It's Been A Long Time Since KAP - Iški Morost Revisited

Ufff, that was a long wait ... we were experiencing KAP withdrawal symptoms as we are laser-focused on the first international kite festival IKF Slovenia 2022 that we are organising. Our last real KAP session was back in January, and two attempts in April ended in failure (no wind, low light conditions).

So we were really in need of a good kite aerial session, and on the Easter Monday the conditions were favourable. We went to one of our favourite places, Iški Morost Nature Reserve in the middle of Ljubljana Marshes landscape park, to see it sparkle in the spring sun.

Iški Morost Nature Reserve is a 64 hectare mosaic landscape of wetlands, bog forests, silted-up streams, peat marshes, and damp grasslands crisscrossed by old hedges.

Iški Morost is home to many exceptional species: Eurasian curlews, welcoming the sunrise on a cold morning just like ancient troubadours; false ringlets, feeding on tormentils; enchanting yellow-spotted emeralds on hedges; and bashful corncrakes hiding among the cottongrass in marshy grassland. Wet grasslands, their only home, are a great rarity in present-day Europe.

Iški Morost is an important conservation area for endangered animal and plant species, especially those that rely on the traditional agricultural cultural landscape of humid extensive grassland.

Visiting the Iški morost Nature Reserve is intriguing in all seasons. You can experience the heart of the Reserve by taking the circular Corncrake’s educational path on which you can familiarise yourself with the typical habitat types of the Ljubljana Marshes and the forms of management employed to maintain and conserve it. While walking on the path make sure to keep your eyes and ears open - you might just be able to see one of the rare and endangered plants and animals that inhabit the area!

Seeing Iški Morost from the air is spectacular, and using a kite for taking aerial photos is nature friendly. Birds and other animals are easily scared by the noise of humans and drones.

Iški Morost Nature Reserve is managed by DOPPS - Birdlife Slovenia, the biggest nature conservation NGO in Slovenia. They are are doing everything for the protection of birds and their habitats, and thus contributing to both the conservation of nature and to the welfare of society.

All kite aerial photos shot with Nikon P330 on The Venerable Blue rokkaku and The Spark rokkaku.