toad","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"A single bell note after dark from every village wall and trough, with the male carrying the eggs.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1735"},{"n":"Alpine newts in the tarns","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"In high pools that were under ice a fortnight earlier.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1736"},{"n":"Aurelio’s rock lizard","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"One of several rock lizards found only in the Pyrenees, on high scree and boulder fields.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1737"},{"n":"Asp viper on the sunny slope","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Venomous, retiring, and on warm rock at the wood edge. Left entirely alone.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1738"},{"n":"Gavarnie blue butterfly","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"A high-altitude blue found only in the Pyrenees and named for the cirque.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1739"},{"n":"Apollo butterfly","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the flowery limestone above the treeline, protected, and slow enough to watch properly.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1740"},{"n":"Ramonda myconi","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"A purple relict flower from before the ice age, growing on shaded north-facing rock and able to dry out completely and revive.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1741"},{"n":"Pyrenean lily and iris","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Endemics of the high meadows, and the reason the Pyrenean flora list runs to some two hundred species found nowhere else.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1742"},{"n":"Edelweiss on the limestone","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Protected, and genuinely uncommon rather than merely famous.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1743"},{"n":"Néouvielle lakes","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Seventy glacial lakes on a granite plateau, with the highest pine forest in Europe growing among them.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1744"},{"n":"Pont d’Espagne and the gaves","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Meltwater falls in June when the snowpack goes, and the noise fills the whole valley.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1745"},{"n":"Mérens horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Small, entirely black and native to the Ariège, running semi-wild on the high pastures through the summer.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1746"},{"n":"Transhumance","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[5,6,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"Flocks walked up in late spring and down in autumn, often through the middle of a village, and still a working system rather than a display.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1747"},{"n":"Ossau-Iraty","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Ewe’s milk cheese made in the western valleys since long before it was protected by name.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1748"},{"n":"Cave art at Niaux","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Bison and horse drawn in charcoal fourteen thousand years ago, eight hundred metres inside a mountain, and visited by small booked groups with lamps.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1749"},{"n":"Hand stencils at Gargas","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Over two hundred hands outlined in ochre twenty-seven thousand years ago, many with fingers apparently missing, and nobody agrees why.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1750"},{"n":"The Pic du Midi","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"An observatory on a 2,877 m summit since 1878, at the centre of an International Dark Sky Reserve, and you can stay the night up there.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1751"},{"n":"Pyrenean dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"One of the largest dark-sky reserves in Europe covers the central French range, and the altitude does the rest.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1752"},{"n":"Autumn beech in the Iraty","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"One of the largest beech forests in Europe straddles the border, and it turns copper for a fortnight.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1753"},{"n":"Brown trout in the gaves","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Wild fish in cold fast water, and permits are departmental, cheap and easy.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1754"},{"n":"Wild boar in the piedmont","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Abundant on the lower slopes, nocturnal, and the reason the maize is fenced.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1755"},{"n":"Red deer of the foothills","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The September rut carries a long way up the valleys.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1756"},{"n":"Genet and pine marten","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Both in the piedmont woodland, and both mostly known from tracks and scats.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1757"},{"n":"Cathar castles","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Peyrepertuse, Quéribus and Montségur on crags that look impossible, built or seized in a thirteenth-century crusade against a Christian sect.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1758"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the beech","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"A serious flush on both slopes, and a local pursuit with local rules.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1759"},{"n":"Quebrantahuesos","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Spanish name for the bearded vulture — bone-breaker — and the Aragonese Pyrenees hold the core of the population.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1760"},{"n":"Cinereous vultures","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The largest bird of prey in Europe, over the Aragonese foothills, and recovering strongly.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1761"},{"n":"Sarrio — the Spanish isard","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The same subspecies under another name, on the Ordesa and Aigüestortes crags and lower in autumn.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1762"},{"n":"Ordesa y Monte Perdido","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Spain’s second national park, declared in 1918, built around the highest limestone massif in Europe and a canyon a thousand metres deep.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1763"},{"n":"The Cañón de Añisclo","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A narrower and quieter gorge than Ordesa on the same massif, reached by a one-way road that concentrates the mind.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1764"},{"n":"Aigüestortes","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Catalonia’s only national park — granite, two hundred lakes and no private vehicles beyond the gate.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1765"},{"n":"Pyrenean glacier remnants","r":"RARE","g":"snow","m":[7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"The southernmost glaciers in Europe, all of them shrinking fast, and several have disappeared entirely within living memory.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1766"},{"n":"Aran rock lizard","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Found only in a small area of the central Pyrenees and nowhere else on earth.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1767"},{"n":"Pyrenean euprocte","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"A newt of cold high streams found only in these mountains, and an indicator that the water is genuinely clean.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1768"},{"n":"Golden eagles over Ordesa","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"A closely watched population, and the park publishes its counts.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1769"},{"n":"Griffon colonies on the sierras","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The pre-Pyrenean limestone holds enormous colonies, and the feeding stations are visible from the road.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1770"},{"n":"Alpine choughs and red-billed choughs","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both on the high ground, and telling them apart by bill colour is the easy part of Pyrenean birding.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1771"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the Ordesa walls","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Crimson on grey limestone, and the canyon walls give you a thousand metres to search.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1772"},{"n":"Ptarmigan and snowfinch","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both on the highest Aragonese and Catalan ridges.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1773"},{"n":"Capercaillie of Aigüestortes","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["ES"],"d":"A declining Catalan population with protected and unpublished lek sites.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1774"},{"n":"Marmots on the Spanish slope","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Spread naturally across the watershed from the French introductions, and now everywhere.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1775"},{"n":"Otters on the Ésera and Cinca","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Recovered strongly on the clean Aragonese rivers.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1776"},{"n":"Wild boar and red deer","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Both abundant in the Aragonese and Catalan foothills.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1777"},{"n":"Roe deer at the forest edge","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"On every clearing and terrace margin at first and last light.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1778"},{"n":"Pyrenean flora endemics","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["ES"],"d":"Some two hundred plants grow on this range and nowhere else, and Monte Perdido’s limestone holds a disproportionate share.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1779"},{"n":"Black pine and silver fir","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Ordesa forests hold trees several centuries old, and the park has never been logged.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1780"},{"n":"Autumn colour in the Vall d’Aran","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["ES"],"d":"Beech and birch on the only Atlantic-facing Spanish valley in the range.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1781"},{"n":"Brown trout in the Noguera","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Wild fish in cold water, with regional permits and a good deal of catch and release.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1782"},{"n":"Transhumance to the puertos","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"Flocks driven up to the high summer pasture, and the drove roads are protected by law as cañadas.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1783"},{"n":"Mastines with the flock","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["ES"],"d":"The Spanish livestock guardian, working the same way as the patou and just as serious about it.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1784"},{"n":"Romanesque churches of the Boí","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Nine churches in one Catalan valley, built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and collectively a World Heritage site.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1785"},{"n":"Dark skies over Montsec","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["ES"],"d":"A certified starlight reserve on the pre-Pyrenean range, with an observatory built for it.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1786"},{"n":"Vulture feeding stations","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Muladares — legal carcass sites that kept the vultures alive when EU disposal rules nearly starved them out.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1787"},{"n":"Bearded vulture ossuaries","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["ES"],"d":"Bone-strewn ledges beneath the cliffs where the birds drop their bones. Unmistakable once you know what you are looking at.","f":"eu-pyrenees.html","a":"E1788"},{"n":"Cranes on the Darß","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[9,10,11,3],"c":["DE"],"d":"Up to seventy thousand roost in the Bodden shallows each autumn — the largest gathering in Germany. Pramort and the Kranorama hides put you in front of it without disturbing a bird.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1789"},{"n":"The Halligen and Landunter","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Ten tiny marsh islands with no dykes at all. Houses stand on artificial mounds and the sea washes over the rest several times a year — an event they simply call Landunter.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1790"},{"n":"Wattwandern","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Walking the sea floor to an island at low water. Guided, always — the tide comes in faster than you can walk and the channels fill first.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1791"},{"n":"Jasmund’s chalk and beech","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"White cliffs under ancient beech forest on Rügen, painted by Caspar David Friedrich, and now World Heritage twice over — for the trees and for the rock.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1792"},{"n":"Harz lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Reintroduced from 2000 into a national park in the middle of Germany, and now breeding well enough to be spreading beyond it.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1793"},{"n":"German wolves","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The first pack in modern Germany bred in Saxony in 2000, having walked in from Poland. There are now well over two hundred packs, most of them in the country this file crosses.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1794"},{"n":"Harbour seals on the sandbanks","r":"COMMON","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Hauled out in hundreds across the Wadden, and recovered twice from viral epidemics that killed most of them.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1795"},{"n":"Grey seals returning","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Larger, longer-nosed and pupping in midwinter, and back on the German coast after being hunted out entirely.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1796"},{"n":"Harbour porpoise off Sylt","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Sylt Outer Reef is the only known calving area for porpoises in German waters, and a protected one.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1797"},{"n":"Knot and dunlin in clouds","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,4,5],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Wadden feeds ten to twelve million migrating birds a year. A knot flock turning in the light is the reason the whole thing is World Heritage.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1798"},{"n":"Bar-tailed godwits","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Fattening here for a flight to the Siberian tundra, and some of the longest non-stop journeys made by any bird.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1799"},{"n":"Oystercatchers and curlew","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"On every flat, and the curlew’s call over a mudbank at dusk is the sound of this coast.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1800"},{"n":"Brent and barnacle geese","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3,4],"c":["DE"],"d":"Wintering in enormous numbers on the salt marsh, straight off the Russian Arctic.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1801"},{"n":"Eider and common scoter","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DE"],"d":"Rafting offshore through the winter, and the scoter flocks run to tens of thousands.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1802"},{"n":"Avocets on the salt marsh","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Sweeping the shallows with that upturned bill, and the emblem of half the reserves here.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1803"},{"n":"Spoonbills, recolonised","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Breeding on the German islands again after a century away, having spread north from the Dutch colonies.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1804"},{"n":"Terns on the beach","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"Sandwich, common, Arctic and little terns all nest here, and all are fenced against feet and dogs.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1805"},{"n":"Lugworm casts","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Every coil on the flat is a worm eating its way through the sand. There are more of them under one hectare than people in a city.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1806"},{"n":"Cockles and blue mussels","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The beds that feed the waders, and the reason the whole system works. Commercial harvesting is tightly limited.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1807"},{"n":"Glasswort on the marsh","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Queller — the first plant to colonise bare mud, edible, and the reason salt marsh forms at all.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1808"},{"n":"Sea buckthorn on the dunes","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Orange berries on the grey dune, ferociously thorny, and made into everything on Sylt.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1809"},{"n":"Helgoland’s seabird cliff","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany’s only true seabird colony, seventy kilometres offshore — gannets, guillemots, razorbills and kittiwakes on a red sandstone stack.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1810"},{"n":"The Lange Anna","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A forty-seven-metre sandstone stack off Helgoland, now propped and monitored because it is falling down.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1811"},{"n":"Lüneburg Heath in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Twenty-three square kilometres of heather turning purple in August, in Germany’s oldest nature reserve — protected since 1921.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1812"},{"n":"Heidschnucken","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Horned grey heath sheep that keep the heather open by eating the birch seedlings. Without them the whole landscape becomes forest.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1813"},{"n":"Elbe beavers","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A distinct central European subspecies that survived on the middle Elbe when beavers were wiped out everywhere else in western Europe.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1814"},{"n":"Otters on the Elbe","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Eastern Germany held them through the decades when the west lost them, and they are spreading west again from here.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1815"},{"n":"Raccoons","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Released and escaped from fur farms in the 1930s and 40s. Germany now has more raccoons than North America has in some states — an honest entry, not a happy one.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1816"},{"n":"White storks on the platforms","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"The eastern German villages are thick with them, and Rühstädt on the Elbe calls itself the European stork village with reason.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1817"},{"n":"Bats in the Speicherstadt","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Hunting the Hamburg canals at dusk between the largest warehouse complex in the world.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1818"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles of Mecklenburg","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The densest population in Germany, on every large lake and lagoon, and back from fewer than thirty pairs nationally.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1819"},{"n":"Ospreys on the pylons","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Brandenburg and Mecklenburg hold most German pairs, and a great many nest on electricity pylons with the utility’s cooperation.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1820"},{"n":"Bitterns booming","r":"LUCKY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"The reedbed foghorn of the Bodden and the Müritz before dawn.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1821"},{"n":"Cormorant colonies","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"On dead trees around the lakes and lagoons, and thoroughly unpopular with anglers.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1822"},{"n":"Cranes at the Kranorama","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"A purpose-built hide at Günz overlooking a feeding field, so the birds are watched without being pushed off the roost.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1823"},{"n":"Baltic amber","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["DE"],"d":"Washed up after autumn storms, forty million years old, and sometimes with an insect inside it. The Baltic holds most of the world’s supply.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1824"},{"n":"Bodden and the brackish sea","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Baltic is barely salt, so the shore life is sparse and strange — no crabs to speak of, no starfish, and that itself is the interesting part.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1825"},{"n":"Baltic cod and herring","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[3,4,5,10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Both under severe quota pressure, and the herring spawning grounds in the Greifswald Bodden are among the most important in the sea.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1826"},{"n":"Baltic salmon","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[9,10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"A distinct sea-run population, nearly lost, and slowly returning to a handful of rivers.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1827"},{"n":"Red deer of the Darß","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"The rut on the peninsula draws people specifically, and the park runs guided listening evenings for it.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1828"},{"n":"Wild boar in the coastal forest","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Abundant through the Baltic pine and beech, and entirely nocturnal.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1829"},{"n":"The Darß drift forest","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Wind-shaped pine and beech on a peninsula the sea is still building, left unmanaged so the coast can move.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1830"},{"n":"Chalk cliffs and flint","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Seventy-million-year-old chalk on Rügen and Møn, full of flint bands, belemnites and sea urchins that fall out on the beach.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1831"},{"n":"Hiddensee and the dune heath","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"A car-free island of heath and dune off Rügen, reached by boat, and best on a bicycle.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1832"},{"n":"The Müritz lakes","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A thousand lakes left by the ice, with Germany’s largest wholly internal lake at the centre and a national park round it.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1833"},{"n":"Ospreys and eagles over the Müritz","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"Both breed here in numbers, and the park runs viewing platforms and a live nest camera.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1834"},{"n":"Cranes over the lake district","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[9,10,3,4],"c":["DE"],"d":"Staging in thousands between the coast and the flyway south.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1835"},{"n":"Bison at Damerower Werder","r":"LUCKY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"A free-ranging European bison herd on a lake peninsula since 1957 — one of the older reintroductions anywhere.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1836"},{"n":"Goshawks over Berlin","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Berlin holds one of the densest urban goshawk populations in the world, hunting pigeons between the tower blocks.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1837"},{"n":"Wild boar in the city","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Berlin’s boar are genuinely urban, genuinely numerous, and genuinely a problem for the city’s gardeners.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1838"},{"n":"Nightingales of Berlin","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"The city holds well over a thousand singing males, and a citizen-science project has been recording them for years.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1839"},{"n":"The Spreewald canals","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Two hundred kilometres of channel through alder carr, worked by punt, with the post still delivered by boat.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1840"},{"n":"Spreewald otters and beavers","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Both present through the alder swamp, and best looked for from a punt at first light.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1841"},{"n":"Sorbian country","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Lusatia is home to the Sorbs, a Slavic people with their own language, and the road signs are bilingual.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1842"},{"n":"The Brocken","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"The highest point in northern Germany at 1,141 m, with its own subarctic weather, a steam railway to the summit, and a witches’ festival on Walpurgis Night.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1843"},{"n":"Harz spruce dieback","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Drought and bark beetle have killed vast stands of planted spruce since 2018. The park is letting it stand and regenerate, and the argument is the same one as in Bavaria.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1844"},{"n":"Wildcat in the Harz","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Genuinely wild cats in the beech forest, and Germany’s wildcat corridor project is stitching the populations together.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1845"},{"n":"Black grouse of the Harz","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["DE"],"d":"Down to a handful of birds on the high moor and probably beyond saving as a wild population here.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1846"},{"n":"Ring ouzels on the Brocken","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"On the summit scree and the upper spruce edge — an arctic-alpine bird in the middle of Germany.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1847"},{"n":"Brocken anemone","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["DE"],"d":"A relict alpine pasqueflower marooned on this one summit since the ice age, protected and fenced.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1848"},{"n":"Red deer of the Harz","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"The September rut in the beech, and the park runs listening walks for it.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1849"},{"n":"Karst caves of the southern Harz","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["DE"],"d":"Gypsum karst with sinkholes, disappearing streams and show caves — a different rock and a different landscape from the granite above.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1850"},{"n":"Autumn beech in the north","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"Jasmund, the Darß and the Harz all turn copper, and the ancient beech stands are UNESCO-listed for being what Europe used to look like.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1851"},{"n":"Starling murmurations on the Wadden","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Autumn roosts over the coastal reed before the birds move on — the German half of what the Danes call Sort Sol.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1852"},{"n":"Dark skies over the Westhavelland","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["DE"],"d":"Germany’s first dark-sky park, an hour west of Berlin, and startlingly good for how close it is.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1853"},{"n":"Winter on the Baltic","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[12,1,2],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Bodden freezes in a hard winter and the harbours with it, and the sea ice carries the ferries’ timetable with it.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1854"},{"n":"Hedgehogs and hares","r":"COMMON","g":"hare","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["DE"],"d":"Brown hares on the eastern arable in numbers the west has lost, and hedgehogs in every village garden.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1855"},{"n":"Fire-bellied toads","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["DE"],"d":"A soft hooting chorus from the field ponds of Mecklenburg, and a startling orange belly when it arches.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1856"},{"n":"Sand lizards on the heath","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["DE"],"d":"Emerald-flanked males on every dune, heath and railway embankment.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1857"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the beech","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["DE"],"d":"A serious flush in the northern woods, and picking is a normal part of the German autumn.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1858"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the lake district","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["DE"],"d":"The Müritz and the Spreewald hold species lost from much of western Europe, including the large white-faced darter.","f":"eu-germany-north.html","a":"E1859"},{"n":"The olm","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"A blind, pale, permanently larval salamander living only in the caves of the Dinaric karst. It lives about a hundred years, can go a decade without food, and was long taken for a baby dragon.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1860"},{"n":"Dinaric brown bears","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"Slovenia holds around a thousand bears in one of the densest populations in Europe, and the Kočevje forests are where the watching is done — from a built hide, at distance, in silence.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1861"},{"n":"Griffon vultures of Cres","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"The only griffon colony in the world that nests on sea cliffs and forages over an island. The young fledge over water and drown if they are flushed — which is why boats keep their distance.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1862"},{"n":"Plitvice travertine","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Sixteen lakes separated by barriers that are still growing — moss and bacteria precipitating limestone out of the water. The rock is alive and the landscape rebuilds itself.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1863"},{"n":"The bora","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["HR"],"d":"A katabatic wind that falls off the Velebit and hits the coast in gusts recorded above two hundred kilometres an hour. It closes the motorway to motorhomes, and that is not a formality.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1864"},{"n":"Lipizzaners at Lipica","r":"COMMON","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"The original stud, founded in 1580, and the source of every Lipizzaner in the world. Born dark and greying out over years.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1865"},{"n":"Wolves of the Dinarics","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"A continuous population along the Dinaric arc into Croatia, and monitored by howling surveys each summer.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1866"},{"n":"Balkan lynx and the reintroduction","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"The 1973 release stock became dangerously inbred; new animals were brought from the Carpathians from 2019 to save it. One of Europe’s most carefully documented rescues.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1867"},{"n":"Alpine ibex, returned","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Reintroduced to the Julian Alps and now on the high ridges above Bohinj and Trenta.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1868"},{"n":"Alpine chamois of Triglav","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On the limestone faces throughout the park, and lower in autumn.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1869"},{"n":"Alpine marmots","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"Whistling from every boulder field above the treeline in the Julian Alps.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1870"},{"n":"Edible dormouse","r":"LUCKY","g":"squirrel","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"The polh, hunted here for centuries with traps in the beechwoods, with its own museum, its own season and its own folklore.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1871"},{"n":"Beavers on the Ljubljanica","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Recolonised from Croatia and Austria after being hunted out, and now on the lowland rivers and the Ljubljana marsh.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1872"},{"n":"Otters in the karst rivers","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On the clean underground-fed rivers, and best looked for at first light.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1873"},{"n":"Golden eagles over Triglav","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"A well-watched population in the national park, and often seen from the valley without walking.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1874"},{"n":"Griffon vultures, returning","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SI"],"d":"Extinct as a Slovenian breeder and now appearing again in summer from the Croatian and Italian colonies.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1875"},{"n":"Ural owls in the beech","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["SI"],"d":"Common in the Dinaric forest, and prepared to defend a nest with real violence.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1876"},{"n":"Capercaillie and hazel grouse","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[4,5],"c":["SI"],"d":"Both in the old Dinaric and alpine forest, both declining, and both with lek sites closed and unpublished.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1877"},{"n":"Three-toed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On dead spruce in the Julian Alps, and a beneficiary of forest left standing.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1878"},{"n":"White-backed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"In the primeval beech of Kočevski Rog, which is exactly the habitat it needs.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1879"},{"n":"Wallcreeper on the Vintgar walls","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Crimson against grey limestone in the gorges, and lower in winter.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1880"},{"n":"Alpine salamander","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"Jet black on wet paths after rain in the Julian Alps, and it gestates for years before live birth.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1881"},{"n":"Marble trout of the Soča","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"Found only in the Adriatic basin and nearly lost to hybridisation with stocked brown trout. Pure populations survive in a handful of headwaters and are guarded.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1882"},{"n":"Leptodirus — the first cave beetle","r":"RARE","g":"insect","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Found in Postojna in 1831, described in 1832, and the discovery that founded cave biology as a science.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1883"},{"n":"Škocjan’s underground canyon","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"One of the largest known underground canyons, with a river a hundred metres below a footbridge, and World Heritage since 1986.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1884"},{"n":"Postojna and Predjama","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Twenty kilometres of cave with an electric railway through it since 1872, and a castle built into a cliff mouth nearby.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1885"},{"n":"The Karst itself","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"The Kras plateau gave its name to every limestone landscape on earth. Sinkholes, poljes, disappearing rivers and red soil.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1886"},{"n":"Cerknica — the lake that leaves","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3,4,5],"c":["SI"],"d":"An intermittent lake that fills each autumn and drains through the floor each summer, and has puzzled visitors since Roman times.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1887"},{"n":"The Carniolan bee","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SI"],"d":"Slovenia’s native grey bee, exported worldwide, and the reason World Bee Day is a Slovenian idea.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1888"},{"n":"Painted hive fronts","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Beehive panels painted with folk scenes since the eighteenth century — a folk art form that exists nowhere else.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1889"},{"n":"Kočevski Rog primeval forest","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Patches of beech and fir never cleared, protected since 1892, and part of the UNESCO ancient beech listing.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1890"},{"n":"Triglav flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["SI"],"d":"Zois’ bellflower, the Triglav rose and a list of Julian endemics found on this range and nowhere else.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1891"},{"n":"The Soča","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"A river the colour of nothing else in Europe — emerald from rock flour — running through a valley that was the Isonzo front.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1892"},{"n":"The Vršič pass","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"Fifty numbered hairpins, several still cobbled, built by Russian prisoners in 1915. The chapel at hairpin eight is their memorial.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1893"},{"n":"Sečovlje salt pans","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"Salt made the same way since the fourteenth century, on a nature park where waders feed between the harvests.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1894"},{"n":"Dolphins off Piran","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"A small resident bottlenose group in the Gulf of Trieste, studied since 2002.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1895"},{"n":"Seahorses in the shallows","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"In the seagrass off the Slovenian coast, protected, and never to be handled or lifted.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1896"},{"n":"Vipava and Brda vineyards","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"Terraces between the Alps and the sea, and the ancient orange-wine method never quite stopped here.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1897"},{"n":"Vintgar and the Savica","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"A boardwalk bolted into a gorge, and a waterfall bursting straight out of the mountain above Bohinj.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1898"},{"n":"Autumn beech in the Dinarics","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["SI"],"d":"Half the country is forest, and most of it turns copper for a fortnight.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1899"},{"n":"Red deer of the Kočevje","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"The rut in the primeval beech, which is a different thing from a deer park entirely.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1900"},{"n":"Wild boar and roe deer","r":"COMMON","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Both abundant through the forest, and both nocturnal where they are hunted.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1901"},{"n":"Fire salamander after rain","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10,11],"c":["SI"],"d":"On wet Dinaric paths at dusk, and the forms here are exceptionally well marked.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1902"},{"n":"Olm hatchlings at Postojna","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Eggs were laid in the show cave aquarium in 2016 and hatched under camera — the first time anyone had watched it happen.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1903"},{"n":"Horseshoe bats in the caves","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"The karst holds internationally important roosts, and sections of several caves close for them.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1904"},{"n":"Dark skies over the Karst","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"Slovenia passed one of Europe’s strictest light-pollution laws in 2007, and it shows.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1905"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Krka","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"A blue bolt along the tufa-terraced Slovenian Krka, which is a different river from the Croatian one.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1906"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the beech","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"A serious flush, taken seriously, with limits that are enforced.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1907"},{"n":"Dinaric lynx","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Down to fewer than fifty animals and severely inbred before Carpathian lynx were released from 2019. Among the most fragile populations in Europe.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1908"},{"n":"Brown bears of Velebit","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["HR"],"d":"Croatia holds around a thousand, sharing the Dinaric population with Slovenia and Bosnia.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1909"},{"n":"Wolves of Velebit","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Protected since 1995 after decades of bounties, and now monitored rather than hunted.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1910"},{"n":"Bottlenose dolphins of Lošinj","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["HR"],"d":"A resident, individually catalogued population, and the focus of the first dolphin reserve declared in the Adriatic.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1911"},{"n":"Loggerhead turtles","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"The Adriatic is a major feeding ground, and the rescue centre on Mali Lošinj takes in the injured ones.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1912"},{"n":"The noble pen shell","r":"RARE","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"A metre-tall shell standing upright in the seagrass, and hit since 2016 by a parasite that has killed almost all of them across the Mediterranean.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1913"},{"n":"Posidonia meadows","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Seagrass beds that are the nursery of the whole Adriatic, slow-growing and easily destroyed by an anchor.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1914"},{"n":"Velebit degenia","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["HR"],"d":"A small yellow crucifer growing on one mountain range and nowhere else on earth, and on the old Croatian coin.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1915"},{"n":"Velebit endemic flora","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["HR"],"d":"Dozens of plants confined to this one limestone range, and a botanical garden at Zavižan to show them.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1916"},{"n":"The Velebit karst pits","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Lukina jama runs more than fourteen hundred metres deep — among the deepest caves in the world, and still being explored.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1917"},{"n":"Paklenica gorges","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["HR"],"d":"Two canyons cut into the seaward face of Velebit, and the best rock climbing in this part of Europe.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1918"},{"n":"Krka waterfalls","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Travertine terraces like Plitvice but on a bigger river, with a monastery on an island above them.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1919"},{"n":"Kornati","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Eighty-nine bare islands with almost no soil, no fresh water and cliffs on the seaward side. Reachable only by boat.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1920"},{"n":"Telaščica cliffs","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"A hundred and sixty metres of cliff falling straight into the sea, with a salt lake behind them.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1921"},{"n":"Mljet’s salt lakes","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Two connected sea lakes inside a national park of Aleppo pine, with a Benedictine monastery on an island in the middle.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1922"},{"n":"The Mljet mongoose","r":"COMMON","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Introduced in 1910 to control snakes. It worked, and then it ate almost everything else. An honest entry.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1923"},{"n":"Eleonora’s and peregrine falcons","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both hunt the island cliffs, and the peregrines share the Cres crags with the griffons.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1924"},{"n":"Short-toed snake eagle","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"Hovering over the karst scrub, and the reason there are fewer vipers than the locals claim.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1925"},{"n":"Nose-horned viper","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"The most venomous snake in Europe, on dry stony ground, and entirely uninterested in you. Boots and attention on scree.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1926"},{"n":"Dalmatian algyroides","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"A small dark lizard of the Adriatic coast and islands, found nowhere else.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1927"},{"n":"Balkan green lizard","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"Startling green on every dry-stone wall from Istria to Dalmatia.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1928"},{"n":"Hermann’s tortoise","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"On the coastal maquis, protected, and criminal to collect or move.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1929"},{"n":"The olm in Croatia","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"The same animal, in the same karst, and a black subspecies with functioning eyes lives in one small area near Karlovac.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1930"},{"n":"Istrian white truffles","r":"LUCKY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["HR"],"d":"The Motovun forest produces some of the largest white truffles ever recorded, and the season is a local economy in itself.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1931"},{"n":"Boškarin","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"The grey Istrian ox, down to a few hundred animals in the nineties, kept going now by the restaurants that serve it.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1932"},{"n":"Pag sheep and cheese","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Sheep grazing an island the bora keeps salted, on herbs rather than grass, and the cheese tastes of it.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1933"},{"n":"Ancient olive groves","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[10,11],"c":["HR"],"d":"Trees on Brijuni and Pag over a thousand years old, still cropped, and among the oldest cultivated plants in Europe.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1934"},{"n":"The Dalmatian dog","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"First described and named from this coast, and depicted in Dalmatian church frescoes centuries before it reached England.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1935"},{"n":"Posavina horses","r":"LUCKY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"A hardy native breed grazing the Sava floodplain, often standing in water to the belly.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1936"},{"n":"Lonjsko Polje","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"A vast Sava floodplain with wooden villages, storks on every roof, and one of the great remaining European wet meadows.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1937"},{"n":"White storks of Čigoć","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"A village where the storks outnumber the people and the nests are on the wooden houses themselves.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1938"},{"n":"Spoonbills and egrets","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"On the Neretva and the Sava floodplains in numbers.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1939"},{"n":"Griffon feeding stations","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Legal carcass sites on Cres that keep the colony going, and a rescue centre for fledglings that come down in the sea.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1940"},{"n":"Rock partridge","r":"LUCKY","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"On the dry island and Velebit slopes, and declining across its small European range.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1941"},{"n":"Alpine swifts and crag martins","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"Screaming round every karst cliff and old town wall on the coast.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1942"},{"n":"Blue rock thrush","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Slate-blue on a bare crag or a Roman wall, singing from the highest point available.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1943"},{"n":"Scops owl in the pines","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"One pure note every two seconds all night, from every coastal campsite.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1944"},{"n":"Adriatic sturgeon","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Effectively extinct in the wild and surviving only in captive stock. The Adriatic rivers held it within living memory.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1945"},{"n":"Sea urchins and scorpionfish","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"In every clear rocky shallow, and both a reason to wear something on your feet.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1946"},{"n":"Maquis and holm oak","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"The evergreen scrub of the whole coast, aromatic in the heat, and the fire risk every summer.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1947"},{"n":"Black pine of Velebit","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Growing straight out of bare karst on the seaward face, and shaped entirely by the bora.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1948"},{"n":"Winter jugo and summer maestral","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"The other two Adriatic winds — the wet southerly and the reliable afternoon sea breeze that makes the sailing.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1949"},{"n":"Dark skies over Lastovo","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9,10],"c":["HR"],"d":"Croatia’s first dark-sky park, on an island far enough out that there is almost nothing to spoil it.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1950"},{"n":"The Zadar sea organ","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"A staircase with pipes under it, played by the swell, so the sea makes the sound. Best at sunset with the swell up.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1951"},{"n":"Sea salt at Ston and Nin","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"Pans worked since Roman times, hand-raked, and the Ston walls were built to protect them.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1952"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in Gorski Kotar","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10],"c":["HR"],"d":"A serious flush in the mountain beech and fir between Rijeka and Karlovac.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1953"},{"n":"Red deer and roe deer","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both through the Gorski Kotar and the Sava forests.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1954"},{"n":"Wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Abundant inland, and the reason every smallholding is fenced.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1955"},{"n":"Beech and fir of Gorski Kotar","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Ancient stands in Risnjak, part of the UNESCO beech listing, and named for the lynx — ris.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1956"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On every roadside pole from the Karst to the Pannonian plain.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1957"},{"n":"Honey buzzards","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["SI"],"d":"Summer visitors to the beech forest, digging out wasp nests.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1958"},{"n":"Short-toed snake eagle","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"Hovering over the Karst scrub, pale-bellied and unmistakable.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1959"},{"n":"Tawny and long-eared owls","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"In every mature wood and village churchyard.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1960"},{"n":"Eagle owls in the quarries","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On the karst faces and old quarry walls.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1961"},{"n":"Black woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Crow-sized and entirely black bar the red cap, and audible half a mile off.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1962"},{"n":"Middle spotted woodpecker","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"An old-oak specialist in the lowland floodplain forest.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1963"},{"n":"Dippers on the mountain rivers","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Walking underwater against the current on the Soča tributaries in midwinter.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1964"},{"n":"Nightingales in the scrub","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["SI"],"d":"Full song from the lowland thickets through May.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1965"},{"n":"Golden orioles in the poplars","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["SI"],"d":"A fluting whistle from the riverside canopy, heard ten times for every sighting.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1966"},{"n":"Black redstarts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On every church roof, quarry face and Alpine hut.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1967"},{"n":"Crag martins and alpine swifts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SI"],"d":"Hugging the limestone of the gorges and the karst cliffs.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1968"},{"n":"White storks in Prekmurje","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["SI"],"d":"On the eastern plain, where the nests are counted and ringed every year.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1969"},{"n":"Grey herons and great white egrets","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On every river margin and fishpond, and the egret unknown here a generation ago.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1970"},{"n":"Great crested grebes","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[3,4,5],"c":["SI"],"d":"The weed dance on Bled and Cerknica every spring.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1971"},{"n":"Brown hares on the plain","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On the eastern arable, boxing from February.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1972"},{"n":"Hedgehogs in the villages","r":"COMMON","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"Gardens and campsite edges through the warm months.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1973"},{"n":"Badgers and pine martens","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Both widespread in the Dinaric forest, and both mostly known from tracks.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1974"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Dark-coated in the mountain forests, and no greys anywhere.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1975"},{"n":"European wildcat","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"In the Dinaric beech, and effectively a camera-trap animal.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1976"},{"n":"Alpine and crested newts","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["SI"],"d":"In forest pools and karst troughs across the country in spring.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1977"},{"n":"Green and sand lizards","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"On every dry-stone wall and vineyard terrace.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1978"},{"n":"Nose-horned viper","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"On dry karst ground, venomous, retiring, and left alone.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1979"},{"n":"Apollo and scarce swallowtail","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SI"],"d":"Both on the limestone grassland, and the Apollo protected.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1980"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Ljubljana marsh","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["SI"],"d":"Over one of the largest surviving marshes in central Europe, with species lost further west.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1981"},{"n":"Common buzzards","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"On every pole from Istria to Slavonia.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1982"},{"n":"Golden eagles over Velebit","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"A small population on the seaward faces, and best watched from the Zavižan road.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1983"},{"n":"Honey buzzards and black kites","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both summer visitors, and both over the inland forests in numbers.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1984"},{"n":"Tawny owls and scops","r":"COMMON","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both in every coastal pine and inland oakwood.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1985"},{"n":"Ural owls in Gorski Kotar","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["HR"],"d":"In the mountain beech, and just as defensive of a nest as the Slovenian ones.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1986"},{"n":"Black and green woodpeckers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both common through the inland forests.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1987"},{"n":"White-backed woodpecker","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"In the old beech of Risnjak and Paklenića, which is what it needs.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1988"},{"n":"Nightingales on the coast","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6],"c":["HR"],"d":"Full song from the maquis through May, and louder than seems reasonable.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1989"},{"n":"Golden orioles","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["HR"],"d":"A fluting whistle from every Slavonian poplar stand.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1990"},{"n":"Sardinian and subalpine warblers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Scolding from every coastal scrub bush.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1991"},{"n":"Bee-eaters on the plain","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"Nesting in loess banks in Slavonia, in the most improbable colours in Europe.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1992"},{"n":"Hoopoes in the olive groves","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"Crest up on every terrace and track on the coast.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1993"},{"n":"Yellow-legged gulls","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"On every harbour and island, and entirely unbothered by people.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1994"},{"n":"Cory’s and Yelkouan shearwaters","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"Shearing the Adriatic on stiff wings, and the Yelkouan is a Mediterranean speciality in trouble.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1995"},{"n":"Brown hares and hedgehogs","r":"COMMON","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both through the Slavonian arable and the island terraces.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1996"},{"n":"Badgers and pine martens","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both widespread inland, and both known mostly from tracks.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1997"},{"n":"Red squirrels","r":"COMMON","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"In the mountain forests, dark-coated and with no greys anywhere.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1998"},{"n":"Fire salamander and alpine newt","r":"LIKELY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,9,10],"c":["HR"],"d":"Both in the wet mountain forest of Gorski Kotar after rain.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E1999"},{"n":"Dragonflies of Lonjsko Polje","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"Over one of the last great European wet meadows, with species long gone from the west.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2000"},{"n":"Swallowtails on the karst","r":"LIKELY","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["HR"],"d":"Sailing over the dry limestone grassland all summer.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2001"},{"n":"Marsican brown bears","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Around sixty animals survive in and around one Abruzzo park — a distinct subspecies found nowhere else on earth, and among the most endangered large mammals in Europe. Every road death matters at that number.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2002"},{"n":"Etna","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The most active volcano in Europe, over three thousand metres, erupting most years and growing and shrinking as it does. Snow on the summit and orange groves at the foot.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2003"},{"n":"The Apennine wolf","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Down to roughly a hundred animals in the seventies and now over three thousand, having recolonised the whole peninsula on its own. A distinct Italian lineage, and the recovery is entirely unassisted.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2004"},{"n":"Raptor migration at the Strait","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Honey buzzards cross the three-kilometre Strait of Messina in tens of thousands each spring. Illegal shooting here was industrial until volunteer camps stopped it; the counts are now a conservation triumph.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2005"},{"n":"Italus and the loricato pines","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Bosnian pines on the Pollino ridges, wind-sculpted and growing straight out of rock. One of them, Italus, was dated to around 1,230 years — the oldest known tree in Europe.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2006"},{"n":"The Sicilian fir","r":"RARE","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Thought extinct, rediscovered in 1957, and down to about thirty wild trees on one Madonie hillside. One of the rarest conifers on earth.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2007"},{"n":"Peregrines over Rome","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Nesting on churches and ministry roofs, and the city runs a monitoring project on them.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2008"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over Rome","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[11,12,1],"c":["IT"],"d":"Hundreds of thousands over the Tiber each winter, spectacular from a distance and a civic nuisance beneath.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2009"},{"n":"Roman ring-necked parakeets","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Escaped and established in the city parks, loud, green, and entirely at home in the umbrella pines.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2010"},{"n":"Umbrella pines","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The pini domestici of the Roman roads and the Appian Way, and the reason every photograph of the city looks like that.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2011"},{"n":"Vesuvius","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The only active volcano on the European mainland, and the most dangerous in the world by the number of people living on it.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2012"},{"n":"Pompeii’s casts","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Voids left in the ash filled with plaster from 1863, so the shapes of the dead survive where the bodies did not.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2013"},{"n":"Cilento coast","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A national park of limestone headlands and Greek temples at Paestum, and the place the Mediterranean diet was first described and named.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2014"},{"n":"Apennine chamois","r":"LUCKY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Down to around thirty animals in the twenties and now several thousand — a distinct subspecies, and the most beautiful chamois in Europe by common consent.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2015"},{"n":"Apennine wolves at Villetta","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Abruzzo park is where Italian wolf research began, and the valley bottoms at dawn are where people watch.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2016"},{"n":"Golden eagles over Gran Sasso","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A strong central Apennine population, and often seen from the Campo Imperatore road without walking at all.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2017"},{"n":"Griffon vultures, reintroduced","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Released in Abruzzo and the Velino-Sirente from the nineties, and now breeding on the limestone again.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2018"},{"n":"Campo Imperatore","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A high plateau the Italians call Little Tibet — twenty-seven kilometres of empty grassland at eighteen hundred metres, with Europe’s southernmost glacier above it.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2019"},{"n":"The Calderone glacier","r":"RARE","g":"snow","m":[7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"The southernmost glacier in Europe, on Gran Sasso, and now reduced to two small patches that will not last.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2020"},{"n":"Apennine wildcat","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Genuinely wild cats through the central Apennine beech, and effectively a camera-trap animal.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2021"},{"n":"Orsini’s viper","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"A small mountain viper of Apennine grassland, declining, and the least dangerous viper in Europe.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2022"},{"n":"Italian wall lizard","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"On every wall, ruin and rock from Rome southward, and endlessly variable island to island.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2023"},{"n":"Apennine beech forests","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"Ancient stands in Abruzzo and Pollino, part of the UNESCO beech listing, and copper for a fortnight each autumn.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2024"},{"n":"Marsican bear crossings","r":"COMMON","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Road signs, speed humps and wildlife corridors built specifically for sixty animals. Slow down where they are — vehicle strikes are a leading cause of death.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2025"},{"n":"Transhumance on the tratturi","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[5,6,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Drove roads up to a hundred and eleven metres wide, walked since Roman times, and now UNESCO-listed as living heritage.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2026"},{"n":"Wild boar in the Apennines","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Abundant, nocturnal, and increasingly a problem in the towns as well as the fields.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2027"},{"n":"Red and roe deer","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Both recovered strongly through the central Apennines, and the September rut is loud in the beech.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2028"},{"n":"Foresta Umbra","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"An ancient beech forest on a limestone promontory surrounded by Mediterranean scrub — a relic of a colder Europe, and UNESCO-listed.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2029"},{"n":"Gargano orchids","r":"LUCKY","g":"flower","m":[3,4,5],"c":["IT"],"d":"Around eighty-five species on one promontory, several found nowhere else, and among the richest orchid floras in Europe.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2030"},{"n":"Lesser kestrels of Matera","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"Colonial, nesting in the Sassi and the Murgia towns in thousands, and screaming over the rooftops at dusk.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2031"},{"n":"Alta Murgia pseudosteppe","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["IT"],"d":"Dry limestone grassland created by centuries of grazing, holding larks, stone curlew and an extraordinary spring flora.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2032"},{"n":"Stone curlew on the Murgia","r":"LUCKY","g":"wader","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Enormous yellow eyes, active at dusk, and a wailing call across open ground at night.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2033"},{"n":"Egyptian vulture in the south","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Down to a handful of Italian pairs, most of them in Basilicata and Puglia, and individually guarded.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2034"},{"n":"Italian sparrow","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A full species found only in Italy and Corsica, and a natural hybrid of house and Spanish sparrows.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2035"},{"n":"Olive trees of Salento","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Groves a thousand years old and older, some of them monumental and legally protected as individual trees.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2036"},{"n":"Xylella","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A bacterium first found in Salento in 2013 that has killed millions of olive trees. The dead groves are a landscape now, and the honest thing is to understand rather than photograph them.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2037"},{"n":"Trulli of the Itria valley","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Dry-stone conical houses built without mortar, reputedly so they could be dismantled quickly to avoid taxation.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2038"},{"n":"Matera’s Sassi","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Cave dwellings occupied continuously for perhaps nine thousand years, cleared as a national disgrace in 1952, and now World Heritage.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2039"},{"n":"Gravina canyons","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Limestone ravines cut across the Murgia, full of rock churches, and holding lesser kestrels and Egyptian vultures.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2040"},{"n":"Adriatic dolphins off the Gargano","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Bottlenose groups along the promontory and around the Tremiti islands.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2041"},{"n":"Tremiti islands","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"A small archipelago with the largest Italian colony of Cory’s shearwaters, whose night calls gave rise to the local legend.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2042"},{"n":"Pollino","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Italy’s largest national park, straddling two regions, and holding wolves, the loricato pines and some of the emptiest country in the peninsula.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2043"},{"n":"The Giants of Sila","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Laricio pines over forty metres tall and several centuries old, in a reserve on the Sila plateau.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2044"},{"n":"Sila wolves","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A well-studied Calabrian population on the plateau, and among the first places the Italian recovery was documented.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2045"},{"n":"Roe deer of the Sila","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Italian roe deer subspecies survived here when it was lost from most of the peninsula.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2046"},{"n":"Aspromonte","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A mountain of terraces and gorges above the Strait, with bergamot on the coast below it and nothing else like it anywhere.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2047"},{"n":"Bergamot of Reggio","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[11,12,1],"c":["IT"],"d":"A citrus grown commercially in one narrow coastal strip and effectively nowhere else on earth.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2048"},{"n":"Swordfish and the passerelle","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Hunted in the Strait from boats with a twenty-metre mast and a thirty-metre bowsprit, a method used here and nowhere else.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2049"},{"n":"Scilla and Cariddi","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The tidal races of the Strait, which meet twice a day and gave Homer his two monsters. They are real, and they are visible.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2050"},{"n":"Calabrian coast dolphins","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Common and striped dolphins through the Strait, which funnels everything.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2051"},{"n":"Etna’s craters","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Four summit craters that change shape every year, with guided access above two thousand nine hundred metres and closures whenever it is active.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2052"},{"n":"Etna’s lava flows","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Black rivers of rock, some still warm underneath, with pioneer plants colonising the older ones and vineyards on the oldest.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2053"},{"n":"Chestnut of a Hundred Horses","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A sweet chestnut on Etna estimated at two to four thousand years old, and among the oldest and largest trees in the world.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2054"},{"n":"Etna vineyards","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Vines on volcanic terraces up to a thousand metres, some of them ungrafted because phylloxera cannot live in the ash.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2055"},{"n":"Stromboli","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Erupting more or less continuously for two thousand years, visible from boats at night, and the reason it is called the lighthouse of the Mediterranean.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2056"},{"n":"The Aeolian islands","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Seven volcanic islands, World Heritage, and the type locality for two whole styles of eruption — Strombolian and Vulcanian.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2057"},{"n":"Vendicari","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[9,10,11,3,4],"c":["IT"],"d":"Salt pans and lagoons on the south-east coast, holding flamingos, waders and passage migrants, with a ruined tuna works beside them.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2058"},{"n":"Flamingos in Sicily","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IT"],"d":"Increasing steadily on the Sicilian salt pans, and now breeding on the island for the first time.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2059"},{"n":"Lo Zingaro","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Sicily’s first nature reserve, created in 1981 after a mass protest march stopped a coast road. Seven kilometres of shore with no road on it at all.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2060"},{"n":"Bonelli’s eagle in Sicily","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Italian stronghold is here, and nest sites are guarded through the season against egg collectors.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2061"},{"n":"Lanner falcon","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Sicily holds most of the small Italian population, and it is declining hard.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2062"},{"n":"Griffons of the Nebrodi","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Extinct in Sicily by 1965 through poisoning and reintroduced from 1998. Now breeding again.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2063"},{"n":"Sicilian wall lizard","r":"LIKELY","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Found only in Sicily and its satellite islands, and different again on each of them.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2064"},{"n":"Sicilian pond turtle","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Described as a separate species only in 2005, and confined to Sicilian rivers and pools.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2065"},{"n":"Loggerhead turtles in Sicily","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Nesting on the southern beaches in increasing numbers, with nests fenced and watched by volunteers.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2066"},{"n":"Tuna and the tonnara","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[5,6],"c":["IT"],"d":"Trap fisheries worked since Arab times at Favignana and elsewhere, and the mattanza itself has now ended.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2067"},{"n":"Madonie and Nebrodi beech","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"The southernmost beech forests in Europe, holding relict species from a colder age — including the last Sicilian firs.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2068"},{"n":"Sicilian spring flora","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[3,4,5],"c":["IT"],"d":"The island holds hundreds of endemic plants, and February to April is an entirely different Sicily from the summer one.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2069"},{"n":"Prickly pear and citrus","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"Neither native, both now definitive — the fichi d’india on every dry slope and blood oranges grown only in the Etna plain.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2070"},{"n":"Valle dei Templi","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Greek temples at Agrigento better preserved than most in Greece, standing in an almond grove above the sea.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2071"},{"n":"Val di Noto baroque","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Eight towns rebuilt entirely after the 1693 earthquake, in one style, in one generation — and World Heritage for exactly that.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2072"},{"n":"ZTL cameras","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Restricted traffic zones in almost every historic centre, with no barrier and a camera. The fine arrives months later, at home, and there is no appeal worth making.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2073"},{"n":"Summer heat in the south","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Sicily and Puglia routinely exceed forty degrees, and southern Italy has recorded the highest temperature ever measured in Europe.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2074"},{"n":"Sirocco","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[3,4,5,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Saharan wind that arrives hot, wet and full of dust, and coats everything including the van in red sand.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2075"},{"n":"Dark skies over Pollino","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Italy’s largest national park has almost nobody in it, and the Milky Way stands up properly.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2076"},{"n":"Fireflies in June","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6],"c":["IT"],"d":"Lucciole through the southern olive groves and vineyards for a fortnight, and no torch.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2077"},{"n":"Cicadas","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"The sound of the whole south from June, and it stops the instant you look.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2078"},{"n":"Praying mantis","r":"LIKELY","g":"insect","m":[8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"On dry grassland from late summer, in several species.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2079"},{"n":"Two-tailed pasha","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Feeding on strawberry-tree fruit in the coastal maquis.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2080"},{"n":"Scarce swallowtail","r":"COMMON","g":"butterfly","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Over every southern orchard and terrace through the warm months.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2081"},{"n":"Bee-eaters in the south","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Nesting in sand and loess banks, and the most improbable colours in Europe.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2082"},{"n":"Hoopoes and rollers","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"Both on the southern farmland, and the roller is declining hard across Europe.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2083"},{"n":"Blue rock thrush","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"On temple walls and sea cliffs alike, singing from the highest point available.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2084"},{"n":"Scops owl","r":"LIKELY","g":"owl","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"One pure note every two seconds all night, from every southern town square.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2085"},{"n":"Barn owls in the masserie","r":"LUCKY","g":"owl","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"In the abandoned fortified farms of the Murgia, of which there are a great many.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2086"},{"n":"Alpine swifts and pallid swifts","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Screaming round every southern town and sea cliff, and the pallid stays later than you expect.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2087"},{"n":"Crested porcupine","r":"LUCKY","g":"hedgehog","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A large nocturnal African porcupine, established in Italy since Roman times, and its quills turn up on every southern track.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2088"},{"n":"Common genet in Calabria","r":"RARE","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"At the far eastern edge of its range and very rarely recorded in Italy.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2089"},{"n":"Hedgehogs and hares","r":"COMMON","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Both through the southern farmland, and the Italian hare is its own species.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2090"},{"n":"Bats in the ruins","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Greek temples, rock churches and abandoned masserie all hold roosts, and several are formally protected.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2091"},{"n":"Otters on the Sele and Sila rivers","r":"RARE","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Italian otter survived only in the south, and the whole national population came from these rivers.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2092"},{"n":"Sea turtles and the Ionian","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Loggerheads feed the length of the Ionian coast, and the rescue centres take in the ones caught on longlines.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2093"},{"n":"Monk seal, almost gone","r":"RARE","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Effectively extinct in Italian waters since the 1970s, with occasional sightings off Sardinia and the south. The Mediterranean total is a few hundred.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2094"},{"n":"Posidonia meadows","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Seagrass beds that are the nursery of the Mediterranean, and one clone off the Balearics may be the oldest living organism on earth.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2095"},{"n":"Rockpools on the Ionian","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Urchins, blennies and octopus in water clear enough to read through, on limestone that never seems to end.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2096"},{"n":"Southern Italian salt pans","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Worked at Trapani and Marsala since Phoenician times, with windmills still standing over them.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2097"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the Apennines","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"A serious flush in the southern beech, and porcini hunting is taken as seriously here as in the north.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2098"},{"n":"Almond blossom in Sicily","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[1,2],"c":["IT"],"d":"Whole hillsides white in February, with a festival at Agrigento among the temples.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2099"},{"n":"The Aeolian capers","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"Caper bushes growing out of the volcanic walls on Salina and Pantelleria, picked as buds by hand.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2100"},{"n":"Pistachios of Bronte","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Grown on Etna lava at Bronte, harvested only in odd years, and protected by name.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2101"},{"n":"Italian roe and red deer in Sila","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"The rut on the plateau, in some of the least visited forest in Italy.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2102"},{"n":"Wild boar in Sicily","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Reintroduced and now abundant, and a live argument on the island.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2103"},{"n":"Sicilian donkeys","r":"LUCKY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Native island breeds, nearly lost, and kept going by a handful of breeders and the Ragusano cheese trade.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2104"},{"n":"Podolica cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Grey, long-horned and half-wild on the southern uplands, and the source of caciocavallo podolico.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2105"},{"n":"Girgentana goats","r":"RARE","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A Sicilian breed with spiralling corkscrew horns, down to a few hundred animals and kept alive deliberately.","f":"eu-italy-south.html","a":"E2106"},{"n":"Wadlopen","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Walking to an island across the sea floor. Licensed guides only, timed to the tide, and up to twelve kilometres of mud, channels and grey water. It is a Dutch invention and there is nothing else like it.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2107"},{"n":"Black-tailed godwits","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"The national bird, and the Netherlands holds most of the European population. It is also in freefall — the meadow-bird crisis is the biggest conservation argument in the country.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2108"},{"n":"Oostvaardersplassen","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"A rewilding experiment on land reclaimed in 1968 — Heck cattle, koniks and red deer left to find their own numbers. The winter die-offs caused a national row and the policy was changed. Go and form your own view.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2109"},{"n":"The Afsluitdijk","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Thirty-two kilometres of dam closed in 1932, which turned an arm of the sea into a freshwater lake and rewrote the map of the country.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2110"},{"n":"Barnacle geese in winter","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["NL"],"d":"Hundreds of thousands winter on the Frisian and Groningen salt marsh, straight from Russia and Svalbard, and the fields are grey with them.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2111"},{"n":"Terpen and wierden","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Artificial dwelling mounds raised from around 500 BC, before there were any dykes at all. Whole villages and churches still sit on them, several metres above the fields.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2112"},{"n":"Harbour seals on the banks","r":"COMMON","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Hauled out in hundreds across the Dutch Wadden, and recovered twice from viral epidemics.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2113"},{"n":"Grey seals at Rottumerplaat","r":"LIKELY","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Larger, longer-nosed and pupping in midwinter on the uninhabited eastern islands.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2114"},{"n":"Knot and dunlin over the flats","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,4,5],"c":["NL"],"d":"The turning flocks are the reason the Wadden is World Heritage, and the Dutch section is the largest of the three.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2115"},{"n":"Bar-tailed godwits on passage","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Refuelling here for the flight to Siberia, and among the longest non-stop journeys any bird makes.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2116"},{"n":"Eider ducks","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Breeding on the islands and rafting offshore in winter, and the drakes call like a music-hall act.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2117"},{"n":"Spoonbills on Texel","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"The Dutch colonies are the source population that recolonised Britain, Germany and Denmark.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2118"},{"n":"Avocets on the kwelder","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Sweeping the shallow brackish pools, and the emblem of half the Dutch reserves.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2119"},{"n":"Terns of De Slufter","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Sandwich, common and little terns on Texel, in a valley where the sea is deliberately let through the dunes.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2120"},{"n":"Kentish plover","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Down to a handful of Dutch pairs, and every nest on the islands is fenced and watched.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2121"},{"n":"Schiermonnikoog","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"A national park island with no cars for visitors at all, and the widest beach in Europe on its east end.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2122"},{"n":"The Boschplaat","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"A vast salt marsh and dune wilderness on the east of Terschelling, closed to walkers in the breeding season.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2123"},{"n":"Terschelling cranberries","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Growing wild in the dune valleys since a barrel washed ashore in 1845, and harvested commercially ever since.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2124"},{"n":"Sea lavender on the kwelder","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"The salt marsh turns purple in late summer, and the honey made from it is a Wadden speciality.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2125"},{"n":"Sea buckthorn in the dunes","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Orange, thorny and everywhere behind the front dune, and made into juice on every island.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2126"},{"n":"Lugworms and cockles","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"The engine of the whole flat. There are more lugworms under a hectare of Wadden than people in most Dutch cities.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2127"},{"n":"Porpoises in the Wadden Sea","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Increasing in Dutch waters, and regularly seen from the island ferries in winter.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2128"},{"n":"Frisian horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Entirely black, high-stepping and nearly extinct twice — down to three stallions in 1913 and rebuilt from them.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2129"},{"n":"Frisian cattle","r":"COMMON","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Black and white, and the ancestor of the Holstein-Friesian that now supplies most of the world’s milk.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2130"},{"n":"Skûtsjesilen","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Racing century-old flat-bottomed cargo barges on the Frisian lakes each summer, crewed by villages against each other.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2131"},{"n":"Fierljeppen","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Canal pole-vaulting — you run at a thirteen-metre pole, climb it in mid-air, and land in sand. A genuine competitive sport with national records.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2132"},{"n":"Elfstedentocht ice","r":"RARE","g":"snow","m":[1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"A two-hundred-kilometre skating race between eleven Frisian cities that needs fifteen centimetres of natural canal ice. It has not been held since 1997.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2133"},{"n":"The Frisian language","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Not a dialect — an official language of the Netherlands and the closest living relative of English. Road signs in Friesland are bilingual.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2134"},{"n":"Bearded reedlings","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Pinging like tiny bells and bouncing over the reed tops on still mornings in the Frisian and Overijssel marshes.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2135"},{"n":"Bluethroats in the reed","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"A robin shape with an enamel-blue throat, and the Dutch population has recovered strongly.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2136"},{"n":"Purple herons","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Slimmer and shyer than a grey heron, slipping into the reed rather than flying off.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2137"},{"n":"Black terns over the fen","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Sooty marsh terns dipping to the water rather than diving, and dependent on floating nest platforms now.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2138"},{"n":"Marsh and Montagu’s harriers","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"The marsh harrier over every reedbed, and Montagu’s over the Groningen cereal with each nest found and protected before harvest.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2139"},{"n":"Great white egrets","r":"COMMON","g":"heron","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"On every ditch and pool, and unknown as a Dutch breeder a generation ago.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2140"},{"n":"Otters, reintroduced","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Extinct in the Netherlands by 1988 and released back into the Weerribben from 2002. The population is real again, and road deaths are its main check.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2141"},{"n":"Beavers on the peat","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Reintroduced from 1988 and now widespread, with gnawed willow along every quiet channel.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2142"},{"n":"Giethoorn","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"A village with canals instead of streets, reached by whisper-boat, and best at seven in the morning before the coaches.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2143"},{"n":"The Weerribben peat marsh","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"The largest lowland peat marsh in north-west Europe, dug for reed and turf for centuries and now a national park.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2144"},{"n":"Dragonflies of the Weerribben","r":"LIKELY","g":"dragonfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Including the green hawker, which depends on a single plant and is a Dutch conservation flagship.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2145"},{"n":"Large copper butterfly","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"Extinct in Britain, and a Dutch subspecies survives in these fens and almost nowhere else.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2146"},{"n":"Reed cutting in winter","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[12,1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"Cut by hand and machine each winter for thatch, and the reason the marsh stays marsh rather than becoming woodland.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2147"},{"n":"White-tailed eagles","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"First bred in the Netherlands in 2006 at the Oostvaardersplassen — on land that had been sea bed forty years earlier.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2148"},{"n":"Konik horses","r":"COMMON","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Back-bred to resemble the tarpan, grazing the Oostvaardersplassen and now exported as conservation grazers across Europe.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2149"},{"n":"Heck cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Bred in 1930s Germany to resemble the extinct aurochs. The result is not an aurochs, and saying so plainly is part of the story.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2150"},{"n":"Red deer of the new land","r":"COMMON","g":"deer","m":[9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"The rut on reclaimed sea bed, watched from a hide and a railway line, which is an odd and very Dutch experience.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2151"},{"n":"Marker Wadden","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Five islands built from lake silt from 2016 specifically to make bird habitat, and the birds arrived faster than anyone predicted.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2152"},{"n":"Great cormorant colonies","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"On dead trees across Flevoland, and thoroughly unpopular with fishermen.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2153"},{"n":"Spoonbill and egret roosts","r":"LIKELY","g":"heron","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["NL"],"d":"In the reed and willow of the new polders, in numbers that did not exist before the land did.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2154"},{"n":"Meadow bird decline","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"Godwit, lapwing, redshank and ruff have collapsed on Dutch grassland as it drained and greened. Reserves now flood fields deliberately, and it is a live national argument.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2155"},{"n":"Ruff, almost gone","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[4,5],"c":["NL"],"d":"Once bred in thousands on Dutch wet meadows; now a handful of pairs at most. The lek is still watched on passage.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2156"},{"n":"Lapwing and redshank","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"Still on the wet reserves and the flooded fields, and increasingly nowhere else.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2157"},{"n":"Eel of the IJsselmeer","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[4,5,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"A fish that breeds in the Sargasso Sea and has collapsed by more than ninety per cent. The smoked-eel trade continues under tight restriction.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2158"},{"n":"IJsselmeer pike and zander","r":"LIKELY","g":"fish","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["NL"],"d":"Freshwater since 1932, and the fishery had to reinvent itself entirely when the sea was shut out.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2159"},{"n":"The Zuiderzee villages","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Urk, Enkhuizen and Hindeloopen were sea ports until 1932 and are now inland or on a lake. The museum at Enkhuizen is about exactly that.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2160"},{"n":"Dark skies over Lauwersmeer","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2],"c":["NL"],"d":"A certified dark-sky park in one of the most light-polluted countries on earth, and startlingly good for it.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2161"},{"n":"Starling murmurations","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[10,11,12,1],"c":["NL"],"d":"Over the reedbeds and the polder, and the Dutch were among the first to film and model them properly.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2162"},{"n":"Groningen gas subsidence","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Half a century of gas extraction caused earthquakes and cracked houses across the province. Extraction ended in 2023 and the repairs have not. An honest entry about a landscape.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2163"},{"n":"Windmills and the polder","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Nineteen mills at Kinderdijk and thousands more across the country, and the reason a third of the Netherlands is below sea level and dry.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2164"},{"n":"Autumn on the Veluwe fringe","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[10,11],"c":["NL"],"d":"Beech and oak turning, and the whole country cycles out to see it.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2165"},{"n":"Hares on the polder","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Out on the open reclaimed fields at dawn, and boxing from February.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2166"},{"n":"Foxes on the islands","r":"LUCKY","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Absent from several Wadden islands entirely, which is precisely why the ground-nesting birds are still there.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2167"},{"n":"Bats over the canals","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Pond bats hunting the still water of Friesland and Overijssel, and the Netherlands holds an internationally important share of them.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2168"},{"n":"Natterjack toads in the dunes","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"Running rather than hopping, and calling from shallow dune pools on warm nights.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2169"},{"n":"Sand lizards on the dunes","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["NL"],"d":"Emerald-flanked males on every island dune and inland heath.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2170"},{"n":"Orchids of the dune valleys","r":"LIKELY","g":"flower","m":[5,6],"c":["NL"],"d":"Marsh helleborine and marsh orchids in the wet slacks behind the front dune.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2171"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the dunes","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["NL"],"d":"A serious flush in the dune woodland, and the Dutch photograph it obsessively.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2172"},{"n":"Herring and the first barrel","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[6,7],"c":["NL"],"d":"Hollandse nieuwe — the first catch of the season, eaten raw by the tail, and the first barrel is auctioned for charity.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2173"},{"n":"Cyclists","r":"COMMON","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["NL"],"d":"Not wildlife, but the dominant species on every Dutch road and the thing a British driver must understand fastest. They have priority and they will use it.","f":"eu-frisia.html","a":"E2174"},{"n":"The Corsican nuthatch","r":"RARE","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The only bird species endemic to France, found on one island, in one tree — the Laricio pine — and nowhere else on earth. Around two thousand pairs, and fire is the thing that could end it.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2175"},{"n":"Eleonora’s falcon","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Sardinia holds a large share of the world population, and it is named for Eleonora of Arborea, who protected it by law in 1392 — the first raptor protection anywhere.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2176"},{"n":"The Giara horses","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Small semi-wild horses on a basalt plateau in central Sardinia, isolated there for centuries, and unlike any other breed in Europe.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2177"},{"n":"The cat-fox of Corsica","r":"RARE","g":"fox","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"The ghjattu volpe, known to shepherds for centuries and dismissed as folklore. Genetic work from 2019 suggests it may be a distinct lineage, and the science is not finished.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2178"},{"n":"Su Gorropu","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[4,5,6,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"A limestone gorge in the Supramonte with walls five hundred metres high and a floor a few metres wide — among the deepest canyons in Europe.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2179"},{"n":"The nuraghi","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Around seven thousand Bronze Age stone towers across Sardinia, built without mortar from about 1800 BC, and found on no other island.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2180"},{"n":"Corsican red deer, returned","r":"LUCKY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Extinct on Corsica by 1970 and reintroduced from Sardinia, which held the same subspecies. Both islands now have it again because the other one did.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2181"},{"n":"Corsican mouflon","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Brought by Neolithic farmers and gone feral for six thousand years, on the high rocky ground of Asco and Bavella.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2182"},{"n":"Bearded vultures of Corsica","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Down to a handful of pairs and still falling — one of the most fragile populations in Europe, and the subject of a supplementary feeding programme.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2183"},{"n":"Red kites over the maquis","r":"COMMON","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Corsica holds one of the densest red kite populations anywhere in Europe, and they are over every village and tip.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2184"},{"n":"Golden eagles of the Cinto","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"On the high granite, and often seen from the Restonica or Asco roads without walking.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2185"},{"n":"Ospreys of Scandola","r":"LIKELY","g":"raptor","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"Down to three pairs in the 1970s and now recovered — the Corsican population reseeded ospreys across the western Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2186"},{"n":"Audouin’s gulls","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"One of the rarest gulls in the world in the eighties, and now breeding on the Corsican and Sardinian islets.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2187"},{"n":"Cory’s shearwaters","r":"LIKELY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Shearing the swell off Cap Corse, and their night calls at the colonies sound like a child crying.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2188"},{"n":"The Corsican finch","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A full species found only on Corsica, Sardinia and a couple of Tuscan islands, and split from the citril finch only recently.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2189"},{"n":"Marmora’s warbler","r":"LUCKY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A grey scrub warbler of Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearics, and of nowhere else at all.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2190"},{"n":"Corsican brook salamander","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[5,6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"In cold mountain streams above a thousand metres, found only on this island, and an indicator that the water is genuinely clean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2191"},{"n":"Corsican painted frog","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[2,3,4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"An island endemic breeding in winter pools and rock basins, and among the more restricted amphibians in Europe.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2192"},{"n":"Corsican fire salamander","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"A distinct island form, on wet chestnut-wood paths after rain and never in sunshine.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2193"},{"n":"Bedriaga’s rock lizard","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"On high granite slabs and stream boulders, found only on Corsica and Sardinia.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2194"},{"n":"Tyrrhenian wall lizard","r":"COMMON","g":"reptile","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["FR"],"d":"On every wall, ruin and rock on both islands, and different on almost every islet.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2195"},{"n":"Hermann’s tortoise","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"In the coastal maquis, protected, and criminal to collect or move. There is a breeding centre at Moltifào.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2196"},{"n":"Laricio pines","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Corsican pines reaching fifty metres and several centuries, straight enough that Genoa used them for ship masts — and the only tree the nuthatch will use.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2197"},{"n":"The maquis","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6],"c":["FR"],"d":"Cistus, myrtle, arbutus and lentisk covering half the island, and scenting the air far enough out to sea that Napoleon claimed he could smell it.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2198"},{"n":"The Castagniccia chestnuts","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"A whole region planted with chestnut by the Genoese, which fed the island for centuries and is still called the chestnut civilisation.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2199"},{"n":"Corsican pigs in the chestnut wood","r":"COMMON","g":"pig","m":[10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Free-ranging, acorn- and chestnut-fed, and entirely unbothered by traffic — which is a driving note as much as a wildlife one.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2200"},{"n":"Scandola","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A UNESCO reserve of red porphyry cliffs reachable only by boat, with ospreys on the stacks and no landing permitted at all.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2201"},{"n":"The Calanques de Piana","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Red granite eroded into towers and arches above the sea, on a road that is genuinely too narrow in places.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2202"},{"n":"Bonifacio’s chalk cliffs","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"A town on a limestone promontory that is visibly undercut by the sea, with Sardinia twelve kilometres across the strait.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2203"},{"n":"The Bouches de Bonifacio","r":"COMMON","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"A marine park shared with Italy, holding dolphins, grouper and one of the best-protected stretches of the Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2204"},{"n":"The Aiguilles de Bavella","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Seven granite needles above a pass, with the GR20 threading between them.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2205"},{"n":"The GR20","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Widely called the hardest waymarked long-distance path in Europe — a hundred and eighty kilometres along the island’s spine.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2206"},{"n":"Restonica and Asco","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"Granite gorges with glacial lakes above them, and roads that are narrow, steep and regulated by shuttle in summer.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2207"},{"n":"The Désert des Agriates","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5],"c":["FR"],"d":"Not a desert but abandoned grain country gone back to maquis, with beaches at the end of tracks a van cannot use.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2208"},{"n":"L’Étang de Biguglia","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[9,10,11,3,4],"c":["FR"],"d":"The largest Corsican lagoon, holding waders, flamingos and eels, with the airport beside it.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2209"},{"n":"Corsican dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"The interior has almost no light and a great deal of altitude, and the summer nights are long and dry.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2210"},{"n":"Fire and the maquis","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"The maquis burns and regenerates, but the pine forests do not recover in a human lifetime. Fire restrictions in summer are absolute.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2211"},{"n":"Sardinian griffon vultures","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"One colony survives, on the coast near Bosa, after poisoning nearly ended them. Numbers are now rising again with supplementary feeding.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2212"},{"n":"The white donkeys of Asinara","r":"LUCKY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A small albino donkey population on a former prison island, now a national park, and found nowhere else.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2213"},{"n":"Sardinian deer","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The same subspecies that was sent back to Corsica, and recovered here from a few hundred animals in the sixties.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2214"},{"n":"Sardinian mouflon","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"On the Supramonte and the Gennargentu, and the source stock for several mainland reintroductions.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2215"},{"n":"Sardinian wild boar","r":"LIKELY","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A distinct small island subspecies, abundant, and the reason every vineyard is fenced.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2216"},{"n":"Cave salamanders","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Speleomantes — lungless salamanders breathing entirely through their skin, found in Sardinian caves and on the Italian mainland and nowhere else in Europe.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2217"},{"n":"Sardinian tree frog","r":"LUCKY","g":"frog","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["IT"],"d":"An island endemic calling from reeds and ditches through the spring.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2218"},{"n":"Sardinian brook salamander","r":"RARE","g":"frog","m":[4,5,6,7],"c":["IT"],"d":"In cold Supramonte streams, and among the most restricted amphibians in the Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2219"},{"n":"Flamingos of Molentargius","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Breeding in a lagoon inside the city of Cagliari since 1993, in thousands, with a tram line running past them.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2220"},{"n":"Audouin’s gulls on the islets","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[4,5,6,7,8],"c":["IT"],"d":"On the uninhabited islands off the coast, and recovering across the whole Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2221"},{"n":"Sardinian warbler","r":"COMMON","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Named for the island and scolding from every scrub bush on both of them.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2222"},{"n":"Purple swamphen","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Enormous and blue in the coastal reedbeds, and recovered from near-loss in Italy.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2223"},{"n":"Greater flamingo salt pans","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Worked pans at Cagliari and Sant’Antioco, with the birds feeding between the harvests.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2224"},{"n":"Monk seal and the Bue Marino","r":"RARE","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Grotta del Bue Marino is named for the monk seal that used it. They have gone, and occasional sightings still get reported.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2225"},{"n":"Sea silk and the pen shell","r":"RARE","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Byssus threads from the noble pen shell, woven into cloth on Sant’Antioco. One practitioner remains, and the shell itself is now dying across the Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2226"},{"n":"The Gennargentu","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"The highest massif on the island, holding snow into spring, and the emptiest country in Sardinia.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2227"},{"n":"The Supramonte","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Limestone plateau riddled with caves, shafts and gorges, and among the least developed landscapes in the Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2228"},{"n":"Cala Luna and Cala Goloritzé","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Coves reachable only on foot or by boat, with a limestone pinnacle above one of them and a daily visitor cap.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2229"},{"n":"La Maddalena archipelago","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Granite islands in a national park between the two big ones, with the strictest anchoring rules in the western Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2230"},{"n":"Cork oak of Gallura","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Sardinia produces most of Italy’s cork, stripped by hand every nine years from trees that live two centuries.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2231"},{"n":"Sardinian sheep","r":"COMMON","g":"sheep","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"There are around three sheep for every person on the island, and pecorino sardo is the reason.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2232"},{"n":"The Ogliastra blue zone","r":"COMMON","g":"apple","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"One of a handful of places on earth with unusual numbers of centenarians, and studied for decades to work out why.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2233"},{"n":"Domus de Janas","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Rock-cut tombs older than the nuraghi, called fairy houses, and carved with bull horns and false doors.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2234"},{"n":"The Mont’e Prama giants","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Stone statues over two metres tall, found by a farmer in 1974, and older than any comparable figure in the western Mediterranean.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2235"},{"n":"Neptune’s Grotto","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"A sea cave under a Capo Caccia cliff, reached by six hundred and fifty steps or by boat, and closed whenever the sea is up.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2236"},{"n":"Bottarga and the tuna","r":"COMMON","g":"fish","m":[5,6,9,10],"c":["IT"],"d":"Cured mullet roe from the Cabras lagoon, and the tonnara at Carloforte, which still works the spring run.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2237"},{"n":"Posidonia meadows","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Seagrass beds that are the nursery of the whole sea, and the reason anchoring is regulated so tightly around La Maddalena.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2238"},{"n":"Fin whales and dolphins","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"The Pelagos sanctuary reaches these waters, and fin whales are recorded between the islands and the mainland.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2239"},{"n":"Loggerhead turtles","r":"LUCKY","g":"reptile","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"Nesting on Sardinian beaches in increasing numbers, with nests fenced and watched by volunteers.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2240"},{"n":"Sardinian dark skies","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IT"],"d":"The interior is one of the least light-polluted parts of Italy, and the Barbagia has almost nothing in it at all.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2241"},{"n":"The mistral","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[3,4,5,10,11],"c":["IT"],"d":"The north-westerly that shapes the west coast, closes the ferries, and makes the sailing.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2242"},{"n":"Almond and cistus in spring","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[2,3,4],"c":["IT"],"d":"Almond blossom in February and the whole maquis flowering by April, when the islands are at their best.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2243"},{"n":"The maquis in flower","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[4,5,6],"c":["IT"],"d":"Cistus, myrtle and rosemary across both islands, and the reason the honey is what it is.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2244"},{"n":"Wild pigs on the road","r":"COMMON","g":"pig","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IT"],"d":"Free-ranging pigs and boar on both islands, on the road at dusk, and a genuine hazard on a mountain bend.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2245"},{"n":"Rockpools on the granite","r":"COMMON","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["FR"],"d":"Urchins, blennies and octopus in water clear enough to read through, on granite that never seems to end.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2246"},{"n":"Cicadas","r":"COMMON","g":"insect","m":[6,7,8],"c":["FR"],"d":"The sound of both islands from June, and it stops the instant you look.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2247"},{"n":"Two-tailed pasha","r":"LUCKY","g":"butterfly","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["FR"],"d":"Feeding on strawberry-tree fruit in the maquis, and the most spectacular butterfly in Europe.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2248"},{"n":"Corsican swallowtail","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6,7],"c":["FR"],"d":"A species found only on Corsica and Sardinia, tied to a single plant, and protected on both.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2249"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the chestnut","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[10,11],"c":["FR"],"d":"A serious flush in the Castagniccia and the Sardinian oak, and picked with local knowledge.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2250"},{"n":"Winter snow on the peaks","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[12,1,2,3,4],"c":["FR"],"d":"Monte Cinto and the Gennargentu both hold real snow, forty miles from a subtropical beach.","f":"eu-islands.html","a":"E2251"},{"n":"Golden eagles of Glenveagh","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Extinct in Ireland by 1912 and released back into Donegal from 2001 with Scottish birds. The population is small, watched, and breeding.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2252"},{"n":"The Céide Fields","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A field system of stone walls under five metres of blanket bog, laid out around 3500 BC. The oldest known enclosed landscape on earth, and it was farmed before the bog grew over it.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2253"},{"n":"Corncrakes of the north-west","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"A rasping two-note call all night from hay meadows in Donegal and Mayo. Down from every parish in Ireland to a few hundred calling males, held on by paying farmers to mow late and from the middle out.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2254"},{"n":"Breeding curlew, almost gone","r":"RARE","g":"wader","m":[3,4,5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland’s breeding curlew have fallen by more than ninety per cent in thirty years. The bubbling display call over a bog in April is now a rare thing to hear at all.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2255"},{"n":"Brú na Bóinne","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth — passage tombs older than Stonehenge and the pyramids, and Newgrange is aligned so the sun reaches the chamber floor at midwinter.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2256"},{"n":"Basking sharks off Malin","r":"LUCKY","g":"shark","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"The second largest fish on earth, gathering off the Donegal headlands in early summer, and Irish waters hold one of the great aggregations.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2257"},{"n":"Slieve League","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Sea cliffs rising close to six hundred metres straight out of the Atlantic — among the highest in Europe, and reached by a road that narrows to nothing.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2258"},{"n":"Choughs on the Donegal cliffs","r":"LIKELY","g":"songbird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Curved red bill, red legs, and a ringing call. Ireland holds a large share of the world population and the north-west coast is thick with them.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2259"},{"n":"Peregrines and merlin","r":"LUCKY","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Peregrines on every big cliff, and merlin — the smallest Irish falcon — hunting low over the blanket bog.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2260"},{"n":"Hen harriers over the bog","r":"RARE","g":"raptor","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Declining hard as conifer plantations mature and close over. The male is grey enough to look white against dark ground.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2261"},{"n":"Barnacle geese of the Inishkeas","r":"LIKELY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3,4],"c":["IE"],"d":"The Greenland population winters on the Mayo islands and the Donegal machair in thousands, and leaves in April.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2262"},{"n":"Greenland white-fronted geese","r":"LUCKY","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"A distinct population that breeds in Greenland and winters almost entirely in Ireland and western Scotland.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2263"},{"n":"Whooper swans","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"Arriving from Iceland each autumn, louder and wilder than the resident mutes, and on every callow and flooded field.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2264"},{"n":"Glenveagh oakwoods","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"One of the largest surviving Atlantic oakwoods in the country, in a glen with a castle at the end of it and a deer herd around it.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2265"},{"n":"Red deer of Glenveagh","r":"LIKELY","g":"deer","m":[9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"A large introduced herd on the Donegal hills, and the rut in October is loud across the whole glen.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2266"},{"n":"Machair","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"Shell-sand grassland behind the Donegal and Mayo beaches, flowering in a solid sheet, and among the rarest habitats in Europe.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2267"},{"n":"Malin Head","r":"COMMON","g":"sky","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"The northernmost point of the island, a weather station since 1870, and the place aurora is reported from most often.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2268"},{"n":"Aurora from the north coast","r":"LUCKY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland is far enough north to see it on a strong night, and Malin and Fanad are where people go.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2269"},{"n":"Horn Head and Fanad","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Quartzite headlands with seabird ledges, and a lighthouse road that is narrow enough to concentrate the mind.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2270"},{"n":"Storm petrels and shearwaters","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Manx shearwaters shearing the swell offshore, and storm petrels no bigger than a swallow living out on the open Atlantic.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2271"},{"n":"Puffins on the Donegal stacks","r":"LUCKY","g":"seabird","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"On Tory and the offshore stacks, and gone back out to sea by August.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2272"},{"n":"The Gaeltacht","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Irish is the everyday language across much of west Donegal, Connemara and Mayo, and the road signs there are in Irish only.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2273"},{"n":"Benbulben","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A limestone table mountain sheared flat by ice, with a north face that holds arctic-alpine plants found almost nowhere else in Ireland.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2274"},{"n":"Benbulben’s arctic flora","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"Fringed sandwort and other ice-age relicts survive on these ledges and on no other Irish mountain.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2275"},{"n":"Carrowkeel and Carrowmore","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Passage tombs on a Sligo ridge and one of the largest megalithic cemeteries in Europe below it, both older than Newgrange.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2276"},{"n":"Irish hares","r":"LIKELY","g":"hare","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A distinct subspecies of the mountain hare found only in Ireland, and it stays brown through the winter.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2277"},{"n":"Pine martens, recovered","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Down to a few hundred animals by the 1970s and now widespread again — and their return is pushing grey squirrels back out of Irish woodland.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2278"},{"n":"Red squirrels, returning","r":"LIKELY","g":"squirrel","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Coming back into woods the greys had taken, because the pine marten came back first. One of the neatest conservation stories in Europe.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2279"},{"n":"Irish stoats","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A distinct subspecies, smaller and darker than the British one, and hunting stone walls at any hour.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2280"},{"n":"Otters on the western rivers","r":"LIKELY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland holds one of the healthiest otter populations in Europe, on rivers that were never industrialised.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2281"},{"n":"Badgers in the hedge banks","r":"LUCKY","g":"badger","m":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"Setts under the field banks throughout, and a well-worn path nothing else would make.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2282"},{"n":"Wild Nephin","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Eleven thousand hectares of Atlantic blanket bog and mountain, and one of the largest areas of unbroken bog left in western Europe.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2283"},{"n":"Mayo Dark Sky Park","r":"LIKELY","g":"sky","m":[9,10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"A gold-tier dark sky park over the Nephin bog — among the darkest measured skies in the northern hemisphere.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2284"},{"n":"Achill Island","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Reached by a bridge, with the highest sea cliffs in Ireland at Croaghaun and a deserted village on the slope of Slievemore.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2285"},{"n":"Croagh Patrick","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[7],"c":["IE"],"d":"Climbed barefoot by pilgrims on the last Sunday in July, and by everyone else in boots the rest of the year.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2286"},{"n":"Downpatrick Head","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A sea stack cut off from the mainland, with a blowhole behind it that fires spray on a big swell.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2287"},{"n":"Connemara ponies","r":"LIKELY","g":"pony","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"The only native Irish horse breed, bred on the Galway bog and mountain, and now exported worldwide.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2288"},{"n":"The Twelve Bens","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Quartzite peaks over Connemara, bare, steep and far harder walking than their height suggests.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2289"},{"n":"Roundstone Bog","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"A lowland blanket bog of pools and hummocks so intricate it is used as a textbook example, and utterly unwalkable in a straight line.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2290"},{"n":"Feral goats on the hills","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Long-established herds through Connemara and the Donegal hills, keeping the scrub down and the walls busy.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2291"},{"n":"Rhododendron ponticum","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"Beautiful, introduced and catastrophic — it shades out everything beneath it and clearing it is a decades-long job in Killarney and Connemara alike.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2292"},{"n":"Sitka plantations","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Ireland was almost treeless a century ago and is now heavily planted with one non-native conifer. The result is contested, and worth understanding rather than admiring.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2293"},{"n":"Raised bogs of the midlands","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"Domed peat bogs formed over ten thousand years, and Ireland holds a large share of what survives in Europe. Most have been cut.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2294"},{"n":"Turf cutting","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Cut by hand and machine for fuel for centuries, and now restricted on protected bogs — which has been one of the most bitterly argued conservation issues in the country.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2295"},{"n":"Clara Bog","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"One of the best surviving raised bogs, with a boardwalk across it and a visitor centre that explains why the argument matters.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2296"},{"n":"Bog cotton and sundew","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"White heads across the whole bog in June, and a carnivorous plant underneath living on insects because the peat has no nitrogen.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2297"},{"n":"Bog asphodel and bogbean","r":"COMMON","g":"flower","m":[5,6,7],"c":["IE"],"d":"Yellow spikes and pink-fringed white flowers in the wettest hollows.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2298"},{"n":"Bog bodies and bog butter","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"The peat preserves everything. Iron Age bodies, wooden trackways and kegs of butter buried a thousand years ago all come out of Irish bogs.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2299"},{"n":"Lough Boora","r":"COMMON","g":"leaf","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A cutaway industrial bog turned into a park of lakes and sculpture, with grey partridge reintroduced onto it.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2300"},{"n":"Grey partridge, held on","r":"RARE","g":"grouse","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Down to a single wild population in the Offaly bogs and brought back from around twenty birds by a deliberate rescue.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2301"},{"n":"Marsh fritillary","r":"RARE","g":"butterfly","m":[5,6],"c":["IE"],"d":"A protected butterfly of damp unimproved grassland, and Ireland holds a strong share of the European population.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2302"},{"n":"Irish lady’s-tresses","r":"RARE","g":"flower","m":[7,8],"c":["IE"],"d":"A small white orchid found in Ireland, western Scotland and North America, and nowhere else in Europe at all.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2303"},{"n":"The Newgrange solstice","r":"RARE","g":"sky","m":[12],"c":["IE"],"d":"The chamber lights up for a few minutes at midwinter sunrise. Places are drawn by lottery each year and thousands enter.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2304"},{"n":"Knowth’s kerbstones","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"The largest collection of megalithic art in Europe, carved into the stones round the base of one mound.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2305"},{"n":"Loughcrew","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Hilltop cairns aligned to the equinox sunrise, on a ridge you walk up to, with far fewer people than the Boyne.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2306"},{"n":"The Hill of Tara","r":"COMMON","g":"fossil","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"An earthwork complex used for two thousand years, and the seat of the high kings. It reads as a field until you see it from the air.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2307"},{"n":"Callows and flooded meadow","r":"COMMON","g":"wader","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["IE"],"d":"The Shannon callows flood every winter and hold whooper swans, wigeon and godwits, and corncrake in the summer.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2308"},{"n":"Humpback and fin whales","r":"LUCKY","g":"dolphin","m":[6,7,8,9,10,11],"c":["IE"],"d":"Feeding along the west and south coasts, individually catalogued by fluke and dorsal fin, and increasingly regular.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2309"},{"n":"Bottlenose and Risso’s dolphins","r":"LIKELY","g":"dolphin","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9,10],"c":["IE"],"d":"Both along the north-west coast, and Risso’s scarred pale grey with age.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2310"},{"n":"Grey and common seals","r":"COMMON","g":"seal","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Grey seals pupping on the western islands in autumn, and commons on the sheltered inlets.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2311"},{"n":"Leatherback turtles","r":"RARE","g":"reptile","m":[7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"The largest turtle on earth, following jellyfish into Irish waters each summer, and warm-blooded enough to survive the Atlantic.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2312"},{"n":"Atlantic salmon and sea trout","r":"LUCKY","g":"fish","m":[6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"On the western rivers, with strict catch-and-release on most of them, and the runs a fraction of what they were.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2313"},{"n":"Freshwater pearl mussel","r":"RARE","g":"crab","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Can live over a hundred years and needs water clean enough that most Irish rivers no longer qualify. Critically endangered and legally protected.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2314"},{"n":"Pollan","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"A whitefish left behind by the ice and found in a handful of Irish loughs and nowhere else on earth.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2315"},{"n":"Arctic char","r":"RARE","g":"fish","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["IE"],"d":"Another glacial relict, in cold deep western lakes, and lost from many of them within living memory.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2316"},{"n":"Lesser horseshoe bats","r":"RARE","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["IE"],"d":"The Irish western counties hold an internationally important population, roosting in old estate buildings and cellars.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2317"},{"n":"Atlantic storms","r":"COMMON","g":"snow","m":[10,11,12,1,2],"c":["IE"],"d":"The north-west takes the full ocean. Named storms close roads and ferries, and the swell at Mullaghmore is surfed by very few people.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2318"},{"n":"Autumn fungi in the oakwoods","r":"LIKELY","g":"fungi","m":[9,10,11],"c":["IE"],"d":"A serious flush in the Atlantic oak and hazel, in woods that are mossy enough to look tropical.","f":"eu-ireland-north.html","a":"E2319"},{"n":"Bats in the karst caves","r":"LIKELY","g":"bat","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"The Croatian cave systems hold internationally important roosts, and several show caves close sections for them.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2320"},{"n":"Feral goats on the islands","r":"LIKELY","g":"goat","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"On Pag, Cres and the bare Kornati, keeping the limestone grassland open and the walls busy.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2321"},{"n":"Hedgehogs in the montado scrub","r":"LIKELY","g":"hedgehog","m":[4,5,6,7,8,9],"c":["HR"],"d":"In the coastal maquis and the Slavonian farmland alike.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2322"},{"n":"Fireflies in the Gorski Kotar","r":"LUCKY","g":"insect","m":[6],"c":["HR"],"d":"A fortnight in June through the mountain meadows, and no torch needed.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2323"},{"n":"Kingfishers on the Krka","r":"LIKELY","g":"kingfisher","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"A blue bolt along the travertine terraces and every clean Dalmatian river.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2324"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over Slavonia","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"Over the eastern reedbeds and the vineyards at harvest, which the growers do not welcome.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2325"},{"n":"Otters on the Gacka","r":"LUCKY","g":"otter","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["HR"],"d":"On one of the clearest chalk-fed rivers in Europe, and recovering across the interior.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2326"},{"n":"Waders on the Neretva delta","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[8,9,10,3,4],"c":["HR"],"d":"The delta is the main Croatian passage site, and holds thousands on migration.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2327"},{"n":"Wildfowl on the Kopački rit","r":"COMMON","g":"waterbird","m":[10,11,12,1,2,3],"c":["HR"],"d":"A Danube-Drava floodplain in the far east, and one of the great remaining European wetlands.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2328"},{"n":"Cika cattle","r":"LIKELY","g":"cow","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"A small native alpine breed, nearly lost to modern dairying and kept going deliberately as a genetic reserve.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2329"},{"n":"Starling murmurations over the Karst","r":"LIKELY","g":"murmur","m":[10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"Over the vineyards and the reed at the Adriatic edge each autumn.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2330"},{"n":"Yellow-legged gulls at Piran","r":"COMMON","g":"seabird","m":[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],"c":["SI"],"d":"On the harbour walls and the salt pans, and entirely unbothered by people.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2331"},{"n":"Jezersko-Solchava sheep","r":"LIKELY","g":"sheep","m":[5,6,7,8,9],"c":["SI"],"d":"An alpine breed driven up to the high pastures each summer, and one of the oldest in the eastern Alps.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2332"},{"n":"Waders at Škocjanski zatok","r":"LIKELY","g":"wader","m":[3,4,8,9,10],"c":["SI"],"d":"A brackish reserve on the edge of Koper, reclaimed from a rubbish tip, and now the best wader site in the country.","f":"eu-adriatic.html","a":"E2333"}],"retired":[],"sea":{"source":"seatemperature.org monthly climatology, from NOAA and Copernicus Marine Service satellite SST","note":"Monthly averages at a named anchor on each coast. Surface temperature, so a shallow bay runs warmer and an upwelling coast colder.","inland":["alpine","continental","pyrenean","fr-east","de-south"],"anchors":{"fr-med":[{"place":"Marseille","checked":"2026-08","c":[13.3,12.8,13.1,14.4,17.3,20.9,21.9,22.5,21.9,19.3,17.4,15.0]}],"dinaric":[{"place":"Split","checked":"2026-08","c":[13.5,13.4,13.7,14.9,18.0,22.1,24.3,24.7,23.7,20.1,17.9,15.6]}],"mediterranean-south":[{"place":"Naples","checked":"2026-08","c":[14.6,13.9,14.2,15.6,19.0,23.6,25.9,26.0,24.9,21.5,19.2,16.4]},{"place":"Vieste","checked":"2026-08","c":[13.5,13.7,14.0,15.3,18.2,22.5,25.2,25.3,24.3,20.1,17.3,14.9]},{"place":"Siracusa","checked":"2026-08","c":[15.3,14.8,15.1,16.1,18.8,22.9,25.8,26.3,25.5,22.7,20.3,17.2]}],"tyrrhenian":[{"place":"Ajaccio","checked":"2026-08","c":[13.6,13.2,13.7,14.9,18.1,21.9,23.2,23.8,22.9,20.8,18.7,15.6]},{"place":"Cagliari","checked":"2026-08","c":[14.2,13.6,14.1,15.4,18.3,22.3,24.3,24.8,23.9,21.6,19.3,16.3]}],"it-north":[{"place":"Venice","checked":"2026-08","c":[9.6,8.4,9.6,13.3,18.6,23.4,25.3,25.3,23.4,19.1,15.7,12.9]},{"place":"Genoa","checked":"2026-08","c":[13.3,12.9,13.3,14.9,18.5,22.6,23.9,24.2,22.9,20.1,17.7,15.1]}],"fr-nw":[{"place":"Concarneau","checked":"2026-08","c":[10.9,10.4,10.3,11.8,13.8,15.4,16.7,17.3,17.1,16.0,14.8,12.7]},{"place":"Saint-Malo","checked":"2026-08","c":[9.4,9.0,9.0,10.6,12.7,14.8,16.4,17.8,17.9,16.6,14.8,12.1]}],"fr-atlantic":[{"place":"La Rochelle","checked":"2026-08","c":[10.1,9.7,10.1,12.4,15.0,17.4,18.4,19.3,18.9,17.3,15.6,12.9]}],"atlantic-iberia":[{"place":"Vigo","checked":"2026-08","c":[13.9,13.4,13.3,14.2,15.3,16.6,17.3,18.3,18.3,17.6,16.2,14.8]},{"place":"Gijón","checked":"2026-08","c":[13.2,12.8,12.7,13.6,15.3,17.5,19.3,20.5,19.8,18.2,16.2,14.4]}],"mediterranean-iberia":[{"place":"Faro","checked":"2026-08","c":[16.6,16.2,16.1,17.3,18.6,20.5,21.2,21.7,21.6,21.4,19.4,17.7]},{"place":"Málaga","checked":"2026-08","c":[16.1,15.6,15.6,16.8,18.4,20.9,22.8,23.4,21.8,20.4,18.2,16.6]}],"ie-west":[{"place":"Cork","checked":"2026-08","c":[9.9,9.7,9.6,10.4,11.8,13.4,15.6,16.4,15.7,14.2,12.6,11.1]}],"atlantic-ireland":[{"place":"Sligo","checked":"2026-08","c":[10.0,9.3,9.1,9.7,10.9,12.4,14.2,14.8,14.3,13.2,12.2,10.9]}],"nordic":[{"place":"Bergen","checked":"2026-08","c":[6.3,5.6,4.9,6.2,8.8,12.1,14.4,15.4,14.3,11.9,10.1,8.1]},{"place":"Copenhagen","checked":"2026-08","c":[2.6,2.3,2.4,5.7,10.1,14.9,17.6,17.8,16.3,12.5,8.8,5.6]}],"nl-coast":[{"place":"Vlissingen","checked":"2026-08","c":[6.8,6.8,6.8,8.9,11.7,14.7,16.7,18.2,18.1,15.8,13.3,9.8]}],"nl-north":[{"place":"Scheveningen","checked":"2026-08","c":[6.4,6.4,6.4,8.9,11.8,14.9,16.9,18.2,18.1,15.6,12.9,9.4]}],"de-north":[{"place":"Scheveningen","checked":"2026-08","c":[6.4,6.4,6.4,8.9,11.8,14.9,16.9,18.2,18.1,15.6,12.9,9.4]},{"place":"Warnemünde","checked":"2026-08","c":[2.6,2.7,2.9,6.3,11.0,15.8,17.8,17.9,16.6,12.8,8.9,5.4]}]},"reviewed":{"nl-coast":"E03 touches only the Zeeland delta, from Vlissingen to Zierikzee — about 40km of coast. It visits Germany inland along the Rhine and never reaches the German sea.","fr-med":"E05 works the Camargue and the Provence shore between the Rhône and Marseille. It does not reach the Côte d’Azur or the Roussillon.","fr-atlantic":"E12 runs Noirmoutier to Oléron, about 150km of the Vendée and Charente coast, with La Rochelle in the middle of it."}}}