More mushrooms, all sizes, types and poison levels...

As I've already mentioned, the weather has been perfect for mushrooms, but I wouldn't eat any of these:



I didn't notice the fly when I was taking the photo:

Sunlit...

Any forest is a wonderful place to observe light/shadow play. Here are two scenes I "caught" in the forest near Trakoscan castle:





PS. I'm sorry I don't reply to your comments, this week is incredibly hectic for me, because I'm attending a full day (for the whole 5 days) Oracle SQL course. Add a few more extra activities and there ya go...

Trakoscan castle

Last weekend my Dad and I took my Mom to the Trakoscan castle. She's never been there, even though it's only an 1hr drive north of Zagreb. This castle was originally built in 13th ct. and has recently been completely renovated. It makes a great half-a-day outing for people from Zagreb to get away from city life - other than history lesson and museum visit, there are cafes, pedal-boats for rent on the lake right below the castle, and somewhere around 30km of walking/mountain biking path around the lake.

Archery

I don't think I have ever met anyone who's doing pro-archery. Recently (2 weeks ago), I've learned our family friend is 17th in Europe this year (out of >260 people!) in archery. He showed some serious skills during our visit to their house in Brinje (a small town in Lika region, 1hr drive SW from Zagreb);

Mushrooms!

Warm and sunny weather, as well as higher humidity in the autumn air created fruitful grounds for numerous mushrooms (edible and poisonous) in Zagreb's parks and nearby woods:





The mushrooms above are not poisonous, but also not tasty. Literate translation of their Croatian name would be flour-mushroom. Is anyone familiar with its name in English?

Making friends...

My Dad is a type of person where most animals sense something and they're immediately drawn to him. Usually fierce dogs turn into cuddly fluffy toys when they spot him, hurt birds won't bite as he's helping them... this little wild lizard also decided he won't do any harm and decided to see if he's tasty (took a small lick and bite but decided my Dad's finger isn't edible). After that, the little lizard took up a spot in the sun just a foot away from my Dad and both enjoyed probably last summer-like rays of sunshine this year:

Can't see the forest for the trees...

That's exactly how I feel at the moment...



The photo was taken in a forest near Zagreb...

A brand new bike on Jarun....

My friend bought a new bike. To try it for a bit he went for a ride around lake Jarun (cca 8km) and then took a walk with me... I noticed a detail he overlooked:





See the warning label? :)

Alone on a busy path... Bonus trip photo: a bird (Willow warbler)!

Have you ever noticed how people walk/show up in "waves"? My friend and I were walking around Jarun during a sunny and warm weekend mid-day and somehow ended up in this "vacuum" spot without people, and with all the action and numerous people further away from us:



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Bonus trip photo was taken on Pag. This little bird landed on our fig tree and feasted on ripe figs. I haven't seen it before - we usually get 4-6 pairs of finches with chicks and have a "domestic" pair of chickadees who have a nest each year under our roof tiles (their offspring sticks around too, so now it's adding up to about 10 of them). Does anyone have an idea what this bird might be? Judging by its beak, I would say insects are its primary food source... I haven't heard it sing or chirp... it's around 5-10cm long (1.5-3.5in).

EDIT: Abe solved the mystery, it's a Willow Warbler. Thanks to Google, Croatian name for this bird is Brezov zviždak (I have no idea how people lived without Google!).

Green haven...

Some 30min north of Zagreb starts hilly and green region called Zagorje (literal translation of the name Zagorje would be "behind the mountain/hill"). It's a peaceful getaway, with still cheap real estate, little or no traffic and hidden hillsides. Two weeks ago our ex-neighbors invited us to their holiday house. Here's the typical Zagorje "flavor":

Swans...

As some people asked, here are dug up photos from last year's winter of Jarun's small "Swan lake" (Flash required!):

Swan lake...

The official title of the smaller Jarun lake is "small swan lake" because swans enjoy safe surroundings, medical help and food people provide during the winter. Before swans arrive in huge numbers, and after the swim season closes, it looks like this (there's a tiny island in the middle of it):

Horses!

Recently, the city made a small horse stable near the lake Jarun, where you can get riding lessons... however, in the past 3 years, I have never seen them out of the stable, and certainly not galloping along the lake! In any case, you can see how they're well kept and beautiful.

A trainer coaching:

October theme day - Contrast: Grandson & grandpa...

The boy from previous post, here with his grandpa:



Make sure you check out all other contrasting ideas from other CDPB bloggers all around the world: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants