Before my trip, I used colored markers and tried to be aware of some birds I may hear and/or see on my trip. Above is one possible bird.

My travel through the Balkan countries: Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia was not a “birding trip”. However, I cannot help but notice when birds are or are not around. Then if I have some time I like to read about the bird and sketch it. I only used pencil to keep my backpack light in weight on this trip.

Of course, if it is a new bird for my life list, that is very exciting. But what I also noticed, is if I think I know the bird and work to identify it, the bird may be a totally different name and a new bird for me, such as the shag you’ll see in a sketch below. Surprisingly I knew house sparrows are all over the world. In Albania though, it got listed as a new bird in my life list. Had I never listed that bird before? Wow, I guess not!

Eight new birds in Albania, seven in Croatia and three in Bosnia-Herzegovina. No new birds in Montenegro and Slovenia since the birds there were already seen in a previous country.

Here are some quick sketches. Nothing is to scale!

Will I see new birds in Italy and Greece? Time will tell!