The flamingo is not a bird one expects to see in Slovenia. Although a large flock of these birds regularly spends the winters in neighbouring Italy, and some can therefore occasionally be seen on the Slovenian coast, observations of these exotic birds continue to be extremely rare further inland.
In fact, this was just second time in history flamingos have been seen in Dolenjska, the first being 49 years ago.
This time two birds, an adult in all its colours along with a still greyish youngster, stayed in the swampy field by Temenica long enough for the arrival of the ornithologist-photographer Gregor Bernard.
The photos he managed to capture of these birds and a flock of cranes that flew over Dolenjska some days earlier can be seen on his blog.