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| Field working under a new bridge, the original was bombed in the war just a few years ago. |
Kosovo in Summer
June 2019
We returned to Kosovo during our the University of Pristina's Drin River researches in the summer of 2019. Last we where here it was cold and snowy in 2017 (see:
electrofishing-kosovo-2017).
In collaboration with the GRAPCI-KOTORI lab at Pristina, we participated in a project where students and instructors did their best to sample and explore the fish assemblages along nearly 100 kilometers of the White Drin, from the river springs near Peja to the Albanian border. We electrofished and borrowed local fisher's gear and boats- and we documented 21 species of fish. We collected genetic material which we shipped to Athens and Prague and made many interesing discoveries in this poorly-studied area.
I post some snap-shots, mine and Dimitris's, some from the students. It was a sunny summery wonderful warm temperate river- for us very different from typical Mediterranean rivers.
And both Dimitris and I thank all our friends in this wonderful heart of the Balkans; special thanks to the research team: Linda Grapsa-Kotori, Donard Geci, Halil Ibrahimi, Astrit Bilalli, Rinor Berisha, Lis Kotori, Egzona Pepaj and Erlinda Sallauka. Also warmest thanks my collaborators at HCMR Athens (H.Vavalidis among others) and for the on-going genetic and phylogeographical work to Jasna Vukic and Radek Sanda in Prague.
Please see our recently released paper in "Knowledge and Management of the Aquatic Environent (KMAE) on this fascinating exploration:
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| The river-basin endemic lamprey Eudontomyzon stankokaramani: one of the most interesting animals in this Drin basin. |
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| A loach from the Eastern Balkans...Sabanejewia balcanica - a recently translocated species, probably introduced accidentally into this catchement (we did not find it in the Black Drin catchment in Albania). |
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| The beautiful endemic loach of the Southeast Adriatic Ecorgion, Cobitis ohridanus. |
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| The beautiful Southeast Adriatic Ecorgion endemic, Alburnoides ohridanus during spawning - and on migration in the mid-section of the White Drin. |
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A rare fish in Kosovo (!!) - our beloved River Blenny, Salaria fluviatilis.
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| Champion of polluted, eutrophic, impounded waters, the alien invasive Top-Mouth Gudgeon, Pseudorasbora parva! |
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| The White Drin Canyon at Ura. Here you can only explore by small boat. |
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| The near-pristine riverscape and rapids of the Rogove Area; sampling here is a bit dangerous. |
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| Most fish were very small - it could be the overfishing effect; this big chub was caught with a cast-net at Rogove. |
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| At two sites we electrofished from the boat. Here Dimitris and I are in front using the electrofishier and two nets, fish are passed behind into the buckets. This is not a good standard, it's fit-for-purpose and it worked! |
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| Fish identification "workshop" mid-stream at the Nora site. |
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| We stayed up in Peja and one day we took some time off to go insect-huting up high near the borders with Montenegro! Most of these trees are actually Norway Spruce...(I could spend a summer here...). |
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| The team preparing to explore. |
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| A low artificial barrier was the site of a huge migratory congregation of Sperling Alburnoides ohridanus . |
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| Students and researchers working on sorting the fish samples. |
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| In the cold-water area of the river near the Springs of the White Drin. |
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| Cold-water area with few fish species, but many endemic minnows and wild trout. |
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Crayfish are rare in the Balkan rivers unfortunatly, this specimen is the native Astacus astacus - a good find in one of the most pristine parts of the lower part of the White Drin, near Prizren.
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| Finally. last day of the research we spent some time sight-seeing in the "Paris" of Kosovo, Prizren! |
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| A little like Paris; better than Paris...Prizren! |
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| Our research stations in Kosovo on the White Drin River. The river is the second largest main-stem tributary of the Great Drin. We visited 11 sites along a hundred kilometer stretch of the river. So fotunate to have worked with Professor Linda Grapsi-Kotori's lab (and many thanks for this wonderous map of the landscapes of this inner plataeu Balkan river). |
