The Flowers, Birds, Animals and Geology of The Dolomites
If you've been to the Dolomites during summer, you will almost certainly have heard the bird-like whistle of the ever present marmot (marmotta). And perhaps caught a glimpse as it scurryied away to the relative safety of the burrow. Some 50cm long, the marmot shares its burrow with 50 or more family members in burrows some three meters deep. Our team leaders, who know where to look, will make sure you see flowers, birds and animals in abundance.
Sometimes, in the early morning, as you come around a bend you may spot chamois or ibex grazing along the mountain sides. The chamois (camoscio) are a smallish species of deer, very agile of foot and will normally be encountered in a herd of 20+. The ibex (stambecco), which at first glance may be mistaken for a small deer, or even confused with the chamois, is in fact a mountain goat. In danger of becoming extinct due to overhunting, the ibex's horns never cease to amaze.
Less commonly seen are the roe deer (capriolo), red deer (cervo) and buck deer, which shares the hills with foxes, wolves, squirrels, stoats, as well as in very remote regions, lynx and the brown bear.
More commonly encountered are sheep and other livestock which graze the hillsides during summer months. Look out for the long-eared sheep, and golden ponies.
Much of our trek will be spent in the alpine and upper alpine regions. Lower down we'll come across the hardy dwarf (or knee) pine (pino mugo), while higher up we encounter alpine meadows - a high-altitude grassland. Home to a fascinating collection of flowering plants, it is here where we will catch our first glimpse of edelweiss, along with saxifrage, gentian, wolfsbane, lousewort, ragwort, rock jasmine, skullcaps alpine poppies, daisies, catsears and many other plants. More than a 100 species can be found adorning the slopes in the alpine meadow region.
The bird we'll most commonly encounter is the alpine chough - a smaller member of the crow family. Higher up we may also see ptarmigans, which are best know for their ability to change colour to match the season. Snow white in winter, their plummage turns a dark-brown in the summer months. The most impressive of the bigger birds is the lammergaier (Bearded Vulture); which has a wingspan of three metres and nests in the cliffs of higher peaks. Equally impressive in flight and appearance is the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) - with a wingspan nearing two meters, the golden eagle nests in the tops of tall trees or on cliffs. There are many other birds we'll encounter, but few will attract as much attention as the capercaillie when it tries to take off. A member of the grouse family, it appears less than comfortable in flight, and we'd suggest you duck if you see it taking off in your direction - just in case it doesn't get height quickly enough.