Since I’ll be back in Slovenia next week, I thought it a good idea to post these images and some brief birding notes from a visit to Ljubljana in December, before it gets pushed back even further.

I’ll write more about Slovenia and its birdlife more generally another time –since I visit often and will move back in about five or six years, I hope to have opportunities to write about it frequently— but in brief:

Slovenia is a small country, covering 20,271 km2 (7,827 square miles), or just 0.2% of Europe, but it’s a sliver with a wildly diverse landscape and climate. More than 70% of the country is mountainous (the Alps stretch into Slovenia), the second highest in Europe by percentage; more than half of the country is forested, third in Europe by percentage; and it includes 286 Natura 2000 designated protected areas, about 36% of the country’s area, the largest among European Union states. And it also has a 47-kilometer long stretch of Adriatic coast between Italy and Croatia.  

All of that, along with its position near the center of the the Western Palearctic, has conspired in more than 400 bird species reported in the country. Over 200 species are breeding.

The ‘loop’ reported in this post is in Tacen, a district in the northwest corner of the capital Ljubljana (about eight kilometers from the city center), with the Sava River, the country’s longest, playing a key role. Besides lying in the shadow of of Šmarna Gora (669m, 2,195 ft), the city’s highest hill, Tacen’s claim to fame is as venue for canoe and kayak slalom competition, hosting major international competitions annually. (Related: here is a bird survey in the nesting season of the entire 258 km of Sava River in Slovenia – the first continuous survery of this kind.)

The venue, which is on the Sava, was entirely destroyed in major floods that struck the area in August 2023, caused by three days of heavy rains that in some areas dumped a month’s worth of percipitation over the course of just a few hours. It was by far the worst natural disaster in the history of independent Slovenia, affecting almost two-thirds of the country’s territory and causing more than €5 billion in damage. That came after hail, windstorms and heavy rains in June in July.

While much of the damage has been cleared, rebuilt or repaired, some impacts from the floods were still visible during a pair of walks on 25 and 26 December, which followed the Sava’s right bank from the canoe-kayak club west to near the Medno train station and looping across and back towards the club over meadows and fields. It’s mostly open, but some wooded areas remain near the river bank. On eBird, I’m calling it the Kayak club Tacenska loop. Hopefully it will catch on.

On Christmas, we spotted seven Common Mergansers, a pair of Gray Herons, six long-tailed tits, too many Hooded Crows to count, and Eurasian Blackbirds, European Robins and some Common Chaffinch.

The next day’s highlight were my first shots of a Eurasian Kestrel and Eurasian Nuthatch, three active Gray Herons, a river full of Mallards and more Common Mergansers and a pair of Mute Swans. Images of most are below.

Eurasian Kestrel

Mallards

Gray Herons

Hooded Crows

Common Mergansers

There were also at least eight Common Mergansers on the river on both days. Below are two, a female and a male.

Eurasian Nuthatch

My first shot!

Mute Swans

All images from 25 and 26 December 2025.